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.

APPENDIX.

1. The kurs or exogamous groups of the Mikir race are thus given in

the Assam Census Report for 1891 (vol. iii. pp. cii.-ciii):--

Main Subdivisions.

I. Ingti. II. Terang. III. Teràn. IV. Tumung. V. Inghi or Hengse.

I. Subdivisions of Ingti--

1. Ingle. 4. Kathar.

2. Ingti-Henchek. 5. Tarak or Taro.

3. Ingti-Kiling.

II. Subdivisions of Terang--

1. Be-bonghàng (read 6. Kro-Jingthong.

Be-Ronghàng). 7. Kro-ghoria.

2. Be-Jingthong. 8. Lilipo-kro.

3. Injai. 9. Rongbijiya.

4. Kro. 10. Tarang.

5. Kro-bonghàng (read 11. Teràng.

Kro-Ronghàng).

III. Subdivisions of Teràn--

1. Ai. 4. Milik.

2. Kangkàt. 5. Tarap.

3. Làngle.

IV. Subdivisions of Tumung--

1. Benar-pator. 5. Rongphar.

2. Chenar. 6. Rongtar [13]-Jungthong.

3. Dera. 7. Takki.

4. Keleng. 8. Tumung-pator.

V. Subdivisions of Inghi--

1. Bonrung. 6. Rongpi.

2. Hànche. 7. Rongchehon.

3. Ke-ap. 8. Tuso.

4. Lekethe. 9. Tutab.

5. Ronghang-ghoria.

An attempt is made in the report to translate some of these names,

but it appears very doubtful whether the meanings assigned are

correct. So far as they go, the explanations show that some of the

names (to which an Assamese form has in some cases been given, as

in those ending in ghoria) are designations of offices (e.g. Pator,

Rongchehon = village watchman), while others are local or place-names.

Under I. Ingti, (1) Ingle is evidently Mr. Stack's Inglèng; (4) Kathar

is his Katar, (2) [Ingti]-Henchek is his Hènsèk, and (5) Taro his Taro.

Under II. Terang, (1 and 2) Be is Mr. Stack's Be, (4, 5, 6, 7) Kro

is his Kro, and (3) Injai is probably his Ingjar; the others seem to

be either local names (8, Lilipo-kro = Western Kro, Nilip = west; 9,

Rongbijiya = inhabitants of some particular village), or duplicates

of the group-name Terang (Nos. 10 and 11).

Mr. Stack had no group named Teràn.

Group IV., Tumung, corresponds to Mr. Stack's Timung; of the

subdivisions, 2, Chenar is probably his Sèngnar, 5, Rongphar agrees

with his list, and 7, Takki is probably his Tòkbi. Nos. 1 and 8 are

explained as office-holders, No. 3 is a place-name, No. 4 is a river

(Kiling), and No. 6 seems to be a duplicate of No. 5.

Group V., Inghi, corresponds to Mr. Stack's Lèkthe, which occurs as the

name of subdivision 4 in the census list; 1, Bonrung, is Mr. Stack's

Bòngrun; 2, Hànche, is his Hànse; 8, Tuso, is his Tutso. His Kràmsa

is not found in the census list, but occurs, as will be seen below,

in other lists.

2. Mr. Dundas, Subdivisional Officer of North Cachar, writing in

March 1903, gives the following groups:--

MAIN EXOGAMOUS GROUPS.

1. Inghi. II. Timung. III. Teron. IV. Kathar. V. Be. VI. Injai.

I. Inghi has the following subdivisions:--

1. Rongpi, further subdivided into (a) Rongchaichu, (b)

Rongchehòn, (c) Chinthòng,

(d) Lindòk.

2. Ronghàng, ,, ,, ,, (a) Hèmpi, (b) Hèmso.

3. Inghi, ,, ,, ,, (a) Hèmpi, (b) Hèmso.

4. Hànse, ,, ,, ,, (a) Durong, (b) Nongkirla,

(c) Chinthòng, (d) Kiling.

5. Lèkthe, ,, ,, ,, (a) Keap, (b) Tereng.

6. Bòngrung, ,, ,, ,, (a) Kràmsa, (b) Rongchehòn,

(c) Hèmso.

7. Tutso, ,, ,, ,, (a) Motho, (b) Rongphu, (c)

Ronghing, (d) Rongchitim, (e)

Rongchaichu, (f) Rongchehòn.

(Nos. 4, 6, and 7 agree with Mr. Stack's list under Lèkthe, and

Mr. Stack's Kràmsa appears as a further subdivision of Bòngrung. As

regards the others, the names beginning with Rong may be local village

names; Chinthong and Ronghang are the names of great sections of the

Mikir population, not of exogamous groups; Hèmpi and Hèmso mean merely

"great house" and "little house.")

II. Timung (Mr. Stack has the same spelling) comprises--

1. Timung Lindòk, subdivision (a) Ròngchaichu.

2. Ròngphar, ,, (a) Hèmpi, (b) Hèmso.

3. Chinthong, ,, (a) Seng-ar, (b) Hèmpi, (c) Hèmso.

4. Phàngchu, ,, (a) Juiti, (b) Rongphàng, (c)

Hèmpi, (d) Hèmso.

5. Phura, ,, (a) Dili.

6. Tòkbi, ,, (a) Tòksiki.

7. Kiling

8. Meji

9. Pator

10. Lòngteroi

11. Yachi, ,, (a) Hèmpi, (b) Hèmso.

12. Dera, ,, (a) Hèmpi, (b) Hèmso.

13. Ròngpi

(Here Nos. 2 and 6 correspond with Mr. Stack's subdivisions, and No. 3

(a), Seng-ar, is his Sengnar; several of the remainder appear to be

local names.)

III. Teròn comprises--

1. Làngne, subdivision (a) Ròngchaichu.

2. Kòngkàr, ,, (a) Dengya.

3. Meji

4. Milik, ,, (a) Seràng.

5. Mele

6. Kiling

(Mr. Stack has none of these names; but Làngne evidently corresponds

to Làngle in the census list, and Kòngkar to Kangkat, while Milik is

in both.)

IV. Kathar comprises--

1. Ingti-Kathar

2. Riso

3. Hènsèk

4. Ingti-Kiling

5. Ingling, subdivisions (a) Hèmpi, (b) Hèmso.

6. Ingti-Chinthòng

7. Taro

(These names, except Riso, which means "young man," all occur

in Mr. Stack's group Ingti. Nos. 4 and 6 are evidently local

subdivisions.)

V. Be comprises--

1. Rònghàng

2. Kiling

3. Lindòk

4. Seng-òt

5. Teràng, subdivisions (a) Dili, (b) Rongchaichu.

6. Kuru, ,, (a) Rongchaichu, (b) Nihàng, (c) Nilip.

(This group corresponds to Mr. Stack's Teràng; Kuru is his

Kro. Subdivisions 1, 2, and 3 are apparently local names.)

VI. Injai comprises--

1. Injai

2. Ing-ar.

(Mr. Stack gives Ing-ar as a subdivision of Teràng; the census list

also classes Injai under the same main group. Mr. Dundas notes that

the Injai may not take a wife from the Be (i.e. Teràng) group, from

which it may be concluded that they are really a subdivision of that

name, or Teràng.)

3. So far the three lists are in general agreement; but the

Rev. Mr. Moore, writing in August 1902, gives what at first sight is

an entirely different arrangement. He separates the Mikir people into

the following five groups:--

I. E-jàng. II. Tung-e. III. Kròn-e. IV. Lo-e. V. Ni-e.

I. E-jàng he subdivides into--

1. Ròngpi. 6. Kràmsa.

2. Rònghàng. 7. Keap.

3. Tutso. 8. Lèkthe.

4. Hànse. 9. Ròngchehòn.

5. Bòngrung.

II. Tung-e comprises--

1. Timung. 5. Timung-Senar.

2. Tòkbi. 6. Timung-Phàngchu.

3. Timung-Kiling. 7. Timung-Juiti.

4. Timung-Ròngphar. 8. Tòktiphi.

III. Kròn-e includes--

1. Teròn. 3. Teròn-Làngne.

2. Teròn-Kòngkàt.

IV. Lo-e is divided into--

1. Be. 4. Ingjai.

2. Kro. 5. Ingnar.

3. Teràng.

V. Ni-e comprises--

1. Ingti. 3. Taro.

2. Inglèng.

Comparing the subdivisions with those given by Mr. Stack, we perceive

that five of the nine shown under Mr. Moore's I. E-jàng (Nos. 3, 4, 5,

7, and 8) are identical with Mr. Stack's Lèkthe and its subdivisions;

the remaining four (Ròngpi, Rònghàng, Ròngchehòn, and Keap) are

all found in the census list of 1891 under Inghi, another name for

Lèkthe. Evidently, therefore, E-jàng is the equivalent of Mr. Stack's

Lèkthe and the census Inghi.

Under II. Tung-e all Mr. Stack's names classed under Timung appear;

of the remainder, some are found in Mr. Dundas's list, either of

subdivisions or smaller sections, under Timung; Tòktiphi is probably

Mr. Dundas's Tòksiki; and Timung-Kiling is the census "Keleng"

(a river-name). It is clear, therefore, that Tung-e is the same as

the Timung (Tumung) of the other lists.

III. Kròn-e is evidently the small group Teròn or Teràn of Mr. Dundas

and the census list, not found in Mr. Stack's enumeration.

IV. Lo-e is also clearly the Teràng of the three other lists, which

account for all the names given under it.

V. Ni-e is the equivalent of Mr. Stack's Ingti, called by the same

name in the census list, and Kathar in Mr. Dundas's list (the

omission of the name Kathar, or Katar, from Mr. Moore's list is

somewhat noticeable).

It thus appears that all the four lists in reality agree in a

remarkable manner, quite independent as they are in their origin,

and that all observers concur in stating that the Mikir people are

divided into five (or four) great exogamous groups, whether situated

in the Mikir Hills, in North Cachar, or in the Khasi Hills and the

hilly country to the south of Nowgong.

IV.

RELIGION.

General character of popular belief in ghosts and spirits,

and a future life--No idols, temples or shrines--Amulets--The

Gods and their worship--Divination and magic--Oaths and

imprecations--Funeral ceremonies--Festivities--Taboo.

BELIEFS ABOUT THE DEAD.

The Mikirs have borrowed from the Hindu Assamese the ideas and the

names of Boikuntho (Vaikuntha, Vishnu's Paradise) and Nòròk (Naraka,

Hell); but these conceptions do not play much part in their views of

a life to come. Better known, and more often mentioned, is Jòm Recho

(Jam, Yama Raja), the Lord of Spirits, with whom the dead remain

below ground. His abode--the abode of the dead--is Jòm-aròng, [14]

and the elaborate ceremonies of the funeral are the means by which

the spirit of the dead gains admittance to Jòm's city. Unless they

are duly performed he remains outside.

They speak of having seen the shade (image, arjàn) of a dead man

(ne la arjàn thèklòk, "I saw his shade"); a sickly man catches such

glimpses in the house, on the road, etc. Pharlo, spirit, is used both

of living persons and dead. Tove ne-pharlo ne la-abàng thèk-lòng,

"Last night in my spirit I saw him"; where pharlo is the spirit of

the sleeping man. When such glimpses are experienced, betel and food

are set aside in the house, and after a time thrown away.

On a death occurring, the old women of the village wash and lay out the

body. Then one composes a chant, setting forth the parentage and life

of the dead: "You will now meet your grand-parents, father, deceased

brother, etc., and will stay with them and eat with them." Then a

separate meal of rice and a boiled egg is placed beside the body,

and the dead man is invited to eat. This is done twice a day, the

meal being cooked separately from the food of the family. After being

offered and placed beside the corpse for a time, the food is thrown

away. This goes on day by day until the funeral service is held (see

below). After that there are no regular offerings, but occasionally

a man or woman puts aside from his or her own share of food a portion

for the dead, as, for instance, when another funeral reminds them of

those who have died before.

There does not appear to be any fear of the dead coming back to trouble

the living. Some people, however, it is said, are afraid to pass the

burying-place of the dead after dark.

They say that a man called Thi-rèng Vàng-rèng (literally, "Dead-alive

come-alive") in former times used to travel between this world and

Jòm Recho's abode; he taught them their funeral ceremonies. At last

he did not come back. Everything is different in Jòm-aròng. Thirèng

Vàngrèng saw the people there go out to fish, and gather instead pieces

of stick. They asked him why he did not gather them too; he answered

that they were not fish, but sticks. They waved over them a lighted

brand, and he saw them as fish. So, too, there a crab becomes a tiger,

or seems to be a tiger. Men do not stay in Jòm Recho's city for ever,

but are born again as children, and this goes on indefinitely (here

we seem to have a borrowing from Hinduism). "The Mikirs give the

names of their dead relations to children born afterwards, and say

that the dead have come back; but they believe that the spirit is

with Jòm all the same." [15]

A man with unusually keen and alarming eyes is said to be possessed

by a demon (hi-i). The phrase is ahi-i kedo arlèng, and, of the eyes,

amèk ahi-i kedo. But the superstition of the evil eye, as prevalent

elsewhere, seems to be unknown, and such a man is not avoided; rather,

the hi-i is supposed to give him cleverness. The same phrase is used in

familiar abuse to a child: Ahi-i kedo oso, "You devil-possessed brat!"

RELIGION--DIVINITIES.

The Mikirs have no idols, temples, or shrines. Some people, however,

have fetishes or amulets, called bòr. These are pieces of stone or

metal, by keeping which they become rich. Sometimes, however, a man

unwittingly keeps a bòr that brings him ill-luck and loss. A man is

said to have got a bòr, bòr kelòng; Bòr do-kòkle, plàng-ple-ji ma? "If

you have got a bòr, will you not become rich?" Bòrs are not common;

one gets them by chance in river, field, or jungle. Or a man dreams

that he can get a bòr in such a place, and finds it there. But these

amulets are not objects of worship or propitiation.

The Gods--Arnàm-atum--are innumerable, and are worshipped in different

ways, at different times, and in different places. The names of some

of the most important are given below.

Arnàm Kethe, in spite of his name, which means "The Great God," has

no definite authority over the other Gods. He is a house-god, and is

sacrificed to once in three years, if no occasion (in consequence of

trouble) arises meanwhile. His appropriate offering is a pig. The

family obtain Arnàm Kethe by asking him to stay with them, and by

castrating a young pig, to be sacrificed three years later. All

families have not got Arnàm Kethe to stay with them, nor does he

always come when invited. If a man is sick, and the uche (diviner)

declares that Arnàm Kethe wishes to join the household, the ceremony

is performed, but no offerings are made at the time. After three

years--or earlier, if there is any sickness in the family--the pig

is killed, and a general feast, with rice, beer, and spirits, given

to the village. A booth of leaves is built in the three days before;

the first day is devoted to cutting the posts for the booth, and is

called phòng-ròng ketèng; the second, to garlanding leaves round the

posts, called phòng-ròng ketòm; and on the third day leaves are laid

out for the rice, rice-flour (pithaguri, Ass.) is sprinkled about

the ground, and plantains and other trees are planted around the

booth. All these preparations are done in the early morning before

eating. Then follows the ceremony--Arnàm Kethe karakli. First, there

is the invocation: "To-day has come, and now we will give you your

three-years' offering; accept it kindly!" Fowls are killed, and then

the pig (all animals killed in sacrifice are beheaded with one stroke

of a heavy knife delivered from above). The liver, heart, and lights of

both are cooked for the god. Then the hoof, ear, and tail of the pig

are offered, then pieces of cooked meat. Afterwards the sacrificers

eat tekar kethi or tekar-so, then tekar-pi. Both are pieces of flesh,

the first smaller, the latter larger, eaten with rice-beer. Then all

the company set to and eat rice and flesh together. Sometimes three

or four pigs and forty different kinds of vegetables are consumed at

the sacrificial feast. The women get sixfold or ninefold the shares

of the men, and carry them home bound up in leaves (àn-bòr and òk-bòr).

Pèng is also a household god. His offering is a goat, sacrificed

yearly, in the tikup or space before the house. Some neighbours

are invited to the sacrificial feast. Pèng lives in the house,

Arnàm Kethe in heaven. Pèng is also sacrificed to in sickness. Very

few houses have not Pèng. Maize, rice, and a gourd of rice-beer are

placed for him above the veranda of the house, and the firstfruits of

the harvest are offered to him. "But these two gods only come to eat,

and families avoid taking them if they can."

Hèmphu ("head of the house," "householder") owns all the Mikir

people. Everybody can sacrifice to him at any time, and pray for

deliverance from sickness. Mukràng is similar to Hèmphu but slightly

lower in dignity. These two gods, the preservers of men, are approached

by the sacrifice of a fowl or goat. Hèmphu must be invoked first in

every sacrifice, being the peculiar owner of men.

Rèk-ànglòng ("the mountain of the community") or Inglòng-pi ("great

mountain") is a house-god, but is worshipped in the field, and only

men eat the sacrifice, which is a fowl or a goat once a year. He is

the god of the hill they live on, the Deus loci, with whom they have

to be at peace; but not every family in the village need have him.

Arnàm paro ("the hundred god") is the name of a god who takes a

hundred shares of rice, pithaguri, betel-nut, and the red spathe of

the plantain tree cut up. He is worshipped with a white goat or a

white fowl as the sacrifice. He and Rèk-ànglòng figure particularly

in the Ròngker, or great annual village festival, celebrated in June

at the beginning of the year's cultivation. (Arnàm-paro seems to be a

collective name, to include all gods whom it may concern. Kamakhya,

the Hindu goddess of Nilachal above Gauhati, is mentioned as one of

the deities included in Arnàm-paro.)

The gods named above are all invoked and propitiated to grant

prosperity and avert misfortune, both generally and specially. There

are, besides, numerous gods who take their names from the special

diseases over which they preside or which they are asked to avert;

such are--

Chomàng-ase ("Khasi fever"), a Khasi god, who lives in the house and

is propitiated with a goat; he is comparatively rare. This god appears

to be identical with Keche-ase, which is the rheumatism. (Chomàng

is the name for the interior Khasis, Keche for those immediately in

contact with the Mikirs.)

Ajo-ase ("the night fever") is the deity of cholera (ma-vur or

pòk-avur). The sacrifice to him is two fowls and many eggs, and is

offered at night, on the path outside the village. The whole village

subscribes to furnish the offering, and with the eatables are combined

a load of cotton, a basket of chillies, an offering of yams, and the

image of a gun (because cholera is thought to be a British disease);

also sesamum (nèmpo), many bundles consisting of six sticks of a soft

wood called chèknàm (perhaps the cotton tree, bombax) tied together,

many bundles of the false cane (ingsu), and double wedges of chèknàm

wood. The god is invoked: "Don't come this way, go that way!" The

eatables are eaten, and the other articles thrown away. The houses

are then beaten with rods of chèknàm and ingsu.

So-meme ("evil pain") is the god to whom barren women have recourse.

Recurring sicknesses and troubles are ascribed to Thèng-thòn or

Òk-làngno, a devil (hi-i); he is propitiated with a goat and a pig,

or two or three fowls. A man gasping in sickness is being strangled

by Thèng-thòn. If, notwithstanding invocations of the gods, sickness

grows worse, a sacrifice is offered to Thèng-thòn without summoning

the diviner or sàng-kelàng-abàng.

Mr. Stack gives the following as the names of the chief diseases

(besides those already mentioned), the averting of which forms the

main object of worship: goitre, phun-kàng ("swollen throat"); phthisis,

si-i (also cough); stone, ingthàk; diarrhoea, pòk-kàngsi; rheumatism,

keche-ase ("Khasi fever"); neuralgia, bàb ase; small-pox, pi-amir

("the Mother's flowers"); black leprosy, si-i; white leprosy, aròk;

elephantiasis, kèng-tòng (kèng, leg; ingtòng, funnel-shaped basket);

dysentery, pòk kapavi ("bleeding of belly").

The house-gods come down in the family; no others would be sacrificed

to if the family were uniformly prosperous.

All natural objects of a striking or imposing character have their

divinity. The sun (arni) and moon (chiklo) are regarded as divine,

but are not specially propitiated. But localities of an impressive

kind, such as mountains, [16] waterfalls, deep pools in rivers, great

boulders, have each their arnàm, who is concerned in the affairs of

men and has to be placated by sacrifice. The expression arnàm do,

used of a place, means, generally, to be haunted by something felt

as mighty or terrible. All waterfalls (làngsun), in particular, have

their arnàms. In Baguri mauza there are two great waterfalls in the

Diyaung river which are specially venerated as divine; one of these,

the Làng-kàngtòng ("Rolling-down water"), can be heard half a day's

journey off. Similarly, there are places where a river goes underground

(làng-lut); these also have their arnàm. [17] Such local divinities

of the jungle are propitiated chiefly to avert mischief from tigers,

which are a terrible plague in many parts of the Mikir hills.

There is no worship of trees or animals.

Làm-aphu, "the head or master of words," is a deity probably of recent

origin. He is the god sacrificed to by a man who has a case in court;

the sacrifice is one young cock, which should be offered at night,

secretly, by the sacrificer alone, in a secret place.

It should be mentioned that, following an ill-sounding idiom of

the Assamese, the Mikirs use "Arnàm" as a common (propitiatory)

form of address to human beings (Assamese, deuta). Po-arnàm-po

("god-father") to a man, and pe-arnàm-pi ("god-mother") to a woman,

are the phrases. In one of the stories given in the next Section,

the king is addressed as Hèmphu Arnàm, "Lord God."

DIVINATION AND MAGIC.

Sickness, if long continued or severe, is frequently attributed to

witchcraft (maja). A man suffering from long sickness is said to be

maja kelòng--"witchcraft has got hold of him." To discover the author

of the spell, or the god or demon who has brought the trouble and

must be propitiated, the services of a diviner are necessary. Uche,

feminine uche-pi (Hindi, ojhà), is the general name for the cunning

in such things. Of these there are two grades--the humbler, whose

craft is acquired merely by instruction and practice, and the higher,

who works under the inspiration or afflatus of divine powers. The

former is the sàng-kelàng abàng, "the man who looks at rice," in

Assamese, mangalsua; the latter, invariably a woman, is the lodèt or

lodèt-pi. In serious sickness or distress the latter is called in;

on ordinary and less important occasions, the former.

The sàng-kelàng abàng picks out of the pot the unbroken grains of

rice (sàng), and places them, by fives and tens, in pentacle or other

fashion. He then counts by couples. If in the groups the odd numbers

predominate, the omen is good. If there are no odd grains over, it is

very bad. Then all are swept together again, and arranged in three or

four heaps. Each heap is counted out, a god being named, and if after

the counting, again by couples, three single grains remain, the god

named is the one to be propitiated. If three grains do not remain,

the process is tried over again. Cowries (chobai) are sometimes used

instead of rice in the same way. Also, with cowries a handful is

taken and spread out, and the number with the slits upwards counted;

if they are the majority, the omen is good. [18]

Another mode of divination used by the mangalsua is to arrange in

a circle, equidistant from a point marked on a board (inghoi), as

many little heaps of clay as there are gods suspected in the case,

each heap being called by the name of its god. An egg is then sharply

thrown into the middle of the board at the marked point. When it breaks

and the yolk is scattered, that clay heap which receives the largest

splash of yolk, or towards which the largest and longest splash points,

indicates the god responsible for the affliction. [19]

Another mode is to use the nòk-jir, which is a long-handled iron dao

with a cross-piece at the handle and two inclined projecting pieces

higher up, before the blade, thus:--

This is held upright in the hand. It shakes of itself when the

charm is recited and the nòk-jir invoked to become inspired: Nàng

uché vàng-phlòt! "Let your spirit (uché) come!" The holder asks

whether the sick person will recover, and goes over the names of the

possibly responsible gods, and the nòkjir shakes at the right answer

and name. The charm (the Assamese word montro is used) recites the

making of the nòkjir, and ends--"if you tell lies, you will be broken

up and made into needles" (--the lowest use to which iron can be put,

to sew women's petticoats!). [20]

The Lodèt is an ordinary woman (not belonging to any particular

family or kur), who feels the divine afflatus, and, when it is upon

her, yawns continually and calls out the names and the will of the

gods. Another lodètpi is summoned in to question her, and ascertain

if her possession is really divine; a sàng-kelàng abàng may also be

consulted. If the report is favourable, a purificatory offering of

a fowl is made to Hèmphu and Mukràng, the preservers of men, and the

woman is accepted as a lodètpi.

She sits by the bewitched person (maja-kelòng), and the neighbours

come in after supper. The lodètpi bathes her hands and feet and face

in water in which the tulsi plant (Ocymum sanctum, holy basil) has been

steeped, and begins to shake and yawn. A gourd of rice-beer is brought,

of which she drinks some, and begins to call out the names of gods,

and they descend upon her. She is now inspired, and when questioned

indicates, by indirect and riddling answers, the enemy who has

bewitched the sufferer, or the gods who must be sacrificed to. When

this is ascertained she goes away. The accusation of practising

witchcraft is carried before the me or village assembly. The sacrifice

to placate the gods proceeds next day, and is usually costly.

To bewitch a person, it is necessary to have some of his hair, or

a piece of his clothes; these are buried with one egg, some bones,

and some charcoal. A good lodètpi can produce these things by the

power of her inspiration. A white cloth is tied up into the shape of

a bag. She conjures the things into it, and on opening the bag next

morning they are found inside. When they are thus recovered, the spirit

(karjòng) of the sufferer returns with them, and he gets well.

Charms (pherèm) are much used for medicinal purposes, either alone

or in combination with other remedies. For an ordinary stomach-ache

(pòk-keso), a little mud rubbed on the abdomen, with a muttered charm,

is the specific. For rheumatism (keche-ase), a castor-oil leaf is

struck on the place, and a charm muttered; if this fails, a sacrifice

must be offered to the god Keche-ase. The worker of these remedial

measures is called kàngtòk abàng, and the verb is ingtòk. Charms are

not, as a rule, carried on the person.

The expression vur kachethat, "to kill for oneself (a fowl) for

disease," means to prevent evil by sacrifice after a dream which had

previously been followed by mischance.

If a child does not thrive, it is imputed to the sin, or devil

(ahi-i) of the maternal uncle (òng), or, if there is no maternal

uncle, of one of the child's mother's kur. The family apply to the

person held to be responsible, and he gives a brass ring to be hung

round the child's neck, and a rice-ball (àn adum).

There is no entertaining of friends on recovery from sickness. The

sick person is tended by his wife and relations.

Tekere, Thekere, means a man who knows a spell or montro, especially

one which protects him against tigers (tèke).

OATHS AND ORDEALS.

Oaths and imprecations take the place of ordeals. Earth is put on

the head, and the man says--"May I be like this dust!" A tiger's

tooth is scraped, and the scrapings drunk in water: "May the tiger eat

me!" Similarly, an elephant's tusk is scraped, and the scrapings drunk:

"May the elephant trample me to death!" (Ingnar ne pedòng-nàng!) The

copper ring worn by the uche is dipped in water, and the water drunk,

the man saying, "May the tiger catch me!" Another form of oath is

Tàmhitni kàngjir asòntòt ne pàngjir-nàng, "May I be melted like molten

copper (or pot-metal)!" Such oaths are used to confirm promises,

and also to attest evidence and proclaim innocence of a charge.

FUNERAL CEREMONIES.

The funeral is the most elaborate, costly, and important of all the

ceremonies performed by the Mikirs. Such ceremonies are considered

obligatory in all cases except that of a child who has been born

dead, or who has died before the after-birth has left the mother;

such a child is buried without any ceremony. Victims of small-pox or

cholera are buried shortly after death, but the funeral service is

performed for them later on, the bones being sometimes dug up and

duly cremated. When a person is killed by a tiger, if the body or

clothes are found, they are buried at a distance from the village,

because the tiger is supposed to visit the burial-place. Such persons

cannot gain admittance to Jòm-aròng unless there are elaborate funeral

ceremonies performed for them. Being killed by a tiger is generally

imputed to the victim's sin. His spirit is believed to dwell in the

most dreary of the places where dead men's spirits go; there is no

notion (such as is found among some races in India) that it animates

the tiger who killed him. Except in these cases the dead are disposed

of by cremation, the burnt bones being afterwards buried.

The elaborateness of the funeral depends on the means of the

family. The description which follows applies to a case where the

household is well-to-do. In any case the body is kept in the house

for one day after death; if a regular service is held, it may lie as

long as from a week to twelve days.

The body lies in the kut. The persons occupied with the funeral

ceremonies live in the hòng-pharla; the rest of the family cook

and eat in the kàm, but the officiants, male and female, must go

across a stream or creek to cook and eat. As already mentioned, the

old women of the family wash and lay out the corpse. Then beer is

prepared, rice husked and got ready, and a convenient day fixed for

the service. If the house has not a big enough hòng (front platform),

the neighbours join and build one on to it. From the date of the death,

each household in the village gives a man to sleep in the house (in

the hòng-pharla). When it is settled that the beer and rice required

can be provided in four or five days, the village lads are summoned

about 8 o'clock in the evening. They bring their drum (chèng),

and drum up to the tikup (front yard); they drum there awhile, and

then, while one keeps time with the drum, dance by pairs, holding

in their left hands shields (chòng-kechèngnàn), and in their right

hands sticks. They go round twice in a circle; then they all dance

round, holding each the other's hands (this is called chomàng-kàn,

"Khasi dance"). After an hour spent in this way they go back to

the gaonbura's house to sleep. Early next morning they come without

beat of drum, and dance the chomàng-kàn to the drum; they then dance

the shield-dance as before (chòng-kechèngnàn) to the drum, and go

home. Next night they come as before, but a little later, and go

through the same ceremonies. Next morning they proceed as before,

and in the usual course they kill a fowl and roast it in pieces on

spits in the tikup, and eat it there. The third and last night is

that of the kàn-pi ("great dance").

Meantime, during the day, the risomar have to work at getting ready

the tèle--the stout bamboo to which the corpse is to be slung: the

bànjar--a bamboo ornamented with curled shavings (bu) hung in tufts

to projecting arms; and the seroso--shorter bamboo sticks similarly

ornamented and tipped with leaves. The men have to go to the theri

(village burning-place) and prepare there a chang or platform, with

logs for burning the body arranged under it; this chang is built in a

peculiar manner, known only to adepts. The uchepi (a skilled old woman)

is summoned to prepare the viaticum for the dead, and the duhuidi,

with an assistant, who beat the two drums which have now been hung

up in the kàm-athèngthòt: the duhuidi is one skilled in tolling on

these drums. Then comes the girl called obòkpi (not necessarily a

maid), that is, the "carrier" of the dead man; but in place of the

dead she carries on her back a gourd for holding beer; she must

belong to his mother's kur. Also the nihu, the maternal uncle or

other male representative of the mother's kur, and the ingjir-arlo,

sister's husband, or father's sister's husband, of the deceased;

it is his office to kill the goat for the dead, if they can afford one.

About midnight the villagers, with torches, drums, and the attendant

risomar, assemble in the tikup. The neighbouring villages, if so

minded, may come too (aròng ari is the phrase for the contingents as

they arrive). Each contingent is welcomed with the drum, and joins in

the drumming concert; the lads and girls are dressed in their best,

and provided with betel. The chief of the village lads (klèng-sarpo)

then calls the other risomar to touch (not taste) the beer, hòr

kacheme. [21] Then follows the shield-dance, first by the risomar of

the village, then by the outside contingents in order of arrival or

merit. Then all together take hands and dance in a circle. The young

women join in the line, taking hold of the lads' coats, while the lads

take hold of them by the belt (vànkòk); the girls cover their heads and

faces with a black scarf (jiso ke-ik): the petticoat is a red-striped

Mikir eri cloth. Near the first cock-crow, seven young men go up on

the hòng or house-platform from the dancing, with the duhuidi and his

assistant; one lad goes in and dances in the inside of kàm, in the

space by the partition-wall (nòksèk), while the six others stand at the

door (hòngthu, or inghàp àngho = "door's mouth"), and dance there. The

six whoop three times together as they dance. After a quarter of an

hour they return to the circle of dancers in the tikup. At dawn they

go up again, and dance till sunrise. The circle breaks up at daylight,

and then follows the shield-dance. Then all the drums go round the

circle where they dance ten to twenty times, playing a different tune

each time. Then, while they all drum standing, a pig is brought forth,

tied up for killing. The risomar in successive parties recount over the

tied-up pig the history of the funeral service; this is called phàk

aphu kacholàng. Then the pig is killed and cut up for the risomar,

and for the men engaged in the funeral service. The latter have to

cook and eat their shares of the meat, which is given in leaf-bundles

(òk-bòr) or on spits (òk-kròn), beyond the river. The risomar also get

their shares in the same way, and cook them in the dancing-ring. A

small piece of flesh is cooked by the uchepi for the dead man, and

this is put in the plate of the dead and carried by the ingjir-arlo

up to the body in the kut, the duhuidi tolling the drum as he goes

in; this ceremony is called kasole. Meantime the old experienced

men, braving the horrid stench, have been performing certain rites

[22] about the body. The remainder of the cooked flesh, with rice,

is distributed to the young girls. The risomar then, provided with

rice, beer, salt, chillies, and greens from the dead man's house,

disperse to houses in the village to eat, and the officiants go off

beyond the river to prepare and eat their food. This part of the

ceremony is called riso kachiru, "the lads' entertainment."

Then two or three of the risomar take a cock on the road to the

burning-place, and kill, cook, and eat it there. A small pig is killed

by the other lads where they dance, and the head and one leg are sent

to the road-side risomar. The blood is caught in a bamboo-joint, and

smeared on the bànjar, which is set up in the road like a maypole;

it is a thick bamboo about seven feet long, with sticks projecting

on three sides, from which hang tassels of curled bamboo shavings

(bànjar abu) These shavings also are smeared with the blood, so as to

look like flowers. Six shorter pieces of bamboo, three feet long, also

ornamented with tufts of shavings, are called serosos, and these too

are smeared with blood: likewise the tèle for carrying the corpse to

the pyre. Six young men, each taking a seroso, dance round the bànjar.

The uchepi has now prepared all the food. The obòkpi takes the

beer-gourd on her back, and one egg in her hand, and the uchepi a

beer-gourd, and they break the egg and the gourd against the tèle

as it lies upon the house-ladder (dòndòn). The duhuidi tolls the

drum, and dancing as before takes place on the hòng and in the kàm,

but not with the serosos. The uchepi and the obòkpi then go on to

the burning-place. The tèle is now taken up by the old men into the

house, and the corpse tied to it and brought down; all the dead man's

clothes are hung over the bamboo. Then a pair of ducks and another

of pigeons are killed by the nihu, and a goat by the ingjir-arlo,

each previously going thrice round the dancing circle with the

sun. The goat is called hòngvàt-abi; the heads are thrown to the

risomar, the rest of the meat kept and cooked later on by those who

remain. Preceded by the duhuidi and his assistant tolling the drums,

they all march in procession, carrying the bànjar and serosos, to

the burning-place. The body is untied from the tèle and placed on

the pyre, which is lighted. While the pyre is burning, knowing women

sing the kacharhe--a chant describing the dead man's life, whither he

is going on leaving this earth, how he will see his dead relations,

and the messages he has to carry to them. A few of the lads dance

while the cremation is proceeding.

The body is thoroughly burnt, and the bones that remain are tied up

in a cloth and buried. The tèle is either laid down whole or cut into

three pieces, which are split again into six, and placed in the little

house which is then erected over the grave. This is built with the

bànjar and the serosos, the former being in the middle and the latter

used as props for the roof. The food prepared by the uchepi is now

placed on a flat stone over the grave, and the ceremony is at an end.

The company, returning, clean and wash the house, and cook and eat

and drink on the hòng. On coming back from the cremation, the nihu

gets some money, clothes, salt, and a knife. He shares the salt with

his own kur, if any are present. The ingjir-arlo next morning has to

clean up the dancing ring (ròng-ru kàngru, or tikup karkòk).

The ceremonies of the funeral are performed by the neighbours and

cunning men and women of the village, and the old people of the

family. The wife, children, parents, brothers and sisters of the

dead sit beside him and mourn, in spite of corruption, or even sleep

beside the decomposing corpse. "It is genuine grief, a national

characteristic. Even after the funeral service, they remember and

mourn; and the death of another renews their grief." The mourners

continue their lamentation, heedless of the dancing.

If a great man, such as a mauzadar (bikhoya) or leading gaonbura

(sarlar, sarthe), dies, in addition to the ceremonial described above,

there is another, called Làngtuk ("the well"). A well or pit is dug

outside the village, four-square, with sides ten to fifteen feet:

it need not be carried down to the water; stairs are made to the

bottom. At the corners are planted various trees. A tall upright stone

(lòng-chòng) and a broad flat stone (lòng-pàk), supported on short

uprights, are brought and set up, as in the Khasi hills. The risomar

come and dance there the whole day, with manifold apparatus. The uchepi

sings and places food of different kinds on the flat stone for the

dead man; his clothes and umbrella are put upon the tall stone, with

flowers. A fowl is killed for the well at the bottom of the pit, and a

goat, two ducks, and two pigeons are killed at the top, and their heads

thrown to the risomar. Then the people of thirty to forty villages

assemble. The uchepi sings extemporaneously before the memorial stone,

and the people dance and eat there until dark. After dark the company

go to the house and perform the usual service already described. The

làngtuk is very costly, for people have to be fed at two places, and

double the quantity of food for an ordinary funeral has to be provided.

FESTIVITIES.

The Ròngker is the annual compulsory village festival, held at the

time of the beginning of cultivation (June), or in some villages

during the cold season. Goats and fowls are sacrificed. Arnàm-paro

gets a goat, and so do the local gods of hills and rivers. A small

village will sacrifice two or three goats, a large village ten or

twelve. The flesh of the victims is eaten, with rice and rice-beer,

but only men can partake of the sacrifice. They must sleep on the

hòng apart from their wives that night. The gods are invoked in the

following terms: "We live in your district: save us and help us! send

no tigers or sickness, prosper our crops and keep us in good health,

and year by year we will sacrifice like this. We depend wholly upon

you!" There is no music or dancing at the Ròngker.

At harvest-home there is no sacrifice, but the whole village help

mutually in getting the crops in, and feast together on rice and beer,

and dried fish and dried flesh saved up against this celebration,

or fresh fish if procurable. No animals are killed, except in some

houses a fowl, lest the paddy brought home should decrease; this fowl

is eaten. On this occasion there is a little dancing on the hòng,

but with this exception music and dancing take place only at funerals.

Occasionally there is a Ròngker-pi ("great Ròngker") for the whole

mauza, as, for instance, to expel man-eating tigers. Each village,

headed by its gaonbura, brings its contribution to the great sacrifice,

and repairs to the mauzadar's or bor-gaonbura's house, where the

feast is celebrated.

Mr. Stack's notes do not mention the observance by the Mikirs of

general tabus, called in Assamese genna, such as are common among

the Naga tribes; [23] but personal tabus of various kinds, entailing

separate eating of food and abstinence from commerce of the sexes,

have already been indicated. Women during menstruation are said to

be unclean and unable to touch the cooking-pots.

V.

FOLK-LORE AND FOLK-TALES.

Three Mikir stories--Legend of creation (Mr. Allen).

The Mikirs are fond of telling stories, but the historical

material which they contain does not appear to be of very ancient

date. Reference has already been made to the deliverance of the

Arlengs from slavery to the Khasis, and their contests with the

Kacharis under the leadership of Thòng-Nòkbe; also to their early

relations with the Ahoms. They have also myths dealing with the

creation of the earth and man, one of which has been related by

Mr. Allen, of the American Presbyterian Mission, and will be found in

the Appendix to this Section; it seems doubtful, however, whether it

is a genuine legend, or due to imagination stimulated by questions:

the concluding episode strongly resembles the Biblical story of the

Tower of Babel. These legends have not been handled by Mr. Stack,

and are therefore not reproduced here. The Rev. Mr. Moore notes that

"Mikir stories in general do not agree very minutely," and this appears

to be particularly the case in respect of tales of the intervention

of the gods in human affairs.

Mr. Stack wrote down, chiefly from the dictation of a Mikir named

Sardoka, who had become a Christian, a number of excellent stories,

which well deserve separate publication. Three specimens of these

are given here. They correspond in every respect, as will be seen,

with the general characteristics of folk-literature all over the

world. Folk-tales containing the same incidents, as is well known,

are found from Iceland to Japan, from Alaska to Patagonia. The

original source of such a tale is now incapable of identification. The

same sequence of events and general form recur everywhere; what is

distinctive and characteristic is not the progress of incident, but

the local dressing, the narrator's point of view, the colour of his

daily life which he lends to the details of the story.

The first of the three specimens is the favourite Indian form of a

sequence, well known in Sanskrit literature, but quite as popular in

Europe and in general folk-lore. It is given here, because another

version of the same narrative has been included by Dr. Grierson in

his Linguistic Survey, vol. iii. Part III. p. 223, as found among the

Aimol Kukis, a race of Tibeto-Burmans dwelling, far away from the Mikir

country, in the hills bordering the valley of Manipur on the east.

The second specimen tells of the adventures of an orphan, the son of

a widow, a stock figure in Mikir folk-tales, and abounds in local

colour. Here too the incidents in part coincide with those of a

folk-tale belonging to a very distant country, the part of Kumaon

bordering on Tibet, which will be found in vol. iii, Part I. of the

Linguistic Survey, pp. 483, 495, 510, 522.

The third is a remarkably complete and interesting version of the

wide-spread folk-tale of the Swan-maidens. It was most probably derived

from some Indian source, though, so far as known, no version of the

tale in its entirety, as told by Hindus, has yet been published. The

name of the hero, Harata-Kunwar, may be the Indian Sarat-Kumar, and is

evidently not Mikir. But all the setting--the colloquies of the six

brothers and their father, the attempt on Harata-Kunwar's life, his

methods in defeating his treacherous kinsmen, his device for winning

his fairy wife, and many other features of the story--seems genuinely

local. The narrative is an excellent specimen of Mikir diction, and

shows no little skill in composition. In vol. iii. Part II. of the

Linguistic Survey, there will be found, at pp. 218-220, a short story,

entitled, "How Jesu got a goddess for his wife," which is identical in

motive with this tale of Harata-Kunwar. It is current among the Angami

Nagas, a race much less influenced by Hindu culture than the Mikirs.

The original Mikir text of these tales will be found in the next

Section; the English translation here given is as literal as it

was possible to make it. In the Linguistic Survey, vol. iii. Part

II. pp. 395-403, two other short stories of the same character, both

text and translation, have been printed. The second of these, the

story of the clever swindler Tèntòn, evidently belongs to the cycle

of tales called Tenton-Charit, mentioned, in its Assamese version,

as existing in manuscript by Mr. E. A. Gait, at page 68 of his Report

on the Progress of Historical Research in Assam, 1897.

1. STORY OF A FROG.

One day a big black ant went to carry a meal of rice to his uncle. A

frog sat down in the road and blocked it. The ant said, "Please make

way for me, frog; I want to carry this rice to my uncle." The frog

answered, "You can get by if you creep under me. Every one has to

pass under me who goes this way." The ant said, "My uncle's rice

is tied up in a bundle of leaves; how can I possibly creep under

you?" But the frog would not give way, so the ant would not go. In

this manner things went on till noon. Then the ant said, "Oh, my uncle

will be hungry for his rice and angry with me because he does not get

it!" And he crept under the frog. Then the frog sat down flat on the

top of the ant. Thereupon the ant gave the frog a sharp bite in the

loins. Then the frog, becoming angry, jumped on the ladder of a big

old squirrel, and broke it. The old squirrel, becoming angry, cut in

two the stem of a gourd. [24] The gourd, becoming angry, fell plump

on the back of a wild boar. The wild boar, becoming angry, rooted up a

plantain-tree. The plantain-tree, becoming angry, fell upon a sparrow's

[25] nest and broke it. The sparrow, becoming angry, flew into the

ear of a deaf elephant. The deaf elephant, becoming angry, rooted up a

rock. The rock, becoming angry, rolled down and killed the Raja's son.

Then the Raja held a court to try the case. "Who is it that killed

my son?" "Oh, the rock rolled down and killed him," they said. So

they summoned the rock. "O rock, rock! why did you roll down and

slay my son?" The rock answered, "Oh, Lord God King! how was I to

help rolling down and killing him? The deaf elephant uprooted me on

a sudden from my place, and then gave me a push. As for me, I have

no hands or legs; how then could I withstand him? Your son being in

the way where I was rolling down, I rolled upon him and killed him."

Then the Raja said, "Oh, then that deaf elephant was the cause of all

this trouble," and summoned the elephant. "O elephant, elephant! what

did you root up the rock for?" The elephant answered, "Oh! how could

I help uprooting it, Lord God? The sparrow flew into my ear, and I

lost all control of myself, and so I tore up the rock."

Then the Raja said, "Oh, then that sparrow was the cause of it all,"

and summoned the sparrow. "O sparrow, sparrow! why did you fly into

the elephant's ear?" The sparrow answered, "Oh, Lord, how could I

help it? The plantain-stalk fell upon my nest and smashed it, and

being very disturbed in mind, I flew into the elephant's ear."

Then the Raja said, "Oh! then that plantain-tree was the cause of the

trouble," and called the plantain. "O plantain, plantain! what did you

tumble on the sparrow's nest and smash it for?" The plantain answered,

"Oh, how could I help it, Lord God? The wild boar tore me up out of

the ground, and I had no root left at all. How was I to go on standing

in my place? I have neither hands nor feet."

"Oh! then that pig was the cause of it all," the Raja said, and

summoned the pig. "O pig, pig! what did you tear up the plantain

for?" The pig answered, "How could I help it? As I was feeding quietly

by myself, the gourd fell plump on my back. I was in great pain,

and therefore tore up the plantain tree."

Then the king said, "Oh, the gourd caused all this trouble," and

summoned the gourd. "O gourd, gourd! what did you tumble on the wild

boar's back for?" "How was I to help it, Lord God? The squirrel cut

through my stem. I have neither hands nor feet, nothing but a stalk;

if that is cut through, I cannot but fall. So I was obliged to tumble

on the wild boar's back."

Then the Raja said, "Oh, that squirrel caused all the mischief," and

summoned the squirrel. "O squirrel, squirrel! what did you cut through

the stem of the gourd for?" The squirrel answered, "Oh, how could I

help it, Lord God? The frog jumped on my ladder and broke it. Then

I had no road to get out, and I had to cut the stalk of the gourd."

The Raja said, "Oh, then that frog caused the mischief," and summoned

the frog. "O frog, frog! what did you jump on the squirrel's ladder

and break it for?" The frog answered, "How was I to help it? A big

black ant bit me sharply in the loins, and with the pain of the bite,

not knowing what I was doing, I jumped on the squirrel's ladder and

broke it."

Again the Raja said, "Oh, it was the ant that caused all the trouble,"

and summoned the ant. "O ant, ant! what did you bite the frog in the

loins for?" The ant said, "How could I help biting him? In the morning

I was carrying my uncle's rice along the road. The frog sat down and

blocked the way. I said, 'Please make room for me to pass.' 'Creep

under me,' said he. I crept under him, and he sat down tight on the

top of me. That was why I bit his loins."

Then said the king, "You are both of you guilty." They tied the

ant fast with a hair from a man's head; so now his waist is very

small. The frog they beat severely with a stinging-nettle, [26]

so now he is spotty all over.

2. STORY OF AN ORPHAN AND HIS UNCLES.

Once upon a time a widow woman had an only son. His mother had six

brothers. One day at evening his uncles said to the orphan, "Nephew,

let us go and set up a fish-trap." [27] So the orphan went with

them. Then the six brothers, his uncles, having built a good weir

up-stream, set the trap. The orphan, having put together a few stones

down-stream, below his uncle's trap-weir, set his own trap carelessly

in the middle of them, and returned home. The next morning they all

came to look at their traps. The uncles' trap, though very well put

together, had not caught so much as a cray-fish; as for the orphan's

trap, it was quite full of fish. Then the uncles said, "Nephew, we

will set up our trap here; do you go down-stream and set up your trap

again." Then, after the uncles had set up their trap in the orphan's

trap-weir, the orphan again set up his trap downstream. But again the

fish entered it just in the same way; while not one fish had got into

the uncles' trap, the orphan's trap was quite full of fish. Every

morning the uncles continued to take for themselves the place where

the orphan's trap had been. At last the orphan, becoming very tired

of continually setting up his trap in a different place, one morning,

instead of fixing the trap in the stream, placed it on a clump of

grass and left it there. Next morning his uncles came and called to the

orphan: "Nephew, let us go and look at the traps." The orphan answered,

"For my part, I have not set up my trap at all; nevertheless I will

go with you as your companion." So saying, he went with them. Then

he went to look at his trap, and found that a wood-pigeon had got

inside it. He tied this wood-pigeon with a noose and brought it home.