Eastern Himalayas
In the author's tour of east Nepal hills, starting from Solu and proceeding eastwards to Dharan by Okaldhunga, Bhojpur, Chainpur and Hile, the author noted the regular appearance of certain manufactured goods. Batteries, biscuits, cigarettes, cloth etc. could be seen. Copy books, rubber or canvas shoes, kerosene brass lamps, candles, glass tumblers, aluminium vessels, traditional brassware,...
To travel for economic or religious reasons (e.g. to pilgrimage sites) is as ancient a human activity as any we possess. But touring for rest, relaxation, or education began only in the 19th century as, on the one hand, the distinction between urban and rural began to reflect that of work and leisure, and on the other, the socialisation process of elites began to include the "Grand Tour" of...
The implementation of the First Five Year Plan in 1956 marked the beginning of planned development in Nepal. Despite the passing of almost fifty years and the completion of the Ninth Plan in 2002, Nepal still remains one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. While the mountainous nature of the country makes it difficult and expensive to implement development programmes and...
The earliest rocks found in the Lesser Himalaya are gneisses and crystallines in which the 1860 Ma Jeori-Wangtu-Bandal Granite-gneiss Complex (JWBC) is intrusive. It forms the basement complex for the oldest Lesser Himalayan rocks and are a possible extension of the Peninsular rocks. In stratigraphic/parautochthonous position it is found only in the Himachal and J&K (Kishtwar). In the...
This research paper has two-fold objectives: (i) to familiarise graduate students majoring in anthropology with the theoretical underpinnings of cultural ecology, and (ii) to analyse and explicate the ecological-cultural adaptations among the communities living in the harsh mountain ecological setting of eastern Nepal and their traditional organisations and institutions contributing to...
In the eastern Himalayas, shifting cultivation is the most prominent farming system, providing a way of life for a large number of ethnic minorities and other poor and marginalised upland communities. The policy approach to deal with shifting cultivation is common across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Myanmar, the countries in this study, and aims to replace it with permanent forms of...
Development of mountain areas, particularly in the Himalayan regions of South Asia, is faced with the two major challenges of poverty alleviation and environmental conservation. The very resources that constitute the primary sources of income and livelihood for mountain people are environmentally vulnerable. The overuse and careless exploitation of these resources endanger not only the...
This study entails participatory action-research with Lepcha communities in Sikkim State and Kalimpong area of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), West Bengal - with a particular focus on farming systems and traditional rice varieties. Together with a local NGO (the Centre for Mountain Dynamics), village and Panchayat leaders, and women self-help groups, it aims to explore the potential of...
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