text: Possible is also that the name is derived from the classical Tibetan words mtha'-ru'i brgyud, meaning the 'country at the border', which the Tibetan scholar Taranatha used in the 16th century in his book on the history of Buddhism.
  Distribution
  In 2009, the majority of Tharu people were estimated to live in Nepal. There are several endogamous subgroups of Tharu that are scattered over most of the Terai:
  Rana Tharu people in the Kailali and Kanchanpur Districts of the far western Nepali Terai; also in India, in Udham Singh Nagar district, Uttarakhand and Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh. As of 2020 Rana Tharus are no longer considered a subgroup of Tharu people but a separate ethnicity of their own by the Nepal government.
  Kathariya Tharu mostly in Kailali District and in Lakhimpur Kheri, Pilibhit, Bahraich districts of India;
  Sonha Tharu in Bardia, Kailali and Kanchanpur;
  Dangaura Tharu in the western Terai: Dang-Deukhuri, Banke, Bardia, Kailali, Kanchanpur, Surkhet, Rupandehi and Kapilvastu Districts;
  Chitwan Tharu in central Terai: Makwanpur, Chitwan and Nawalparasi Districts;
  Kochila Tharu in eastern Terai: Morang, Sunsari, Saptari, Bara, Parsa, Rautahat, Sarlahi, Mahottari and Udayapur districts;
  Danuwar in eastern Terai: Sindhuli, Udayapur, Saptari and Morang Districts;
  Lampucchwa Tharu in Morang and Sunsari District.