Bhutia - Bhutia in Sikkim

A Buddhist mountain people in the Himalayas, followers of the Dalai Lama. They speak a Tibetan dialect, and probably came from Tibet in the 9th-c. They practise terrace farming on mountains, and some breed cattle and yaks. The largest population group is in Bhutan (500 000); others live in Sikkim, Nepal, and elsewhere in India.

The Bhutias are people of Tibetan origin, who migrated to Sikkim, other parts of India and Bhutan some time after the 15th century. In Northern Sikkim for example, where the Bhutias are the majority inhabitants, they are known as the Lachenpas or Lachungpas, meaning inhabitants of Lachen or Lachung respectively. Similarly, the Bhutias of Sikkim as a whole can be denoted as Denzongpa, or inhabitants of Denzong, the Tibetan name for Sikkim.

The language spoken by the Bhutias is Sikkimese, which is 65% intelligible with either Tibetan or Dzongkha, the language of Bhutan, although in recent times Nepali is more widely spoken. Most Bhutias practice the Nyingmapa form of Tibetan Buddhism.

Bhutia is also often used as a derogatory term, used by people of Nepali heritage to describe people of Tibetan heritage.

Bhutia in Sikkim

The Bhutia aristocrats were called Kazis after similar land lord titles in neighboring India especially during the waning days of the Mughal period. Among the Bhutias, the Lachenpas and Lachungpas have their own traditional legal system called the “Dzumsa” which means the meeting place of the people The Dzumsa is headed by the village headman known as the Pipon.

The traditional outfit of Bhutias is called Bakhu which is a loose cloak type garment that is fastened at the neck on one side and near the waist with a silk/cotton belt. The Bhutias, both women and men have a special weakness for gold in its purest form and, traditional jewellery is mostly made of 24 carats (100%) gold . A Bhutia house called a "Khim", is usually rectangular in shape.

In Sikkim, the Bhutias are mostly employed in the Government Sector, in agriculture, and increasingly in the business arena as well. Bhutias are traditionally rice eaters with animal fat fried vegetables or meat usually pork, and beef, and occasionally mutton or chicken.

Chyang is the favourite drink of the Bhutias, and increasingly of other communities coexisting with the Bhutias as well. Famous people of the Bhutia tribe are bollywood star Danny Denzongpa and Indian football captain Baichung Bhutia.

Bhutias practise intermarriage within their clans and follow a very hierarchical system of bride and groom selection.

The ruling dynasty in Sikkim before the mid 1970s annexation by India, was a Bhutia and from the Namgyal dynasty.

Some of the famous Bhutias around are Danny Denzongpa (means ethnic sikkimese aka bhutia) and Bhaichung Bhutia.