Marchas The Marchas are a community of Mongoloid origin inhabiting the cold and dry tracts of upper Chamoli, also called the Painkhanda tract, which has its borders with Tibet and Uttarkashi and Pithoragarh districts. The Marchas are related to the Bhotias of Chamoli and Pithoragarh.

Garhwali children Credit: Raj Shirole

This community inhabits the Mana and Niti tracts. The Mana Valley lies in the hinterland of Badrinath. Mana, the last village on the Indian side of the border with Tibet, is the largest settlement of the Marchas. Their houses are made of stones and roofs of slates resting on wooden members. The Mana Pass, which is situated further ahead, was used in the past by the Marchas to cross over into Tibet for trade. It is one of the most difficult passes in the region.

The Niti Valley is situated to the east of the Mana Valley. Niti, located at an elevation of 3,600 m, is the most important village of the valley. To the north of this village is the Niti Pass (5,800 m) leading to southern Tibet. There are also a number of smaller villages in both the Mana and Niti valleys. These two valleys are almost exclusively inhabited by Marchas, though some non-Marcha inhabitants known as Duryals in the Mana valley and Tolchas in the Niti valley -- a mixed race -- are also present.

Traditions and Culture
The Marchas live in an extremely inhospitable environment, particularly in winter when the cold weather forces them to migrate to the lower areas, thereby completely deserting their villages for 3 to 4 months.

This community is believed to be of Mongoloid origin. Their ancestors possibly migrated to these valleys from Tibet in search of warmer places to settle down. They continued to trade with the Tibetans till the war with China in 1962.

The trans-border trade flourished before 1962. Each year, a number of caravans consisting of mules and yaks laden with Indian goods made their way into Tibet across the high passes as soon as the snow melted. Only the sturdy menfolk went with these caravans as the journey was too arduous for the weak. The caravans traveled for several days before reaching the Tibetan trading centers where these goods were sold and Tibetan merchandise such as wool and salt brought back to be sold in the village and town markets of the border areas of India. They crossed back into India over the passes before the first snowfall of the season in October.

This trade formed an important source of income for the Marchas till 1962. Thereafter these trader families took to either shopkeeping or trade in traditional Marcha goods such as wool which has a lucrative market in the plains of India.

The Marchas are also shepherds by tradition. The harsh conditions in which they live are not conducive to agriculture and hence these people rear sheep and goats. The shepherd families lead a semi-nomadic life. Their animals graze on the rich high altitude pastures in summer and move down to the shelter of the valleys in winter. They sell wool, meat and milk to earn their living.

Marchas prefer to marry within their own community though in recent times inter-community marriages are common.

The main sources of livelihood for the Marchas are animal husbandry, agriculture and allied occupations, trade and business, and unskilled and semi-skilled labor.