Amo chu And Her Ecosystem (Doyas in Focus)

Starting off from the glaciers and glacial lakes are numerous streams and rivers that wind down terrain Himalayas through the foothills into Indian plains, Amo chhu is one of the five glacial fed major river systems of Bhutan lying to the south-west of the country. The river swiftly flows down from Chumbi valley through Haa and Samtse into the Brahmaputra touching the lives and living beings, forming a unique ecosystem throughout its course.

Map of Bhutan showing five major river system and lhop land

Between the deeply interlocked landscapes just before the river drains into adjacent Indian plain is the mysteriously misty land of Lhops (lhop literally means southerners a term mainly used by Tibetans in her reference of Bhutan as lho Mon/Lho yul and people as Lhop: considered to be the early inhabitants). Living in the catchment area, I came to understand that lhops have lived, inhabited and evolved as an important element of Amo Chhu ecosystem. Their songs, verses and folktales give us glimpses of their past, myths and mythology. These people resided in the area and depended mostly on fish, wild fruits, wild vegetables and wild animals. They are mostly non-vegetarian and depended on wilds for almost everything and nature in turn provided their needs favorably, that could be one reason that kept them so close to their culture and traditions and helped preserved it through the time.   

They believe that once the whole region around Amo Chu valley was their home stretching far and wide. It’s said that the lhops apparently lived as far as the Bara-Tendu to the west bordering Indian state of Sikkim but probably a deadly epidemic or a war in the neighborhood reduced the population to the present size. Presently there are some 180 households inhabiting six villages namely Sanglung, Satakha, lothu, Kuchu, taba, and Ramtoe. There are so many hypothetical stories and reasoning on drastic decline in population and burial of lhop tribe in the folds of mountain on sloppy banks of Torsa River. 

Namgay Tashi, a good friend of mine who formerly worked with the election commission of Bhutan has toured and learnt a lot about lhop and their culture during voter education program back in 2007. He told me that he could identify a Lhop individual out of millions anywhere in the world during our usual bed time conversation back in Samtse College of education, I took it a big joke back then and the subject did not interest me much, now that I am amongst them and noticing alikeness in every lhops fascinate me, it took me to different sources to build up a concrete basis to uncover the reasons behind such biological alikeness and genetic connections.

One side of the story says a devastating war occurred between the lhops dwelling to the north of foothills and residents of plains (Indian) on the other side of the foothills, it’s said a group of them went into hideaway place and the war almost destroyed the whole of the tribe. The group that went out hiding came out and inhabited the present area during the post war era, so they say the population grew out of this small group and therefore genetically related. Other story says once the entire lhop population was believed to have disappeared due to deadly epidemic. Only a pair of cousins had survived, a boy and a girl. In course of time they grew into adults. There were no one around and knew nothing of reproduction. One day they saw two grasshoppers stuck together (mating) and in next few days saw many young grasshoppers hopping around. The boy and the girl realized that if they did what the grasshoppers did they would have younger ones and would no longer be lonely. They did what they thought should be done and so came the revival of their tribe with reproduction. While other source unfolds a similar story of devastating war that destroyed the tribe but believed to be amongst themselves and not with their counter parts on the other end of the foothills. 

 

 

you can clearly see the similarity in each of them, starting from face cut to height and build up

Here are some more pictures I captured during a short trip to the place recently to prove that they originated from one family 

It’s very hard to conclude with any of these theories as they lack authentic and chronological presentation. No written documents of the time had been found and nothing is known of the existence of writings or paintings till date but their oral traditions and belief notes that writing culture existed long before outbreak of war/epidemic. They belief the cave beneath the waterfall on the other side of the river houses all their ancient documents and belongings and is said to be the palace of their king. It’s also assumed that no lhops are ever allowed to cross that place as it’s believed to be an ancestral demarcation and thus nothing is retrieved to date.

 The LHOP king was believed to have resided there beneath the waterfall and LHOPS believe their scrip is still there

Lastly as I think deeper and learn more about Lhops, my appreciations for them grows by the days. These people are really conservative and put their culture above anything else, they are shy, simple and modest with lots of dedications to our King, Country and People, and one best quality they were brought up with is not being in sphere of consumerism, they are one hardworking people relying greatly on what they produce…

Note: This is just a glimpse of their lives uncovered through limited sources, so your kind suggestions and add up will be of great help…