Gurung Ghaleg in Bhutan


Population
Main Language
Largest Religion
Christian
Evangelical
Progress
Progress Gauge
* Data can be from various sources including official census, agencies, and local research. Data from these sources can sometimes differ even by orders of magnitude. Joshua Project attempts to present a conservative, balanced estimate.

Introduction / History

The Gurung Ghaleg people live in the Kaski, Syangia and Parbat districts of the Gandaki Zone in central Nepal. Perhaps only half speak their original language and the rest speak Nepali as their first language.
Over the past two hundred years the Gurung have migrated into surrounding nations. There is a community of Gurung living in the Samtsi District of southwest Bhutan, where they are commonly labelled as Nepalis. In India, Gurung communities can be found in the hilly terrain of the South, West and East districts of the state of Sikkim, throughout the Darjeeling District of West Bengal, and around the city of Dehra Dun and throughout the Pithoragarh District in Uttar Pradesh. In India, the Gurung have not been recognized as a Scheduled Tribe. Consequently, population figures are not available for them, but they probably total a few thousand.
Gurung history is clouded with uncertainty because of their lack of a written script in the past. Legends were handed down orally from one generation to the next. We do know that, during the 15th century, a Gurung king named Ghale Raja was overthrown by a Nepali king. In the 16th century the Khasa armies took over large tracts of land in Nepal and the Gurung came under their control. The Gurung were highly regarded as fighters and many of them were enlisted in the Khasa's armies. Later, after the British took control of India, many Gurung men were enlisted as Gurkha soldiers in the British army. Thousands have served in places from Hong Kong to Bosnia and the Falkland Islands.


What Are Their Lives Like?

Many of the Gurung Ghaleg are serving in military forces. Others are engaged in agriculture.


What Are Their Beliefs?

Religion plays an important role in the everyday lives of Gurung Ghaleg people. Their belief system is a mixture of Buddhism, Hinduism and shamanism. As one researcher wrote, 'Buddhism is followed by the Gurung Ghaleg today although in ancient times they practiced the animistic and shamanistic form of religion like the pre-Buddhist Bon religion of the Himalayan regions. The northern areas of the kingdom are populated with people of mongoloid stock who are mostly followers of Tibetan Buddhism, and so these Gurungs can also be included within this category, though currently Hindu Gurungs have also emerged due to their contact with the Hindu lowlanders. '
The ceremonies and rituals that the Gurung Ghaleg perform also have mixed origins. One interesting custom, called tuno bandhane, takes place three days after the birth of a baby. 'This entails wrapping the newborn baby (after it has been washed in either cow's milk or cow's urine) in a long piece of cloth. '


What Are Their Needs?

Less than one out of every thousand Gurung Ghaleg people are Christians today. The Western Gurung New Testament was first published in 1982, but it has fallen out of print since because there is no demand for it.


Prayer Points

Pray for the gospel to reach Gurung Ghaleg households and villages soon.
Pray for Gurung Ghaleg family leaders to seek and find the only savior.
Pray for Gurung Ghaleg disciples to make more disciples.


Scripture Prayers for the Gurung Ghaleg in Bhutan.


References

Peoples of the Buddhist World, Asia Harvest, Copyrighted © Used with permission


Profile Source:   Joshua Project  

People Name General Gurung Ghaleg
People Name in Country Gurung Ghaleg
Alternate Names Birbangshi; Daduwa; Gurkhal; Gurum; Gurun; Kyi; Manang; Syangja; Tamu; Tamu Kyi; Western Gurung; गुरुंग
Population this Country 9,900
Population all Countries 747,000
Total Countries 4
Indigenous No
Progress Scale 1
Unreached Yes
Frontier People Group No
GSEC 1  (per PeopleGroups.org)
Pioneer Workers Needed 1
PeopleID3 15366
ROP3 Code 110781
Country Bhutan
Region Asia, South
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
Persecution Rank 36  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Total States on file 4
Largest States
Western
9,600
Central
200
Eastern
70
Southern
30
Country Bhutan
Region Asia, South
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
Persecution Rank 36  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Total States 4
  Western 9,600
  Central 200
  Eastern 70
  Southern 30
Website South Asia Peoples
Primary Religion: Buddhism
Major Religion Percent *
Buddhism
87.71 %
Christianity  (Evangelical Unknown)
3.87 %
Ethnic Religions
0.00 %
Hinduism
0.00 %
Islam
0.00 %
Non-Religious
0.00 %
Other / Small
0.11 %
Unknown
8.30 %
* From latest Bhutan census data.
Current Christian values may substantially differ.
Primary Language Nepali
Language Code npi   Ethnologue Listing
Language Written Yes   ScriptSource Listing
Total Languages 2
Secondary Languages
Gurung
Primary Language Nepali
Language Code npi   Ethnologue Listing
Total Languages 2
Secondary Languages
  Gurung
People Groups Speaking Nepali

Primary Language:  Nepali

Bible Translation Status  (Years)
Bible-Portions Yes  (1850-1961)
Bible-New Testament Yes  (1821-2010)
Bible-Complete Yes  (1914-2012)
FCBH NT (www.bible.is) Online
YouVersion NT (www.bible.com) Online
Possible Print Bibles
Amazon
World Bibles
Forum Bible Agencies
National Bible Societies
World Bible Finder
Virtual Storehouse
Resource Type Resource Name Source
Audio Recordings Audio Bible teaching Global Recordings Network
Audio Recordings Online Audio Scripture Talking Bibles
Audio Recordings Oral Bible stories Story Runners
Audio Recordings Story of Jesus audio Jesus Film Project
Film / Video God's Story video God's Story
Film / Video Jesus Film: view in Nepali Jesus Film Project
Film / Video LUMO film of Gospels Bible Media Group/LUMO
Film / Video Magdalena video Jesus Film Project
Film / Video My Last Day video, anime Jesus Film Project
Film / Video New Way (Naya Goreto) Create International
Film / Video Story of Jesus for Children Jesus Film Project
Film / Video The Hope Video Mars Hill Media
Film / Video World Christian Videos World Christian Videos
General Bible and Resources in text or audio or video Internet Publishing Sevice
General Bible for Children Bible for Children
General Bible in text or audio or video Internet Publishing Sevice
General Bible in text or audio or video South Asia Bibles
General Bible in text or audio or video South Asia Bibles
General Biblical answers to your questions Got Questions Ministry
General Faith Comes By Hearing - Bible in text or audio or video Faith Comes by Hearing
General Faith Comes By Hearing - Bible in text or audio or video Faith Comes by Hearing
General Faith Comes By Hearing - Bible in text or audio or video Faith Comes by Hearing
General Faith Comes By Hearing - Bible in text or audio or video Faith Comes by Hearing
General Scripture Earth Gospel resources links Scripture Earth
General YouVersion Bible versions in text and/or audio YouVersion Bibles
Photo Source Timothy Two Project International 
Map Source People Group data: Omid. Map geography: UNESCO / GMI. Map Design: Joshua Project.  
Profile Source Joshua Project 
Data Sources Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more.


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