Who are the Sharchop people of eastern Bhutan?

The Sharchop are one of the three major ethnic groups in Bhutan, primarily residing in the eastern part of the country. They are believed to be the earliest inhabitants of Bhutan and are ethnically related to the hill tribes found in the adjacent regions of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.12

Culturally, the Sharchop are linked to the Bhutia through their shared practice of Tibetan Buddhism, although their traditions often incorporate elements of the older, pre-Buddhist Bon religion. Their lifestyle and architecture differ from other groups; they typically build homes of stone and wood, often elevated on stilts along hillslopes. Economically, they generally practice shifting agriculture, a method involving the clearing and cultivation of land before moving to new sites as soil productivity declines.2