LIMBUS: AN OUTLINE OF THEIR MUSIC AND CULTURE KRISHNENDU DUTTA Assistant Professor, Department of Music, Sikkim University, Gangtok, Sikkim, India ABSTRACT The Limbus are a small but historically important ethnic race of the Nepalese and Indian Himalayan regions. The etymological origin of the word ‘LImbu’ is to be traced in various literature and popular traditions of the Tibeto-Indian Himalayas. Reference to these ethnic people is also to be found in Indian traditional literature including the great epics. The present article deals with the Limbu demography and patterns of settlement, their physical features, language and script, means of subsistence, religious practices, social customs including those of dress and garments. However what makes the Limbus an especially interesting people to study is their culture wherein traditional Limbu music and folk songs feature as the most remarkable. KEYWORDS: Limbu, Kirat, Monpa, Limbuwan, Mongoloid, Gotra (Clan), Population, Limbu Language, Subsistence Farming, Limbu Society, Religion, Oral Scripture, Garments, Traditional Music, Folk Songs INTRODUCTION The name Limbu is an eponym of an uncertain region. The word ‘Limbu’ roughly translates as an archer or ‘the bearer of bows and arrows’. The Limbus call themselves Yakthumba (or Yakthung) (in Limbu language). They are also known as Shong, Xong or Drenjongka (in Tibet) or Chong (or Tsong) (in Sikkim). Northern Tibetans call the Limbus ‘Monpa’, meaning those who live south of the Himalayas. Other tribes like Lepcha, Bhotia, Tibetan, etc. inhabiting areas like Sikkim, Bhutan and Nepal call the Limbus Tsong. It is believed that they once lived in the Northern regions of Tsang and migrated to their habitat. Sources reveal that the Kathmandu valley was under the rule of Kirantis (Rai and Limbu are known as Kirantis) from approximately the first century B.C., to the second century A.D., and according to Gopal Vansawali, about thirty-two Kiranti kings ruled the valley. It is also mentioned that one of the Kiranti kings participated in the Mahabharat war. Gautama Buddha and Emperor Ashoka visited Kathmandu in the third century B.C., at the time when the Kirantis were ruling. The Tibetans believe that Yakthungbas, the ancestors of the Limbus, migrated into Limbuwan through the Kangla Pass and settled in the Yangma valley in the Tamar Khola region. Later they took over and drove off the eight leaders who ruled the land. These ten Limbu brothers came to power and divided the land among themselves. The Yakthung or Limbu tribes and clans belong to the Kirati nation or to the Kirat confederation. They are indigenous to the hill or mountainous regions of east Nepal between the Arun and Mechi rivers to as far as southern Tibet, Bhutan and Sikkim. This area is also known as Pallo Kirant. Limbu clans and tribes are divided into the Lhasa gotra (clan) (from Lhasa, Tibet) and Yunan gotra (from Yunan, China. The Limbu are known as Yakthung Thi-bon or Des Limbu (ten Limbus), from which thirteen Limbu sub-groups have emerged. According to legend, five groups came from Yunan, China and the other eight from Lhasa, Tibet. BEST: International Journal of Humanities, Arts, Medicine and Sciences (BEST: IJHAMS) ISSN 2348-0521 Vol. 2, Issue 7, Jul 2014, 41-46 © BEST Journals