Limbu clans and tribes
The Limbu nation is made up of hundreds of clans. Each Limbu clans are classified under their Tribe or subnational entity or according to their place of origin. Some of the Tribes are Aakwajungo/Awajung, Phombo, Singthaba, Kurumbang, Kedem, Khajum, Nalbo, Huukpa, Samba etc. Almost all the Limbu clan names are unique, therefore it is not necessary to specify the Tribe or the place of origin every time the clan name is said. Although, some of the clan names may not be unique for example: Chongbang or Maden. They are divided by listing their tribe name before or after their clan. Chongbang can be Sering-Chongbang or Huuppa-Chongbang or Tilling-Chongbang, similarly Maden clan can be specifically Tilling-Maden or Thokleng-Maden or Tunglung-Maden or Phendua-Maden. Listed Chaobisia, Mawakhola, Tambarkhola, Charkhola, Maiwakhola, Panthar, Tinkhola, Phedap and Yangrok are the names of the places where the respective clans belong to. Chaobisia refers to present day Dhankuta and Morang districts, Tambarkhola area is in present-day Taplejung district, Mewakhola area refers to present day Taplejung and Sankhuwasabha districts, Charkhola is a present-day Ilam and Jhapa districts, Maiwakhola area is in present-day Taplejung district, Tinkhola is in Panchthar district, Panthar is Panchthar district, Phedap is the north-central area of Terhathum district, Athraya is in northeastern Terhathum district, Chethar is in southern Terhathum, Sankhuwasabha and eastern Dhankuta district. Yangrok area is in present-day Southeast Taplejung, Northeast Panchthar districts and west Sikkim. All of these areas make up Limbuwan.
Nationality and the name
Before the unification of Limbuwan with Gorkha, the Term Limbu did not stand as Jaat or Varna of Hindu system, but Limbu meant anyone living in the Limbuwan's domain. After the Unification of Limbuwan and Gorkha, the Gorkhali King and Khas-Brahmin immigrants classified all those living in Limbuwan as Limbus and ranked them as one of the "Namasine Matwali Jaat".
The term "Subba" is not a clan name of a Limbu nationality, Subba is a title given by the Shah Kings to Limbu village chiefs. Subba is not an indigenous Limbu terminology, but now Limbu and Subba are almost interchangeable terms.
The term "Yakthumba or Yakthungba" is also not a clan name. Limbus call themselves Yakthumba in their own language and thus it is an endonym of term Limbu.
The clan names have terms attached to it as well, Libang means the Archer, Tilling means the Police, Menyangbo means the unsuccessful one, Samba means the priest, etc. However, clans also have meanings which evolved from sentences e.g. Hembya was according to legend, evolved from "Hey' nangh wa" which translates to "Over there also". However, on original verbal dialect, 'Hembya' would be pronounced as "Hem-phe". This name was previously used to identify Thebe's next clan who settled in a different territory.
Clans and marriages
To Limbus, genealogy is very important before conducting marriages. Limbus don't marry within their own clan and not into their mother's clan or their grandmothers' clan. Some Traditional and cultural Limbus with strong background, avoid marriages into clans from which they derive their blood, up to seven generations in their father's line and up to five generations in their mother's line. That means Marriages into great-great-great grandmothers' clans are also avoided.
A person of Sering-Chongbang clan can marry a person of Phago-Chongbang or Kajum-Chongbang clan but not of Sering-Chongbang clan, this is because all the members of Sering-Chongbang are descended from the same male ancestor and considered related by bone and blood.
The following are the list of Limbu clans.
List of Limbu clans
A
Awajungo/Akwajungo/Awajung |
B
C
|
|
D
E
G
H
|
Hangbang
I
J
K
Kyadapa |
L
|
M
|
N
O
|
P
|
S
|
T
|
U
|
W
Y
|
See also
- Limbu people
- Limbu language
- Limbu script
- Limbuwan Gorkha War history
- Rambahadur Limbu
- Limbuwan
- Sikkim
- Limbuwan-Gorkha Treaty of 1774
- Limbuwan Autonomy
- Limbu Festivals