Non-Newars: Others

There is, in addition to these long-established groups, a miscellaneous residual of non-Newar Nepalis living and working in Bhaktapur:

1. Some families of officials and functionaries of the national government temporarily assigned to Bhaktapur.

2. A few Muslim households. These families have lived in Bhaktapur for generations and have a small mosque and burying ground within the city. They are shopkeepers specializing in bracelets, ornamental cords used for decorating women's hair, and plastic shoes. They also are knife sharpeners.^[35]

3. Gaine. A few members of a non-Mongoloid "tribal" group who are traditionally performing musicians.^[36] They perform for tourists in Bhaktapur.

4. Sarki. A low-status Indo-Nepalese "caste" of shoemakers. (There is no traditional Newar shoemaker thar .)

5. Dhobi, washers of clothes. For most (but not all) present informants they are non-Newars. They were included among Newar "castes" by the Muluki Ain of 1854 (Höfer 1979, 45) and by Lévi (1905, 235). They are not included among Newar "castes" by Rosser (1966, 86).

6. Tamang. These are members of a Tibeto-Burman-speaking hill tribe from the hills surrounding Bhaktapur. The few Tamang living in Bhaktapur are mostly painters of Tibetan-type Thang-ka s for the curio trade for tourists.