The People

Historically the Kulung Rai are considered to be part of one of the two main subdivisions of the indigenous Kirati people (Rai and Limbu). The Kirati people are known for their fierce bravery, their quick tempers, and their penchant for home brewed alcohols. Although recent recruitment has declined, since the 19th century the British, Indian and Royal Nepalese armies have employed young Rai villagers as Gorkha soldiers famed for their Khukuri (curved blade) knives -- the same knives worn by nearly every male Rai villager of age.

When Nepal opened its doors to foreign visitors in the 1950s, not only did an eventual flood of tourists arrive searching for their own personal Shangri-La, development agencies came on a mission to build their own visions of Shangri-La. The impact on Nepal as a whole has been remarkable, not always positive, but undeniably substantial. Construction of transportation infrastructure, the East-West highway, schools, health clinics, telecommunications and industry has been most felt in areas where political power has been concentrated: Kathmandu, the central districts, and those bordering the plains of India. Remote and often hilly northern districts, including where Benchong is, have seen much less “progress” in the areas of development listed above.

The history of the Rai is one mostly written by outsiders. Illiteracy is rampant throughout Nepal -- but especially in the remote, underdeveloped areas where the Rai have traditionally settled. This project itself is another “outside” effort to record the living history of a people who maintain mostly oral traditions. Few texts tell how the Rai came to settle in eastern Nepal and how they relate to the other clans and ethnic groups. Even the legends of their own heroes and villains are complicated by differences in the tales told by the elders from village to village.

While the origin of the name of the village, Benchong, is unclear, some villagers have said that it comes from the Rai word ben , meaning “finished” or “completely used up.” Legend has it that there was once a great battle in the area between warring tribes, and everything was destroyed and everyone was killed, or “finished” – ben. No one can say how old the village is, but estimates from villagers ranged to 300 years or more. Benchong has always been a majority Khulung Rai village, with only a few “immigrant” Hindu families of the Kami, or blacksmith, caste living among them. Traditionally Kami families have settled with the Rai, using their skills for income, while farming the cheaper lands that would not be available to them in the high caste Brahmin and Chetri communities at lower elevations.