This article is strictly based on authoritative sources (official media accounts for more than 80%), combined with the latest developments and historical data from 2022 to 2025, and the final view remains neutral. References are attached at the end.
In the majestic Himalayas, in a hidden river valley near the border between Tibet and South Asia, the Chopa people, with a population of just over 3,000, live there.
They called themselves Aryan descendants, living in the harsh environment of the deep plateau, but the institution of non-marriage lasted in this alpine region for hundreds or even millennia.
For a long time, they replaced marriage books with flowers and replaced family boundaries with "mothers' unions", which shocked modern society.
In 2024, the Tibetan Department of Culture and Tourism's ethnographic database construction plan accidentally pushed this previously closed ethnic group into the spotlight.
People are surprised to find that in an era of policy intervention and cultural preservation, the clash of old and new ideas has quietly shrouded this "primitive utopia".
1. From Alexander's army to the remnants of the Himalayas
In the genealogical legends of the Dhoba people, their origins have always carried an aura of mystery and legend.
Many researchers have focused on the remnants of Alexander's crusade in the 4th century BC, which "got lost" in the Himalayas after a long journey.
In 2022, the Tibetan research institute (Institute of Tibetan Studies) completed the sequencing of the mitochondrial DNA of the Zhuoba people, and the results showed that there was some overlap with the Aryan ethnic groups in Central Asia, which seems to provide some basis for the "Aryan descent hypothesis".
Coupled with the sporadic Sanskrit vocabulary of the Djoba language, as well as their high-nosed, deep-eyed, and pale complexion, these ancient legends add to the suspense.
However, not all anthropologists are on their toes.
Dissenting critics argue that the language of the Djoba people also contains a large number of isolated words that are difficult to classify, and even more similar to South Asian immigrants and Himalayan indigenous groups.
They tend to see the Djoba as the product of a multi-ethnic mix, and all the legends of the "descendants of Alexander" are just a romantic narrative that fills in with imagination to fill in the gaps of history.
Whatever the facts, the Djoba do live in an almost isolated environment: the highland valleys above 4,000 meters above sea level, subsistence in farming and grazing, and 3,000 people close together, making it difficult for outsiders to approach.
It is not until 2024 that an ethnographic database project initiated by the Tibetan Department of Culture and Tourism will allow more people to learn about this "legendary descendant" – and reveal their staggering social structure.
In the modern world of advanced information, it is doubtful that this otherwise quiet tribe will be able to continue its daily life and traditions once it has gained attention.
After all, this is not an ancient village with no waves, but a social experiment that completely "erases" the marriage system.
2. The logic of the operation of the "system of non-marriage".
There is no wedding ceremony and no legal or religious witness to the union of the Djoba.
All men and women who have a good feeling for each other can simply use flowers as a token to consider it "official beginning".
This kind of relationship, which seems to be extremely open to the outside world, is not bound by external regulations or secular power, and does not require the so-called "three books and six rites".
If the relationship between the two parties is not harmonious, one party only needs to return the flower that symbolizes love in front of the other party, that is, the relationship is dissolved by default, and there is no need for a divorce agreement or clan elder to mediate.
In 2024, the faraway Indian state of Punjab also underwent a contract marriage reform, and a lot of controversy fermented on social networks.
The conflict between tradition and modernity in India is quite intense, but even that is not comparable to the extreme freedom of the Djoba people.
The Djoba people are not even shy about the ridicule of the outside world: they recognize that every adult can enjoy the freedom of emotion and reproduction as long as he or she has the basic ability to survive.
Located in the cold and harsh region, there are only more than 3,000 people in the whole clan, and the "population crisis" is particularly prominent in the Zhuoba tribe.
Academics have estimated that if the basic size of the population is to be maintained, the fertility rate of the Droba people must be maintained above 3.5 for a long time.
If one generation has fewer children, or if more young people leave the country, it is likely to lead to a cultural and ancestry disconnect.
As a result, they developed an internal system of collective upbringing: once a child is born, it belongs to the entire tribe.
The mother is the only clear parent – people respect and revere her from her role as the "life-giver"; As for the father, he often only retains the initial notice and does not have a compulsory parenting responsibility.
The figures for the 2025 Tibetan border census are even more impressive: the malnutrition rate among children in Zhuoba is lower than in other Tibetan villages in the surrounding area, thanks to the high division of labor in the Mothers' Union's mutual childcare system.
Whoever has surplus food and who has an extra cotton coat on hand will share it with all, so that those infant children do not have to worry about "single parents" or "homeless".
To the beholder, this seems to be a utopian form of social solidarity.
However, in the small self-sufficient society in the alpine region, this way of "collectively guarding children" is also a survival necessity.
No one wants to see the next generation get bogged down by personal disputes or the distribution of benefits.
Compared with the stumbling entanglement of rights and responsibilities, the Zhuoba people use the way of diluting the fatherhood, and uniformly hand over the children to the "mother's alliance" to take care of them together.
In many areas, people are often entangled in family disputes such as property inheritance, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships, and custody disputes.
But in the Choba tribe, these obstacles are almost non-existent.
They do not need to care about the inheritance of the eldest or youngest son, and their property is not owned by the individual. There is also no need to arbitrate cumbersome family disputes, because the so-called "husband and wife relationship" can be loosened at any time.
A comparison of rural conflict data in Tibet conducted at the end of 2024 shows that the internal conflict rate of the Zhuoba people is only 1/4 of the average in Tibet's rural areas.
However, this overly loose social framework comes at a cost: the lack of a stable education system and recreational means is leading to an increasing number of young people to become alcoholics, which according to internal surveys will reach 60% by the beginning of 2025.
In the midst of material scarcity and information blockage, alcohol has become their most accessible "entertainment".
This part of the youth is eager for new excitement and modern education, but they are also conservative, and the road out of the mountains is not only difficult to walk on the mountain road geographically, but also psychological concerns and unknowns.
3. Policy intervention and the battle for cultural survival
The work report of the Tibetan government explicitly includes the Zhuoba tribe in the intangible cultural heritage database, but emphasizes that "tourism development is prohibited".
On the one hand, the government funds to protect and record their linguistic, cultural, and aesthetic symbols; On the other hand, outsiders are not encouraged to see at close range.
This policy orientation derives from the stance on the protection of cultural diversity in the "Consolidating the Border and Rejuvenating the Border" plan.
In the context of the relatively sparse population and complex terrain on the border, the government wants to maintain the independence and authenticity of all ethnic groups as much as possible, and prevent external "curiosity" intervention from impacting the fragile cultural ecology.
The documentary produced by a satellite TV in 2024 has the problem of "hunting for editing".
The program vigorously renders the original state of the Zhuoba people, but ignores the human needs and development demands behind them.
This move was not only warned by the Tibetan Ethnic Affairs Committee, but also sparked a discussion of "cultural misreading" in academic circles.
Once the so-called "image of the other in remote areas" forms a fixed symbol, it is easy for people to consume it repeatedly, and even misinterpret it as a spectacle, mysterious, and backward.
In reality, the Djoba people are both "primitive" and border citizens living in the 2025 data era.
Officials are beginning to find a delicate balance between "protection" and "intervention".
The White Paper on Human Rights in Tibet in the New Era, released in March 2025, once again states that "the right of ethnic minorities to independent development" is respected, and that there will be no forced changes to the internal affairs of the Zhuoba people.
This kind of laissez-faire seems to be contrary to the direction of contemporary social processes, but perhaps it is to preserve a rare "diversity gene" in this experimental field of human civilization.
Growing in tandem with the curiosity of the outside world is a new rift within the Droba people.
In 2025, Tibet's border trade will gradually recover, and it may seem that it has little to do with the Zhuoba ethnic group, but in fact, 20% of young people have access to smartphones in border markets, and they are beginning to dream of breaking away from the traditional model of marriage and childbearing.
Some young people even asked, "Why don't you leave the plateau and go outside?" The elders of the clan still stood by their beliefs.
The pluralism and intermingling of modern society seem to these older generations to threaten the fragile order of small ethnic groups.
Young people who are accustomed to free love are increasingly yearning for modern life in the outside world.
They watch videos, play social platforms, and have more comparisons and desires for today's income and lifestyle.
When all communication can only be whispered around a fire pit in the middle of the night, this potential conflict has ignited day by day.
If the government takes a more proactive approach to border education in the coming years, will the Djoba people be able to find a new place under the new body of knowledge?
Or will these brick-and-mortar "foreign ideas" spark more controversy in their minds? There is no way to know.
In any case, this peaceful abode on the plateau, which claims to be descended from the Aryans, will inevitably be swept into the tide of modern civilization.
epilogue
The story of the Djoba people is much more than a piece of curious history or genetic legends, but a mirror of how we think about families, communities and social institutions.
The "institution of non-marriage" they practiced is like an experiment that transcends time and place, leaving for us a variety of possibilities for freedom, reproduction, and collectivism.
However, this originally isolated "small universe" is now also beginning to superimpose the external impact brought by modern society.
Young people's questions, cultural policy interventions, ambivalent attitudes towards tourism and curiosity...... All of them have made this hidden valley turbulent.
Perhaps, for the Zobba people, the conflict between perseverance and change has just begun.
Their choices and experiences will continue to enrich our picture of the world, and make us think back and again: when "no marriage" becomes a reality, is it liberation or another kind of shackle? This answer is still drifting in the wind.
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