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The People of Nyeshang |
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Nyeshang is that part of the upper Marsyandi valley from Pisang to Manang. Formerly extraordinarily inaccessible and until 1977 forbidden to tourists, at first sight it is a potential Shangri La. This well known Westernised Buddhist Himalayan legend tells of a high Tibetan valley, hidden from outside influences, where people still live in harmony with nature, where Buddhism is still in its first age, where the lamas still have magical powers, where the earth is still fruitful and where consequently people are happy and healthy. Such valleys are reputedly accessible only by narrow passes known only to the inhabitants. Nyeshang was certainly relatively inaccessible until late this century, but if you are looking for Shangri La, you are in the wrong valley. In the 1950s the villages of Manang and Braga were at war. The men of Manang refused hospitality to Maurice Herzog in 1950, when he arrived on reconnaissance from the Kali Gandaki. The same year, the reception they gave W.H. Tilman later made them the butt of his literary humour. Despite this, the people of Manang are known for their big heartedness. When I was there, the owner of the lodge used to bring me my breakfast on the roof of the lodge so that I could continue sketching and painting. Learning anything about the people of Nyeshang is not easy. Although a very sophisticated people, when asked about themselves, they at once pretend to be uneducated farmers. Such is their distrust of outsiders that Tilman's 1950 travelling companion Lowndes who was undertaking academic research into their agricultural economy, came to be regarded as a spy. Other researchers, it seems, can only get the elderly to talk to them, about adventures long ago. In 1997, I found that even exploration of Manang outside the tourist area was met with disapproval by the locals. So who are they then, these Nyeshang people? Known collectively as the Nyeshangte. They are part of the Tibetan influenced area of northern Nepal. They have Gurung surnames and state that they are Gurung, yet the Gurung further down the valley do not accept the Nyeshangte as such. This northern part of the Nepal has been populated over the centuries by waves of migrants from Tibet. Just what factors pushed or pulled them over the high passes of the Kongyur La, Mustang La and Thorung La can only be speculative. One factor may have been religious differences. The original Gurung migrants, whose religion remains Bon-Po, must have left Tibet, before or at the time Tibet became Buddhist in the 11th century. This date corresponds with the earliest mention of Nyeshang, as a part of the kingdom of Serib in the 12th century. The Gurung were pastoralists, herding yaks and goats. The next wave of migrants to Nyeshang were the Ghale, who outgrew Phugaon to the north and arrived in Nyeshang by way of the Kang La pass, north of Gnawal. Now the Ghale were agriculturalists who succeeded in establishing farming on the river terraces between Manang and Pisang. The Ghale gradually became economically dominant, forming an aristocratic class within the Gurung. They are intermarried with the Gurung. Later migrations from the north continued to mould the Nyeshangte. This is why the Nyeshangte are more Tibetan than the Gurung to the south. Indeed, the Gurung have been adjusting their oral history to show that their ancestors came from the south and were Hindu. The most recent Tibetan arrivals were refugees from the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959. The wave before that, was from Jharkot in Baragoan, just over the Thorung La. A group of families ruined by customs duties in Thaksatsae in the Kali Gandaki valley, arrived to throw in their lot with the Manangbhot. Here may lie the explanation for the Nyeshang desire to be Gurung. The earliest migrants in any series of migrations have the highest status. However, whoever they are and wherever they are from, they now no longer live exclusively in Nyeshang. They must have maintained their ancestors' wanderlust, for the Nyeshangte have travelled the whole of south east Asia as international traders. Uncovering the details of this, even from academic anthropology journals is not easy. The history of how these subsistence farmers became a force in international trade is fascinating. Back in the 12th century, even the Ghale were unable to support themselves on the produce of this barren land for more than 7 or 8 months a year. They were obligated to find off-farm activities to provide for themselves and their families. The Nyeshangte traded in mountain produce such as dried medicinal mountain rhubarb, musk from the musk deer, certain mountain 'herbs' and something called 'rock sweat'. Now this 'rock sweat' was researched by W.H. Tilman. Silajit, as it is also known, was described by Hamilton in his 'Account of the Kingdom of Nepal (1819)' as a disgusting substance with the appearance (only!) of thin honey, it oozes from cracks in the cliffs. It is thought to be formed by water trickling through deposits of guano, or bat shit (to give it its scientific name). It is said to stink like hell. Can this possibly be the source of the legendary 'Pokhari Sweat', a strange Japanese popular drink. Is Pokhari a mis-transliteration of Pokhara, the nearest large town to the home of the Nyeshangte, purveyors of this dreadful gunge? If so they must be born salespeople. Thus the Nyeshangte historically traded in lightweight, compact, high value goods which by their nature were easy to transport. The arrival of the modern Nepalese state in 1786 could have damaged their trading activities, by inflicting taxation. Although the nearby Thakalis in the Kali Gandaki were taxed, it is remarkable that by 1825, the Nyeshangte had established a tax free status with the Kathmandu government. This remarkable deal involved the Nyeshang people accepting the authority of Kathmandu (which Kathmandu could not have practicably enforced) in return for freedom from taxes (which the Kathmandu government probably considered would have been negligible from such an apparently poor backwater, even if it could have collected them). This deal turned Nyeshang into a tax haven with a status not unlike Hong Kong under the British. The Nyeshang traders gradually moved from wholesaling their own local produce to buying other similar produce in other mountain areas for sale in large cities beginning in Kashmir, then Delhi, Calcutta and Singapore. They diversified into precious stones such as Burmese rubies, precious metals and similar goods. A great boom took place in the 1950s and 1960s and some of the people of Manang, Braga and Pisang became very wealthy owning homes in Pokhara, Kathmandu and overseas. Many of the mountain people of Nyeshang are better travelled, wealthier and more cosmopolitan than their visitors. Look at the walls of the restaurants and lodges, you will often find pictures of the owner taken overseas. As a result of all this sophisticated travel, the resident population of Nyeshang has begun to decline alongside the increase in wealth. In 10 years, few of the original landowning population will be left. It was once a Shangri la, if only for tax avoidance. Its future lies as a Shangri la for tourists. Enjoy it while you can.
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