Bhotia

Bhotia

 

a term encompassing several Tibetan-language groups of people of the Himalaya Mountains. The Bhotia live mainly in Sikkim and Nepal, as well as in Ladakh (Kashmir) and several other regions of India. They number about 800,000, but precise data are lacking. Groups of Bhotia are separated by almost impassable mountains, and they speak in different dialects. Most Bhotias are Buddhists, but in India some are Hindus. Their primary occupations are livestock raising (sheep, goats, yaks) and caravan trade.

REFERENCE

Narody Iuzhnoi Azii. Moscow, 1963.