THE BHOTIAS OF ALMORA AND BRITISH GARHWAL. 95 



Jethoras. 



The name Jethora derived from Jeth, or elder brother, is given to those Bhotias 

 who are popularly supposed to be the descendants of the first Bhotia settlers in Johar. 

 They are to be found in the villages of Goriphat, Talla Johar and Malla Danpur, Almora 

 district, and their subdivisions are named after the names of the villages in which they 

 live. Thus we have Papra, Chilkola, Ringwal, Bothyal and Golphal, who are supposed 

 to have come originally from Doti in Nepal. Then there are Namkival, Tangyal, Jai- 

 myal, Pachhain, and Tomkyal, whose original habitat is unknown. The Joshyals claim 

 Jhusi near Allahabad as their original source, and the Barniyas admit a Tibetan origin. 

 The Papras and Barniyas are considered Vaishyas. 



The remarkable point with reference to the Jethoras is, that they do not trade with 

 Tibet, and in fact are not traders like the ordinary Bhotias. They subsist by cultivating 

 the soil like the zemindars in the neighbouring pattis, and never even visit Tibet. They 

 are a stationary people, who cling to their homes and are rarely seen away from their 

 villages in other parts of the district, and in this respect they contrast strongly with the 

 other Bhotias who live a migratory life, and whose principal object is trade with Tibet, 

 which they visit several times a year and whence they carry merchandise to the foot of 

 the hills. 



The Jethoras have a very good opinion of themselves and put forward claims to 

 superiority. They allege that in ancient times they held the Johar patti on a contract from 

 the ruling prince, to whom they paid a nominal sum. But this claim to superiority is not 

 admitted by the other Bhotias, none of whom, whether from Johar or Darma, will marry 

 with them, or even eat with them. The Jethoras are quite agreeable to eating kachcha 

 and pukka from the hands of all other Bhotias. They are becoming rapidly Hinduized, 

 but have not yet adopted all the Hindu customs : for instance, they do not remove their 

 clothes when eating rice and dal, and they do not wear the sacred thread. They generally 

 speak of themselves as Rajputs. The gods of their worship are those of the ordinary Hindu 

 religion such as Durga, Debi, Mahadeo. They also worship the mountain Panchachuli 

 and Goril and Maheswar. 



While speaing of inferior Bhotias it is to be noted that the term Kunkiya is generally 

 applied to such. Originally the Kunkiyas were slaves, who had received their freedom , 

 but now the word is applied to a Hindu who marries the daughter of a Bhotia, and to his 

 offspring, and finally to any Bhotia, who has gone down in the world, i.e., has fallen from 

 riches to poverty. They are considered to be Rajputs, but of a very inferior type, and 

 other Bhotias, including the Jethoras, refuse to marry with them or eat with them. 



Marchas and Tolchas. 



In Garhwal there are only Marchas and Tolchas, who freely intermarry amongst them- 

 selves and accept the daughters of the neighbouring hillmen who are not Bhotias, although 

 the latter will not take the daughters of these Bhotias in marraige, and the alliance is 

 considered one of patronage. Outside Garhwal, Marchas and Tolchas are to be found in 

 Johar of the Almora District. Here Tolchas and Marchas marry amongst themselves, 



