Karki is a family name in Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

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karki's are of pure Chhetri origin.They were a powerful warrior in ancient Nepal.Kazi Swaroop Singh Karki was very much in power during the rule of king Pratap Singh Shah .Initially Swaroop Singh Karki was army commander of Tirhut princely state in Simraunagadh (Bara). He, despite helping Jayaprakash Malla of Kathmandu during Gorkhali attack in the valley allied with King Prithvi Narayan Shah of Gorkha.Pratap Singh Shah wanted to reform the internal administration of the country. In this task, he took Kazi Swaroop Singh Karki into his confidence. With his advice, Pratap Singh Shah divided the lands of Nepal valley into 4 categories in order of productivity viz., `Awal', `Doyam', `Seem' and `Chahar' and planned to lower the revenue to the rate of one-sixth of the gross product. After the death of Pratap Singh Shah, Bahadur Shah returned to Nepal from Bettiah. He began to carry on the administration as regent of King Rana Bahadur Shah. Kazi Swarup Singh Karki had fled to India to escape from punishment because during the rule of king Pratap Singh Shah he had arrested Bahadur Shah .During the rule of Pratap Singh Shah, Swaroop Singh Karki was the most powerful person. Swaroop Singh was more powerful than king. Many historical evidences depict his active role in the annexation of western Nepalese states like Tanahu etc during the unification campaign led by Bahadur Shah. He, along with Amar Singh Thapa, was one of prominent commander in the western region. Roop Narayan Karki was the person who represented Nepal during the treaty between Nepal and Tibet.According to Prof Surya Mani Adhikari, history professor, Tribhuvan University, Karkis, Thapas, Khadkas & Basnets. are descendents of the Khas

Khas

Originally the Khas / Khasas or Khasiyas are the mountain dwellers living in the southern shadow of the Himalayan range from Kashmir to Bhutan, but mostly in Nepal, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, North Bengal, Sikkim and Bhutan,...

of the Khas Kingdom from middle age (ref to The Khasa Kingdom, by Prof Sury Mani Adhikary, TU, Kathmandu, Nepal published by Nirala Publications, New Delhi.
Also in Nepali khas adhirajya, Sajha prakashan. Khasa or Khas were non-vedic Aryans who lived in mountains. For many years they were highly influenced by Buddhism as well.

There are Matwali chhetris in Karnali region who also have Karki, Thapa etc. surnames but do not wear Janai or Sacred thread, who drink alcohol and have kul deuta. Anthropologists believe they are the proto-type of present day tagadhari chhetris in Nepal.

Karki originating in Nepal are found to be of different categories:

• Mudula Karki
• Sutar Karki
• Lama Karki
• Khulal Karki

Mudula Karki

They mostly lived in gandaki zone.According to Mr. Himalaya Karki from Syangja, Mudula Karki's ancestors are traced back to Karkineta. Karkineta is a village between Syangja and Prabat district of Gandaki Zone in Western Hilly region of Nepal. From Karkineta they sifted to Khahare, Pauwaigaunde and Bachpur. Some Mudula Karki are living in Baglung,Palpa district. Many Mudula Karkis nowadays are living in Pokhara, Kaski district of Gandaki zone.
A look at the genealogy of Mudula Karki traces them to the midwest of the country, in the region of Syangja,Baglung, parbat and Pyuthan and even further to the Karnali region of Nepal. They are found all over Nepal with prominent distributions in districts like Sindhuli, Dolakha, Ramechhap, Udaypur, Okhaldhunga and with migration to the Terai regions in terai districts of Mahotarri, Sarlahi, dhanusha and Jhapa, Morang.
Mudula Karki community comes from Surya dynasty. They do not celebrate Gai Puja (cow worship) and do not put tika in bhai tika during Tihar, festival of lights, as there is a legend saying that the cow climbed a tree while being worshipped by Mudula Karki.

There is an ancient story about Mudula Karki – There was a boy leaving together with his maternal uncle, the Karki family. In laxmi puja (Bhai-Tika) his aunty (next sister of Karki family) arrived with her son. Other nephew rarely visit to maternal uncle’s home (Karki family) so he was treated good and lots of loves. Whereas nephew who always with the Karki family felt comparatively less love in the festival days, he suicide hanging on the tree while he went to cut grasses for cows.
Only the sibling of that Mudula Karki family decided not to celebrate Bhai-tika and Laxmi puja from next time. There are other Mudula Karki who celebrates Bhai-Tika and Laxmi Puja.

Lama Karki

Suryaman Singh Karki is the ultimate traceable ancestors of Lama Karki, this group today has created a social organization by the name Surya Man Singh Karki Trust. With highly accomplished members in the board, like doctors, engineers, government officials, foreign contributors and numerous volunteers, they have successfully involved themselves in helping the poor, needy, assisting in re-settlement after house fires, landslides and such. Besides, this trust also has created awareness among its young members and bring most of their Karki population together in an attempt to support for social causes. Lama Karki has strong community in Sunsari , Moranag & More District in Nepal. According to Year Annual Prayers (Dewali) holding time gather. At Sunsari District Madhesha V.D.C has strong Karki community. Ref to Mr. Dipendra Karki from Madhesha Sunsari , they have almost more than 50 houses in this village.

Rume karki

Specially in Baglung district these Rume karki are found. these karki are found in Sigana and Resha V.D.C. These karki were migrated from the sinja of jumla district. These karki has same "gotra" "Maudglya" as the mudula karki. Some of these karki are migrate to parbat and "Myagdi" district. Some of these karki are found migrated to the tarai like Bhairahawa Chitwan Rautahat and other districts.In public hearsay it is found that there were two brother in past. One of them used to wear hat "Topi" and other do not. Due to this the forme beceme rume and later became mudula. Before the unification of great Nepal, these karki were ruling a state in Sigana and Resha.

Karkis in India

In India they basically reside in pithoragarh and sparsely in Almora region. They are also found in Dehradun areas, both as natives and later day migrants from Nepal. In fact, the Indian National movement boasts of these ethnic Karkis from Kumaon who formed a great role in the national movement. more places in west bengal they living .

Karkis in the world

Karki as a surname is found in places as diverse as Turkey and Armenia along with places like Finland. This has been seen in social networking sites like facebook, where Karkis from different countries are surprised to see such similar surnames at such different places.Karkis are also found in the region of dooars (west bengal).