Bodo Tribe of Assam

A Brief Introduction

1. A Brief Introduction to Tribes of Assam, Special Reference to Bodo Tribe Dwimalu Basumatary Research Scholar d [email protected]

2. Tribes in Assam Assam is a state in Northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak Valley. Covers an area of 30,285 sq mi (78,440 km2). There are 33 districts in Assam. Assam is land of many Cultures, Tribes and Religions. There are total twenty three (23) govt. notified Tribes in Assam

3. Some Major Tribes in Assam The Bodo Kachari Tribes. The Mishing Tribe. The Deori Tribes. The Rabha Tribes. The Tiwa or Lalung Tribes. The khamti Tribe. The Sonowal Kachari Tribes. Tai Phake or Phakial Tribes. The Dimasa Kachari Tribes. The Karbi Tribes. The Kuki Tribe. The Hajong Tribe. The Garo Tribe. The Khasi Tribe. The Jaintia Tribe. The Mech Tribe Etc.

4. Bodo Tribe The Bodo s are the Largest Tribal Group in Assam . They are recognized as a plains tribe in the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. And created BTC as their homeland.

5. The Mishing Tribes Mishings , are the second largest schedule tribe of Assam. Mostly found in District, Lakhimpur , Dibrugarh , Sibsagar , Jorhat and Sonitpur of Assam. The Mishing family is generally a joint family.

6. The Deori Tribes The Deoris are nowadays settled mostly in Sivsagar and Jorhat districts. Deoris are riverine tribes

7. The Rabha Tribes The Rabhas are widely scattered but mostly concentrated on Goalpara , Kamrup , and Darrang . The Rabhas are like to live in compact blocks having 50-100 families.

8. Lalung Tribes Tibet region is considered to be the origin of Lalungs who prefer to call themselves as Tiwa . Mainly they are found in the district of Nowgoan .

9. The Khamti Tribe The Khamti is a branch of the Tai race. Their total population is about five thousand . They are found in Bihpuria and Narayanpur areas of North Lakhimpur subdivision and Sadia region.

10. The Sonowal Kachari Tribes The Sonowal Kachari is an endogamous group of Kachari tribe. (Same social race) They mainly live in Dibrugarh , Lakhimpur , Dhemaji , Tinsukia , Jorhut , and Golaghat districts.

11. The Dimasa Kachari Tribes The Kacharies are the most widely spread tribe in northeast India, and are said to be the earliest inhabitants of the Brahmaputra Valley. Mostly found in NC Hill, Hafflong , Silchar etc.

12. The Karbi Tribes Racially the Karbis belong to the Mongoloid group and linguistically to the Tibeto-Burman group. The Karbis , along with others entered Assam from Central Asia in one of the first waves of migration. Mostly found in Karbi Anglong District.

13. The Kuki Tribe The origin of Kuki tribe is full of myths and mythologis . They are the mixed group of tribes who entered India from Burma and Central Asia.

14. The Hajong Tribe The Hajong are a small community which originally belonged to the Bodo tribe. They have great physical similarities with the Garos and Bodo Kacharis .

15. The Garo Tribe The Garos are the earliest human group that migrated into North East India from the Tibetan plateau during the pre-historic period; the evidence of this being the Garo villages found across the Brahmaputra Valley

16. The Khasi Tribe The Khasis are numerically very small Scheduled tribe. Mainly they are found in Meghalaya. In Assam the Khasi tribe is found Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills bordering Meghalaya. It is believed that the origin of the Khasi and the Jaintia is same.

17. The Jaintia Tribe In ancient times the Jaintia kingdom was a powerfull kingdom of Assam. Capital was Jaintiapur . Treaty of Yandaboo was signed between British Government

18. Bodo Tribes

19. Bodo Tribes The  Bodos are an ethnic and linguistic aboriginal group of the Brahmaputra Valley in the Northeast part of India. Bodos are the single largest group in the Northeast region of India. The Bodos living in West Bengal, Nepal are called Mech. Bodos are found in Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh etc. They have their own culture, language, religion which is being since time immemorial.

20. Special Characteristics Bodo as Medium of Instructions since 1963. Bodo Medium with upto Master Degree. M.A in Bodo Leterature . Own Culture, Traditions & Custom Own Religion- Bathouism (Belief in Five Supreme power- Land, Water, Air, Fire & Sky ) Created BTC 10 th February 2003. ( Kokrajhar , Chirang , Baksa , Udalguri ) EIGHT SCHEDULE LANGUAGE - 2003. (One of 22 nd Indian Language) UPSC as BODO LANGUAGE PAPER 2005. APSC as BODO LANGUAGE PAPER 2006 As a MIL Guwahati University established in 1996. Script used = Devanagri

21. Books on Bodo “The Kacharies ” (1911) by Rev. Sidney Endle . Sir Edward Gaid “ A History of Assam” “An outline of kachari Grammar” (1884) by Rev. Sidney Endle , ‘A short Grammar of the kachari of Boro language’ (1889) by L.O. Skrewsfor , “A collection of kachari Folk Tales and Rhymes” (1895) by J.D Anderson, “Grammar and Dictionary of kachari language” (1904) by A. Christensen.

22. Special Characteristics Food: Rice Curry: Onla , Narji , Napam , Dance: Bagurumba , Daosridelai , Kerai , Dahal Tungri Sibnai , Na gurnai , etc. Dress: Dokona , Aronai , Fasra , Gamsa . Dahal Tungri Sibnai

23. Special Characteristics Last King of Bodo Kochari = Eragdao / Gobinda Chandra-Queen – Indupraba . Monuments (evidence) Kashpur / Maibong / Dimapur / Siknajhar etc. Kashpur

24. Special Characteristics Dimapur Monuments (evidence)

25. Bathou : A place of worship Nepal India/Assam

26. BTC

27. Fishing

28. Culture

29. THANK YOU!