Bhojpur Districtभोजपुर जिल्ला

Bhojpur occupies the hills west of the Arun river in eastern Nepal, climbing from about 153 m in the valley floors to 4,153 m on its highest ridges — a sweep that packs five of Nepal's eight climate zones into 1,507 km². The headquarters town, Bhojpur bazaar, sits at roughly 1,595 m, and Salpa Pokhari, a small alpine lake on the old foot route toward Solukhumbu, is a local pilgrimage site. The district's nine local levels — two municipalities and seven rural municipalities — became operational in the May 2017 local restructuring.

The district is best known nationally for the Bhojpure khukuri, the broad, heavy version of Nepal's iconic curved blade. Local blacksmiths are believed to have been forging khukuris here since at least 1908, and the craft's fame was sealed in 1970 when blacksmith Singh Bahadur Bishwakarma presented one to King Mahendra during a royal visit. Dozens of villages, including Kot, Dalgau and Gogane, still produce blades for buyers as far away as the United States and Europe, though restrictions on charcoal-making timber, out-migration of young workers and thin government support have squeezed the trade.

Bhojpur is a Rai heartland — Rai people make up 36.3% of the population, followed by Chhetri (17.7%) and Tamang (10.8%) — and a textbook case of Nepal's emptying hills: the population fell from 182,459 in 2011 to 157,923 in 2021, an annual decline of 1.39%, among the steepest in Koshi Province, as households moved to the Tarai and abroad for work.

Bhojpur lies in the heart of historic Majh Kirat (the "middle Kirat" country), the mid-hill region between the Dudh Koshi and Arun rivers that was for centuries inhabited and ruled by indigenous Kirat communities, chiefly the Rai. Before the unification of modern Nepal, the eastern hills came under the orbit of King Mukunda Sen of Palpa, who is traditionally credited with conquering the east and dividing it into principalities such as Makwanpur, Vijaypur and Chaudandi. The Chaudandi kingdom administered the hill country from the fortified outpost of Hatuwagadhi in present-day Bhojpur, whose ruined ramparts still survive and mark the site as a former Kirat-era stronghold.

The region was absorbed into the expanding Gorkha state during the eastern campaigns that followed the unification drive of Prithvi Narayan Shah in the later eighteenth century. A widely repeated local tradition links the district's name to a victory feast (Nepali bhoj) said to have marked the conquest of the Kirat hills, while an older name for the settlement is recorded as Siddhapur, associated with the Siddhakali shrine. A separate and equally common explanation derives the name from the Himalayan birch (Betula utilis, Nepali bhojpatra), whose bark was once gathered here in quantity, combined with the suffix -pur ("town").

Bhojpur's modern prominence is tied to the opening of a taksar (mint) in the bazaar that came to bear that name, which drew Newar artisans from the Kathmandu Valley — among them metalsmith families from Patan — to settle the town. Using copper and iron drawn from nearby mines, the mint struck small holed coins for circulation, and Taksar grew into a thriving market and metalworking centre. The same concentration of metalsmiths gave rise to the district's most famous craft: the commercial production of the khukuri, the curved Nepali knife, which local Kirat smiths (particularly Sunuwar families) developed into a renowned cottage industry. The broad, heavy Bhojpure khukuri became a national byword for quality.

Through the twentieth century Bhojpur functioned as one of the chief administrative and commercial towns of the eastern hills, a status reflected in its early airfield and bazaar trade in salt, millet, metalware and blades. Under the federal restructuring that followed Nepal's 2015 constitution, the district was placed in Koshi Province (formerly Province No. 1) and reorganised into nine local levels — two municipalities, Bhojpur and Shadananda, and seven rural municipalities. Like much of the Nepali mid-hills, the district has since experienced heavy out-migration, with its census population falling between 2011 and 2021.

Bhojpur occupies the hill country on the western side of the Arun river in eastern Nepal, forming a transitional belt between the lower Sub-Himalayan ranges and the high Himalaya to the north. The terrain is overwhelmingly steep and folded, a succession of ridges and river valleys, with elevations rising from roughly 153 metres in the lowest valley floors to about 4,153 metres on the highest ridge at Silichong. This vertical sweep means the district spans several of Nepal's climate zones, from tropical and subtropical conditions in the warm valleys through temperate mid-hills to subalpine heights near the snowline.

The Arun river forms much of the district's eastern boundary and is the dominant drainage feature, fed by numerous hill streams; the river corridor is regarded as having significant hydropower potential. Bhojpur is bordered by Sankhuwasabha and Dhankuta to the east, Khotang to the west, Solukhumbu to the north-west and Udayapur to the south. The headquarters, Bhojpur Bazaar, sits at a comfortable mid-hill elevation of roughly 1,595 metres, giving the town a temperate climate, while the high northern ridges around Salpa and Silichong carry cold alpine conditions.

Because of the dramatic range in altitude, vegetation grades from tropical hardwood and Sal in the valleys to oak, rhododendron and birch forests on the upper slopes — the birch (bhojpatra) once being abundant enough to feature in explanations of the district's name. The monsoon brings heavy summer rainfall to the southern and central hills, supporting terraced farming, while the highest reaches see seasonal snow.

Agriculture is the backbone of Bhojpur's economy, practised on terraced hillsides across the district. The principal crops follow the altitude bands: maize, millet, rice and wheat are staples, supplemented by potatoes, pulses and seasonal vegetables, while cash crops such as cardamom and citrus are grown on suitable slopes. Livestock-keeping and small-scale dairy are widespread, and subsistence farming combined with remittances from family members working in the Tarai, Indian cities and the Gulf forms the typical rural household economy.

Bhojpur's signature non-farm industry is metalworking, centred on the bazaar towns of Bhojpur and Taksar. The Bhojpure khukuri — the broad, heavy form of Nepal's iconic curved blade — is forged in numerous hill villages and is sold across Nepal and exported abroad. Allied crafts include brass and copper utensils such as karuwa (water jugs), gagri (pitchers), kalash and bowls, products that historically earned wide repute for their craftsmanship. The trade has contracted sharply in recent decades, however, squeezed by shortages of charcoal and raw material, the out-migration of young artisans and limited state support; in Taksar only a handful of Newar metalworking families remain active.

Tourism is an emerging sector built around the district's mountain scenery, Kirat cultural heritage and pilgrimage sites. The high country around Salpa Pokhari, Tyamke and Silichong, together with the Mundhum trail being developed with Swiss and provincial government support, is being promoted for trekking and cultural tourism. Bhojpur Bazaar is linked to the wider region by road and by the small Bhojpur Airport, and the Arun corridor is eyed for future hydropower development.

Bhojpur is a Rai heartland and one of the cultural centres of the Kirat people of eastern Nepal. The Rai (Khambu) form the largest single group, making up about 36.3% of the district's population, followed by Chhetri (around 17.7%) and Tamang (about 10.8%), with Limbu, Newar, Sunuwar, Magar and other communities also present. This diversity is reflected in religion: roughly 46% of residents identify as Hindu, about 36% follow the indigenous Kirat (Kirat Mundhum) faith and around 16% are Buddhist.

Nepali is the most widely spoken language (around 48% as a mother tongue), but the district is also a stronghold of Bantawa, a Kirati-Rai language spoken by about a fifth of the population, alongside Tamang and other tongues. Kirat religious and cultural life centres on the Mundhum, the oral scripture of the Rai and Limbu, transmitted by ritual specialists. The most important festival is Sakela (also called Sakewa or Sakenwa), celebrated twice yearly — Ubhauli around the Baisakh full moon as people and herds move uphill, and Udhauli around the Mangsir full moon as they move down. Its signature Sakela Sili dance, performed in a circle to the beat of drums and cymbals, mimics the movements of birds, animals and farming life in a prayer to nature for good harvests.

Alongside the indigenous Kirat tradition, mainstream Hindu festivals such as Dashain and Tihar are observed, and the Siddhakali temple in the district headquarters is an important shrine to the goddess Kali. The town of Bhojpur preserves a distinctive built heritage from its Newar-settled mint era, and the district's metal-smithing identity — above all the Bhojpure khukuri — is itself a defining element of local culture.