Bhutanese people are peaceful, good- natured, affable and fun – loving. In Bhutan you will find nineteen languages spoken by the people. The people are broadly described as the Ngalongs in the western and central regions. The first record of people settling in Bhutan is from some 1,400 years ago. The indigenous people of Bhutan are called Drukpa( the dragon people) and they comprise of three main subgroups – Sharchops, Ngalops and Lhotsampas. Drukpa people are of Mongoloid origin, they live in far flung villages, mainly breed cattle and cultivate land.
The sharchops are the oldest settlers in Bhutan, and inhabit the eastern region. Their origin can be traced to tribes form Burma and the north of India.
The Ngalops are of Tibetan origin and migrated into Bhutan, brining with them Buddhism, and a Tibetan form of art, culture and language. These people live in the northern regions, they are predominantly nomadic people, herding yaks and living in tents. They also have stone house to live in during the harsh winter season. They rely heavily on yaks wool, milk and butter. They mainly eat yak meat and barley.
The Lhotsmapas people are of Nepalese origin and they inhabit the southern plains. They are a farming people and came to Bhutan in the early 20th century. The brought with them the Hindu religion, though unlike in Nepal, Hindu and Buddhism does not mingle in Bhutan, it is kept separate. The Bhutanese government pressures these people to adopt the native dress and language of the country.
Or though each sub group speaks a different language, the official language spoken in Bhutan is called Dzongkha. Because Bhutan is an isolated and geographically rugged country, many of the villages are cut off from each other and have formed their own dialect of the language.
Bhutan is rare in the sense that for an Asian country, its men and women have equal rights and respect each other the same. Also all the population has equal rights to education and employment opportunities regardless of social rank. The people of Bhutan have a great sense of unity which in this day and age is very rare, this contributes to there overall sense of well being and national pride.
Bhutanese are very traditional people and the strive hard to maintain this. The women traditionally wear a Kira, which is made of colorful and finely woven fabric. Its is a loose fitting ankle length dress. The women also wear necklaces and jewellery fashioned from coral, pearls, turquoise and other stones. The men wear a Gho which is a woven long robe tied around the waist with a single cord. |
