Limbu Clans and Tribes - Nationality and The Name

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 indegenous 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 its 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.

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