Munsiyari – The final destination

This article is about the location of Munsiyari, about its resident population – the Bhotias. The past and the current occupation of the Bhotias

Location of Munsiyari

At the threshold of inner Himalayas, looking down on the Gori river gorge with deep valleys branching up into the high mountains, touching Tibet – the roof of the earth – in the north, and bordering Nepal in the east lies Munsiyari at an altitude of around 2290 meters.

Rivers and Regions of Munsiyari Tehsil

The three main rivers of Munsiyari tehsil are River Gori, River Namik and River Ralam. These rivers flow in the valleys named after them and draw water from the high mountain ranges that encircle and characterize the area of these three valleys.

The Gori Ganga valley is also known as the Johar valley. It is the central and major valley with extensive glacial headwaters.

Ralam valley is an eastern tributary of the Gori Ganga valley while Namik valley lies to the south-west with lesser glacial origins.

Johar Region and its further sub-divisions

Munsiyari is gateway to the Johar region and baseway for trekking to Milam, Namik and Ralam glaciers. Johar valley can be further sub-divided into three regions – Malla Johar, Talla Johar and Goriphat.

Malla Johar

Malla Johar refers to the upper section of the Johar valley. It has wide grassland slopes and terraces. These beautiful high altitude meadows, the extensive pasture land, found at heights of over approximately 2700 meters are known as Bugyals.

Bugyals of Malla Johar

These flat lands with rising and falling slopes are mostly carpeted in a patchwork of green and floral pattern.

Some of these Bugyals are green lawn of different hues, fringed with clusters of dense conifers and some of them are covered with different kind of flowers that bloom throughout the year.

Generally, the snow-capped mountains stand-in bold reliefs against the skyline of these Bugyals but sometimes Bugyals are so high that they even dwarf the mountains.

Talla Johar

Talla Johar refers to the lower Johar that includes Munsiyari, Madkot and Seragaht. The steeper forested slopes of Talla Johar are separated from the wide grassland slopes and terraces of Malla Johar by a deep 35 Km narrow gorge created by the River Gori.

Goriphat

Goriphat is at the confluence of the two rivers named after the two extreme incarnations of Maa Parvati, the River Gori and the River Kaali. Kaali Ganga or the River Sharda flows from the Nepal border.

Interestingly, at several places this river determines and demarcate the international boundaries between India and Nepal.

The Bhotias

Munsiyari is the name given to some twenty thirty villages on the bank of river Gori. Before tourism spread its wings and reached the farthest region of Kumaon these villages were exclusively inhabited by the Bhotias.

Origin

The term Bhotia comes from the native Tibetan word for Tibet, “Bo”, and refers to the people living in the Bhot or Bod region of Himalayas that includes Tibet and the northern most part of Uttranchal.

They have Mongoloid features and are believed to be the descendents of Kinnaurs and Rajkirats who lived in this region since the Vedic period. They are well-known for their industriousness, spirit of adventure and courage to face hardships.

Occupation of the Bhotias

Only thirty percent of Bhotia had agriculture as their original occupation. The rest seventy percent are of Shauka tribe who used to do business with Tibet till 1962.

Bhotias were once the most prosperous community of this region as they had an exclusive control over the trade link between India and Tibet.

Malla-Johar the summer retreat of the Bhotias

At that time with the arrival of spring the whole population of Johar valley used to migrate to their summer settlements of twelve high villages of Malla Johar.

Trade link between the Bhotias and the Tibetans

The trade activity required frequent travels through the trail connecting Kumaon to the Western Tibet, which passed through the fragile terrain of the Kumaon hills, round the year and consequently Bhotias had a semi-nomadic pattern of life.

Each Bhotia trader had a special correspondent in Tibet with whom the trade transaction used to take place. Over the years that correspondence turned into strong bonds of friendship. Those links were so strong that it was impossible to break Bhotia monopoly in that trade.

Munsiyari – the winter retreat of the Bhotias

The higher reaches of these valleys remain wholly covered with snow for nearly six months in a year. The severity of winter combined with heavy snow fall makes it impossible to live there and hence during these months, Bhotias move southwards to their winter homes in warmer places. Munsyari was their winter retreat.

Impact of Chinese Occupation on Bhotia traders

The fortune of Bhotias changed drastically with the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959 and the subsequent Indo-China war in 1962. The Indo-Tibetan border was sealed and the Trans-Himalayan trade came to a grinding halt.

As that trade was the sole source of income for majority of the Bhotias, it created extremely harsh conditions for them. Government of India realized their misfortune and granted them the status of Scheduled tribes.

Though the trade with Tibet had been brought to an end long ago, still there are some villages where the whole population migrates to Malla Johar in summers.

Current source of Livelihood of the Bhotias

For most of them the major source of livelihood is wool-based cottage industry, but with strong government initiative some of them have also adopted agriculture and horticulture as their prime occupation.

The above description was for information, and the coordinate hungry readers.

Read more about the history, culture and traditions of the Bhotias here

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