By Indra Adhikari

In what is likely to spark a debate as to which community Gautam Buddha, the light of Asia as he is famously known, belonged to, a newly published book claims that Buddha did not come from a royal family but a backward Terai community ‘Tharu’.

“The Great Sons of the Tharus: Sakyamuni Buddha and Asoka the Great”, written by Subodh Kumar Singh, contends that the preacher of non-violence, Buddha, belong to Tharu community, which today is considered one of the marginalized communities in terms of socio-economic status, in Nepal. Tharus mostly live their life as farm labourers in the Terai plains.

In his book, Singh claims that when Buddha came back to his kingdom after attaining enlightenment so many people joined him as followers. But he selected only a few of them and told others to be Buddhists after being indoctrinated by these chosen leaders. These people who became Buddhists were called Stharu, which ‘perverted’ into Tharu, in due course of time. Singh says, Tharus are originally Kshetriyas.

Born as Prince Siddhartha Gautam in the kingdom of Kapilvastu, Buddha is said to have discovered the meaning of life after years of penance and meditations. He is the one of most cherished national icons today around the world.

Thousands of Buddhists from all over the world make pilgrimages to Buddha’s birthplace in Lumbini, while his descendents, the Tharus, who are in majority in the mid-western districts, live a life of misery, poverty, illiteracy and landlessness, according to the book. Their land was confiscated after the promulgation of Muluki Ain (Civil Code), the writer claims.

As a Tharu, Singh argues that the popular emperor of India – Ashoka the Great, also belongs to the same tribal group.

Sthavirs, meaning monk or the Buddha, ruled the whole of Terai during the lifespan of Buddha. “The Tharus are therefore the Buddha’s people,” writes Singh.

According to him, the Tharus indigenous people and are the descendants of the Sakyas and the Koliyas, the tow branches of the descendents of Okaka and Okamukha, the kings of Banaras of Ikshwaku dynasty.

Successive invasions by the Rajput kings and other Hindu groups eroded the influence of Buddhism and of the Tharus, the book states. Later, when these Buddha people were denied place in Hindu tradition, they were declared an outcast community.

The marriage patterns, social and cultural system and the ornaments that Tharus wear today match with the position, stature and living style of Buddha and his wife as depicted in the pictures or statues related to Buddhism. Singh points out that various rites that were observed by different clans of the Buddha are still preserved by the Tharus.