terai

The Urdu word {{Nq|ترائی}} tarāʼī means "lands lying at the foot of a watershed" or "on the banks of a river; low ground flooded with water, valley, basin, marshy ground, marsh, swamp; meadow".{{cite book |author=Platts, J. T. |year= 1884 |chapter= ترائي तराई tarāʼī |page=316 |chapter-url=http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:3349.platts |title=A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English |publisher= W. H. Allen & Co. |location=London}} In Hindi, the region is called {{lang|sa|तराई}} 'tarāī' meaning "foot-hill".{{cite book |author=Bahri, H. |year=1989 |title=Learners' Sanskrit-English dictionary — Siksarthi Hindi-Angrejhi sabdakosa |chapter=tarāī तराई |page=280 |chapter-url=https://dsalsrv04.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/bahri_query.py?qs=%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%88 |publisher= Rajapala |location=Delhi}} In Nepali, the region is called {{lang|ne|तराइ}} 'tarāi' meaning "the low-lying land, plain" and especially "the low-lying land at the foot of the Himālayas".{{cite book |author=Turner, R. L. |year=1931 |chapter=तराइ tarāi |page=274 |chapter-url=https://dsalsrv04.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/turnernepali_query.py?qs=%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%87&searchhws=yes |title=A Comparative and Etymological Dictionary of the Nepali Language |publisher=K. Paul, Trench, Trubner |location=London}}{{cite book |last=Regmi|first=M. C. |author-link=Mahesh Chandra Regmi |title=Land tenure and taxation in Nepal |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=02YwAAAAMAAJ|year=1963 |location=Berkeley |publisher=Institute of International Studies, University of California |page=1}} It has been described as "low, marshy ground".{{cite book |last=Whelpton |first=J. |author-link=John Whelpton |title=A History of Nepal |year=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |isbn=978-0-521-80470-7 |chapter=Environment, state and society in the central Himalayas to 1743 |pages=6–34 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KoNT6tjk9mQC&pg=PA8}}

The Terai is crossed by the large perennial Himalayan rivers Yamuna, Ganges, Sarda, Karnali, Narayani and Kosi that have each built alluvial fans covering thousands of square kilometres below their exits from the hills. Medium rivers such as the Rapti rise in the Mahabharat Range. The geological structure of the region consists of old and new alluvium, both of which constitute alluvial deposits of mainly sand, clay, silt, gravels and coarse fragments. The new alluvium is renewed every year by fresh deposits brought down by active streams, which engage themselves in fluvial action. Old alluvium is found rather away from river courses, especially on uplands of the plain where silting is a rare phenomenon.{{Cite book |author=Das, K. K. L., Das, K. N. |editor=Sharma, H. S. |volume=3 |title=Perspectives in Geomorphology |location=New Delhi |publisher=Naurung Rai Concept Publishing Company |year=1981 |chapter=Alluvial morphology of the North Bihar Plain – A study in applied geomorphology |pages=85–105 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6j1OC4P31ukC&pg=PA85}}

A large number of small and usually seasonal rivers flow through the Terai, most of which originate in the Sivalik Hills. The soil in the Terai is alluvial and fine to medium textured. Forest cover in the Terai and hill areas has decreased at an annual rate of 1.3% between 1978 and 1979, and 2.3% between 1990 and 1991.

With deforestation and cultivation increasing, a permeable mixture of gravel, boulders and sand evolves, which leads to a sinking water table. But where layers consist of clay and fine sediments, the groundwater rises to the surface and heavy sediment is washed out, thus enabling frequent and massive floods during monsoon, such as the 2008 Bihar flood.{{cite conference |title=The Public Benefits of Private Technology Adoption |author1=Bhargava, A. K.|author2=Lybbert, T. J.|author3=Spielman, D. J. |year=2014 |url=http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/170682/2/AAEA%20Submission.pdf |conference=Selected Paper prepared for presentation at the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association’s Annual Meeting, July 2014 |location=Minneapolis, Minnesota}}

In India, the Terai extends over the states of Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. These are mostly the districts of these states that are on the India–Nepal border:

• Haryana: Panchkula district
• Uttarakhand: Haridwar district,{{cite journal |author=Tewari, R. and Rawat, G.S. |year=2013 |title=Studies on the food and feeding habits of Swamp Deer (Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii) in Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve, Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India |journal=ISRN Zoology |issue=ID 278213 |doi=10.1155/2013/278213 |volume=2013 |pages=1–6|doi-access=free }} Udham Singh Nagar district, Champawat district, and Nainital district{{cite book |author=Ranjan, G. |year=2010 |chapter=Industrialization in the Terai and its Impact on the Bhoksas |pages=285–292 |title=Global Warming, Human Factors and Environment: Anthropological Perspectives |editor1=Sharma, K. |editor2=Mehta, S. |editor3=Sinha, A.K. |publisher=New Delhi: Excel India Publishers |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236009517}}
• Uttar Pradesh: Pilibhit district, Lakhimpur Kheri district, Bahraich district, Shravasti district, Balrampur district, Gorakhpur district, Siddharthnagar district and Maharajganj district{{cite journal |author=Kumar, A., Pandey, V.C. and Tewari, D.D. |year=2012 |title=Documentation and determination of consensus about phytotherapeutic veterinary practices among the Tharu tribal community of Uttar Pradesh, India |journal=Tropical Animal Health and Production |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=863–872 |doi=10.1007/s11250-011-9979-x |pmid=21927989 |s2cid=16823772 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225599346}}
• Bihar: West Champaran district, East Champaran district, Sitamarhi district, Madhubani district, Supaul district, Araria district, Kishanganj district
• West Bengal: Siliguri subdivision of Darjeeling district,{{cite journal|author=Ghosh, C., Sharma, B.D. and Das, A.P.|year=2004|title=Weed Flora of Tea Gardens of Darjeeling Terai|journal=Nelumbo 46|issue=1–4|pages=151–161}} Jalpaiguri Sadar subdivision of Jalpaiguri district

File:Nepal topo en.jpg

The Inner Terai Valleys of Nepal consists of five elongated valleys located between the lower Himalayan Range and Sivalik Hills.{{cite journal |author=Nagendra, H. |year=2002 |title=Tenure and forest conditions: community forestry in the Nepal Terai |journal=Environmental Conservation |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=530–539 |doi=10.1017/S0376892902000383 |s2cid=86632135 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230559256}} From north-west to south-east these valleys are:

• Surkhet Valley in the Surkhet district, north of the Kailali and Bardiya Districts;
• Dang Valley in the Dang Deokhuri district;
• Deukhuri Valley located south of the Dang Valley;
• Chitwan Valley stretching across the Chitwan and Makwanpur Districts;
• Kamala Valley, also called Udayapur Valley, in the Udayapur District north of the Siraha and Saptari Districts.{{cite thesis |author=Rai, C. B. |year=2010 |title=Analysis of timber production and institutional barriers: A case of community forestry in the Terai and Inner Terai regions of Nepal |type=PhD thesis |publisher=Lincoln University |location=Christchurch}}

The Outer Terai begins south of the Sivalik Hills and extends to the Indo-Gangetic Plain. In the Far-Western Region, Nepal, it comprises the Kanchanpur and Kailali Districts; in the Mid-Western Region, Nepal, Bardiya and Banke Districts. Further east, the Outer Terai comprises the Kapilvastu, Rupandehi, Nawalparasi, Parsa, Bara, Rautahat, Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusa, Siraha, Saptari, Sunsari, Morang and Jhapa Districts.

Several protected areas were established in the Terai since the late 1950s:

• Sonaripur Wildlife Sanctuary, now Dudhwa National Park in 1958Mathur, P. K. and N. Midha (2008). [http://moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/Volume_IV_NPWS.pdf Mapping of National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve]. WII – NNRMS - MoEF Project, Final Technical Report. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.
• Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary in 1972{{cite book |author=Seidensticker, J., Dinerstein, E., Goyal, S.P., Gurung, B., Harihar, A., Johnsingh, A.J.T., Manandhar, A., McDougal, C.W., Pandav, B., Shrestha, M. and Smith, J.D. |year=2010 |chapter=Tiger range collapse and recovery at the base of the Himalayas |title=Biology and Conservation of Wild Felids |editor1-last=D. W. Macdonald |editor2-last= A. J. Loveridge |pages=305–324 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford}}
• Chitwan National Park in 1973
• Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary in 1975
• Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in 1976
• Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve in 1976
• Udaypur Wildlife Sanctuary in 1978Negi, S. S. (2002). [https://books.google.com/books?id=JYFmoOWfmX8C&pg=PP1 Handbook of National Parks, Sanctuaries, and Biosphere Reserves in India]. New Delhi: Indus Publishing.
• Rajaji National Park in 1983
• Parsa National Park in 1984
• Bardia National Park in 1988
• Valmiki National Park in 1989{{cite journal | author = Smith J.L.D., Ahern S.C., McDougal C. | year = 1998 | title = Landscape analysis of tiger distribution and habitat quality in Nepal | journal = Conservation Biology | volume = 12 | issue = 6| pages = 1338–1346 | doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.1998.97068.x}}
• Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve in 2005
• Banke National Park in 2010DNPWC (2010). [http://www.dnpwc.gov.np/protected-areas/national-parks/item/56-banke-national-park Banke National Park] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215150923/http://www.dnpwc.gov.np/protected-areas/national-parks/item/56-banke-national-park |date=2012-02-15 }} Government of Nepal, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Department of National Parks and Soil Conservation
• Sohagi Barwa Wildlife Sanctuary of Maharajganj district

Based on the Köppen–Geiger climate classification system, the Nepal Terai experiences a dry-winter humid subtropical climate (Cwa) with pleasant to warm winters and sweltering summers, a mean annual temperature of {{convert|20-28|C}}, and a mean annual rainfall of {{convert|1600-1800|mm|abbr=on}} in the west and {{convert|2500-3000|mm|abbr=on}} in the east.{{cite journal |last1=Karki |first1=R. |last2=Talchabhadel |first2=R. |last3=Aalto |first3=J. |last4=Baidya |first4=S. K. |year=2016 |title=New climatic classification of Nepal |journal=Theoretical and Applied Climatology |volume=125 |issue=3–4 |pages=799–808 |doi=10.1007/s00704-015-1549-0 |bibcode=2016ThApC.125..799K |s2cid=117554807 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280034906}}

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File:Tharu Mahila.jpg

Tharu and Dhimal people are the indigenous inhabitants of the Terai forests.{{cite journal |author=Rai, J. |year=2014 |title=Malaria, Tarai Adivasi and the Landlord State in the 19th century Nepal: A Historical-Ethnographic Analysis |journal=Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology |volume=7 |issue=7 |pages=87–112 |doi=10.3126/dsaj.v7i0.10438 |url=http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/DSAJ/article/download/10438/8507|doi-access=free }} Several Tharu subgroups are scattered over most of the Nepal and Indian Terai.{{cite journal |author=Krauskopff, G. |year=1995 |title=The Anthropology of the Tharus: An Annoted Bibliography |journal=Kailash |volume=17 |issue=3/4 |pages=185–213}}{{cite journal |author=Sharma, J., Gairola, S., Gaur, R.D. and Painuli, R.M. |year=2011 |title=Medicinal plants used for primary healthcare by Tharu tribe of Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand, India |journal=International Journal of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants 1 |issue=3 |pages=228–233 |url=https://www.academia.edu/download/10274274/ijmap_1_3_7_medicinal%20plants%20tharu%20tribe.pdf}}{{dead link|date=July 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} They used to be semi-nomadic, practised shifting cultivation and collected wild fruits, vegetables and medicinal herbs.{{cite journal |author=McLean, J. |year=1999 |title=Conservation and the impact of relocation on the Tharus of Chitwan, Nepal |journal=Himalayan Research Bulletin |volume=XIX |issue=2 |pages=38–44 |url=http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1628&context=himalaya}} They have been living in the Terai for many centuries and reputedly had an innate resistance to malaria.{{Cite journal |author=Terrenato, L., Shrestha, S., Dixit, K. A., Luzzatto, L., Modiano, G., Morpurgo, G., Arese, P. |title=Decreased malaria morbidity in the Tharu people compared to sympatric populations in Nepal |journal=Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology |volume=82 |issue=1 |year=1988 |pages=1–11 |pmid=3041928 |doi=10.1080/00034983.1988.11812202}}

Dhimal reside in the eastern Nepal Terai, viz Sunsari, Morang and Jhapa Districts. In the past, they lived in the fringes of the forest and conducted a semi-nomadic life to evade outbreaks of diseases. Today, they are subsistence farmers.

The Bhoksa people are indigenous to the western Terai in the Indian Kumaon division.

Maithils inhabit the Indian Terai in Bihar and the eastern Terai in Nepal. Bhojpuri people reside in the central and eastern Terai, and Awadhi people live in the central and western Terai. Bantawa people reside foremost in two districts of the eastern Terai in Nepal.Lewis, M. P. (ed.) (2009). [http://archive.ethnologue.com/16/show_language.asp?code=mai Maithili] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922005007/http://archive.ethnologue.com/16/show_language.asp?code=mai |date=22 September 2013 }} [https://www.ethnologue.com/language/bho Bhojpuri] [https://www.ethnologue.com/language/awa Awadhi] [http://archive.ethnologue.com/16/show_language.asp?code=bap Bantawa]. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International.

Following the malaria eradication program using DDT in the 1960s, a large and heterogeneous non-Tharu population settled in the Nepal Terai.

Pahari people from the mid-hills including Bahun, Chhetri and Newar moved to the plains in search of arable land. In the rural parts of the Nepal Terai, distribution and value of land determine economic hierarchy to a large extent. High caste migrants from the hills and traditional Tharu landlords who own agriculturally productive land constitute the upper level of the economic hierarchy. The poor are the landless or near landless Terai Dalits, including the Musahar, Chamar and Mallaah.{{cite book |author=Hatlebakk, M. |year=2007 |title=Economic and social structures that may explain the recent conflicts in the Terai of Nepal |publisher=Chr. Michelsens Institute |location=Bergen}} Several Chepang people also live in Nepal's central and eastern Terai districts.{{cite book |author=Gurung, G. |year=1989 |title=The Chepangs: A Study in Continuity and Change |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RmBuAAAAMAAJ&q=chepang+migrated+into+terai |location=Kathmandu |publisher=S. B. Shahi |pages=125}}Lewis, M. P. (ed.) (2009). [http://archive.ethnologue.com/16/show_language.asp?code=cdm Chepang]. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International.

As of June 2011, the human population in the Nepal Terai totalled 13,318,705 people in 2,527,558 households comprising more than 120 different ethnic groups and castes such as Badi, Chamling, Ghale, Kumal, Limbu, Magar, Muslim, Rajbanshi, Teli, Thakuri, Yadav and Majhi speaking people.{{cite book |author=Central Bureau of Statistics |year=2012 |title=National Population and Housing Census 2011 |url=https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/sources/census/wphc/Nepal/Nepal-Census-2011-Vol1.pdf |publisher=Government of Nepal |location=Kathmandu}}

File:Nainital, Uttarakhand, India - panoramio - Vipin Vasudeva (7).jpg

The Muslim invasion of northern India during the 14th century forced Hindu and Buddhist people to seek refuge from religious persecution. Rajput nobles and their entourage migrated to the Himalayan foothills and gained control over the region from Kashmir to the eastern Terai during the following three centuries.{{cite journal |author=English, R. |year=1985 |title=Himalayan state formation and the impact of British rule in the nineteenth century |journal=Mountain Research and Development |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=61–78 |doi=10.2307/3673223|jstor=3673223}}

By the 16th century, the rulers of Palpa and Makwanpur controlled the mid-western Terai and extended this control to the eastern Terai by the 17th century.{{sfn|Gaige|1975|p=59–60}} They controlled the area of today's districts of Saptari, Siraha, Dhanusa, Mahottari and Sarlahi.{{sfn|Pradhan|2012|p=4}} The rulers of Makwanpur controlled the central Terai region of present-day Nepal, and the rulers of Vijayapur controlled today's Sunsari, Morang and Jhapa Districts.{{sfn|Pradhan|2012|p=4–5}} The Shah dynasty conquered the eastern Nepal Terai in the 1770s.{{sfn|Gaige|1975|p=60}} They also conquered land in the eastern Terai that belonged to the Kingdom of Sikkim.{{cite book |author=Bagchi, R. |year=2012 |title=Gorkhaland: Crisis of Statehood |publisher=Sage Publications |location=New Delhi |isbn=9788132116806 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xbGICwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1}}

The Tulsipur State, in the Dang Valley of Nepal's western Terai, was also an independent kingdom until it was conquered in 1785 by Bahadur Shah of Nepal during the unification of Nepal.{{cite journal |author=Bouillier, V. |year=1993 |title=The Nepalese state and Gorakhnati yogis: the case of the former kingdoms of Dang Valley: 18–19th centuries |journal=Contributions to Nepalese Studies |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=29–52}} Until the mid 18th century, the Nepal Terai was divided into several smaller kingdoms, and the forests and wild places were, largely, left undisturbed.{{cite journal |author1=Gautam, A. P. |author2=Shivakoti, G. P. & Webb, E. L. |year=2004 |title=A review of forest policies, institutions, and changes in the resource condition in Nepal |journal=International Forestry Review |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=136–148 |doi=10.1505/ifor.6.2.136.38397 |s2cid=56106310}}

Since the late 18th century, however, the Shah rulers encouraged Indians to settle in the Terai, and supported famine-stricken Bihari farmers in efforts to convert to a more productive agricultural lifestyle in the eastern Nepal Terai.{{cite journal |author=Dahal, D. R. |year=1983 |title=Economic development through indigenous means: A case of Indian migration in the Nepal Terai |journal=Contribution to Nepalese Studies |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=1–20 |url=http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/contributions/pdf/CNAS_11_01_01.pdf}}

From at least 1786 onward, they appointed government officers in the eastern Terai districts of Parsa, Bara, Rautahat, Mahottari, Saptari and Morang to levy taxes, collect revenues and maintain civil order, as well as to hunt wild game, including Indian elephants and Indian rhinoceros, mostly for their ivory.{{cite journal |author=Regmi, M. C. |author-link=Mahesh Chandra Regmi |year=1972 |title=Notes On The History Of Morang District |journal=Regmi Research Series |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=1–4, 24–25 |url=http://scholar.googleusercontent.com/scholar?q=cache:jSwmI6bF5UEJ:scholar.google.com/}}{{cite journal |author=Regmi, M. C. |year=1988 |title=Chautariya Dalamardan Shah's venture; Subedar in Eastern and Western Nepal; A special Levy in the Eastern Tarai Region |journal=Regmi Research Series |volume=20 |issue=1/2 |pages=1–180 |url=http://scholar.googleusercontent.com/scholar?q=cache:JDjzcBnfpvwJ:scholar.google.com/}} At the end of the 18th century, between 200 and 300 elephants were caught annually, using snares or nooses.{{sfn|Kirkpatrick|1811|p=17–18}}

The far-western and mid-western regions of the Nepal Terai (called 'Naya Muluk', or ‘new country’) lay on the northern periphery of the Awadh dynasty. After Nepal lost the Anglo–Nepalese War of 1816, the British annexed these regions of the Terai when the Sugauli Treaty was ratified; as a reward for Nepal's military aid in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, they returned some of this region in 1860, namely today's districts of Kanchanpur, Kailali, Banke and Bardiya.{{Cite book |author=Guneratne, A. |title=Many tongues, one people: the making of Tharu identity in Nepal |place=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=2002 |chapter=The Tharu and the Tarai |pages=20–61 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T7FWQ6dzYZQC&pg=PA20 |isbn=0801487285}}

To promote economic development of the Nepal Terai, people from the hills were invited to settle in the region. Since only a few moved to the Terai, Indian people were further encouraged to settle.{{sfn|Gaige|1975|p=62}} Immigration of Indian people increased between 1846 and 1950. They settled in the eastern Nepal Terai, living in close proximity with native Terai peoples.

The Indian Terai remained largely uninhabited until the end of the 19th century, as it was arduous and dangerous to penetrate the dense marsh- and malaria-filled jungle with its predators.{{cite book |author=Crooke, W. |year=1897 |title=North-Western Provinces of India |publisher=Methuen & Co. |location=London |url=https://archive.org/stream/northwesternprov00croo/northwesternprov00croo}}

Dacoit gangs retreated to the Terai jungles, and the area was considered lawless and wild by the British, who sought control of the region's valuable timber reserves.{{cite book |editor=Sarkar, S. |year=2000 |title=Issues in modern Indian history: for Sumit Sarkar |publisher=Mumbai: Popular Prakashan |author=Arnold, D. |chapter=Disease, Resistance and India's Ecological Frontier, 1770–1947 |pages=1–22 |isbn=9788171546589 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S2Yn4LlujqsC&pg=PA8}} The region was densely forested with stands of foremost Sal.

Heavy logging began in the 1920s. Extracted timber was exported to India to collect revenues. Cleared areas were subsequently used for agriculture.

But still, the Terai jungles were teaming with wildlife.{{cite book |author=Champion, F. W. |author-link=Frederick Walter Champion|year=1932 |title=The jungle in sunlight and shadow |publisher=London: Chatto & Windus |url=https://archive.org/details/JungleSunlightShadow}}

Inner Terai valleys historically were agriculturally productive but extremely malarial. Some parts were left forested by official decree during the Rana dynasty as a defensive perimeter called Char Kose Jhadi, meaning 'four kos forest'; one kos equals about {{convert|3|km|mi|abbr=on}}. A British observer noted, "Plainsmen and paharis generally die if they sleep in the Terai before November 1 or after June 1." British travelers to Kathmandu went as fast as possible from the border at Raxaul to reach the hills before nightfall.

Malaria was eradicated using DDT in the mid-1950s, at the unfortunate expense of future generations of birds, especially vultures, which were especially sensitive to the chemical. Subsequently, people from the hills migrated to the Terai.{{cite journal |author=Regmi, R. R. |year=1994 |title=Deforestation and Rural Society in the Nepalese Terai |journal=Occasional Papers in Sociology and Anthropology |volume=4 |pages=72–89|doi=10.3126/opsa.v4i0.1086 |doi-access=free }}

About 16,000 Tibetan refugees settled in the Nepal Terai in 1959–1960, followed by refugees of Nepali origin from Burma in 1964, from Nagaland and Mizoram in the late 1960s, and about 10,000 Bihari Muslims from Bangladesh in the 1970s.{{cite journal |author=Subedi, B. P. |year=1991 |title=International migration in Nepal: Towards an analytical framework |journal=Contribution to Nepalese Studies |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=83–102}}

Timber export continued until 1969. In 1970, King Mahendra granted land to loyal ex-army personnel in the districts of Jhapa, Sunsari, Rupandehi and Banke Districts, where seven colonies were developed for resettling about 7,000 people. They acquired property rights over uncultivated forest and 'waste' land, thus accelerating the deforestation process in the Terai.

Between 1961 and 1991, the annual population growth in the Terai was higher than the national average, which indicates that migration from abroad occurred at a large scale. Deforestation continued, and forest products from state-owned forest were partly smuggled to India. Community forestry was introduced in 1995.{{cite journal |author=Chakraborty, R. N. |year=2001 |title=Stability and outcomes of common property institutions in forestry: evidence from the Terai region of Nepal |journal=Ecological Economics |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=341–353 |doi=10.1016/s0921-8009(00)00237-8 |url=https://www.uni-hohenheim.de/fileadmin/einrichtungen/entwicklungspolitik/05_Teaching/02_Lecture_Material/02_Rural_Development_Policy/02_Land_Tenure/Stability_and_outcomes_of_common_property_institution_in_for.pdf}}

Since the 1990s, migration from the Terai to urban centres is increasing and causing sociocultural changes in the region.{{cite journal |author1=Gartaula, H. N. |author2=Niehof, A. |name-list-style=amp |year=2013 |title=Migration to and from the Nepal Terai: shifting movements and motives |journal=The South Asianist |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=29–51}}

Since the early 1950s, several political parties advocated for autonomy and independence of the Nepal Terai, such as the Nepal Terai Congress and Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha.{{cite book |author=Hangen, S. |year=2007 |title=Creating a "New Nepal": the ethnic dimension |publisher=East-West Center |location=Washington |isbn=9781932728620}}{{Cite book |author=Kabir, H. |year=2012 |title=The rise of new regional political force in Madhes and its consequence in post-conflict Nepal |publisher=Hiroshima University Partnership Project for Peace Building and Capacity Development |series=Discussion Paper Series |volume=15 |location=Hiroshima |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304500459}}

Several armed groups were formed, which pursued this aim using violent means.{{cite book |author=Miklian, J. |year=2009 |title=Nepal's Terai: Constructing an Ethnic Conflict. South Asia Briefing Paper #1 |location=Oslo |publisher=International Peace Research Institute |isbn=((978-82-7288-309-5)) |url=http://www.ashraya-nepal.com/documents/Nepals_Terai_(South_Asia_Briefing_Paper_1).pdf}}

In 2013, more than 24 Madheshi political parties were registered for the Constituent Assembly of Nepal election.{{cite journal |author1=Pandey, K. |year=2017 |title=Politicising ethnicity: Tharu contestation of Madheshi identity in Nepal's Tarai |journal=The South Asianist |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=304–322 |url=http://www.southasianist.ed.ac.uk/article/download/1632/2499}}

The most significant border dispute of the Indo-Nepal boundary in the Terai region is the Susta area. In the Susta region, 14,500 hectares of land is under dispute but recent development has manage to discuss it bilaterally.{{cite news |url=https://thediplomat.com/2014/09/india-and-nepal-tackle-border-disputes/ |title=India and Nepal Tackle Border Disputes |author=Groves, S.|date=2014 |newspaper=The Diplomat|access-date=19 March 2018}}{{cite news |author=Giri, A. |year=2015 |url=https://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/ampnews/2015-01-06/nepal-aims-to-settle-boundary-dispute-with-india-in-4-years.html |title=Nepal aims to settle boundary dispute with India in 4 years |newspaper=Kathmandu Post}}

After the 2008 Nepalese Constituent Assembly election, Indian politicians kept on trying to secure strategic interests in the Nepal Terai, such as over hydropower energy, development projects, business and trade.Ojha, H. (2015). [https://thediplomat.com/2015/11/the-india-nepal-crisis/ The India-Nepal Crisis]. The Diplomat. The government of Nepal has accused India of imposing an undeclared blockade in 2015 but it is not clear yet, local peoples blame Nepal administration and government.{{Cite news |date=2015 |author=Press Trust of India |url=http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/nepal-pm-wants-india-to-lift-undeclared-blockade-1243695 |title=Nepal PM Wants India to Lift Undeclared Blockade|access-date=2016-09-12}}

Dhurmus Suntali Foundation handed over an integrated community containing 50 houses to Musahar community of Bardibas at a cost of Rs. 63 million.{{cite web|url=http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-04-15/dhurmus-suntali-foundation-gifts-homes-to-musahar-community.html|title=Dhurmus Suntali Foundation gifts homes to Musahar community|website=ekantipur.com|access-date=19 March 2018}}

The Terai is the most productive region in Nepal with the majority of the country's industries. Agriculture is the basis of the economy.{{Cite book |author=Sharma, R. P. |title=Nepal: A Detailed Geographical Account |place=Kathmandu |publisher=Kathmandu: Pustak Sansar |year=1974}} Major crops include rice, wheat, maize, potato, peas, lentil, mustard, sugar cane, ginger, turmeric, cardamom, garlic and chili. Fruits comprise mango, lychee, guava, papaya, banana and jackfruit.{{cite book |editor=Papademetriou, M. K. |editor2=Dent, F. J. |year=2001 |title=Crop Diversification in the Asia-Pacific Region |series=RAP publication 81 |publisher=FAO |location=Bangkok |author=Sharma, K.C. |chapter=Crop diversification in Nepal |pages=81–94 |chapter-url=https://coin.fao.org/coin-static/cms/media/9/13171763115260/2001_03_high.pdf#page=88}} The Terai is also known for beekeeping and honey production, with about 120,000 colonies of Apis cerana.Thapa, R. (2003). [http://www.apimondia.com/apiacta/slovenia/en/thapa.pdf Himalayan Honeybees and Beekeeping in Nepal]. Standing Commission of Beekeeping for Rural Development. Apimondia Journal.

In Jhapa District, tea has been cultivated since 1960; the annual production of 2005 was estimated at 10.1 million kg.{{cite book |author=Thapa, A.N. |year=2005 |title=Concept Paper on Study of Nepalese Tea Industry-Vision 2020 |publisher=Nepal Tree Crop Global Development Alliance |location=Kathmandu |url=http://www.consulat-nepal.org/IMG/pdf/NATIONAL_NEPALESE_TEA_POLICY__YEAR_2005_VISION_2020_-2.pdf}}

The Mahendra Highway crosses the Nepal Terai from Kankarbhitta on the eastern border in Jhapa District, Province No. 1 to Mahendranagar near the western border in Kanchanpur District, Mahakali Zone. It is the only motor road spanning the country from east to west.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

Tea cultivation was introduced in the Darjeeling Terai in 1862.

Tourist attractions in the Terai include:

• Har Ki Pauri on the banks of the Ganges where the river enters the Terai plains
• Lumbini, birthplace of Buddha
• Janakpur

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Gaige |first=F. H. |year=1975 |title=Regionalism and National Unity in Nepal |publisher=Vikas Publishing House |location=Delhi |edition=Second |chapter=Migration into the Tarai |pages=58–86 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.110490/2015.110490.Regionalism-And-National-Unity-In-Nepal#page/n65/mode/2up }}
• {{cite book |last=Kirkpatrick |first=W. |author-link=William Kirkpatrick (East India Company officer) |year=1811 |title=An Account of the Kingdom of Nepaul, Being the Substance of Observations Made During a Mission to that Country, in the Year 1793 |location=London |publisher=William Miller |chapter=Chapter I. |pages=11–25 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_ijxAAAAAYAAJ/page/n25 }}
• {{cite book |last=Pradhan |first=K. L. |title=Thapa Politics in Nepal: With Special Reference to Bhim Sen Thapa, 1806–1839 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |year=2012 |isbn=9788180698132 |location=New Delhi |chapter=Introduction |pages=1–19 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7PP1yElRzIUC&pg=PA1 }}

• Chaudhary, D. 2011. Tarai/Madhesh of Nepal : an anthropological study. Ratna Pustak Bhandar, Kathmandu. {{ISBN|978-99933-878-2-4}}.

{{Wikivoyage|Tarai}}

• [http://assets.panda.org/img/original/ecology_map.jpg WWF: Map of ecological divisions of Nepal, showing the Terai]
• [http://www.statoids.com/unp.html Terai districts of Nepal in the past]

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Category:Regions of Nepal

Category:Regions of India

Category:Plains of Nepal

Category:Plains of India

Category:Grasslands of India

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Category:Wetlands of Nepal

Category:Ganges basin

Category:Ecoregions of the Himalayas

Category:Indomalayan ecoregions