Chapter VII: Section VII: Affinities

The place of the Mikirs in the
Tibeto-Burman Family 151-172

Bibliography 173-177

Index 179-183

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

A Mikir Man Frontispiece
A Group of Mikirs (North Cachar)--1 To face page 5
A Mikir Girl 6
Plan of Mikir House Page 8
Mikir House: Family Group To face page 10
A Group of Mikirs (North Cachar)--2 23
A Mikir Boy 56
An Old Mikir Woman 59
Women pounding Paddy 132
Map showing Locality of Mikirs at end of volume

THE MIKIRS

I.

GENERAL.

Numbers--Habitat--Physical appearance--Traditions as to
origin--Affinities--Dress--Tattooing--Ornaments--Weapons.

The Mikirs are one of the most numerous and homogeneous of the many Tibeto-Burman races inhabiting the Province of Assam. In the tables of the Report on the Census of 1901 the number of Mikirs by race is given as 87,046, and that of speakers of the Mikir language as 82,283; but there are curious discrepancies in the details. In no district are the speakers of Mikir identical in number with those returned as Mikir by race; and it is remarkable that in several, more persons are returned as speaking the language than as belonging to the tribe. On the other hand, in the North Cachar Hills none of the 1446 Mikirs by race are shown as speaking Mikir, which is manifestly absurd. The following are the figures:--

District. Mikirs by race. Speaking Mikir.

Cachar Plains 717 728
Sylhet 156 166
Kamrup 10,587 8,026
Darrang 2,646 3,108
Nowgong 35,732 34,273
Sibsagar 22,909 22,803
North Cachar 1,446 nil.
Khasi and Jaintia Hills 12,840 13,142
Elsewhere 13 37
====== ======
Total 87,046 82,283

In Kamrup, Nowgong, and Sibsagar it may reasonably be assumed that the Mikirs returned as speaking some other language (probably Assamese) also spoke the speech of their tribe, being bilingual like other non-Aryan races in Assam; and the 809 persons in Darrang, the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, and elsewhere, returned as speaking Mikir, though not as Mikirs by race, must really have belonged to the tribe. Since 1891, when the number of Mikirs was returned as 94,829, there has been a considerable falling-off, due to the terrible ravages of the disease called Kala-azar [5] in the Nowgong and Kamrup districts.

The Mikirs inhabit in greatest strength the hills called after them, the isolated mountainous block which fills the triangle between the Brahmaputra on the north, the Dhansiri valley on the east, and the Kopili and Jamuna valleys on the west and south; this tract is now divided between the Nowgong and Sibsagar districts. They are also found in considerable numbers on the northern skirts of the Assam Range, in Nowgong, the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, and Kamrup, and were once numerous, as testified by the local place- and river-names, in North Cachar. They have settled in the plains, and taken to plough cultivation, in Nowgong and Kamrup, and have also established recent settlements of the same kind north of the Brahmaputra in Darrang. The great bulk, however, remain a hill tribe, occupying the forest-clad northern slopes of the central range of Assam, and practising the primitive method of cultivation by axe, fire, and hoe.

In the Mikir Hills there are summits which attain 4,000 feet, but the greater part of the block is of much lower elevation. The rock is chiefly gneiss and granite, with few traces of overlying formations; and the whole is clothed with forest growth, chiefly of bamboo, figs of different species, cinnamon, Artocarpus, nahor (Mesua ferrea), and a few other trees valuable for their timber. The soil is light, and soon exhausted by cropping; it is naturally most fertile in the valleys, where the deepest deposits are found. The Mikir Hills, in 1886 when Mr. Stack wrote, had been very little explored by Europeans, and their interior was almost unknown. To the north, from Koliabor to Kaziranga, they abut on the Brahmaputra, only a narrow strip of country, traversed by the southern Grand Trunk road, intervening between them and the river. This strip has few inhabitants and little cultivation, and is covered with high grass and cotton tree (semal) jungle, the haunt of wild buffalo and rhinoceros. To the east is the great Nambar forest, a dense area of high trees occupying the Dhansiri valley from Dimapur to within ten miles of Golaghat. To the south-west is the valley of the Jamuna, now traversed by the railway from Gauhati to Lumding, a region of tall grass and sparse tree jungle. The plain which is formed by the alluvial valley of the Kopili (or Kupli) river and its affluents, the Jamuna and the Diyaung (the latter coming from the North Cachar Hills), next intervenes; and to the west the land rises again in the northern skirts of the Jaintia and Khasi Hills. Here the country is of the same character as in the Mikir Hills, but better known. It consists of a series of plateaus or shelves rising from the level of the valley, composed of gneiss and granite, and covered with a red clay soil, the result of the decomposition of the metamorphic sandstones which overlay the igneous rock. The jungle here also is chiefly of bamboo, with a few patches of valuable forest, chiefly sal (Shorea robusta), still surviving; but most of the larger timber has been destroyed by the secular practice of axe and fire cultivation.

It is in this hilly country, and in the plains at its base, that the Mikir people are found. The region is continuous, and is distributed, as the figures just given show, between the districts (from east to west) of Sibsagar, Nowgong, North Cachar, the Jaintia and Khasi Hills, and Kamrup. It is malarious and unhealthy for unacclimatized persons, with a very moist climate, and is wanting in the breezy amenities of the higher plateaus of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills; but (save during the recent prevalence of Kala-azar) the inhabitants appear to have acquired some degree of immunity against the noxious influences of the locality. Side by side with the Mikirs dwell, in the Mikir Hills, the Rengma Nagas (who are recent immigrants from the eastern side of the Dhansiri); in the Jamuna and Diyaung valleys, the Dimasa or Kacharis; in the Jaintia Hills, the Kukis and Syntengs; and in the Khasi Hills and along the Nowgong and Kamrup borders, the Lalungs and a few settlements of Khasis.

The name Mikir is that given to the race by the Assamese: its origin is unknown. They call themselves Arlèng, which means man in general. [6] In features the men resemble Assamese of the lower classes more than most of the Tibeto-Burman races. Their colour is light yellowish brown, and the girls are often fair. The men are as tall as the majority of the hill races of Assam, Colonel L. A. Waddell's eighteen specimens averaging 1633 millimetres, or 5·354 feet, in height, the tallest being 5·583 feet, and the shortest 5·108. The average is noticeably higher than that of their neighbours the Khasis. The average head measurements in these specimens were--length, 181 millimetres; breadth, 141; cephalic index, 77·9. The nose is broad at the base, and often flat, giving a nasal index of 85·1, and an orbito-nasal of 107·7. The facial hair is scanty, and only a thin moustache is worn. The front of the head is sometimes, but not generally, shorn. The hair is gathered into a knot behind, which hangs over the nape of the neck. The body is muscular, and the men are capable of prolonged exertion. In frontier expeditions in Assam they have frequently served (like the Khasis) as porters, and carry heavy loads, the burden being borne upon the back and secured by a plaited bamboo (or cane) strap passing round the forehead (Mikir, sinàm).

The traditions of the race point to the Eastern portion of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, bordering on the Kopili (or Kupli) river (where many still remain), as their original abode. They speak of this as Nihàng, in contradistinction to Nilip, the Duar Baguri or Nowgong region which they now inhabit. Being harassed by warfare between Khasi (or Synteng) chiefs, they resolved to move into Ahom territory, and sent emissaries to claim protection from the Ahom governor of Raha (Nowgong District). These unfortunate persons, being unable to make themselves understood, were straightway buried alive in the embankment of a tank which the governor was excavating. The hostilities which ensued were concluded by an embassage to the king himself in Sibsagar, and the Mikirs have ever since been living peacefully in the territory assigned to them. They have dim traditions of a king of their own in the good old days, whom they call Sòt Recho, and are said by Mr. Stack to expect his return to earth. His seat is said to have been in Ròng-khàng (or Ròng-hàng), perhaps connected with Ni-hàng (Ròng, village). They had fights with the Dimasa or Hill Kacharis, and were led by Thòng Nòkbe and other captains, who established a fort at Diyaung-mukh (the junction of the Diyaung and Kopili rivers), the ruins of which are still to be seen. Along the northern skirts of the Mikir Hills there are remains of old brick buildings and sculptures, which are now ascribed to the Gods. Old men tell historical legends to the young ones, and there are also legendary songs, sung at festivals; but there is no class specially set apart for the preservation of such traditions, and the memory of the race is short. They are a mild and unwarlike people, and are said to have given up the use of arms when they placed themselves under the protection of the Ahom kings.

They claim kinship with no other tribe in Assam, and are, in fact, difficult to group with other branches of the great Tibeto-Burman stock to which they undoubtedly belong. The conclusions as to their affinities which it seems legitimate to draw from their institutions, culture, and language, will be found stated in Section VII. of this Monograph.

In dress the Mikir man imitates the Khasi, to whom he seems to have lived in subjection in former times. On his head he now wears a turban (pohu, poho), but formerly the Khasi cap (phu-tup), of black or red cloth, was more usually worn. On his loins he wears a dhoti (rikòng) of cotton cloth, and sometimes, if wealthy, of silk. His coat is a sleeveless striped jacket (choi), with a long fringe covering the buttocks and coming round in front (choi-apre). In cold weather he wears a thick wrapper (called in Assamese bor kapor) of eri silk (pe-inki). The legs are uncovered, and shoes are not worn.

The women wear a petticoat (pini), secured round the waist by an ornamental girdle (vànkòk). The petticoat is of white and red striped eri cloth. The upper part of the body is covered with the ji-so, a wrapper passing under the arms and drawn tight over the breasts. The head is uncovered, and the hair is drawn back and tied in a knot behind. In the funeral dances, however, the head is covered with a black scarf (ji-so ke-ik).

The men do not tattoo any part of the body. The women, on attaining puberty, usually tattoo a perpendicular line with indigo down the middle of the forehead, the nose, upper lip, and chin; no other part of the body is tattooed.

A characteristic ornament is a large silver tube inserted into the lobe of the ear, which is much distended thereby; this is called kadèngchinro, and weighs three or four rupees. The ordinary hanging earring (suspended from the outer part of the ear) of gold or silver is called no-rik. Necklaces (lèk) are worn, of gold or silver and coral beads, as by the Khasis. Rings (arnàn) and bracelets (roi), of gold and silver, are worn. The feathers of the bhim-raj are worn in the turban on festal occasions, as among the Khasis.

The national weapons are the long knife (nòk, nòk-jir), by the English commonly called by the Hindi name dao, the spear (chir), and the bow (thai, bòp-thaili) made of bamboo, with a string of tough bamboo fibre. In these there is nothing peculiar.

II.

DOMESTIC LIFE.

Occupations--Houses--Furniture--Implements and
utensils--Manufactures--Agriculture--Riso mar, or lads'
clubs--Crops--Hunting--Fishing--Food and Drink.

The Mikir people have always been agriculturists. Their villages, in the hills which are their proper habitat, are set up in clearings in the forest, and are shifted from place to place when the soil has been exhausted by cropping. Their houses are large and substantial, and are strongly put together. The Mikirs are not now (if they ever were [7]), as Colonel Dalton relates in his Ethnology of Bengal, in the habit of lodging several families, or even the whole village, in one house. The inhabitants of a house are all of one family, but may often be numerous, as married sons frequently live with their parents.

The Mikir house is built on posts, and the floor is raised several feet above the ground. The material of the super-structure is bamboo, slit and flattened out, and the whole is thatched with san-grass. A moderate elevation, with a flat top, is preferred for building; a slope will be taken if no better site can be found.

The house is divided lengthwise by a partition called arpòng, or nòksèk-arpòng, into kàm, the guests' or servants' chamber, and kut, the living-room of the family. Kàm is on the right side as you enter, and the only door into the house leads into it. In kàm a platform or chang, called tibung, raised above the floor the diameter of a bamboo, runs along the outside wall; this may be divided off laterally into rooms for sleeping. In kut, separated off by a partition on the side of the outer wall, is a long, narrow chamber, one bamboo's diameter lower than the floor, called vo-roi, in which the fowls and goats are kept at night; it has a separate door, called vo-roi-amehàn. In kut, towards the back, is the fireplace (mehip). The space before it is dàm-thàk, where the family sleep, and the bamboo paddy-receptacle stands. Behind the fireplace is dàm-buk, a vacant space, where the grown-up daughter or old woman sleeps. Between the fire and the vo-roi is the rice-pot (sàng-ràngtik), holding the stock of husked rice. Between the fire and the partition (arpòng) is the kut-athèngthòr, a space for miscellaneous articles. Above the vo-roi a shelf is raised under the roof, called vo-harlip, for pots, etc. Opposite the fireplace is a door leading into kàm.

In kàm, if the house is large, there are two fireplaces. Before the fire the space is called kàm-athèngthòt, or nòksèk. In the corner of the front wall and the partition (arpòng) are put the water-chungas (làng-bòng); it is called làng-tenun. The front door is called hòngthu, the back door pàn, or pàn-hòngthu.

The front veranda is called hòng-kup. The tibung runs out into it, and the part beyond the front wall of the house is called thèng-roi-rai, "the place for bringing (or storing) firewood" (thèng). Beyond the hòng-kup the platform extends unroofed (hòng-plàng). If the house be a large one, a hòng-pharla, roofed over, for strangers to lodge in, is made on the right side of the hòng-plàng, but disconnected with the thèng-roi-rai; between it and the latter is the ladder to gain access to the platform (dòndòn), usually a tree-trunk with notches cut in it for the feet. The hòng-pharla may extend also across the front of the house; it is roofed over, but open towards the house. Similarly, at the back of the house is the pàng-hòngkup, or back veranda, and the unroofed pàng beyond. No ladder gives access to this.

Under the house are the pigsties, phàk-roi, and in front is a yard or compound (tikup), usually fenced round.

The furniture of the house is of the simplest description. The floor, or a raised platform of bamboo, serves as a bed. A block of wood (inghoi; Ass. pira) is used as a stool to sit on. Baskets of bamboo and cane are employed as cupboards in which to store the household goods, the paddy, and the clothes. These baskets are of various shapes and sizes, and bear many different names. Joints of bamboo (Ass. chunga; Mikir, làng-bòng) are used for holding water, and also as boxes to contain valuables of all kinds.

The Mikirs have few manufactures. Weaving is done by the women of the family on rude wooden looms (pè-theràng), the cotton raised in their fields being previously spun on a wheel (mi-thòngràng). They also raise eri silk (inki), the cocoon of the Attacus ricini, fed on the castor-oil plant, and weave it into coarse fabrics, chiefly the bor-kapor, or blanket, used in the cold weather. They dye their thread with indigo (sibu), a small patch of which is grown near every house. The indigo is not derived from Indigofera, but from a species of Strobilanthes, generally identified as S. flaccidifolius. Mr. Stack notes that there are two kinds, bu-thi and bu-jir; the latter, he says, is trained up poles, and has a longer leaf. The leaves of the plant are bruised in a wooden mortar and mixed with water, and the blue colour develops, as in ordinary indigo, in a few days' time by chemical change. Besides indigo, they use a red dye, the source of which is probably the same as the Khasi red dye (see Khasi Monograph, p. 60).

Blacksmiths (hemai) have existed among them from remote times, and they can fashion their own daos and various kinds of knives. They also make needles (for which old umbrella-ribs are in much request), and hooks for fishing.

They also make their own gold and silver ornaments (necklaces, bracelets, rings, ear-ornaments).

Pottery is made without the wheel, as among the Khasis (Monograph, p. 61). It is thick and durable, and well burnt. There are few potters among them, and the accomplishment is not common.

In all these branches of manufacture the tendency, with the increase of intercourse and the cessation of isolation, is to give up domestic workmanship and rely more upon outside markets.

The main crops are summer rice (maikum), sown with the first rains and reaped in November-December, and cotton (phelo), also grown in the rains and gathered in the cold weather. The system of jhuming, by which land is prepared for cultivation by cutting down and burning the jungle, is in no respect different from the practice of all hill-tribes in the province. They do not plant out their rice, nor use the plough in cultivating it. There is no irrigation.

Besides these main crops, castor-oil is grown for feeding the eri silkworm; maize (thèngthe), turmeric (tharmit), yams (hèn, Colocasia), red pepper (birik), aubergines (Hindi, baingan; Mikir, hepi), and ginger (hànso) are also cultivated in small patches. Another crop is lac, grown on branches of the arhar plant (see Khasi Monograph, p. 47).

When Mr. Stack wrote, the most important institution from the point of view of agriculture was the association or club of the dekas (Ass.), or young men (from twelve to sixteen, eighteen, or twenty years of age) of the village (Mikir, ri-so-mar); but it is reported that this useful form of co-operation is now falling into desuetude. In former days the village youths (as in Naga-land) used to live together in a house by themselves, called in Mikir maro or teràng (in Assamese, deka-chang). [8] Now there is no maro, and the risomar live in the gaonbura's house, in the hòng-pharla, the place in which strangers are lodged. They send a boy to bring their food from their homes, and all eat together. Each man's share is brought in a leaf-bundle (àn-bòr) to keep it warm. The gaonbura calls the people together, and proposes that, having so many lads in the village, they should start a lads' club. If agreed to, the union of the risomar is formed, and the lads take up their quarters in his house. The club is organized under regular officers appointed by themselves. The gaonbura has general authority over them, but their own chief is the klèng sarpo. Next comes the klèng-dun, then the sodar-kethe, then the sodar-so or phàndiri, then the sàngho-kerai ("he who fetches the company"), then the barlòn ("carrier of the measuring-rod"). Other officers are the chèng-brup-pi and chèng-brup-so (drummers, chief and lieutenant), the phàn-kri (the lad who waits on the klèng sarpo), the motàn ar-e and motàn arvi ("the right and left outside strips of the field"), the làngbòng-po ("carrier of the water-chunga"), arphèk-po ("carrier of the broom"), and the chinhàk-po ("carrier of the basket of tools"). The risomar all work in the fields together, each having his own strip (a-mo) to till. The village fields are allotted each to one house, and the grown men confine their work to their own fields; but the risomar go the round of all the fields in the village.

Work is enforced by penalties. They used to roast those who shirked their share; now they beat them for failure to work. If the klèng sarpo finds a lad refractory, he reports him to the gaonbura.

Villages like having deka clubs. They help greatly in cultivation, practice dancing and singing, and keep alive the village usages and tribal customs. They are in great request at funerals, which are the celebrations in which most spirit is shown.

Hunting, with spears and dogs, is practised. The objects of the chase are deer and wild pig; also the iguana (Ass. gui) and tortoise. The dog barks and follows up the track by scent. They also set traps (arhàng) for tigers, with a spear placed so as to be discharged from a spring formed by a bent sapling; twice round the tiger's pug gives the height of his chest, at which the spear is pointed; a rope of creeper stretched across the path releases the spring when the tiger passes that way and comes against it.

Fishing is done with rod and line, but chiefly by means of traps and baskets, as in Assam generally. The trap (ru) is a basket of bamboo, constructed so that the fish can get in but cannot get out, and is fixed in an opening in a fence (a-ru-pat) placed in a stone dam built across a stream.

The staple food is rice, which is husked in the usual way, by being pounded with a long pestle in a wooden mortar, and cooked by the women of the family. The flesh of cows is not eaten; there is said to be a dislike even to keep them, but this prejudice is now dying out. Milk is not drunk. Fowls, goats, and pigs are kept for food, but eaten chiefly at sacrifices; eggs are eaten. A delicacy is the chrysalis of the eri silkworm (Attacus ricini); it is eaten roasted and curried. Children (but not grown folk) cook and eat crabs and rats. In cooking meat, spits (òk-akròn) are used; the meat is either cut up and skewered, or a large lump is placed whole on the embers; it is thoroughly cooked. Fish is cut into slices and put in the sun to dry, or smoked. Meat also is cut into strips and dried on frames in the sun.

The vegetables are those commonly used by the Assamese. Sugar-cane (nòk) is not much grown. A favourite seasoning is mint (lopòng-brik).

Men and women eat together, within the house. The right hand is used in eating. Leaf-plates are most used, but platters of pot-metal are also found. No knife is used in eating: the meat is cut up beforehand.

The first meal is cooked and eaten at 7 or 8 a.m., and consists of rice. The evening meal is cooked after the day's field-work is over, unless there be a cook in the house. At each meal a pinch of the food is put aside for the God (arnàm).

The national drink is rice-beer (hòr, hòrpo), which is made by each household for itself. The rice is cooked, and well broken up on a mat. It is then mixed with a ferment called thàp (Bengali, bakhar), made of powdered rice with certain kinds of leaves pounded into it, and the whole dried for use as required. After this has been thoroughly mixed with the boiled rice, the latter is heaped up and covered with plantain leaves, and put aside in the house. In three or four days, in the hot weather, fermentation sets in; in the cold weather a longer time is required. It is then put into an earthern jar or kalsi (Beng.) and water added, after which it is emptied into a conical basket, whence it is allowed to strain through a bamboo joint into a pot below. To make hòr (Ass. modh), rice is taken from the basket and warmed with water, which is strained off, and is the modh or hòrpo; the rice is thrown to the pigs. The better and stronger beer is that which was drained off the original conical basket, and is called hòr-alàng.

Aràk (Hind.) is the spirit distilled from the fermented rice mixed with water. The still is a rude one of earthern pots connected by a bamboo. A stronger stuff is made by distilling hòr-alàng.

Hòr will keep good for two months if left untouched. It is a common family drink. Gourds are used for keeping it in and carrying it about for use.

Drunkenness is not common in the villages, and the ceremonies and festivities at which beer is drunk are not noisy. The me or general council, however, when large quantities are consumed, is sometimes noisy.

Opium is used to a large extent by the Mikirs as by other Assamese (Mr. Allen states that nearly all male adults indulge in it). Tobacco is smoked, and also chewed with betel. The bowl of the tobacco-pipe is made of burnt clay or of bamboo root. Betel-nut (kove; Khasi, kwai) is largely consumed in the usual way, with lime and pan-leaf (bithi); and (as among the Khasis) time and distance are computed by the interval required to chew a nut. (The phrase is ingtàt e-òm-ta er, "the time it takes to chew the nut and pan-leaf red": ingtàt, roll for chewing; e-, one; òm, chew; er, red.)

III.

LAWS AND CUSTOMS.

Internal structure--Sections or divisions--Exogamous
groups--Marriage laws--Common names--Marriage ceremony--Female
chastity--Polygamy--Divorce--Words for relationship by
blood and marriage--Inheritance--Property in land--Decision
of disputes--Village council--Relations with neighbouring
races--Appendix: Lists of exogamous groups given by other
authorities compared with those given by Mr. Stack.

The Mikir people proper--that is, those who continue to live in the hills--are divided into three sections, called Chintòng, Rònghàng, and Amri. In the days of the migration eastward from the Kopili region, Amri stayed behind, or loitered, and Chintòng and Rònghàng waited for him as they moved from stage to stage. At last, on arriving at the Dhansiri river, Chintòng and Rònghàng resolved to be only two sections in future. The laggard Amri afterwards arrived, but was not received back into full fellowship. He has no honour at the general festivals, and in the distribution of rice-beer at feasts he gets no gourd for himself, but has to drink from those of the other two. These are the conditions as they exist in the Mikir Hills and Nowgong (Duar Baguri); in Ni-hàng, however (the region of the Kopili), Amri is on an equality with the others. The Mikir Hills are chiefly inhabited by the Chintòng section, North Cachar and the hilly parts of Nowgong by the Rònghàng, and the Khasi and Jaintia Hills by Amri; but individuals of all three are found dwelling among the others.

These names, however, do not indicate true tribal divisions, supposed to be derived from a common ancestor and united in blood, and are probably in reality local- or place-names. Amri, in particular, seems to be a Khasi river-name, and Rònghàng is the legendary site of Sòt Recho's capital. The real tribal exogamous divisions run through all three, and are called kur (a Khasi word: Assamese, phoid). Each of the three sections of the race has within it the same kurs, and the individuals belonging to these kurs, whether in Chintòng, Rònghàng, or Amri, observe the same rules of exogamy.

The number and names of the kurs, or exogamous groups, are differently given by different authorities. The differences appear to be partly explained by the fact that one authority has taken for a principal group-name what another has entered as a sub-group under another larger section. In an appendix will be found the grouping according to several different authorities. Here the data given by Mr. Stack, who appears to have relied chiefly on information obtained in Duar Baguri, are reproduced.

He found that the people recognized four kurs, called respectively Ingti, Teràng, [9] Lèkthe, and Timung, under which the smaller groups (also called kur) are ranged thus--

I. Ingti. III. Lèkthe.

(1) Taro. (1) Hànse.
(2) Katar. (2) Tutso.
(3) Hènsèk. (3) Bòngrun.
(4) Inglèng. (4) Kràmsa.

II. Teràng. IV. Timung.

(1) Be. (1) Tòkbi.
(2) Kro. (2) Sèngnar.
(3) Ingjar. (3) Ròngphar.

As already mentioned, these kurs are exogamous: an individual belonging to kur Ingti must go outside that kur for his wife; and similarly Teràng, Lèkthe, and Timung cannot marry wives drawn from within the kur. The sub-groups are, of course, as parts of the larger groups, also exogamous; and it is easy to perceive how one informant may count as a principal group-division what another may regard as a sub-division. All the kurs are now socially on an equality, and have no scruples as to eating together or intermarriage; their traditional rank is, however, as given above. Ingti is said to have been in former times the priestly clan (Ass. gohain); Teràng also claims this dignity, but is thought to be of lower rank; but in both cases the office has fallen entirely into desuetude. Lèkthe is said to have been the military clan, while Timung represented the rest of the people.

The Mikirs who settled in the plains of Nowgong and took to plough cultivation are called Dumrali by the Mikirs and Tholua by the Assamese. They are said to have acted as interpreters to the mission which visited the Ahom king at Sibsagar. They also have the same kurs as the other three sections of hill Mikirs.

The children are counted to their father's kur, and cannot marry within it. They may, however, marry their first cousins on the mother's side, and indeed this appears to have been formerly the most usual match. This absence of matriarchal institutions strongly marks off the Mikirs from the Khasis, from whom they have in other respects borrowed much.

The following are common personal names among the Mikirs:--

MEN. WOMEN.

Sardoka. Karèng.
Mòn. Kache.
Dili. Kabàn.
There. Kamàng.
Kàngther. Ka-èt.
Tamoi. Ka-jir.
Temèn. Katu.
Bura. Kare.
Pator. Kasàng.
Lòng. Kadòm.
Mèn. Dimi.
Bi. Ingle.
Sotera.

It is said that no meaning is attached to these names; that is, they are not given because of any meaning which they may possess. (It is evident that many of them have a meaning: e.g. Bi is a goat, Lòng a stone, Pator is a village official among the Khasis, Bura is Assamese for "an old man," Tamoi is probably the Assamese for the betel-nut (tamol.) Sotera may be corrupted from sangtara, orange.) The prefix Ka- in women's names is manifestly taken from Khasi usage. There are no surnames, but the name of the kur is used to distinguish one individual from another, as Mòn Lèkthe, Mòn Timung.

The age for marriage is from fourteen to twenty-five for the man, ten to fifteen for the girl; eighteen or nineteen and fifteen are the most usual ages. Child marriage is unknown. If a young man fancies a girl (from meeting her at dances and the like), he sends one or both parents to her father's house, and if the girl's parents agree, the lad's father leaves a betrothal ring or bracelet with the girl (this is called ke-roi-dun); sometimes a gourd of rice beer is taken and accepted, and in that case, if she subsequently marries another, the village council fine her family 25 to 35 rupees; otherwise only the betrothal ring or bracelet is returned. The length of the engagement is uncertain, but the actual marriage does not take place till after puberty. When the marriage day is fixed, both families prepare beer and spirits; if the bridegroom is rich, he provides drink for the whole country-side (hòr-hàk hòr-tibuk). The bridegroom's party, giving a gourd of beer to each village they pass through, arrive at the bride's house in the evening. There they sit awhile, and then offer one gourd of beer and one glass bottle of spirits to the bride's father on the hòng. A colloquy ensues: the bride's father asks the bridegroom's why they have come, and why these offerings. He answers, "Your sister (i.e. the wife of the speaker) is becoming old and cannot work, so we have brought our son to marry your daughter." (The custom formerly was that a boy must marry his first cousin on the mother's side, and if he did not, the maternal uncle could beat the lad as much as he liked; but now they can do as they please.) The reply follows: "My daughter is unworthy, she does not know weaving and other household work." "Never mind, we will teach her ourselves." The bride's father then asks his wife to enquire of the girl if she will take the lad; without her consent the beer and spirits cannot be accepted. If the wife reports consent, the beer and spirits are drunk by the two fathers. Sometimes they sit the whole night before the girl's consent is obtained. If any knowing old men are there, they sing in two parties: "We cannot send our daughter to your house!" "We cannot leave our boy to stay with you!" When the question of consent is settled, all eat together. Then the bride prepares the bed inside the house for the bridegroom, in the kàm; in the tibung (see plan [10]) if there is room: if not, in the thèngthòr; but if the lad is ashamed, he sends one of his garments to take his place in the bed.

What follows depends upon the wealth and standing of the parties. If the wedding is akejoi--that is, if no payment is to be made for the bride--the girl goes with her husband next day to her new home. Her parents accompany her, and are entertained with food and drink, returning the following day. If the wedding is akemèn (literally, ripe, pakka), the lad stays in his father-in-law's house. He rests one day, and then works for his father-in-law for a year, or two years, or even it may be for life, according to agreement. There is no money payment in any case. If the girl is an heiress or only daughter, the marriage is usually akemèn; but in the great majority of cases it is akejoi. The neighbours of both villages assemble at the marriage, and when the bride goes to her husband's house, the neighbours of the village accompany her and are hospitably entertained.

Before marriage it was reported, when Mr. Stack made his enquiries, that there was little intercourse between the sexes. Seduction rarely occurred, but when it did, the parents of the girl had to give her to the lad in marriage. It was not punished. Old men, however, could remember (1885) when the teràng or "bachelors' house" used to be the abode not only of the lads, but also of the maids, and illegitimate births were common. The girls used even to work in the fields with the boys; there was not even a matron to look after them!

After marriage adultery is said to be rare. The case is judged by the me, or village council, who inflict a fine. The guilty pair are tied up and exposed to the scorn of the neighbours until the fine is paid by the man. Adultery was never capitally punished. After the fine is paid, the husband has to take his wife back, unless there are no children, when he might refuse to do so. The fine is not given to the offended husband, but distributed among the elders who compose the me.

The authorities differ on the question whether more than one wife is allowed. When Mr. Stack wrote, in 1883, the chapter on "Castes and Tribes" in the Report on the Assam Census of 1881, he stated that "polygamy is permitted if a man can afford it." His subsequent notes of 1885-86, however, record that monogamy is the rule, and no one is allowed to marry two wives. Mr. W. C. M. Dundas, Subdivisional Officer of North Cachar, writing in 1903, says that an Arlèng may marry only one wife. On the other hand, the Rev. P. E. Moore, who has a long experience of the Mikirs, writing in 1902, says, "Polygamy is not common. A man sometimes takes a second wife. In one instance which came to my notice recently the two wives were married on the same day. The man is usually fined Rs. 12.8 for this irregularity. The father of a boy who is now in my service had six wives, and was not punished at all." [11] Perhaps it may be concluded that monogamy is the general rule, and that cases of polygamy have occurred in consequence of the effect of the example of the Assamese, and the weakening of tribal sanctions.

The young couple live in the bridegroom's father's house. The old people often get separate rooms allotted to them as they advance in life, and are supported in idleness.

Widow marriage is allowed. Divorce is rare, but permissible if there is no offspring, or if the girl goes home after marriage and refuses to return to her husband. In that case the husband takes a gourd of beer to her parents and declares himself free. Both parties, after the divorce, can marry again.

[NOTE BY EDITOR.

The following list of Mikir words for family relationship has some points of interest:--

Grandfather, phu. Grandmother, phi.
Father, po. Mother, pei, pi.
Husband, pèng-àn. Wife, peso.

(Wedded pair, Pèng-àn-so, Pengnàn-so.)

Wife's father, hupo, ònghai. Wife's mother, nipi, nihai.
Husband's father, lòk-hai.
Father's brother, punu. Father's sister, pinu.
Mother's brother, òng, nihu. Father's brother's wife, ni.

Child, common gender, without reference to parents, so.

Boy, oso. Girl, osopi.
Son, sopo. Daughter, sopi.
Grandson, supo. Granddaughter, supi.
Brother, in general, kòr, kòrte. Sister, in general, kòr, kòrte.
Brother, when speaker is a female,
chèkle.
Elder } { ik { te, when speaker
brother } words used by { Elder { is a female.
Younger } both sexes { mu sister { ingjirpi, when speaker
brother } { { is a male.
Younger sister, mu.
Brother-in-law: wife's brother, Brother's wife, for male
òng-so. speaker, tepi; for female
speaker, nèng.
Sister's husband, me, Wife's sister, kòrpi.
ingjir-arlo; kòrpo.
Son-in-law, osa.
Nephew, generally, philipo. Niece, philipi.
Elder brother's son, ik-aso.
Brother's son, kòr-aso.
Sister's son, osa.

The remarkable point about these names is that most of them are the same for both sexes, and that the sexes are distinguished only by words indicating gender where this is required. Po is the index for the male, pi that for the female.

Again, the same word appears to be used in different senses: e.g. òng is maternal uncle, but òng-so (so is the syllable indicating a diminutive) is the wife's brother, the "little uncle;" osa is both nephew (sister's son) and son-in-law (pointing to the custom of intermarriage of first cousins on the mother's side). Te is sister, but tepi (pi indicates greatness) is brother's wife. Similarly, kòr is sister (or brother), kòrpi is wife's sister, kòrpo sister's husband.

It will be observed that brothers and sisters, and brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, use different forms of address when speaking of their relationship inter se.

The whole subject seems to demand further investigation, in the light of comparison with the system of family grouping in other allied tribes, and the history and etymology, so far as it is possible to ascertain them, of the words indicating relationship.]

The sons inherit; if there are none, the brothers; after them the deceased's nearest agnate of his own kur. The wife and daughters get nothing. But if the deceased has no sons or brothers, the widow can retain the property by marrying into her husband's kur. In any case she retains her personal property, ornaments, clothes, etc. If the widow will not surrender the property, the case has to come before the me.

The eldest son gets somewhat more than the others on the father's death. Generally, however, the property is divided beforehand by the father, who often prefers one son to another. The family usually continues to dwell together, the grown-up sons supporting the widowed mother. Adoption is unknown.

Villages have no fixed or recognized boundaries, but are moved from place to place according to the needs of cultivation. Only house-tax is paid, except by Mikirs cultivating land with the plough in the submontane tracts, who are treated in all respects like other Assamese raiyats. In the hills the culturable land, at the first settlement of a village in a new locality, is divided among the householders by the me, or village council, presided over by the gaonbura, the head of each household choosing his own land for cultivation, and any dispute being referred to the me. Should the dispute not be settled in this manner, the majority prevails, and the dissident households, if they do not acquiesce, may remove elsewhere and set up for themselves as a new community with a gaonbura of their own.

The following are the Mikir mauzas, or territorial divisions including a number of villages, in the Nowgong district:--

Duar Baguri, Duar Bamuni, Duar Salona, Ròngkhàng, Duar Amla Parbat, Duar Dikhoru, Duar Kothiatali, Jamuna-par, Làngpher, Lumding Mikir. The last two are new mauzas, the opening-out of which is due to the Assam-Bengal Railway, which traverses the tract. Each mauza has a Mikir mauzadar or bikhoya.

The decision of disputes is the business of the village me, or council, [12] presided over by the gaonbura (Mikir, sar-the). The me is composed of all the male householders. The gaonbura is chosen for his personal character by the householders. On election, he repairs, with beer and spirits, to the head gaonbura or mauzadar, bringing with him two or three other gaonburas. A pig is killed, the company eat and drink together, and the gaonbura is declared duly elected. The me is summoned by the gaonbura. It decides all village disputes, and inflicts small fines. It also determines whether the village shall be shifted, and where it shall be removed to. A me-pi ("great council") consists of gaonburas only, presided over by a mauzadar or head gaonbura. Graver matters, such as charges of adultery, witchcraft aimed at life (maja kechònghoi), tigers in the mauza, questions affecting the mauza at large, the arrangements for the Ròngker or annual village festival, and such like, are referred to the me-pi.

The Mikirs have never been a warlike race, nor are there any traditions of inter-village feuds. Head-hunting has not been practised, but the tribe have often been the victim of raids for this purpose by their neighbours, the Angami Nagas. There are said to have formerly been vendettas between families.

During the Burmese wars in the early part of the last century, the tribe deserted its settlements in the submontane tract, and fled into the higher hills. Many Assamese are reported to have taken refuge with them during this time, and to have become Mikirs. [Mr. Dundas also mentions that in North Cachar outsiders are admitted into the tribe and are enrolled as members of one of the kurs, after purification by one of the Be-kuru kur (Mr. Stack's Be and Kro, sub-kurs of Teràng). In the group opposite, taken from a photograph supplied by Mr. Dundas, the short man is evidently a Khasi, while the man to his left appears to be an Assamese.]

The Mikirs call their Kachari neighbours Paròk, the Mikir pronunciation of Boro (in the allied dialect of Tipperah boròk means "man"); the Assamese are Ahòm, the Bengalis Bòngnai (Bòngnai-adin, "British rule"), the Nagas Naka. The Khasis generally are called Chomàng, the border race of Khasis, adjoining the Kopili or Kupli river, being Chomàng-Keche. Keche is, no doubt, equivalent to Khasi, the vowel-change being the same as in Recho for Raja.