// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did chaud say to froid? "You're always cold to me.
Chaudans | |
|---|---|
Region | |
  Chaudans Location in Uttarakhand | |
| Coordinates: 30°03′N 80°39′E / 30.05°N 80.65°E | |
| Country |  India |
| State | Uttarakhand |
| District | Pithoragarh |
| Tehsil | Dharchula |
| Area | |
• Total | 259 km2 (100 sq mi) |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Hindi |
| • Local | Chaudansi |
Chaudans (also Chaudas) is a historical and geographic region in the Kumaon division of Uttarakhand, India. It was a patti (sub-division) of the old parganah Darma in the Pithoragarh district, situated between the Kali and the Dhauli rivers from their confluence northwards, till the pass of Nirpaniya Dhura.[1][2] Chaudans lies between Darma to the west and Byans to the north-east, and together with them forms the parganah of Darma.[2]
The inhabitants are Bhotiyas who, along with the people of Byans and Darma, identify themselves as Rang (or Rung).[3] They speak Chaudansi, a West Himalayish language.[4]
Geography
[edit]Chaudans is approximately twelve miles long and eight miles broad, containing about 100 square miles of mountainous country between Khela and Nirpaniya Dhura.[1] The region comprises the tract on the left bank of the Dhauli river from opposite Baunling to its confluence with the Kali, and the tract along the southern and eastern extremities of the chain containing the peak of Yirgnajang, to the bank of the Kali.[2]
To the north-east, the Nirpaniya Dhura ridge marks the boundary between Chaudans and Byans.[2]
Historic route through Chaudans
[edit]The main road from Dharchula to Byans traverses Chaudans. Prior to the construction of a motorable road, travellers would pass by the village of Sosa, then to Bungbung, crossing the Roling pass (Rholing Dhura), which was historically thickly clothed with forests of horse chestnut that attained a great size.[2] From there the road continued to Galagar, less than two miles distant. Near Galagar the Nirpaniya Dhura would be passed, to the east of which glimpses of the snowy ridges called Namjung and Lingaru could be obtained.[2]
The Nirpaniya Dhura pass — so called from the absence of water (nir = without, pani = water) — winds for about three miles along the side of precipices. Lieutenant Henry Strachey, who crossed it in 1846, recorded the ascent as steep with narrow steps, precipitous above the Kali.[5] By 1911, the Public Works Department had improved the track, though it remained far from easy or safe.[2]
Strachey recorded the village of Titila at an elevation of approximately 8,000 feet (2,400 m), noting a complete change of climate and botany from the lower Kali valley — rice cultivation disappears entirely at this altitude.[5] The summit of the Roling pass was estimated at approximately 10,000 feet (3,000 m).[5]
Agriculture and forests
[edit]Chaudans, along with Talla (lower) Darma, was described in the 1911 gazetteer as the only part of parganah Darma where agriculture was a serious pursuit. Two crops were regularly grown, and the wheat and barley produced in the rabi season at elevations between 7,000 to 8,000 feet (2,100 to 2,400 m) were of excellent quality, though they ripened very late. The mountains in Chaudans were terraced for cultivation up to 9,000 feet (2,700 m).[2]
Chaudans also contained some of the finest forests in the district, both for beauty and extent, composed mainly of oak and chestnut with many kinds of fir, birch and box. This contrasted sharply with Byans, where the only tree was birch in small quantities, and Malla (upper) Darma, where even birch had disappeared.[2]
Villages
[edit]At the time of the 1872 settlement, the Chaudans patti had a population of 780 people, paying a revenue of Rs. 210 per annum. The total assessable area was 616 bitta, of which 442 were cultivated. The patwari usually resided at Sosa, and there was a school at Sirdang.[1]
The 1882 gazetteer listed the following villages: Bunglung, Jyunti, Bung, Pangla, Chhalma-Chhilasaun, Pinala Bhatkot, Suwa, Tantagaon-Raunta, Sosa, Dharpango, Sirdang, and Sirkha.[1]
A modern survey by Ethnologue lists the following settlements where Chaudansi is spoken: Panggu, Rongto, Rimzim, Waiku, Monggong, Chilla, Song, Sosa, Sirdang, Sirkha, Rung, Zipti, Gala, Tangkul, and Syang Khola.[6]
The 1911 gazetteer recorded 1,485 speakers of Chaudansi in the patti.[4]
History and People
[edit]The people of Chaudans, together with those of Byans and Malla Darma, are Bhotias. The 1911 gazetteer described them as less Hinduised than those who inhabited the Johar pargana. One legend — which they "indignantly repudiate" — assigned their origin to a band of Tatars from Timur's army.[7]
The Bhotias of Chaudans subsisted on the trade they carried on between Tibet and the plains. They were considered better off than the Joharis in that their passes were easier to traverse and their climate did not compel them to evacuate their villages in winter.[7]
The inhabitants of Chaudans, Byans and Darma collectively identify themselves as Rang in their own languages. Their homeland has been politically divided between Nepal and India for nearly two centuries, but the Rang have maintained their socio-cultural unity across the international border.[3]
Also historically domiciled in Chaudans was a colony of Tibetans of the Khampa tribe at Khimling.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 Atkinson, Edwin Thomas (1882). The Himalayan Gazetteer, Volume III, Part I. Cosmo Publications. p. 171.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Walton, H. G., ed. (1911). Almora: A Gazetteer. District Gazetteers of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. Vol. 35. Government Press, United Provinces. pp. 227–229.
- 1 2 Nawa, Katsuo (2023). "Coping with Discourses on Minority Populations among the Rang of Far Western Nepal: Nation, Scheduled Tribe, Janajāti, and Indigeneity". International Quarterly for Asian Studies. 54 (3): 237–257.
- 1 2 Walton, H. G., ed. (1911). Almora: A Gazetteer. District Gazetteers of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. Vol. 35. Government Press, United Provinces. p. 98.
- 1 2 3 Strachey, H. (1848). "Narrative of a Journey to Cho Lagan (Rakas Tal), Cho Mapan (Manasarowar), and the valley of Pruang in Gnari, Hundes". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 17: 98–120, 127–182, 327–351.
- ↑ "Chaudangsi". Ethnologue (18th ed.). Retrieved 21 July 2026.
- 1 2 Walton, H. G., ed. (1911). Almora: A Gazetteer. District Gazetteers of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. Vol. 35. Government Press, United Provinces. pp. 228–229.