This special group of people, Dammam people, live in the residential area planned by the government for them. The house they live in is no different from the local Tibetans, but they can clearly tell which one is Dammam and which one is Tibetan, because every household in Dammam hangs a five-star red flag outside the house.
When you meet Dammam, you will find that this is indeed a special ethnic group. Their skin is brown, their eyes are blue, and their noses are big and deep. They are closer to Indian whites than Tibetans. But they can speak fluent Chinese and Tibetan as soon as they open their mouths, and their costumes and eating habits are also Tibetan.
So, where did the Dammam people come from? Why did it take root in China? What's the point of hanging a five-star red flag?
Dammam people may not be familiar to many people, but they will definitely have an impression on Gurkha people. Gurkhas are considered as one of the militant peoples. When they fought back against India, they took part in the war and were defeated by the People's Liberation Army. Due to the harsh natural environment, most Gurkhas make a living as soldiers, forming a world-renowned mercenary group. The Gurkha machete in their hands is known as one of the top ten famous knives in the world, which is frightening.
The history of Gurkha can be traced back to the Qing Dynasty. 1768, the gurkhas were dissatisfied with Indian rule, launched armed riots, left India, and established the Shah dynasty in Nepal. After conquering the whole Nepalese territory, Gurkhas began to expand Zhang Zhilu, attack Kashmir to the west, invade India to the south, and invade China to the north and east. They used the ancient Geelong Road to harass Tibet twice in a row, burning, killing and looting.
At that time, during the Qianlong period, in order to stabilize the frontier, Fu Kang 'an, a famous Qianlong faction, led troops into Tibet to quell the chaos. Fu Kangan is indeed the first place. With the cooperation of local Tibetans, he defeated the Gurkha cavalry. Not only that, in order to eliminate the future trouble forever, he directly killed the capital of the Shah dynasty and almost destroyed it. When Sand King saw this, he surrendered immediately, and personally went to Beijing to apologize, promising never to invade the frontier and become a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty.
At this point, the war between the two countries came to an end, but the impact did not end there. When the Gurkhas invaded Tibet, they sent a number of cavalry units, most of which were wiped out by the Qing army, and some survived, ready to return to Nepal after the war between the two countries. However, due to the high mountains, steep terrain and no guide in Tibetan areas, this group of Gurkha soldiers lost their way in the mountains.
In this way, Gurkha soldiers were trapped in the mountains for a year. During this period, they ate all the food, played game when they were hungry, and drank mountain spring water when they were thirsty. They died and were injured, and less than one tenth of them were intact. When they walked out of the mountain forest, they were exhausted and could not move. Fortunately, the Tibetans in Jilonggou extended a helping hand, gave them food and shelter, and arranged for them to do odd jobs and graze. In order to show that they were harmless, Gurkha soldiers threw away their weapons and horses, lived in Jilonggou in seclusion, and settled in Jilonggou as refugees.
This Gurkha army, which stayed in China, thrived on the land of China and became the ancestor of Dammam people. In Tibetan, "Dammam" means cavalry, indicating that they have cavalry tradition and distinctive national characteristics.
Daman people have no fixed land, no cattle and sheep, no pasture, and their status is low, which most Tibetans are unwilling to accept. Tibetans believe that although they laid down their weapons, they were foreign soldiers who invaded Tibet after all. If they are defeated, they will still stay here. If only they had not been wiped out. Why should we provide them with a stable living environment? In this way, Tibetans and Dammam people are completely distinct and rarely contact, let alone get married. In desperation, Daman people had to build some ironware, exchange food and ghee with Tibetans for a living, and live a life of no fixed place.
By the end of19th century, with the British invasion, parts of China and Tibet were incorporated into the British colonial area in the Indian subcontinent, and the living conditions of Dammam people changed. Under British rule, they are "legal residents" who can share part of the land and graze and hunt. Seeing that the land that originally belonged to them was carved up by foreigners, the local Tibetans rejected the Dammam people even more. They never invite Dammam into the house, let alone have dinner with them. Due to the small ethnic population, the Manchu people have no power to compete with Tibetans, so they have to endure bullying silently, and the Qing Dynasty is declining, and it is even more impossible to shelter them.
For 200 years, Dammam people have neither China nationality nor Nepalese nationality, so they are really "black households". They live in a house built of stones. When the wind blows, they leak air and rain, and their life is very difficult. If you are unlucky and sick, it is basically difficult to survive.
195 1 When Tibet was liberated, Dammam people were still a group of homeless and helpless vagrants. At that time, ethnic identification was being carried out all over the country, and the identities of other ethnic minorities, except the Han nationality, would also be confirmed. Dammam people think they are an independent ethnic group and are eager for national recognition. However, Dammam people are too few and have no independent language, so they are finally excluded from 56 ethnic groups and continue to live a nameless life.
In order to survive, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, young women in Dammam left Ji Rong ditch one after another and got married, and some even married in Nepal. But Dammam men who shoulder the heavy responsibility of carrying on the family line are not so "lucky". They can only stay in Keelung Valley, relying on ironware, carpenters and grazing for Tibetans to maintain their basic livelihood. They are considered as "Gypsies of the East".
Daman people have a hard life, but they are convinced of their China identity. Especially with the rapid development of China, Jilonggou, located in the border of China, is full of high-rise buildings and prosperous. Nepalis living across the street live in simple bungalows, and their food, clothing, housing and transportation are not as good as those in Jilonggou. Although Dammam occasionally visits relatives in Nepal, they never stay in Nepal. When Nepalese point to their blue eyes and call themselves, Dammam will seriously correct each other's mistakes: "I am from China and I am from Tibet."
However, because they have lived in the border areas for many years and rarely go out, the outside world hardly knows the existence of Dammam people, let alone admit that they are China people. Therefore, Dammam people's repeated requests for citizenship in China were rejected for various reasons. It wasn't until 200 1 that things turned around.
In 200 1 year, Shigatse government officials visited their respective jurisdictions and accidentally found this group of Dammam people who looked like foreigners but spoke Tibetan fluently, so they quickly reported to their superiors that Dammam talents really entered the public's field of vision.
By 2003, after careful consideration, the state finally recognized the identity of Dammam, incorporated them into Tibetans, and applied for China citizenship for 84 Dammam people nationwide and issued resident identity cards. When this day came, Daman people were very happy. They finally ended their 200-year wandering life and ushered in a brand-new and beautiful day.
Sure enough, the country did not treat them badly. In 2005, a Dammam natural village with a total area of 4,000 square meters and 49 houses rose from the ground, and Dammam people could live for free. Not only that, they also got land, cattle and sheep, and had the soil to live on.
The good days of Dammam people continue. The government allocated hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide water and electricity for Dammam people, and distributed daily necessities such as mattresses and wooden cabinets free of charge. In addition, Daman people also received a number of subsidies, with village cadres receiving an annual subsidy of 3,500 yuan and low-income households receiving an annual subsidy of 1.400 yuan.
Daman people not only show their intentions to the motherland, but also put them into practice. Some low-income households took the initiative to find the government and applied to withdraw from the minimum living allowance, saying, "We have sound limbs and can still work. If we still blindly accept government subsidies, we will be ashamed! " At the same time, Daman people also cooperated with the government to set up the village as a tourist attraction and welcome people of all ethnic groups to visit Oman.
Everyone in Dammam is proud to be from China. When you walk into Dammam Village and look up, you will find the bright five-star red flag fluttering in the wind on the roofs of 49 Dammam families.