Migration, adaptation and socio-cultural change: The case of Thakalis in Pokhara, Nepal

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the adaptation, cultural continuity and change among the in-migrant Thakalis in Pokhara, Nepal. The Thakali community has attracted considerable attention, but a study dealing specifically with adaptation and change among the migrant Thakali groups in various parts of Nepal is lacking. Migration is not a new phenomenon for Thakalis and in the past, most of them were involved in a process that might be characterised as cyclic or circulatory migration. This was sufficient to bring them into contact with other  communities in the lowland villages, towns and cities of Nepal and thereby initiate among them a process of social and cultural change and adaptation.