BRITISH COLONIES AND DEPENDENCIES IN ASIA.
ADEN.--THE MONGOLIAN VARIETY.--THE MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES.--HONG
KONG.--THE TENASSERIM PROVINCES; MAULMEIN, YE, TAVOY, TENASSERIM,
THE MERGUI ARCHIPELAGO.--THE MÔN, SIAMESE, AVANS, KARIENS, AND
SILONG.--ARAKHAN.--MUGS, KHYENS.--CHITTAGONG, TIPPERA, AND
SYLHET.--KUKI.--KASIA.--CACHARS.--ASSAM.--NAGAS.--SINGPHO.--JILI.--
KHAMTI.--MISHIMI.--ABORS AND BOR-ABORS.--DUFLA.--AKA.--MUTTUCKS AND
MIRI, AND OTHER TRIBES OF THE VALLEY OF ASSAM.--THE GARO.--
CLASSIFICATION.--MR. BROWN'S TABLES.--THE BODO.--DHIMAL.--KOCCH.--
LEPCHAS OF SIKKIM.--RAWAT OF KUMAON.--POLYANDRIA.--THE TAMULIAN
POPULATIONS.--RAJMAHALI MOUNTAINEERS.--KÚLIS, KHONDS, GOANDS,
CHENCHWARS.--TUDAS, ETC.--BHILS.--WARALIS.--THE TAMUL, TELINGA,
KANARA AND MALAYALAM LANGUAGES.
_Aden._--The ethnology of the Arab stock would fill a volume. It is
sufficient to state that the British political dependency of Aden is,
ethnologically, an Arab town.
Far more important possessions direct our attention towards India.
Nevertheless, there are certain preliminaries to its ethnology.
Mongolia and China--each of these countries illustrates an important
ethnological phenomenon.
The first is a physical one. Cheek-bones that project outwards, a broad
and flat face, a depressed nose, an oblique eye, a somewhat slanting
insertion of the teeth, a scanty beard, an undersized frame, and a tawny
or yellow skin, characterize the Mongol of Mongolia.
The second is a philological one. A comparative absence of grammatical
inflexions, and a disproportionate preponderance of monosyllabic words,
characterize the language of China.
So much for the simple elementary facts; the former of which will be
spoken of under the designation of _Mongolian conformation_; the second
under that of _monosyllabic language_.
Neither term is limited to the nation by which it has been illustrated.
Plenty of populations besides those of Mongolia Proper are Mongol in
physiognomy. Plenty of nations besides the Chinese are monosyllabic in
language.
All the nations speaking monosyllabic tongues are Mongol in physiognomy;
though all the nations which have a Mongol physiognomy do _not_ speak
monosyllabic tongues. This makes the latter group, which for shortness
will be called that of the _monosyllabic_ nations or tribes--a section,
or division, of the former.
Little Tibet, Ladakh, Tibet Proper, Butan, and China, are all Mongol in
form, and monosyllabic in language. So are Ava, Pegu, Siam, Cambojia,
and Cochin China, the countries which constitute the great peninsula,
sometimes called _Indo-Chinese_, and sometimes _Transgangetic_.
The extremity however--the Malayan peninsula--is _not_ monosyllabic.
_The British possessions of Hindostan are monosyllabic on their Tibetan
and Burmese frontiers._
_Hong-Kong._--Aden was disposed of briefly. So is Hong-Kong; and that
for the same reason. Politically, British, it is ethnologically Chinese.
_Maulmein, Ye, Tavoy, Tenasserim, and the Mergui Archipelago._--These
constitute what are sometimes called the _ceded_, sometimes the
_Tenasserim_ provinces. They came into possession of the British at the
close of the Burmese war of 1825. Unlike our dependencies in Hindostan,
they are cut off from connection with any of the great centres of
British power in Asia--in which respect they agree with the smaller and
still more isolated settlements of the Malaccan Peninsula. The power
that ceded them was the Burmese, so that it is with the existing
subjects of that empire that their present limits are in contact; though
only for the northern part. To the south they abut upon Siam.
The population throughout is monosyllabic; except so far as it is
modified by foreign intermixture--of which by far the most important
element is the Indian. Everything in the way of religious creed which is
not native and pagan is Indian and Buddhist. The alphabets, too, of the
lettered populations are Indian in origin.
The population of the _continental_ part of these British dependencies
is referable to four divisions--of unequal and imperfectly ascertained
value. 1. The Môn. 2. The Siamese. 3. The Avans. 4. The Kariens.
1. _The Môn._--Môn is the native name of the indigenous population of
Pegu, so that the Môn of Maulmein, or Amherst, the most northern of the
provinces in question, on the left bank of the lower Salwín, are part
and parcel of the present occupants of the delta of the Irawaddi, and
the country about Cape Negrais. The Burmese call them _Talieng_, and
under that designation they are described in Dr. Helfer's Report.[22]
The Siamese appellation is _Ming-môn_; apparently the native name in a
state of composition. In the early Portuguese notices a still more
composite form appears--and we hear of the ancient empire of
_Kalamenham_, supposed to have been founded by the _Pandalús_ of Môn or
Pegu.
None of the _lettered_ languages of the Indo-Chinese peninsula are less
known than that of Pegu. At the same time its unequivocally
monosyllabic character is beyond doubt. The alphabet is a slight
variation of the Avan.
The geographical position of the Môn at the extremity of a promontory,
and on the delta of a river, taken along with their philological
isolation, is remarkable. They have evidently been encroached upon by
the Avans in latter times; whilst, at an earlier period, they themselves
probably encroached upon others. Whether they are the oldest occupants
of Maulmein is uncertain; it is only certain that they are older than
their conquerors.
To the Môn of Pegu the exchange of Avan for British rule, has been a
great and an appreciated advantage.
2. _The Siamese._--The native name for the Siamese language is _Tha'y_,
and _Tha'y_ is the national and indigenous denomination of the Siamese.
It is the Avans who call them _Sian_ or _Shan_; from whence the European
term has been derived through the Portuguese.
The Siamese population is of course greatest on the Siamese frontier; so
that, increasing as we go south, it attains its _maximum_ in Tenasserim
just as the Môn did in Maulmein. It seems, also, to have been introduced
at different times; a fact which gives us a distinction between the
native Siamese and the recent settlers.
Like the _Môn_, the Tha'y, at least in its more classical dialect, is a
lettered language; the alphabet, like the Buddhist religion, being
Indian. Unlike, however, the _Môn_, which is the only representative of
the family to which it belongs, the _Tha'y_ tribes constitute a vast
class, falling into divisions and subdivisions, and exceedingly
remarkable in respect to its geographical distribution.
The Siamese of Siam, the kingdom of which Bankok is the capital, form
but a fraction of this great stock. The _upper_ half of the river Menam
is occupied by what are called the _Laú_, or _Laos_. These are partly
wholly independent, and partly in nominal dependence upon China; and
proportionate to their independence is the unlettered character of their
language, and the absence of Indian influences. Nor is this all. The
Menam is pre-eminently the river of the Tha'y stock, and along the
water-system of the Menam its chief branches are to be found; their
position being between the Burmese populations of the west, and the
Khomen of Cambojia on the east. This distribution is _vertical_, _i.e._,
it is characterized by its length, rather than its breadth, and runs
from south to north. So far does it reach in this direction that, as
high as 28° North lat., in upper Assam we find a branch of it. This is
the _Khamti_. In a valuable comparison of languages, well-known as
"Brown's Tables,"[23] the proportion of the Khamti words to the South
Siamese is ninety-two _per cent._
Of the physical appearance of the Siamese, we find the best account in
"Crawfurd's Embassy," the classical work for the ethnology of the
southern part of the Indo-Chinese peninsula. Their stature is low; the
tallest man out of twenty having been five feet eight inches, the
shortest five feet three. The complexion, darker than that of the
Chinese, is lighter than that of the Malay; the eye oblique; the jaw
square; and the cheek-bones broad.
_Tha'y_ is an ethnological term, and denotes all the nations and tribes
akin to the Siamese of the southern, the Khamti of the northern, or the
Laú of the intermediate area. The difference between the first and the
last of these three should be noticed. Some members of the family are
Indianized in religion, and organized in politics. Such are the Siamese
of Bankok. Others retain both their independence and their original
Paganism. Such are some of the Laú. _Mutatis mutandis_, the same applies
to the next family.
This is the _Burmese_, to which both the Avans and the Kariens belong;
but as it has been already stated that the divisions under
consideration are by no means of equal value, the two branches will be
considered separately.
3. _The Avans._--_Avan_ is a more convenient term than _Burmese_,
inasmuch as it is more definite; the _Burmese Empire_ containing not
only very distant members of the great _Burmese_ family, but also
populations which belong to other groups. _Ava_, on the other hand, is
the centre of the dominant division.
Whether the _Môn_, or a family yet to be mentioned, represent the
aborigines of _Maulmein_, it is certain that the Avans of that country
are of comparatively recent introduction.
Again, whether the _Tha'y_, or a family yet to be mentioned, represent
the aborigines of _Tenasserim_, it is certain that the Avans of that
country are of comparatively recent origin.
Nevertheless, there are Avans in each; and in Maulmein, although the Môn
preponderate in number, they all are able to speak the language of their
conquerors. I say _conquerors_, because the Avans are for all the parts
south of 18° North lat., an intrusive population: the end of the
eighteenth century being the date, when, under Alompra, an Avan or
Umerapúra dynasty broke up and subjected, in different degrees, the Môn
and Tha'y populations to the south, as well as several others more akin
to itself on the east, west, and north.
The kingdom of Ava, next to those of China and Siam, best represents the
civilization of those families whose tongue is monosyllabic. This
implies that it has an organized polity, a lettered language, and a
Buddhist creed; in other words that the influences of either China or
India have acted on it. Of these two nations it is the latter which has
most modified the Indianized members of the great Burmese stock. In
strong contrast with these is the fourth and last branch of the
_continental_ population for the provinces in question, the
4. _Karien._--The Kariens are partially independent; chiefly pagan; and
their language, belonging to the same class with the Avan, is
unlettered. They are the first of a long list.
Their geographical distribution is remarkable, like that of the Tha'y.
Its direction is north and south; its dimensions linear, rather than
broad; and it bears nearly the same relation to the water-system of the
Salwín that that of the Siamese does to the river Menam. There are
Kariens as far south as 11° North lat. and there are Kariens as far
north as 25° North lat. Hence we have them in Maulmein, and in
Tenasserim, and in the intermediate provinces of Ye and Tavoy as well.
All these, like the Môn, have been eased by the transfer from Avan
oppression to British rule; though this says but little. Hence, with one
exception, the other members of their family are decreasing; the
exception being the so-called _Red_ Karien.
This epithet indicates a change in physiognomy; and, indeed, the
physical conformation of the Burmese tribes requires attention. It is
Mongolian in the way that the Siamese is Mongolian; but changes have set
in. The beard increases; the hair becomes crisper; and the complexion
darkens. The Kyo,[24] the isolated occupants of a single village on the
river Koladyng, are so much darker than their neighbours as to have been
considered half Bengali; and, as a general rule, the nearer we approach
India, the deeper becomes the complexion. The Môn, too, of Pegu, are
very dark. What is this the effect of? Certainly not of latitude, since
we are moving northward. Of intermarriage? There is no proof of this.
The greater amount of low alluvial soils, like those of the Ganges and
Irawaddi, is, in my mind, the truer reason. But this is too general a
question to be allowed to delay us. The Red Kariens are instances of an
Asiatic tribe with an American colour; just as the Red Fulahs were in
Africa. Such are the occupants of the _continent_.
5. _The Silong._--In the _islands_ of the Mergui Archipelago, there is
another variety; but whether it form a class itself, or belong to any
of the previous ones, is uncertain. Their language is said to be
peculiar;[25] but of this we have no specimen. As it is probably that of
the oldest inhabitants of the continent opposite, this is to be
regretted.
They are called _Silong_, are a sort of sea-gipsy; and amount to about
one thousand. Of all the creeds of either India or the Indo-Chinese
peninsula theirs is the most primitive; so primitive as to be
characterized by little except its negative characters. They believe
that the land, air, trees, and waters are inhabited by _Nat_, or
spirits, who direct the phenomena of Nature. How far they affect that of
man, except indirectly, is unascertained. "We do not think about that,"
was the invariable answer, when any one was questioned about a future
state. Too vague for monotheism, the Silong creed is also said to be too
vague for idolatry, too vague for sacrifices.
The Kariens, also, believe in _Nat_, but, as _they_ believe in their
influence on human affairs, they sacrifice to them accordingly.
Little, then, as we know, respecting these two families, we know that
the common practice of _Nat_ worship connects them; and this worship
connects many other members of the _Burmese_ stock. Consequently it
helps us to place the Silong in that group. It also favours the notion
of the Tenasserim aborigines being Burmese.
It is the delta of the Irawaddi which isolates the _Tenasserim
provinces_; and the British dependency from which it separates them is--
_Arakhan._--We are prepared for the ethnological position of the Arakhan
populations. They are _Burmese_.
We are likewise prepared for a division of them; there will be the
Indianized and the Pagan--paganism and political independence going, to
a certain degree, together.
We are prepared for even minuter detail; the paganism will be
Nat-worship; the Indian creed Buddhism: the alphabet also, where the
language is written, will be Indian also. In Captain Tower's
vocabulary,[26] only seven words out of fifty differ between the Burmese
of Arakhan, and the Burmese of Ava; and some of these are mere
differences of pronunciation.
The language itself is called _Rukheng_ by those who use it; but the
Bengali name is _Mug_.
This applies to the Indianized part of the population, the analogues of
the Avans and Siamese of Tenasserim, and of the Môn of Maulmein. What
are the Arakhan equivalents to the Karien?
_The Khyen._--These inhabit the Yuma mountains between Arakhan and Ava.
A full notice of them is given by Lieutenant Trant, in the sixteenth
volume of the "Asiatic Researches." But as they are chiefly independent
tribes, it is enough to state that they form the Anglo-Burmese frontier.
It is also added that there are numerous Khyen slaves in Arakhan.
Farther notice of them is the less important, because a closely allied
population will occur amongst the hill-tribes of--
_Chittagong._--Hindú elements now increase. Even in Arakhan, Buddhism
had ceased to be the only creed of western origin. There were Mahometans
who spoke a mixed dialect called the _Ruinga_;[27] and Brahminical
Hindús who spoke another called the _Rosawn_. In Chittagong, then, we
must look about us for the aborigines; so intrusive have become the
Hindú elements. Intrusive, however, they are, and intrusive they will be
for some time to come.
The foot of the hill, and the hill itself, are important points of
difference in Indian ethnology. On the _lower_ ranges of the mountains
on the north-east of Chittagong are the _Khumia_ (_Choomeeas_) or
_villagers_; _khum_ (_choom_) meaning _village_. These are definitely
distinguished from the Hindús, by a flat nose, small eye, and broad
round face, in other words by Mongolian characteristics in the way of
physiognomy. But the _Khumia_ are less perfect samples of their class
than the true mountaineers. These are the _Kuki_,[28]--hunters and
warriors, divided into tribes, each under elective chiefs, themselves
subordinate to a hereditary _Raja_,--at least such is the Hindú
phraseology.
Their creed consists in the belief of _Khogein Pootteeang_ as a
superior, and _Sheem Sauk_ as an inferior deity; the destruction of
numerous enemies being the best recommendation to their favour. A wooden
figure, of human shape, represents the latter. The skulls of their
enemies they keep as trophies. In the month of January there is a solemn
festival.
Language and tradition alike tell us that the Kuki (and most likely the
Khumia as well) are unmodified Mugs. The displacement of their family
has been twofold--first by Hindús, secondly by Buddhist (or modified)
Mugs at the time of the Burmese conquest. The Kuki population extends to
the wilder parts of the district of _Tippera_.
_Sylhet._--On the southern frontier we have Kukis; on the eastern
Cachari; on the northern Coosyas (_Kasia_). Due west of these last lie
the Garo. I imagine that both these last-named populations are members
of the same group--but cannot speak confidently. If so, we have
departed considerably from the more typical Burmese of Arakhan and Ava.
Still we are within the same great class. The Garo will command a
somewhat full notice.
The Cachars depart still more from the more typical Burmese; the group
to which they most closely belong being one which will also be enlarged
on.
North of the Kasia we reach the western portion of the southern frontier
of--
_Assam._--Here it will be convenient to take the whole of the
valley--Upper as well as Middle and Lower Assam--although parts of the
former are independent rather than British--and to go round it;
beginning with the Kasia country and the Jaintia mountains on the
south-west. I imagine--but am not certain--that the Kasia and Jaintia
mountaineers are very closely allied.
Next to the Cachars on the southern, or Manipur, frontier are--
_The Nagas._--These are in the same class with the Kuki; _i.e._, the
wild tribes of Manipur, speaking a not very altered dialect of the
Burmese.
_The Singpho._--This people is said to have come from a locality between
their present position and the north-eastern corner of Assam and the
Chinese frontier. An imperfect Buddhism, and an unappreciated alphabet
of Siamese origin, are the chief phenomena of their civilization.
_The Jili._--These are conterminous with the Singpho; to whom they are
closely allied, in language, at least; seventy words out of one hundred
agreeing in the two vocabularies.
The _Khamti_ come in now. These have been mentioned as Tha'y in their
most northern localities. They occupy north-eastern Assam, and are
conterminous with the Singpho. The Khamti language, with its per-centage
of ninety-two words common to it and the Siamese of Bankok, ten degrees
southwards, has only three out of one hundred that agree with the
Singpho, and ten in one hundred with the Jili. This shows the remarkable
character of their ethnological distribution, and, at the same time,
suggests the idea of great displacement.
_The Mishimi._--These occupy the north-east extremity of Assam. With the
Mishimi we turn the corner, and find ourself on the northern or Tibetan
frontier. Here it is the most western tribes which come first; and these
are--
_The Abors and Padam Bor-Abors._--The first, like the Kuki, on the
mountain-tops; the latter, like the Khumia, on the lower ranges.
_The Dufla._--Mountaineers west of the Abors, with whom they are
conterminous in about 94° East lon.
_The Aka._--Mountaineers west of the Dufla, with whom they are
conterminous in about 92° East lon. The Akas bound Lower Assam, the
eastern part of which lies between them and the Cachari country.
The tribes hitherto mentioned, although sufficiently numerous, represent
the mountaineers of the Manipur and Tibetan _frontiers_ only. The native
tribes of the valley still stand over. These are--
1. The _Muttuck_ or _Moa Mareya_, _south_ of the Brahmaputra, and so far
Indianized as to be Brahminical in religion. Their locality is the south
bank of the Brahmaputra; opposite to that of--
2. _The Miri_, on the _north_.--The Miri are backed on the north by the
Bor-Abors.
3. _The Mikir._--Mr. Robertson looks upon these as an intrusive people
from the Jaintia hills: their present locality being the district of
Nowgong, where they are mixed up with--
4. _The Lalong._--I cannot say whether the Lalong speak their originally
monosyllabic tongue, or have learnt the Bengali--a phenomenon which does
much to disguise the true ethnology of more than one of the forthcoming
tribes; one of which is certainly--
5. _The Dhekra_, occupants of Lower Assam and Kamrup, where they are
mixed up with other sections of the population.
6. _The Rabhá._--Like the Dhekra, these are Hindús. Like the Dhekra
they speak Bengali. Hence, like the Dhekra, their true affinities are
disguised. It is, however, pretty generally admitted by the best
authorities that what may be predicated of the Garo and Bodo--two
families of which a fuller notice will be given in the sequel--may be
predicated of the sections in question, as also of--
7. _The Hajong_ or _Hojai_.--Hindús, speaking a form of the Bengali at
the foot of the Garo hills; and who join the Rabhá, whose locality is
between Gwahatti and Sylhet, _i.e._, at the entrance of the Assam
valley.
The _Garo_ of the Garo hills to the north-east of Bengal now require
notice. A mountaineer of these parts has much in common with the Coosya;
yet the languages are, _perhaps_, mutually unintelligible. In form they
are exceedingly alike.
Now, a Garo[29] is hardy, stout, and surly-looking, with a flattened
nose, blue or brown eyes, large mouth, thick lips, round face, and brown
complexion. Their _buniahs_ (_booneeahs_) or chiefs, are distinguished
by a silken turban. They have a prejudice against milk; but in the
matter of other sorts of food are omnivorous. Their houses, called
_chaungs_, are built on piles, from three to four feet from the ground,
from ten to forty in breadth, and from thirty to one hundred and fifty
in length. They drink, feast, and dance freely; and, in their
matrimonial forms, much resemble the Bodo. The youngest daughter
inherits. The widow marries the brother of the deceased; if he die, the
next; if all, the father.
The dead are kept for four days; then burnt. Then the ashes are buried
in a hole on the place where the fire was. A small thatched building is
next raised over them; which is afterwards railed in. For a month, or
more, a lamp is lit every night in this building. The clothes of the
deceased hang on poles--one at each corner of the railing. When the pile
is set fire to, there is great feasting and drunkenness.
The Garo are no Hindús. Neither are they unmodified pagans. Mahadeva
they invoke--perhaps, worship. Nevertheless, their creed is mixed. They
worship the sun and the moon, or rather the sun _or_ the moon; since
they ascertain which is to be invoked by taking a cup of water and some
wheat. The priest then calls on the name of the sun, and drops corn into
the water. If it sink, the sun is worshipped. If not, a similar
experiment is tried with the name of the moon. Misfortunes are
attributed to supernatural agency: and averted by sacrifice.
Sometimes they swear on a stone; sometimes they take a tiger's bone
between their teeth and then tell their tale.
Lastly, they have an equivalent to the _Lycanthropy_ of the older
European nations:--
"Among the Garrows a madness exists, which they call transformation into
a tiger, from the person who is afflicted with this malady walking about
like that animal, shunning all society. It is said, that, on their being
first seized with this complaint they tear their hair and the rings from
their ears, with such force as to break the lobe. It is supposed to be
occasioned by a medicine applied to the forehead; but I endeavoured to
procure some of the medicine thus used, without effect. I imagine it
rather to be created by frequent intoxications, as the malady goes off
in the course of a week or fortnight. During the time the person is in
this state, it is with the utmost difficulty he is made to eat or drink.
I questioned a man, who had thus been afflicted, as to the manner of his
being seized, and he told me he only felt a giddiness without any pain,
and that afterwards he did not know what happened to him."[30]
In a paper of Captain C. S. Reynolds, in the "Journal of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal,"[31] we have the notice of a hitherto undescribed
superstition; that of the _Korah_. A _Korah_ is a dish of bell-metal, of
uncertain manufacture. A small kind, called Deo Korah, is hung up as a
household god and worshipped. Should the monthly sacrifice of a fowl be
neglected, punishment is expected. If "a person perform his devotion to
the spirit which inhabits the Korah with increasing fervour and
devotion, he is generally rewarded by seeing the embossed figures
gradually expand. The Garos believe that when the whole household is
wrapped in sleep, the Deo Korahs make expeditions in search of food, and
when they have satisfied their appetites return to their snug retreats
unobserved."
The Miri are supposed to believe the same of what are called _Deo
Guntas_, brought from Tibet.
Now what is the classification of all these tribes? Preliminary to the
answer on this point, there are eleven dialects spoken in the parts
about Manipur--besides the proper language of Manipur itself--to be
enumerated. These are as follows:--1. Songpu. 2. Kapwi. 3. Koreng. 4.
Maram. 5. Champhung. 6. Luhuppa. 7, 8, 9. Northern, Central, and
Southern Tangkhul. 10. Khoibu; and 11. Maring. Now these twelve (the
Manipur being included) have been tabulated by Mr. Brown, in such a way
as to show the per-centage of words that each has with all the others;
and not only these, but nearly all the tongues which we have had to deal
with, are similarly put in order for being compared. The part of the
table necessary for the present use is as follows:--
|N.|C.|S.|
|C | | | | |
|M | |h | |T |T |T |
|M |B | |S | |a | |a |L |á |á |á |
|i |u | |i | |n |S | |K | |m |u |n |n |n |K |M
|s |r |K |n | |i |o |K |o |M |p |h |g |g |g |h |a
|Á |h |m |a |g |J |G |p |n |a |r |a |h |u |k |k |k |o |r
|Á |b |i |e |r |p |i |á |u |g |p |e |r |u |p |h |h |h |i |i
|k |o |m |s |e |h |l |r |r |p |w |n |á |n |p |u |u |u |b |n
|á |r |í |e |n |o |í |o |í |ú |í |g |m |g |a |l |l |l |ú |g
-----------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--
Áká | |47|20|17|12|15|15| 5|11| 3|10| 3| 8| 8| 8| 5| 6|10| 8|10
Ábor |47| |20|11|10|18|11| 6|15| 6|11| 5| 8| 6| 8| 8| 8|10|10|18
Mishimí |20|20| |10|10|10|13|10|11| 0|11| 0| 3| 5| 6| 8| 6|13|10| 8
Burmese |17|11|10| |23|23|26|12|16| 8|20| 6|11|11|11|10|13|13|16|16
Karen |12|10|10|23| |17|21| 8|15|10|15| 8|12| 4|12| 8|12|12|10|15
Singpho |15|18|10|23|17| |70|16|25|10|18|11|11|13|15|13|25|13|20|18
Jilí |15|11|13|26|21|70| |22|16|10|21|13|11|11|18|20|20|13|20|20
Gáro | 5| 6|10|12| 8|16|22| |10| 5| 6| 5| 8| 5| 8|13|11| 5| 5| 5
Manipurí |11|15|11|16|15|25|16|10| |21|41|18|25|28|31|28|35|33|40|50
Songpú | 3| 6| 0| 8|10|10|10| 5|21| |35|50|53|20|23|15|15|13| 8|15
Kapwí |10|11|11|20|15|18|21| 6|41|35| |30|33|20|35|30|40|45|38|40
Koreng | 3| 5| 0| 6| 8|11|13| 5|18|50|30| |41|18|21|20|20|11|10|15
Marám | 8| 8| 3|11|12|11|11| 8|25|53|33|41| |21|28|25|20|16|23|26
Champhung | 8| 6| 5|11| 4|13|11| 5|28|20|20|18|21| |40|20|20|16|15|25
Luhuppa | 8| 8| 6|11|12|15|18| 8|31|23|35|21|28|40| |63|55|36|33|40
N. Tángkhul| 5| 8| 8|10| 8|13|20|13|28|15|30|20|25|20|63| |85|30|31|31
C. Tángkhul| 6| 8| 6|13|12|25|20|11|35|15|40|20|20|20|55|85| |41|45|41
S. Tángkhul|10|10|13|13|12|13|13| 5|33|13|45|11|16|16|36|30|41| |43|43
Khoibú | 8|10|10|16|10|20|20| 5|40| 8|38|10|23|15|33|31|45|43| |78
Maring |10|18| 8|16|15|18|20| 5|50|15|40|15|26|25|40|31|41|43|78|
The last eleven dialects are not spoken in any British dependency; and
they have only been mentioned for the sake of explaining the table.
All belong to one and the same class; a point upon which I see no room
for doubt; although respecting the _value_ of that class I admit that
some exists.
For this, the term _Burmese_ is as good as any other--without professing
to be better; yet, should it seem too precise, there is no objection to
the sufficiently general term of _monosyllabic_ being substituted for
it.
The reader, however, may doubt the fact of the affinities. This has
been done. Long before the present writer knew of such dialects as the
Jili, Mishimi, Aka, Abor, Singpho, and the like, he had satisfied
himself that the Garo was monosyllabic, and had so expressed himself in
1844,[32] when Brown's Tables had been published, though not seen by
him. It was with surprise, then, that he found the author of them
writing, that "it would be difficult to decide from the specimens before
us, whether it is to be ranked with the monosyllabic or polysyllabic
languages. It probably belongs to the latter."
Again, Mr. Hodgson makes the Garo Tamulian, _i.e._, polysyllabic; a fact
which will be noticed again when the Bodo, Dhimal, and Kocch have been
disposed of.
_The Kocch_, _Bodo_, and _Dhimal_ is the title of one of that writer's
works--a model of an ethnological monograph. This gives us a new class.
The Bodo of Hodgson are the wild tribes that skirt the Himalayas, from
Assam to Sikkim. West of these, between the river Konki and the river
Dhorla are the Dhimal, a small tribe mixed with Bodo; and, southwards,
in Kocch Behar, are the Kocch. The two former are so much described
together that a separation is difficult. This leaves us at liberty to
follow the details of either one population or of both. The history of
a Bodo from his cradle to his grave is as follows. The birth is attended
with a _minimum_ amount of ceremonies. Midwives there are none; but
labours are easy. Neither has the priest much to do with ushering-in the
new-comer to the world. A short period of uncleanness is recognized, but
it is only a short one; the purification consisting in the acts of
bathing and shaving performed by the parties themselves. Four or five
days after delivery, the mother goes out into the world; and at that
time, the child is named. Any passing event determines this; as there
are no family names, and no names taken from their mythology. The
account, however, of Mr. Hodgson, in this respect is somewhat obscure,
"A Bhotia chief arrives at the village, and the child is named Jinkháp;
or a hill peasant arrives, and it is named Gongar, after the titular, or
general designation of the Bhotias."
As long as a mother can suckle a child (or _children_) she continues to
do so, sometimes for so long a period as three years, when the last and
last but one may be seen sucking together.
The period of weaning is thus delayed; and, notwithstanding the current
notion as to the prematurity of marriages in warm climates, that of
wedlock is delayed as well: the male waits till he is twenty or
twenty-five, the female till between fifteen and twenty. The parties
least concerned are the bride and bridegroom; the parents do the
courtship. Those of the lady take a payment. This is called a _Jan_
amongst the Bodo, and varies from ten to fifteen rupees. With the Dhimal
it is a _Gandi_, and amounts to a higher sum, ranging from fifteen to
forty-five. Failing this, service must be done by the youth; and a wife
be earned as Jacob earned Leah and Rachel. This is the _Gabor_ of the
Bodo, and the _Gharjya_ of the Dhimal.
Such marriages are easily dissolved, _i.e._, at the option of either
party. In case, however, of infidelity on the part of a wife having
caused a divorce, the wedding-money is repaid. Adoption is common,
concubinage rare; each being on a level with marriage in respect to the
_status_ of the children. Of these, all males inherit alike; but the
rights of the female are limited.
The ceremony itself begins with a procession on the part of the
bridegroom's friends to the bride's house, two females accompanying
them. Of these, it is the business to put red-lead and oil on the
bride-elect's hair. A feast follows; after which the husband takes his
wife home. Thus far the Bodo forms agree with the Dhimal; but they
differ in what follows.
_The Bodo_ sacrifices a cock and a hen in the names of the bridegroom
and the bride, respectively to the Sun.
_The Dhimal_ propitiate _Data_ and _Bedata_ by presents of betel-leaf
and red-lead.
Both bury their dead, and purify themselves by ablution in the nearest
stream when the funeral procession is over. The family, however, of the
deceased is considered as unclean for three days.
A feast with sacrifices attends the purification. Before sitting down,
they repair once more to the grave, and present the dead with some of
the food from the banquet;--"take and eat, heretofore you have eaten and
drunk with us; you can do so no more; you were one of us, you can be so
no longer; we come no more to you; come you not to us." After this each
member of the party takes from his wrist a bracelet of thread, and
throws it on the grave.
A ceremonial implies a priesthood. Under this class come the Deoshi, the
Dhami, the Ojha, and the Phantwal.
The first of these is the village, the second the district, priest.
The Ojha is the village exorcist; and the Phantwal a subordinate of the
Deoshi. The influence of this clerical body, although probably higher
than Mr. Hodgson places it, is, evidently, anything but exorbitant.
I cannot find anything in the Bodo and Dhimal superstitions higher than
what was found in Africa. Nor yet is anything _essentially_ different.
Similar intellectual conditions develop similar creeds, independent of
intercourse; a fact which, the more we go into the natural history of
religions, the more we shall verify. We read indeed of _oaths_ and
_ordeals_; but oaths and ordeals are by no means, what they have too
loosely been supposed to be, appeals to the moral nature of the
Divinity. The _dhoom_ test, in Old Calabar, is an ordeal. The criminal
tests of the Fantis are the same. Indeed, few, if any tribes, are
without them. What the real ideas are which determine such and such-like
ceremonies is difficult for intellectual adults to understand. The way
towards their appreciation lies in the phenomena of a child's mind; the
true clue to the psychology of rude populations.
If we take the Bodo and Dhimal religions in detail we find ourselves in
a familiar field, with well-known forms of superstition around us.
Diseases are attributed to supernatural agency; and the medicine-man,
exorcist, or Ojha, is more priest than surgeon.
The _feticism_ of Africa re-appears; at least such is my inference from
the following extract. "_Batho_ is clearly and indisputably identifiable
with _something tangible_, _viz._, the _Sij_ or _Euphorbia_; though why
that useless and even exotic plant should have been thus selected to
type the Godhead, I have failed to learn."
Euhemerism, or the worship of dead men deified, is to be found either in
its germs or its rudiments; at any rate, one of their deities bears the
name of Hajo, a known historic personage. But this may be referable to
Hindú influences unequivocally traceable in other parts of the Pantheon.
It is the rites and ceremonies of a country that give us its religion in
the concrete. All beyond is an abstraction. These, with the Bodo and
Dhimal, are numerous. Invocations, deprecations, and thanksgivings are
all mentioned by Mr. Hodgson; and they are all attended by offerings or
sacrifices; libations attend the sacrifices, and feasting follows the
libations.
The great festivals of the year are four for the Bodo, three for the
Dhimal.
_a._ In December or January, when the cotton-crop is ready, the Bodo
hold their _Shurkhar_, the Dhimal their _Harejata_.
_b._ In February or March, the Bodo hold the _Wagaleno_.
_c._ In July or August, the rice comes into ear. This brings on the Bodo
_Phulthepno_, and the Dhimal _Gavipuja_.
All these are celebrated out of doors, and on agricultural occasions.
_d._ The fourth great festival is held at home; its time being the month
of October; its name _Aihuno_ in Bodo, and _Pochima paka_ in Dhimal.
Here, in the _Aihuno_ at least, the family assembles, the priest joins
it, and the Sij, or Euphorbia, represents Batho. This is placed in the
middle of the room, has prayers offered to it, and a _cock_ as a
sacrifice; whilst Mainou's offering is a _hog_; Agrang's a _he-goat_,
and so on, through the whole list of the nine _nooni madai_, or deities
thus worshipped. As for the symbols which represent them, besides the
Sij, which stands for Batho, there is a bamboo post about three feet
high, surmounted by a small cup of rice, denoting Mainou; but the
equivalents of the other seven are somewhat uncertain.
The Wagaleno festival was witnessed by Mr. Hodgson and Dr. Campbell. The
account of it is something lengthy. I mention it, however, for the sake
of one of its principal actors--the Déódá. This is the _possessed_, who,
"when filled with the god, answers by inspiration to the question of the
priest as to the prospects of the coming season. When we first discerned
him, he was sitting on the ground, panting, and rolling his eyes so
significantly that I at once conjectured his function. Shortly
afterwards, the rite still proceeding, the Déódá got up, entered the
circle, and commenced dancing with the rest, but more wildly. He held a
short staff in his hand, with which, from time to time, he struck the
bedizened poles, one by one, and lowering it as he struck. The chief
dancer with the odd-shaped instrument waxed more and more vehement in
his dance; the inspired grew more and more maniacal; the music more and
more rapid; the incantation more and more solemn and earnest; till, at
last, amid a general lowering of the heads of the decked bamboo poles,
so that they met and formed a canopy over him, the Déódá went off in an
affected fit, and the ceremony closed without any revelation." This
self-excited state of ecstasy is an element of most religions in the
same stage of development; and a low level it indicates. In Greece, in
Africa, and in Northern Asia, we find it as regularly as we find a
coarse and material creed; and to the coarseness of the materialism of
such a creed it is generally proportionate.
Witches, and the discovery of them, and the influence of the evil eye
are part and parcel of the Bodo and Dhimal superstitions.
_Kocch_ means a population, which possibly amounts to as much as a
million souls, extended from about 88° to 93-1/2° East long., and 25° to
27° North lat., and of which Kocch Behar is the political centre. The
term is _ethnological_--not political. It is ethnological, and not
political, because, although originally native, it has since been
partially abandoned. _All_ the inhabitants of the parts in question
_once_ called themselves Kocch; and Kocch they were called by their
neighbours the Mech. At this time the country was unequivocally other
than Indian; _i.e._, in the same category with that of the Garo and
Bodo. Since then, however, great changes have taken place; so that, just
as Wales is partially Anglicized, the Welsh language being replaced by
the English, the Kocch--the native tongue--is under the process of being
replaced by a Hindú dialect. Nevertheless, just as many a Welshman who
speaks nothing but English is still a Welshman, so are the Kocch, who
have changed their languages, Bodo, Garo, or something closely akin, in
ethnological position.
The extent to which different portions of the once great Kocch nation
have abandoned or retained their original characteristics is easily
measured.
1. Those who have changed most speak a form of the Bengali, and are
imperfect Mahometans; imperfect, because their creed is strongly
tinctured with Hinduism. Thus the very epithet which they apply to
themselves is Brahminical; _Rájbansi_=_Suryabansi_=_Sun-born_. The
converted Kocch of the Mahometan creed are chiefly of the lower order
of the province of Behar.
2. Those who have changed, but changed less than the _Mahometans_ of
Behar, are either Brahminists or Buddhists--speaking the same Bengali
dialect as the last. These are chiefly the higher classes of the
population of Behar. They are Kocch in the way that the Cornishmen are
Welsh. They consider them _Rájbansi_ also. Doubtless, their Hinduism is
imperfect; _i.e._, tinctured with the original paganism.
3. The primitive, unconverted, or _Pani_ Kocch, have either not changed
at all, or changed but little. They retain the original name of Kocch;
which is not endured by the others. They retain their original tongue,
which, according to Buchanan, has no affinity with any of the Hindú
tongues. They retain their original customs; and they retain their
original paganism. Lastly, Mr. Hodgson attests the "entire conformity of
the physiognomy of all--with that of the other aborigines around them."
He adds that he cannot improve on Buchanan's account of them, which is
as follows:--"The primitive or Páni Kocch live amid the woods,
frequently changing their abode in order to cultivate lands enriched by
a fallow. They cultivate entirely with the hoe, and more carefully than
their neighbours who use the plough, for they weed their crops, which
the others do not. As they keep hogs and poultry they are better fed
than the Hindús, and as they make a fermented liquor from rice, their
diet is more strengthening. The clothing of the Páni Kocch is made by
the women, and is in general blue, dyed by themselves with their own
indigo, the borders red, dyed with Morinda. The material is cotton of
their own growth, and they are better clothed than the mass of the
Bengalese. Their huts are at least as good, nor are they raised on posts
like the houses of the Indo-Chinese, at least, not generally so. Their
only arms are spears: but they use iron-shod implements of agriculture,
which the Bengalese often do not. They eat swine, goats, sheep, deer,
buffaloes, rhinoceros, fowls, and ducks--not beef, nor dogs, nor cats,
nor frogs, nor snakes. They use tobacco and beer, but reject opium and
hemp. They eat no tame animal without offering it to God (the Gods), and
consider that he who is least restrained is most exalted, allowing the
Gárós to be their superiors, because the Gárós may eat beef. The men are
so gallant as to have made over all property to the women, who in return
are most industrious, weaving, spinning, brewing, planting, sowing; in a
word, doing all work not above their strength. When a woman dies the
family property goes to her daughters, and when a man marries he lives
with his wife's mother, obeying her as his wife. Marriages are usually
arranged by mothers in nonage, but consulting the destined bride. Grown
up women may select a husband for themselves, and another, if the first
die. A girl's marriage costs the mother ten rupees--a boy's five rupees.
This sum is expended in a feast with sacrifice, which completes the
ceremony. Few remain unmarried, or live long. I saw no grey hairs.
Girls, who are frail, can always marry their lover. Under such rule,
polygamy, concubinage, and adultery are not tolerated. The last subjects
to a ruinous fine, which if not paid, the offender becomes a slave. No
one can marry out of his own tribe. If he do, he is fined. Sutties are
unknown, and widows always having property can pick out a new husband at
discretion. The dead are kept two days, during which the family mourn,
and the kindred and friends assemble and feast, dance and sing. The body
is then burned by a river's side, and each person having bathed returns
to his usual occupation. A funeral costs ten rupees, as several pigs
must be sacrificed to the manes. This tribe has no letters; but a sort
of priesthood called Déóshi, who marry and work like other people. Their
office is not hereditary, and everybody employs what Déóshi he pleases,
but some one always assists at every sacrifice and gets a share. The
Kocch sacrifice to the sun, moon, and stars, to the gods of rivers,
hills and woods, and every year, at harvest-home, they offer fruits and
a fowl to deceased parents, though they believe not in a future state!
Their chief gods are Rishi and his wife Jágó. After the rains the whole
tribe make a grand sacrifice to these gods, and occasionally also, in
cases of distress. There are no images. The gods get the blood of
sacrifices; their votaries, the meat. Disputes are settled among
themselves by juries of Elders, the women being excluded here, however
despotic at home. If a man incurs a fine, he cannot pay with purse, he
must with person, becoming a bondman, on food and raiment only, unless
his wife can and will redeem him."
I must now request particular attention on the part of the reader to the
terms which Mr. Hodgson applies to the physical conformation of these
northern, or sub-Himalayan tribes; and still closer attention must be
given to his nomenclature. He calls the stock in question _Tamulian_.
This connects it with the _South_ Indian. He contrasts it with the
_Hindú_. By this he means the Brahminical elements of the Indian
populations.
Let us then see what points he considers to be _Tamulian_.
1. There is "less height, less symmetry, more dumpiness and flesh."
2. There is "a somewhat lozenge contour (of face) caused by the large
cheek-bones."
3. There is "less perpendicularity of features in the front--a larger
proportion of face to head--a broader flatter face--a shorter wider
nose, often clubbed at the end, and furnished with round nostrils."
4. There is a smaller eye, "less fully opened, and less evenly crossing
the face by their line of aperture." In other words, there is the
_oblique_ eye, so much considered in the Chinese physiognomy.
5. Lastly, there are larger ears, thicker lips, and less beard.
I submit that all these points are Mongolian; and this is what Mr.
Hodgson evidently thinks also.
The whole class has passed beyond the hunter state, if ever such
existed. It has passed beyond the pastoral or nomadic state also; if
such existed. It is at present--and, perhaps, has always been--an
agricultural state of society. On the other hand--the industrial state,
the development represented by towns and commerce, has not been
attained.
The whole stock is essentially agricultural. Likewise, the agriculture
is peculiar. We may explain it by the term _erratic_. They "never
cultivate the same field beyond the second year, or remain in the same
village beyond the fourth to sixth year. After the lapse of four or five
years they frequently return to their old fields and resume their
cultivation, if in the interim the jungle has grown well, and they have
not been anticipated by others, for there is no pretence of
appropriation other than possessory, and if, therefore, another party
have preceded them, or, if the slow growth of the jungle give no
sufficient promise of a good stratum of ashes for the land when cleared
by fire, they move on to another site, new or old. If old, they resume
the identical fields they tilled before, but never the old houses or
site of the old village, that being deemed unlucky. In general, however,
they prefer new land to old, and having still abundance of unbroken
forest around them, they are in constant movement, more especially as,
should they find a new spot prove unfertile, they decamp after the first
harvest is got in."
_Arva in annos mutant et superest ager._ This passage is explained by
their customs.
In respect to their social constitution, they dwell in small communities
of from ten to forty houses; each of which community is under a _grà_ or
head. This is Hindú--except that as the Hindú villages are both larger
and more permanent, the functionaries, in addition to the _headman_, are
more numerous. This is noted, because the difference in the two sorts of
village government seems to be one of _degree_ rather than _kind_.
And now comes more in the way of classification. The Bodo are Kachars,
or the Kachars are Bodo. Their languages are the same, so are their
gods, so is their name; since Kachar is a Hindú, and no native term--the
native name (_i.e._, of the Kachars) being _Bodo_. On the other hand,
the _Hindú_ name of the Bodo is Mech. Whoever looks to a map will find
that the outline of the Bodo area is very deeply indented; implying
either a great original irregularity of area, or great subsequent
displacement.
Now follow the Garo. One fourth--fifteen out of sixty--of the words of
Mr. Brown's Garo vocabulary is Bodo. The inference? That the Bodo and
Garo are in the same category. What is this? Mr. Hodgson makes both
Tamulian or Indian. In my own mind both are Burmese. But be this as it
may, one fact is certain; _viz._, that a transition between the tongues
of the Indian and the tongues of the Indo-Chinese peninsula exists, and
that the lines of demarcation which divide them are less broad and
trenchant than is generally supposed.
The Dhimal bring us to Sikkim. The dominant nation of Sikkim are--
_The Lepchas._--Their language also is monosyllabic; but it is Tibetan
rather than Burmese. They are a Sikkim rather than a British Indian
population.
When we have passed the rajahship of Sikkim, we reach that of Nepâl.
This, again, is independent. Such being the case, the line of frontier
between the Hindú populations and the populations of the Bodo and Garo
character lies beyond the pale of the British dependencies.
But in proceeding westward, we pass Nepâl, and reach Kumaon.
This is British, and, as it extends as far north as the Himalayas, it
may contain monosyllabic languages, and tribes speaking them. It may
present also instances of intermixture like those which we have already
found in Behar--the line of demarcation being equally difficult and
undefined. Difficult and undefined it really is--because, although it is
an easy matter to take a portion of the Sirmor, Gurhwal, or Kumaon
population, and say, "this is Hindú because both language and creed make
it so," it is by no means so easy to prove that the blood, pedigree, or
descent is Hindú also. To repeat an illustration already in use--many
such populations may be Hindú only as the Cornishmen are English.
Now the populations of the Tibetan stock to the west of Nepâl, so little
known in detail, must be illustrated by means of our knowledge of the
tribes of Nepâl and Tibet most closely related to them--by those of
Nepâl on the east, and those of Tibet on the north.
For neither of these areas are there any very minute _data_. For the
aborigines of _eastern_ and _central_ Nepâl, we have plenty of
information. They are tribes speaking monosyllabic languages, and tribes
in different degrees of intercourse with the Hindús; being by name--1.
The Magars. 2. The Gurungs. 3. The Jariyas. 4. The Newars. 5. The
Murmis. 6. The Kirata. 7. The Limbu; and 8. The Lepchas, common to the
eastern boundary of Nepâl, to the western part of Butan, and to Sikkim.
This, however, will not bring us far west enough for the Kumaon
frontier; indeed, for the forests of Nepâl _west_ of the Great Valley,
we have the notice of one family only--the Chepang. For this, as for so
much more, we are indebted to Mr. Hodgson. It falls into three tribes;
the Chepang proper, the Kusunda, and the Haju. Its language (known to us
by a vocabulary) is monosyllabic; its physical conformation, that of the
unmodified Indian.
So much for analogy. In the way of direct information we simply know
that the Pariahs, or outcasts, of Kumaon[33] are called _Doms_. These
have darker skins and curlier hair than the Hindús. Are these enslaved
and partially amalgamated aborigines? Probably. Nay more; in the
eastern part of the province, amidst the forests at the foot of the
Himalayas, a community of about twenty families, pertinaciously adheres
to the customs of their ancestors, resembles the _Doms_ in looks, and is
called _Rawat_ or _Raji_. Though I have seen no specimen of their
language, I have little doubt as to the _Rawat_ of Kumaon being the
equivalents to the Chepang of Nepâl.
From Konawur we have three monosyllabic vocabularies, the Sumchu, the
Theburskud, and the Milchan; but the exact amount to which the Tibetan
and the Hindú populations indent each other along the western Himalayas
is more than I can give.
Here end the monosyllabic tongues spoken in British India. But they
fringe the Himalayas throughout, and occur in the country of Gholab
Singh, as well as in the independent rajahships between the Sutlege and
Cashmeer. My latest researches have carried them even further westward
than Little Tibet; as far as the Kohistan, or mountain country, of
Cabul--the Der, Lughmani, Tirhai, and other languages, known, wholly or
chiefly, through the vocabularies of Lieutenant Leach, being essentially
monosyllabic in structure, and definitely connected with the tongues of
Tibet, and Nepâl in respect to their vocables.
But this is episodical to the subject--a subject still requiring the
notice of a very important phenomenon.
_Polyandria_[34] is a term in ethnology, even as it is in botany. Its
meaning, however, is different. Etymologically, it denotes a form of
_polygamy_. _Polygamy_, however, being restricted to that particular
form of marriage which consists in a multiplicity of _wives_,
_polyandria_ expresses the reverse, _viz._, the plurality of _husbands_.
At the first glance, the word _polyandria_ looks like a learned name for
a common thing; and suggests the inquiry as to how it differs from
simple promiscuity of intercourse; or, at least, how far the Tibetan
wife differs from the fair frail one who was always constant to the 85th
regiment. The answer is not easy. Still it is certain that some
difference exists--if not in form, at least, in its effects. One of
these, in certain countries where _polyandria_ prevails, is the law of
succession to property. This follows the female line, rather than the
male.
Again--the marriage of the widow with the surviving brother of her
husband, is polyandria under another form.
What the exact polyandria of Tibet is, is uncertain. I am not prepared
to deny its existence even in so extreme a form as that of _one woman
being married to several husbands, all alive at once_. Still, I think it
more likely that either the circle of community was limited to certain
degrees of relationships, or else that the multiplied husbands were
successive, rather than simultaneous. Still, the facts of the Tibetan
_polyandria_ require further investigation.
One thing, only, is certain--_viz._, that as an ethnological criterion
the practice is of no great value. Capable, as it has been shown to be,
of modification in form, it is anything but limited to either Tibet, or
the families allied to the Tibetan. It occurs in many parts of the
world. It is a Malabar practice; where it is, probably, as truly Tibetan
as in Tibet itself. But it is also Jewish, African, Siberian, and North
American; so that nothing would more mislead us in the classification of
the varieties of man than to mistake it for a phenomenon _per se_, and
allow it to separate allied, or to connect distinct populations.
_Necdum finitus Orestes._--There are several populations which, on fair
grounds, have been believed to be in the same category with the Dhekra,
_i.e._, which are Hindú in language and creed, though monosyllabic in
blood. The Kudi, Batar, Kebrat, Pallah, Gangai, Maraha, Dhanak, Kichak,
and Tharu, are oftener alluded to than described--though, doubtless, a
better-informed investigator in such special matters than the present
writer could find several definite details concerning them. They seem
chiefly referable to Behar and north-eastern Bengal. The _Dhungers_--in
the same class--the husbandmen of South Behar, bring us down to the
vicinity of the population next to be noticed; a population which is
generally considered with reference to the nations, tribes, and families
of _Southern_ rather than _Northern_ India.
The name of this family has already been mentioned. It is _Tamulian_;
and the _Tamulian_ physiognomy has been described. It has been seen to
extend as far north as the Himalayas. If so, the nations already
enumerated have been Tamulian; and no new class is now approaching. This
may or may not be the case. Another change, however, is more undeniable.
This is that of language. It is no longer referable to the Chinese type;
since separate monosyllables have, more or less perfectly, become
_agglutinated_ into inflected forms, and the speech is as
_poly_-syllabic as the other tongues of the world in general. As we
approach the south this abandonment of the monosyllabic character
increases, and from the _Tamul_ language spoken between Pulicat and Cape
Comorin, the term _Tamulian_--applicable in a general ethnological
sense--is derived. _Agglutinated_ (or _agglutinate_) is also a technical
term. It means languages in the second stage of their development; when
words originally separate, such as adverbs of time, prepositions, and
personal pronouns, have become permanently connected with the root, so
as to form tenses, cases, and persons--the union of the two parts of an
inflected word being still sufficiently recent and imperfect to leave
their original separation and independence visible and manifest. When
the incorporation or amalgamation, has become more complete; so
complete, as in most cases to have obliterated all vestiges of an
original independence; the _agglutinate_ character has departed, the
second stage of development has been passed, and the language is in the
same class with those of Greece, Rome, and Germany, rather than in that
of the tongues in question, and of many others.
To return, however, to the _Tamulian_ family, meaning thereby a branch
of the great Mongolian stock, speaking, _either now or formerly_, a
language more or less allied to the Tamul of the Dekhan.
The first members of the class, as we proceed southwards from Behar, are
certain hill-tribes of the Rajmahali Mountains--the Rajmahali
mountaineers. Their Mongolian physiognomy is unequivocal;--a Mongolian
physiognomy but conjoined with a dark skin. They have "broad faces,
small eyes, and flattish or rather turned-up noses. Their lips are
thicker than those of the inhabitants of the plain."[35]
The flattened nose reminded the writer of the Negro, and the general
character of the features of the Chinese or Malay; though it is added
that the resemblance is in a great degree lost on closer inspection. At
the same time it has been sufficiently recognized to have originated the
hypothesis of a descent from one of those nations as a means of
accounting for it.
With a slight tincture of Brahminic Hinduism, the Rajmahali mountaineers
are Pagans. _Bedo_ is one of their gods; doubtless the _Potteang_ of the
Kuki, and the _Batho_ of the Bodo. _Gosaik_, too, is either the name of
a god, or a holy epithet; this, also, being a mythological term current
amongst many other tribes of India. Other elements in their
imperfectly-known mythology deserve notice. Their priesthood contains
both _Demauns_ and _Dewassis_; the latter form being the Bodo _Deoshi_.
As the names are alike, so are the functions. The _Dewassi_ is an
oracular seer. When he vouchsafes to give answers, his inspiration takes
the form of frenzy--but he neither hurts nor speaks to any one. He makes
signs for a cock, and for a hen's egg as well. The cock's head he
wrenches off, and sucks the bleeding neck. The egg he eats. After this
he seeks the solitude of the wood or stream; and is fed by the deity.
Sometimes he has ridden a snake; sometimes put his hands in the mouth of
a tiger with impunity. Trees too large to move, or too thorny to touch,
he places on the roofs of houses. He sees Bedo Gosaik in visions; and,
in the sacrifices therein enjoined, red paint, rice, and pigeons make a
part. From the touch of women he abstains; so he does from the taste of
flesh. Either would make his prophecies false.
There are also certain sacrifices that the _Maungy_ (chief?) of each
village makes, and in which threads of red silk play a part.
One of their gods--an elemental one--is the god of rain, and the dangers
of a drought are averted by praying to him. A ceremony called the
_Satane_ determines the chief who takes the office of invoker.
A black stone, called _Ruxy_, is much of the same sort of fetish with
these mountaineers as the Sij with the Bodo. The name, too, Ruxy _Nad_,
suggests the Nat worship of the Silong, Kariens, and others.
The northern half of the Tamulian families are, like the Welsh, the
Cornish, and the Bretons of France, members of the same ethnological
group, but not in geographical contact with each other. Or, rather, they
are, like the Celtic population of Wales and the Scottish Highlands,
cut off from one another by a vast tract of intervening Anglo-Saxons.
Yet the time was when all was Celtic, from Cape Wrath to the Land's End;
and when the original population extended, in its full integrity, over
York and Nottingham, as well as over Merioneth and Argyleshire. And so
it is with the populations in question. They stand apart from each
other, like islands in an ocean; the intervening spaces being filled up
by Hindús. At the same time the isolation has been much overvalued, and,
I imagine that when greater attention shall have been bestowed upon this
important subject, connecting links which have hitherto been unnoticed
will be detected.
The next locality where we find a population akin to the Rajmahali
mountaineers, is the mountain system of Orissa. These are called by the
Hindús _Kóls_ (_Coolies_), _Khonds_ and _Súrs_. Such, however, are no
native designations--no more than the classical term _Barbarian_, or the
English word _Tartar_. The people themselves have no collective name;
but, being divided into tribes, have a separate one for each.
I say that this branch of Tamulians is isolated, because I am not able
to show its continuity; the range of hill-country which gives rise to
the rivers between the Ganges and Mahanuddy being but imperfectly known.
In Orissa, the most northern of the hill-tribes are the Kól of Cuttack.
South of these come the Khonds best studied in the neighbourhood of
Goomsoor. The following is a list of their gods, and as _n_ seems to
stand for _d_, _Pennu_ is but another name for _Bedo_, and _Gossa Pennu_
for _Bedo Gosaik_:--
1. Bera _Pennu_, or the earth god.
2. Bella _Pennu_, the sun god, and Danzu _Pennu_, the moon god.
3. Sandhi _Pennu_, the god of limits.
4. Loha _Pennu_, the iron god, or god of arms.
5. Jugah _Pennu_, the god of small-pox.
6. Madzu _Pennu_, or the village deity, the universal _genius loci_.
7. Soro _Pennu_, the hill god.
8. Jori _Pennu_, the god of streams.
9. Gossa _Pennu_, the forest god.
10. Munda _Pennu_, the tank god.
11. Sugu _Pennu_, or Sidruja _Pennu_, the god of fountains.
12. Pidzu _Pennu_, the god of rain.
13. Pilamu _Pennu_, the god of hunting.
14. The god of births.[36]
The most southern of the Orissa hill-tribes are the _Súr_; connected by
language with the preceding tribes; as they were with each other and the
Rajmahali mountaineers.
These stand in remarkable contrast with the rest of the population of
Orissa; whose language is the Udiya, a tongue which, according to many,
belongs to a wholly different class, or, at least, to a different
division of the present.
South of Chicacole, however, the Tamul tongues are spoken continuously.
I cannot say where the southern limits of the Súr population come in
contact with the northern ones of the--
_Chenchwars_--who occupy the same range of mountains, in the parts
between the rivers Kistna and Pennar, and, probably, extending as far
south as the neighbourhood of Madras. Their language is the Telugu, the
language of the parts around, and of Tamul origin.[37] The contrast
between the Chenchwars of the hills, and the Telingas of the lower
country lies in their mythologies; the former retaining much of the
original creed of their country, the latter being Brahminists.
Below Madras, the mountain range changes its direction, and the next
locality under notice is the Neilgherry hills.
The families here are--
1. _The Cohatars_--so little Indianized as to eat of the flesh of the
cow, amounting to about two thousand in number, and occupants of the
highest part of the range.
2. _The Tudas._--An interesting monograph by Captain Harkness has drawn
unusual attention to these mountaineers, the chief points of importance
being the comparative absence of all elements of Brahminism, and the
occurrence in their physiognomy of the most favourable points of Hindú
beauty--regular and delicate features, oval face, and a clear brunette
skin. Free from the other religious and social characteristics of
Hinduism as the Tudas may be, they still admit a sort of caste; _e.g._,
whilst the _Peiki_, or _Toralli_, may perform any function, the _Kuta_,
or _Tardas_, are limited. Neither did they always intermarry, though
they do now; their offspring being called _Mookh_, or _descendants_.
3. _The Curumbas_, called by the Tudas _Curbs_, inhabit a lower level
than the preceding populations, but a higher one than--
4. _The Erulars_ at the foot of the hills; falling into two
divisions--_a_, the _Urali_ (a name to be noticed), and _b_, the
_Curutali_.
Between the Neilgherries and Cape Comorin, the hill-tribes are worth
enumerating, if only for the sake of showing their complexity. According
to Lieutenant Conner in the "Madras Journal," they are--1, Cowders; 2,
Vaishvans; 3, Múdavenmars; 4, Arreamars, or Vailamers; 5, Ural-Uays.
Besides these, there is a population of predial slaves, divided and
subdivided.
1. Vaituvan, Konaken.
2. Polayers--
_a._ Vulluva.
_b._ Kunnaka.
_c._ Morny Pulayer.
3. Pariahs.
4. Vaidurs.
5. Ulanders and Naiadi.
To return to the Neilgherries, and follow the western Ghauts upwards, a
population more numerous than any hitherto mentioned is that of the--
_Buddugurs_, called also _Marvés_. This name takes so many forms that
_Berdar_ may be one of them. One division of Buddugurs is called
_Lingait_.
I cannot follow the Ghauts consecutively; however, when we reach the
southern portion of the Mahratta country, we find in the rajahship of
Satarah, two predatory tribes:--
_The Berdars_, supposed to be closely allied to Ramusi. The--
_Ramusi_ themselves connected by tradition and creed, with the _Lingait_
Buddugurs. But not by language; or at any rate not wholly so. The Ramusi
dialect is a mixture of Tulava and Marathi--the former being undoubted
Tamul, but the latter in the same category with the Udiya.
The continuous Tamul languages are now left to the south of us, and the
hill-tribes next in order, will have unlearnt their native tongues, and
be found speaking the Hindú dialects of the countries around them.
Hence, the evidence of their Tamulian descent will be less conclusive.
_Warali of the Konkan._--Mountaineers of the northern Konkan. We have
seen this name twice already, and we shall see it again. The evidence of
their Tamulian extraction is imperfect. Their language is Marathi and
their creed an imperfect Brahminism. Their mountaineer habits separate
them from--
_The Katodi_--outcasts, who take their name from preparing the _kat_, or
_cat-echu_, and who hang about the villages of the _plains_.
_The Kúli._--From Poonah to Gujerat, the occupants of the range of
mountains parallel to the coast are called _Kúli_ (_Coolies_), the same
in the eyes of the Hindús of the western coast, as the _Kól_ were in
those of the Bengalese and Orissans; and similarly named. Their language
is generally (perhaps always) that of the country around them, _viz._,
Marathi amongst the Mahrattas, and Gujerathi in Gujerat. However,
difference of habits and creed sufficiently separate them from the
Hindús.
_The Bhils._--These are generally associated with the Kúlis; from whom
they chiefly differ geographically, belonging, as they do to the
transverse ranges--the Satpura and Vindhia mountains--rather than to the
main line of the Ghauts with its due north-and-south direction, and with
its parallelism to the coast.
_The Paurias._--Hill-tribes in Candeish, belonging to the Satpura range,
and conterminous with the Bhil tribes, and with--
_The Wurali of the Satpura range._--The Wurali re-appear for the fourth
time. In the parts in question they are in contact with the Bhils and
Paurias; from whom they keep themselves distinct; and from whom they
differ in dialect. Still their language is Marathi. Pre-eminent as they
are for their Paganism, their country contains ruins of brick buildings,
and considerable excavations.[38]
These three are the hill-tribes of the water-shed of the rivers Tapti
and Nerbudda. The water-system of the south-western feeders of the
Ganges is more complex. Along the mountains between Candeish and Jeypur
come--
Certain _Bhil_ tribes.
_The Mewars_--under the Grasya chiefs of Joora, Meerpoor, Oguna, and
Panurwa. The political relations of these tribes--in some cases of an
undetermined nature--are with the Rajpút governments; in other words,
we are now amongst the aborigines of Rajasthan.
_The Minas._--These, like the Mewars, are in geographical contact with
certain Bhil tribes; in political contact with the Rajpúts--the Mewars
with those of Udipúr; the Minas with those of Ajmer, Jeypur, and Kota.
_The Moghis._--At present, a free company rather than a population;
although the representatives of what was once one--_viz._, the
aborigines of Jodpure. So little Brahminists are they that they eat of
the flesh of the jackal and the cow, and indulge freely in fermented
drinks.
The hills that separate Malwah from the Haroti country, and from the
south-eastern boundary of the valley of the River Chumbul are occupied
by--
_The Saireas._--This is a name which has occurred before and
elsewhere;[39] and is almost certainly, anything but native. Tribes,
under this name, extend into Bundelcund.[40]
_The Goands._--The central parts between Candeish and Orissa, the
head-waters of the Nerbudda and Tapti on the west, and of the Godavery
on the east, still require notice. Here the hill population is at its
_maximum_, both in point of numbers and characteristics; and the _Khond_
forms of the Tamul re-appear under the name _Goand_. Of these we have
specimens from--
_a._ The Gawhilghur mountains near Ellichpoor.
_b._ Chupprah.
_c._ Mundala in _Gundwana_, or the _Goand_ country.
Such are the chief hill-populations; which, although they belong to
Tamulian stock, differ as to the extent to which they carry outward and
visible signs of their origin. Some, like the Rajmahali, are merely
separated geographically; and, perhaps, not even that. Others, like the
Khonds of Orissa, are contrasted with the Tamuls of the south, by their
inferior and social condition, and their non-Brahminical creeds. The
Minas and Bhils differ in language; whilst the Ramusis and Berdars,
probably, exhibit transitional forms of speech. The Tudas and Chenchwars
surrounded by Telingas and Tamuls, as the Khonds and Goands are by
Udiyas and Mahrattas, are merely the population of the parts around them
with a primitive polity and religion.
The _lettered_ languages of the Dekhan, where the Tamul character is
unequivocal, but where the civilizational influences have chiefly been
Hindú, are spoken in continuity from Chicacole, east, and the parts
about Goa, west, to Cape Comorin, _i.e._, in the Madras Presidency, and
in the countries of Mysore, Travancore, and the coasts of Malabar and
Coromandel. Of these, the most northern--beginning on the eastern
coast--is--
_The Telinga or Telugu._--Spoken from the parts about Chicacole to
Pulicat, where it is succeeded by--
_The Tamul Proper._--The language of the Coromandel coast and the parts
of the interior as far as Coimbatore. Each of these tongues has a double
form, one for literature, and one for common use; the former being
called the High, the latter the Low, Tamul or Telugu, as the case may
be, and the creed which it embodies being either Brahminism, or some
modification of it.
In Travancore and on the Malabar coast the language is--
_The Malayalma_ or _Malayalam_--and in the greater part of Mysore--
_The Kanara_--which, like the Tamul and Telinga, is both High and
Low--literary or vulgar.
Amongst these four well-known forms of the South Tamulian tongue, may be
distributed several dialects and sub-dialects. Such as the Tulava for
the parts between Goa and Mangalore, and the Coorgi of the Rajahship of
Coorg, not to mention the several varieties in the language of the
hill-tribes.
Now all the populations of the present chapter agree in this
particular--their language is generally admitted to be Tamulian at the
present moment, or if not, to have been so at some earlier period. With
the languages next under notice, the original Tamulian character is not
so admitted--indeed, it is so far denied as to make the affirmation of
it partake of the nature of paradox.
The distinction then is raised on the existence of the doubt in
question, or rather on the differences that such a doubt implies. Hence
the division of the languages of India into the Hindú and the Tamulian
is practical rather than scientific--the _Hindú_ meaning those for which
a _Sanskrit_, rather than a _Tamul_ affinity is claimed.
_Sanskrit_ is the name of a language; a name upon which nine-tenths of
the controversial points in Indian ethnology and in Indian history
turn.
FOOTNOTES:
[22] "Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal," vol. viii.
[23] "Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Bengal," vol. vi. part 2.
See also pp. 112, 113 of the present volume.
[24] Described by Lieutenants Phayre and Latter in "Journal of the
Asiatic Society of Bengal."
[25] Dr. Helfer, "Asiatic Society of Bengal," vol. viii.
[26] "Asiatic Researches," vol. v.
[27] Dr. Buchanan, "Asiatic Researches," vol. v.
[28] Macrae in "Asiatic Researches," vol. vii.
[29] Eliot, in "Asiatic Transactions," vol. iii.
[30] Eliot, _ut supra_.
[31] For Jan. 1849.
[32] "Transactions of the British Association for the Advancement of
Science," 1844.
[33] "Statistical Sketch of Kumaon," by G. W. Traill, Asiatic
Researches, vol. xvi.
[34] From the Greek _polys_=_many_, and _anær_=_man_.
[35] Eliot in "Asiatic Researches," vol. iv.
[36] Captain S. C. Macpherson, "Journal of the Asiatic Society," vol.
xiii.
[37] See Lieut. Newbold, "Journal of the Asiatic Society," vol. viii.
[38] Lieut. C. P. Rigby, in "Transactions of the Bombay Geographical
Society," May to August 1850.
[39] The Soars of Orissa.
[40] Col. Todd, "Travels in Western India."