Locality.—The Delta of the Irawaddi; Pegu.Alphabet.—Burmese.
Locality.—The Delta of the Irawaddi; Pegu.
Alphabet.—Burmese.
The notices hitherto given have applied only to the greatpoliticaldivisions of the variety speaking monosyllabic languages; and have referred to nations of a known and similar degree of civilization. It would be an error, however, to suppose that they supply a complete enumeration. Hardly an empire mentioned will not exhibit some instance of a new series of phenomena standing overfor investigation. The Chinese, the Burmese, and the Siamese, represent merely the dominant tribes of their several areas; those whereof the civilization and territorial power have given their possessors a certain degree of prominence in the history of the world. The intermixed tribes, sometimes imperfectly subdued, always imperfectly civilized, inhabiting barren tracts or mountain fastnesses, have a value in ethnology which they cannot command in history. In these we see the original substratum of the different national characters, as it may be supposed to have shown itself, before it was modified by foreign influences. In a more advanced stage of our knowledge, these tribes will probably be brought under one of the sub-divisions already noticed. At present, even when in some cases they may be so placed, it is best to take them in detail; premising that, the list does not pretend to be exhaustive, that, from the fluctuations of the geographical nomenclature, the same tribe may be mentioned twice over, and, lastly, that partly from imperfect knowledge, and partly from changes of locality, arising from migrations of the tribes themselves, the geographical position is, in many cases, difficult to fix.
The notice, however, of the minor representatives, real or supposed, of the great division of the human race speaking monosyllabic languages now commences.
The word[12]Simeanswest, whilstFanmeansstranger; so thatSi-fanmeanswestern strangers. The term means one or more of the wilder tribes on the Tibetan or Mongolian frontier.Nothing is less likely than that theSi-fanshould differ inkindfrom the Chinese—unless it be that they are Turk, Mongol, or Tibetan.
The word[12]Simeanswest, whilstFanmeansstranger; so thatSi-fanmeanswestern strangers. The term means one or more of the wilder tribes on the Tibetan or Mongolian frontier.
Nothing is less likely than that theSi-fanshould differ inkindfrom the Chinese—unless it be that they are Turk, Mongol, or Tibetan.
These are the so-calledaboriginesof China. It were, perhaps, more accurate to call them the Chinese in their most aboriginal form. The term meanschildren of the soil. Their localities are the mountains of Southern and Central China. They seem to consist of a number of tribes rather than to constitute any particular people; so that it is possible that many varieties of the primitive Chinese may be comprised under the general appellation. Those ofPing-sha-hwangare divided into thewhiteandblackMiaou-tse; from the difference of their complexion. Both the Abbé Gosier and Tradescant Lay[13]speak to their indomitable courage, and to their spirit of independence, their subjection being still imperfect. Their weapons are the bow and cross-bow. Their employment agriculture. The following is an account of their religious rites from the author last named.
"Religious Rites.—When a man among theMiaou-tsewho inhabit thePing-sha-shihhills, marries, he sticks five small flags into a bundle of grass fastened together by about seven different bands. Before this strange pageant he kneels, while the rest of his friends fold their arms and bow; after this they make merry with music and dancing. At the death of father or mother, the eldest son remains at home for forty-nine days without washing his face; when this period has been completed, he sacrifices to a divinity which is calledFang-kwei, and seems to correspond in office with Mercury, who, according to the views of ancient mythology, conducted the spirits of the dead to the abodes of happiness. If the eldest son be poor, and cannot afford to lose the labour of so long a time, the grandson or some other descendant performs thisduty in his stead. Among the mountaineers styled theHea-king, when a man is sick, his friends offer the head of a tiger to the prince of divinities. The head is placed upon a charger, with a sword; three incense-sticks and two candles behind it, and three cups of wine in front. Before this curious oblation the worshippers fold their hands, or cross their arms and bow themselves. Another tribe, when they would propitiate the good-will of the powers which influence the weather, appoint ten companies of young men and women, who, after dressing themselves in robes made of felt, and binding their loins with an embroidered girdle, dance and play the organ with every suitable demonstration of joy and festivity. This gay ceremony is kept up for three days and three nights, at the end of which they sacrifice an ox, to obtain, says the Chinese writer, a plentiful year. A father among the same people, when his son is ten months old, offers a white tiger, and accompanies the oblation with such rites of merriment as his circumstances can afford. At this time a name is given to the child. This reminds us of a modern christening, when the solemnities of religion are straightway followed by the mirth, good cheer, and gaieties of a festival. When a tribe called theChung-kingmourn for their dead, they kill an ox, and place the head and feet upon an altar, with basins filled with food, lighted candles, and cups of wine by way of drink-offering. The altar resembles a table, and explains a phrase used in Isaiah, "Ye have prepared a table for that number." The bridal ceremonies with another tribe are attended by the sacrifice of a dog, at which the relatives of husband and wife are present.
"A people called theWestern Miaou-tse, in the middle of autumn offer a sacrifice to the great ancestor or founder of their race. For this purpose, they select a male ox or buffalo which is well covered with hair, and has its horns quite perfect; that is, in other words, an animal without blemish. To put it in good condition, they feed it with grass and water till the rice or corn is ripe, when the animal is fat. They then distil a certain quantity of spirit from the grain, and slay the ox. Being thus provided for a feast, they invite all their relatives, who come and carouse with them amidst plays, singing, and the loud challenges of jolly companions. In the first-fruits which the Chinese present at the close of harvest, we have a representative of Cain's offering; but in the ceremony just described, there are some traces of that which Abel brought to the altar. The aboriginal Chinese retain the rite, but the object worshipped is disguised under an equivocal name,—equivocal, because the Creator has a claim to the title of original ancestor by way of eminence, as well as the common parent of mankind. When the mind of man was darkened, he confounded Adam with his Maker, and worshipped the creature instead of the Creator, who is blessed for ever.
"With theWhite Miaou-tse, a rite is observed somewhat in character like the last, but for a different purpose. These select an ox well-proportioned and carrying a perfect pair of horns. This animal they feed carefully to prepare it for sacrifice. Each cantonment keeps an ox in this way in readiness to be offered to the great ancestor, whenever, in any of their contests, victory shall declare in their favour. After the sacrifice has been performed by the master of the sacrifice, or priest, the relatives of the sacrificer join in a regular festivity of singing and drinking. A tribe commended for the purity of their disposition and their obedience to the magistrate, at the death of a person collect a large quantity of fuel together, and, Isuppose, make a great burning for him. When a man is about to marry among a particular race of mountaineers, he allows two of his teeth to be knocked out with a hammer and hard chisel, to avert the mischiefs of matrimony. These, too, cut off the forelocks and spread the hair behind; they also, like the Chinese, bestow some attention upon the beauty of their eyebrows."
Probably these belong more to Siam[14]than to China.Mutatis mutandis, they are on the southern frontier what the Si-fan are on the west.They are so far civilized as to have taken their religion (Buddhism), and an alphabet from Ava or Pegu.
Probably these belong more to Siam[14]than to China.Mutatis mutandis, they are on the southern frontier what the Si-fan are on the west.
They are so far civilized as to have taken their religion (Buddhism), and an alphabet from Ava or Pegu.
The Quanto inhabit[14]the range of mountains between Anam and China. They represent the original civilization, or want of civilization, of Cochin-China and Tonkin,—i.e.of Cochin-China and Tonkin before the influence of China.They are in possession of an alphabet.
The Quanto inhabit[14]the range of mountains between Anam and China. They represent the original civilization, or want of civilization, of Cochin-China and Tonkin,—i.e.of Cochin-China and Tonkin before the influence of China.
They are in possession of an alphabet.
Inhabitants of the southernmost[14]coast of Cochin-China. Their language, of which I have not seen a specimen, is said to differ from both the Chinese and the Kambojian. They are a civilized people, and were so in the time of Marco Polo. According to Crawfurd, their civilization was, to a certain extent, due to Indian influences. At present there is a Malay settlement on their coast.
Inhabitants of the southernmost[14]coast of Cochin-China. Their language, of which I have not seen a specimen, is said to differ from both the Chinese and the Kambojian. They are a civilized people, and were so in the time of Marco Polo. According to Crawfurd, their civilization was, to a certain extent, due to Indian influences. At present there is a Malay settlement on their coast.
The southern part of the mountains which form the watershed between Cochin-China and Kambojia is the residence of the Moy. According to Chapman, they are eminently dark-complexioned; an observation which will be found in the sequel to apply to several other of the minor tribes of the division in question.[14]
The southern part of the mountains which form the watershed between Cochin-China and Kambojia is the residence of the Moy. According to Chapman, they are eminently dark-complexioned; an observation which will be found in the sequel to apply to several other of the minor tribes of the division in question.[14]
Sub-divisions of the Laos branch of the Siamese.—As laid down in the maps, the Laos fill up the whole area between China on the north, Siam on the south, Cochin-China and Kambojia on the east, and Ava on the west; of this area, however, little is known in detail.
One of the divisions of the Laos is calledLau[14]-pang-dun, or theBlackLaos, from the darkness of their complexion.
Tribes, too, calledPa-yandPa-pe,[15]are said to be Laos.
Lastly, the relations between the true Laos, and the Ahom, Khamti, and Shyán, have yet to be made out in a satisfactory manner.
Distribution.—Irregular; from the eleventh to the twenty-third degree of north latitude; from the Mergui Province in Tenasserim to the borders of China, between the Burmese on the west and the Siamese on the east. On the river Salwin, are the so-calledRed Karien.Name.—Burmese. CalledKadunin Pegu.
Distribution.—Irregular; from the eleventh to the twenty-third degree of north latitude; from the Mergui Province in Tenasserim to the borders of China, between the Burmese on the west and the Siamese on the east. On the river Salwin, are the so-calledRed Karien.
Name.—Burmese. CalledKadunin Pegu.
The Kariens, unless they are Siamese, have next to that nation the greatest extension, north and south. Ground down by the oppression of the Burmese, they are, with the exception of theredKariens, who still preserve an imperfect independence, a decreasing race. Of their language we have specimens[16]in more than one dialect, viz., the Passuko, Maplu, and Play. They are agricultural tribes, clearing the land for the cultivation of rice, and then leaving it to migrate elsewhere.—Arva in annos mutant, et superest ager.
Locality.—Islands of the Mergui Archipelago.Numbers.—Said to be about one thousand.Language.—Said to be peculiar.Authority.—Dr. Helfer's Third Report on the Tenasserim Provinces.—Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. viii.
Locality.—Islands of the Mergui Archipelago.
Numbers.—Said to be about one thousand.
Language.—Said to be peculiar.
Authority.—Dr. Helfer's Third Report on the Tenasserim Provinces.—Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. viii.
The details now forthcoming apply to the districts lying north of a line drawn from the southernmost point of Arakan to the Irawaddi; and they comprise the eastern extensions of the Arakan tribes, the parts about Manipur, and the complex, but important line of frontier betweenthe Indo-Chinese kingdoms, and the Indian portions of Bengal and Assam.
The first tribes that will be noticed are those which are most closely related to the inhabitants of Arakan.
Locality.—South-east Assam, in the north-eastern portion of the mountain range between Assam and the Burmese empire. Conterminous with the Singpho on the north-east.
Locality.—South-east Assam, in the north-eastern portion of the mountain range between Assam and the Burmese empire. Conterminous with the Singpho on the north-east.
Locality.—Mountains of Tipperah, Sylhet and Chittagong. A south-western prolongation of the Nagas.Synonyms.—Lunctas, Koung-thias.(?)
Locality.—Mountains of Tipperah, Sylhet and Chittagong. A south-western prolongation of the Nagas.
Synonyms.—Lunctas, Koung-thias.(?)
Locality.—The same mountains as the Kuki, only on a lower level. The word meansvillagers,Khúm=village.
Locality.—The same mountains as the Kuki, only on a lower level. The word meansvillagers,Khúm=village.
The Naga, Kuki, and Khumia, are tribes of one family. Their ethnographical position is certain. They have long been known to be part of Rhukheng division of the Burmese tribes, speaking the same language with the inhabitants of Arakan, and connecting themselves with that people in their traditions respecting their own origin.
I may also add that the similarity of manners between them and the Garo is very manifest.
Locality.—The Yuma mountains between Ava and Arakan. Independent Pagans.Name.—Burmese. Native name Koloun. Buchanan, inAsiatic Researches, vol. v.Authority.—Lieutenant Trant in Asiatic Researches, vol. xvi.
Locality.—The Yuma mountains between Ava and Arakan. Independent Pagans.
Name.—Burmese. Native name Koloun. Buchanan, inAsiatic Researches, vol. v.
Authority.—Lieutenant Trant in Asiatic Researches, vol. xvi.
The faces of the Khyen women are tattooed. That the following reason, however, for the practice is valid, is more than I will venture to vouch.
One of the forms of tribute to one of the conquerors of the Khyens, was the payment of a certain number ofthe most beautiful women of the country. In order to do away with the danger to which their unmutilated charms exposed them, the whole generation tattooed themselves; and their descendants have done so since.
Synonyms.—Kathi or Kassay, Moitay.Locality.—Bounded on the east by the right branch of the Irawaddi, on the north and west by the Naga and Kachari countries, on the south by the Khyen.
Synonyms.—Kathi or Kassay, Moitay.
Locality.—Bounded on the east by the right branch of the Irawaddi, on the north and west by the Naga and Kachari countries, on the south by the Khyen.
An idea of the extent to which the language, for these parts varies within a small geographical area, may be collected from Captain Gordon's notices of the dialects spoken in the neighbourhood of Manipur.
Besides the Manipur proper, the following eleven dialects are illustrated by his vocabularies,[17]and are said to be spoken within the limits of a very inconsiderable circle, of which Manipur is the centre.
1. The Songpú. The most western. Per-centage of Manipur words, 21.Brown.
2. The Kapwi. A very small tribe.Ditto, 41.Brown.
3. The Koreng.Ditto, 18.Brown.
4. The Maram.Ditto, 25.Brown.
5. The Champhung. Thirty or forty families.Ditto, 28.Brown.
6. The Luhuppa.Ditto, 31.Brown.
10. The Khoibú. Per-centage of Manipur words, 40.Brown.
11. The Maring.Ditto, 50.Brown.
Locality.—Arakan, banks of the river Koladyng. A single village.Religion.—Worship of Nats (Spirits).Physical Appearance.—Contrasted with that of their neighbours, being so dark as to suggest the idea that they are of Bengal origin. No traditions, however, to that effect.Language.—Monosyllabic, as ascertained by two vocabularies.—Lieut. Phayre'sJournal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, andLieut. Latter,ditto.
Locality.—Arakan, banks of the river Koladyng. A single village.
Religion.—Worship of Nats (Spirits).
Physical Appearance.—Contrasted with that of their neighbours, being so dark as to suggest the idea that they are of Bengal origin. No traditions, however, to that effect.
Language.—Monosyllabic, as ascertained by two vocabularies.—Lieut. Phayre'sJournal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, andLieut. Latter,ditto.
Locality.—Between the Kasia county, with which it is conterminous on the east, and Manipur.
Locality.—Between the Kasia county, with which it is conterminous on the east, and Manipur.
Locality.—Southern border of Lower Assam. Conterminous with the Kachari on the east and the Garo on the west.
Locality.—Southern border of Lower Assam. Conterminous with the Kachari on the east and the Garo on the west.
A better knowledge of the wild tribes in these parts than we possess, will, probably, enable us to ascertain the nature of the most primitive Indo-Chinese religion. It seems in these parts to be the worship ofNatsor spirits.
In the Kasia country the occurrence of erect pillars, evidently objects of mysterious respect, if not of adoration, is frequent. These are explained by similar ones in the Khyen district. They are depicted by Lieutenant Latter—accurate magis quam verecunde—and are lingams.
Stout legs, thick lips, and angular eyes, are marked characters in the Kasia conformation. They burn their dead. Their ceremonies are few or none. Like the Garo, they drink no milk. Like the Garo, also, they are said to have no beast of burden. Like many of the tribes around them they chew pawn; and like many of the tribes around them they obtain, for drink, a liquor fermented from millet. Millet or rice are the usual sources for the stimulant beverages of this section of the Seriform tribes;and, it may be added, that the art of distillation as well as of simple fermentation is widely spread. I am not aware that the former is practised by the present tribe; it is common, however, in the Sub-Himalayan range.—Lieutenant Yule,Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, xiii. 3.
Locality.—A tract of about one thousand four hundred square miles in the north-eastern corner of Assam. Conterminous with the Khamtis and Mishimis on the north. Bounded on the south and east by the Patkoe range; which divides Assam from the Burmese empire.Population.—Calculated in 1838 at six thousand.Government.—Clans under chiefs called Gaums.Religion.—Imperfect Buddhism. Worship of dead chieftains.Alphabet.—Shyán or Ahom.Physical Appearance.—Body long, legs short, complexion tawny.
Locality.—A tract of about one thousand four hundred square miles in the north-eastern corner of Assam. Conterminous with the Khamtis and Mishimis on the north. Bounded on the south and east by the Patkoe range; which divides Assam from the Burmese empire.
Population.—Calculated in 1838 at six thousand.
Government.—Clans under chiefs called Gaums.
Religion.—Imperfect Buddhism. Worship of dead chieftains.
Alphabet.—Shyán or Ahom.
Physical Appearance.—Body long, legs short, complexion tawny.
Locality.—The Burmese side of the Patkoe range. Conterminous with the Singpho, by whom they have been nearly extinguished.Language.—Seven-tenths of the Jili vocabulary is Singpho.
Locality.—The Burmese side of the Patkoe range. Conterminous with the Singpho, by whom they have been nearly extinguished.
Language.—Seven-tenths of the Jili vocabulary is Singpho.
Locality.—North-east extremity of Assam. Conterminous with the Khamti on the south, and the Abors on the west. Mountaineers. Tibet on the north.Mishimi Tribes.—The Chool Kutta=crop-haired, the Meahu, the Tairi, or Digaru. According to Brown, the Maí Mishimi, the Taron Mishimi, and the Maiye or Meme Mishimi.Probable Population.—Four hundred and sixty.Physical Appearance.—Stature short. Limbs small, but active, and well-knit.
Locality.—North-east extremity of Assam. Conterminous with the Khamti on the south, and the Abors on the west. Mountaineers. Tibet on the north.
Mishimi Tribes.—The Chool Kutta=crop-haired, the Meahu, the Tairi, or Digaru. According to Brown, the Maí Mishimi, the Taron Mishimi, and the Maiye or Meme Mishimi.
Probable Population.—Four hundred and sixty.
Physical Appearance.—Stature short. Limbs small, but active, and well-knit.
The Mishimi country produces, and the Mishimi collect, a poison called the Bikh Mishimi. This is used both for the purposes of hunting and of war. So poisonous is it that a single wound is said to kill an elephant. The flesh, however, of the animal so killed is eaten with impunity.
Locality.—The loftiest portion of the mountains to the north of Assam.
Locality.—The loftiest portion of the mountains to the north of Assam.
Locality.—The lower range of the mountains inhabited by the Bor Abors.
Locality.—The lower range of the mountains inhabited by the Bor Abors.
Locality.—The foot of the Abor and Bor Abor range. Speaking generally, the Bor Abors, Abors, and Miri are conterminous with the Khamti, and Mishimi on the north-east.
Locality.—The foot of the Abor and Bor Abor range. Speaking generally, the Bor Abors, Abors, and Miri are conterminous with the Khamti, and Mishimi on the north-east.
Locality.—South-west of the Abors, on the same mountain range. No less than one hundred and eighty petty chiefs are said to rule over the numerous disunited Dufla tribes of the Char Dwán; and this is only one of their localities.
Locality.—South-west of the Abors, on the same mountain range. No less than one hundred and eighty petty chiefs are said to rule over the numerous disunited Dufla tribes of the Char Dwán; and this is only one of their localities.
Locality.—The south-western prolongation of the range inhabited by the Abors and Dufla. Conterminous with the latter.Language.—Half the words in an Aka and Abor vocabulary are alike.
Locality.—The south-western prolongation of the range inhabited by the Abors and Dufla. Conterminous with the latter.
Language.—Half the words in an Aka and Abor vocabulary are alike.
Locality.—North-east Assam, south of the Burramputer. Conterminous with the Singhu, Khamti, and Miri.Synonym.—Muamaria, or Moa Mareya.Religion.—Imperfect Brahmanism.
Locality.—North-east Assam, south of the Burramputer. Conterminous with the Singhu, Khamti, and Miri.
Synonym.—Muamaria, or Moa Mareya.
Religion.—Imperfect Brahmanism.
The Muttuck persecution is one of the most important facts in the history of Assam. Prior to the Ahom invasion, said to have taken place 1224,A. D., the Muttucks had been converted to Hinduism; but to a form of it which denied the divinity of Durga, and would not admit the worship of her image. A violent persecution on this account, betweenA.D.1714 and 1744, brought about a resistance which did much to weaken and disorganise the Assam empire.
Locality.—The Garo hills, at the south-western entrance of the valley of Assam.
Locality.—The Garo hills, at the south-western entrance of the valley of Assam.
No tribe hitherto mentioned is of the ethnographical importance of the Garo.
If we call themIndian, they are the most northerntribe that has been described as havingNegroelements in their physiognomy.
If we call them Tibetan, or Burmese, they are equally remarkable for this peculiarity.
Taking their physical appearance as a test, it is the Garo that seem the likeliest to exhibit a transition between the type already illustrated, and the type of the aborigines of Hindostan,supposing such a transition to exist.
Taking their language into consideration, something of the same intermediate character is, perhaps, to be found. It has been referred to each class; by some to the monosyllabic tongues of Tibet, or the Burmese empire; by others to the Indian group of dialects and languages.
The first description of the Garo is to be found in the Asiatic Researches. Here it is where they are described as approaching the Negro type. Endued with great physical strength, at least as compared with the Bengali, they are pagans and savages: their manners, as stated above, agreeing in many points with those of the Kukis.
It is, however, by their language that their ethnographical position will best be determined.
The present writer, who had not then seen Mr. Brown's Vocabularies, placed this, in 1844, in the Tibetan division; being satisfied of its monosyllabic character.
Mr. Brown's Vocabularies confirm this view (so far as it goes) of the monosyllabic character of the Garo; and I think that the following table—Mr. Brown's also—shewing the per-centage of words in any two languages, does the same.
In the face of this, however, the author writes that it "would be difficult to decide from the specimens before us, whether it is to be ranked with the monosyllabic or polysyllabic languages. It probably belongs to the latter."
Again—Mr. Hodgson connects the Garos with theBodo, not, indeed, as a sub-division of that group, but as a class with a common origin; adding, that fifteen out of sixty words in Brown's Vocabulary are the same in Garo and Bodo.
This involves the position of the Garo with that of the Bodo; whilst, in respect to the Bodo, it is convenient to consider them along with theDhimál.
We are now in that part of the Indian side of the Himalayan range, which lies between Assam on the east,and Sikkim on the west, and which is bounded on the north by Bhután. This is the area where the aboriginal Indian and the Tibetan most intermix.
Locality.—Mixed with the Bodo, in their most westerly locality,i.e.between the Konki and Dhorla.Numbers.—According to Mr. Hodgson, about 15,000.Authority.—-Hodgson'sDissertation on the Kocch, Bodo, and Dhimál.
Locality.—Mixed with the Bodo, in their most westerly locality,i.e.between the Konki and Dhorla.
Numbers.—According to Mr. Hodgson, about 15,000.
Authority.—-Hodgson'sDissertation on the Kocch, Bodo, and Dhimál.
Locality.—The forest belt (not the mountains) in a circle round the Valley of Assam, from Tipperah S. E. to Morung, N.W. Mixed, in their most westerly localities with the Dhimál.Synonym.—Mécch.Name.—Native; the Mécch call themselves Bodo, and so do the Kachari.Authority.—Same as for the Dhimál.
Locality.—The forest belt (not the mountains) in a circle round the Valley of Assam, from Tipperah S. E. to Morung, N.W. Mixed, in their most westerly localities with the Dhimál.
Synonym.—Mécch.
Name.—Native; the Mécch call themselves Bodo, and so do the Kachari.
Authority.—Same as for the Dhimál.
The Bodo are the rudest division of the present group whereof we possess anything like a sufficient amount of detailed information; Mr. Hodgson's Dissertation being, perhaps, the best ethnological monograph existing. Hence, it is in the Bodo nation that, in the present state of our knowledge, we must study the general phenomena of the wilder Seriform tribes.
In respect to their social development the Bodo are good examples of a very peculiar form. They are tillers of the soil, and (as such) agriculturists rather than hunters, fishers, or feeders of flocks and herds. But their agriculture is imperfect, and quasi-nomadic; since they are not fixed but erratic or migratory cultivators. They have no name for a village, no sheep, no oxen, nofixedproperty in the soil. Like the ancient Germans,arva in annos mutant, et superest ager. They clear a jungle, crop it as long as it will yield an average produce, and then remove themselves elsewhere.
"They never cultivate the same field beyond the secondyear, or remain in the same village beyond the fourth to sixth year. After the lapse of four or five years, they frequently return to their old fields, and resume their cultivation, if in the interim the jungle has grown well, and they have not been anticipated by others, for there is no pretence of appropriation other than possessory, and if, therefore, another party have preceded them, or, if the slow growth of the jungle give no sufficient promise of a good stratum of ashes for the land when cleared by fire, they move on to another site new or old. If old, they resume the identical fields they tilled before, but never the old houses or site of the old village, that being deemed unlucky. In general, however, they prefer new land to old, and having still abundance of unbroken forest around them, they are in constant movement, more especially as, should they find a new spot prove unfertile, they decamp after the first harvest is got in."[18]
It is a fact of some importance that erratic agriculture, a rare and exceptional form of industrial development, is probably more general among the Seriform tribes than elsewhere. It has already been stated to be the habit of the Karien, and there is little doubt as to its being far more general than it has hitherto been described to be. Contrast with this imperfect form of agricultural industry the cultivation of the soil in China. The Bodo villages are small communities of from ten to forty huts. The head of these communities is called the Grá. It is the Grá who is responsible to the foreign government (British, Tibetan, or Nepalese), for the order of the community, and for the payment of its tribute. In casesof perplexity the Grás of three or four neighbouring communities meet in deliberation. Offenders against the customs of the community may be admonished, fined, or excommunicated.
This last term suggests a new series of ideas. The Bodo religious ordinances are apparently very simple; so that they form a remarkable contrast with the numerous details of Hinduism. The birth, the weaning, and the naming of children are all unattended with ceremonies requiring the presence of a priest. At funerals and marriages, however, the priest presides. This he does, not so much as a minister to the essential ceremony, as for the sake of the feast that accompanies it. No Bodo or Dhimál will touch flesh which has not been offered to the gods: and this offering a priest must make. Such being the case, notwithstanding the statement of Mr. Hodgson, who describes in somewhat flattering terms the negative merits of the simple Bodo creed, and who especially affirms that the priesthood is no hereditary office, I cannot but suspect that the influence of the spiritual power is greater than he admits. If not, the Bodo must have but few meals of meat.
Marriage is a contract rather than a rite. Polygamy or concubinage is rare: the adoption of children common. All the sons inherit equally; daughters not at all. A Bodo can only marry to one of his own people. Divorce, though practicable and easy, is rare; the wife and daughter have their due influence. No infanticide, no suttí. Children are named as soon as the mother comes abroad, which is generally four or five days after her confinement. The idea that the delivery involves a temporal impurity is recognised; so that all births (and deaths also) necessitate a temporary segregation and certain purificatory forms.The one, however, is short, and the other simple. The infant "is named immediately after birth, or as soon as the mother comes abroad, which is always four or five days after delivery. There are no family names, or names derived from the gods. Most Bodo and Dhimáls bear meaningless designations, or any passing event of the moment may suggest a significant term: thus a Bhótia chief arrives at the village, and the child is called Jinkhap; or a hill peasant arrives, and it is named Góngar, after the titular or general designation of the Bhótias. Children are not weaned so long as their mother can suckle them, which is always from two to three years—sometimes more—and two children, the last and penultimate, are occasionally seen at the breast together. The delayed period of weaning will account in part for the limited fecundity of the women. When a Bodo or Dhimál comes of age, the event is not solemnized by any rite or social usage whatever. Marriage takes place at maturity, the male being usually from twenty to twenty-five years of age, and the female, from fifteen to twenty. Courtship is not sanctioned: the parents or friends negotiate the wedlock."
In this the commercial element is predominant. A price—Jan—must be paid by the bridegroom elect for the intended bride. If the former have "no means of discharging this sum, he must go to the house of his father-in-law elect and there literally earn his wife by the sweat of his brow, labouring,more Judaico, upon mere diet for a term of years, varying from two as an average to five and even seven as the extreme period. This custom is named Gabóï by the Bodo—Ghárjyá by the Dhimáls."
When the preliminaries have been arranged, the bridegroom proceeds to the house of the bride, in procession with his friends. Two females attend him. The business of these is "to put red lead or oil on the bride elect's head, when the procession has reached her home. There a refection is prepared, after partaking of which, the procession returns, conducting the bride elect to the house of the groom's parents. So far the same rite is common to the Bodo and Dhimál—the rest is peculiar to each. Among the Dhimáls, the Déóshi now proceeds to propitiate the gods by offerings. Dáta and Bídata who preside over wedlock are invoked, and betel-leaf and red lead are presented to them. The bride and groom elect are next placed side by side, and each furnished with five pauns, with which they are required to feed each other, while the parents of the groom cover them with a sheet, upon which the Déóshi, by sprinkling holy water sanctifies and completes the nuptials. Among the Bodo the bride elect is anointed at her own home with oil; the eldersorthe Déóshi perform the sacred part of the ceremony, which consists in the sacrifice of a cock and a hen, in the respective names of the groom and bride, to the sun: and next, the groom, rising, makes salutation to the bride's parents, and the bride, similarly, attests her future duty of reverence and obedience towards her husband's parents; when the nuptials are complete. A feast follows both with Bodo and Dhimáls, but is less costly among the former than among the latter—as is said, because the higher price paid for his wife by the Bodo incapacitates him for giving so costly an entertainment. The marriage feast of the Dhimáls is alleged to cost thirty or forty rupees sometimes, the festivities being prolonged through two and even three days; whereas four to six—rarely ten rupees suffice for the nuptial banquet of a Bodo.
"The Bodo and Dhimáls both alike bury the dead, immediately after decease, with simple but decent reverence, though no fixed burial ground nor artificial tomb is in use to mark the last resting place of those most dear in life, because the migratory habits of the people would render such usages nugatory. The family and friends form a funeral procession, which bears the dead in silence to the grave. The body being interred, a few stones are piled loosely upon the grave to prevent disturbance by jackals and ratels, rather than to mark the spot, and some food and drink are laid upon the grave; when the ceremony is suspended, and the party disperses. Friends are purified by mere ablution in the next stream and at once resume their usual cares. The family are unclean for three days, after which, besides bathing and shaving, they need to be sprinkled with holy water by their elders or priest. They are then restored to purity and forthwith proceed to make preparations for a funeral banquet, by the sacrifice of a hog to Mainou or Timáng, of a cock to Báthó or Pochima, according to the nation. When the feast has been got ready and the friends are assembled, before sitting down they all repair, once again, to the grave, when the nearest of kin to the deceased, taking an individual's usual portion of food and drink, solemnly presents them to the dead with these words, 'Take and eat: heretofore you have eaten and drunk with us; you can do so no more; you were one of us; you can be so no longer: we come no more to you: come you not to us.' And thereupon the whole party break and cast on the grave a bracelet of thread priorly attached, to this end, to the wrist of each of them. Next the party proceed to the river and bathe, and having thus lustrated themselves, they repair to the banquet, and eat, drink, and make merryas though they were never to die! A funeral costs the Dhimáls from four to eight rupees—something more to the Bodo, who practise more formality on the occasion, and to whom is peculiar the singular leave-taking of the dead just described."
The details relating to the priesthood, and to the festivals of the Bodo tribes, will best indicate the nature of their religion. The list of the Bodo gods is very nearly the list of the Bodorivers. Báthó, however, the chief god, is no river but aplant; one of the Euphorbeace. Mainon is Báthó's wife. All diseases are referred to preternatural influence. Oaths and ordeals are very general.
Rites and ceremonies.—The rites of the Bodo and Dhimál religions are entirely similar and "consist of offerings, sacrifices, and prayers. The prayers are few and simple, when stript of their mummery; and necessarily so, being committed solely to the memories of a non-hereditary and very trivially instructed and mutable priesthood. They consist of invocations of protection for the people and their crops and domestic animals; of deprecations of wrath when sickness, murrain, drought, blight, or the ravages of wild animals, prevail; and thanksgivings when the crops are safely housed, or recent troubles are passed. The offerings consist of milk, honey, parched rice, eggs, flowers, fruits, and red lead or cochineal: the sacrifices of hogs, goats, fowls, ducks, and pigeons—most commonly hogs and fowls. Sacrifices are deemed more worthy than offerings, so that all the higher deities, without reference to their supposed benevolence or malevolence of nature, receive sacrifices—all the lesser deities, offerings only. Libations of fermented liquor always accompany sacrifice—because, to confess the whole truth, sacrifice and feastare commutable words, and feasts need to be crowned by copious potations! Malevolence appears to be attributed to very few of the gods, though of course all will resent neglect; but, in general, their natures are deemed benevolent; and hence the absence of all savage or cruel rites. All diseases, however, are ascribed to supernatural agency. The sick man is supposed to be possessed by one of the deities, who racks him with pains, as a punishment for impiety or neglect of the god in question. Hence, not the mediciner, but the exorcist is summoned to the sick man's aid. The exorcist is called, both by the Bodo and Dhimáls, Ojhá, and he operates as follows. Thirteen leaves, each with a few grains of rice upon it, are placed by the exorcist in a segment of a circle before him to represent the deities. The Ojhá, squatting on his hams before the leaves causes a pendulum attached to his thumb by a string to vibrate before them, repeating invocations the while. The god who has possessed the sick man, is indicated by the exclusive vibration of the pendulum towards his representative leaf, which is then taken apart, and the god in question is asked, what sacrifice he requires? a buffalo, a hog, a fowl, or a duck to spare the sufferer. He answers (the Ojhá best knows how!) a hog; and it is forthwith vowed by the sick man and promised by the exorcist, but only paid when the former has recovered. On recovery the animal is sacrificed, and its blood offered to the offended deity. I witnessed the ceremony myself among the Dhimáls, on which occasion the thirteen deities invoked were Pochima or Waráng, Timai or Béráng, Lákhim, Konoksiri, Ménchi, Chímá, Danto, Chádúng, Aphóï, Biphóï, Andhéman (Aphún), Tátopátia (Báphún), and Shúti. A Bodo exorcist would proceed precisely in the same manner, the only difference in the ceremonybeing the invocation of the Bodo gods instead of the Dhimál ones.
"Thegreat festivalsof the year are three or four. The first is held in December-January, when the cotton crop is ready. It is called Shúrkhar by the Bodo, Haréjata by the Dhimáls. The second is held in February-March. It is named Wágalénó by the Bodo, who alone observe it. The Bodo name for the third, which is celebrated in July-August, when the rice comes into ear, is Phúlthépno. The Dhimáls call it Gávi púja. The fourth great festival is held in October, and is named Ai húnó by the Bodo—Pochima páká by the Dhimáls. The first three of these festivals are consecrated to the elemental gods and to the interests of agriculture. They are celebrated abroad, not at home (generally on the banks of a river), whence attendance on them is called Hagrou húdong or madai húdong, "going forth to worship" in contradistinction to the style of the fourth great festival, which is devoted to the household gods and is celebrated at home. The Wágalénó, or bamboo festival of the Bodo, I witnessed in the spring of this year, and will describe it as a sample of the whole. Proceeding from Siligori to Pankhabárí with Dr. Campbell, we came upon a party of Bodo in the bed of the river, within the Saul forest, or rather, were drawn off the road by the noise they made. It was a sort of chorus of a few syllables, solemnly and musically incanted, which, on reaching the spot was found to be uttered by thirteen Bodo men, who were drawn up in a circle facing inwards, and each carrying a lofty bamboo pole decked with several tiers of wearing apparel and crowned with a Chour or yak's tail. Within the circle were three men, one of whom with an instrument like thisin his hands danced to the music, waving hisweapon downwards on one side and so over the head, and then downwards on the other side and again over the head. He moved round the margin of the circle in the centre of which stood two others, one a Déóshi or priest, and the other an attendant or servitor called Phantwál. The priest, clothed in red cotton but not tonsured or otherwise distinguished from the rest of the party, muttered an invocation, whereof the burden or chorus was taken up by the thirteen forming the ring above noticed. The servitor had a water-pot in one hand and a brush in the other, and from time to time, as the rite proceeded, this person moved out of the circle to sprinkle with the holy water another actor in this strange ceremony and a principal one too. This is the Déódá, or the possessed, who when filled with the god answers by inspiration to the questions of the priests as to the prospects of the coming season. When we first discerned him, he was sitting on the ground panting, and rolling his eyes so significantly that I at once conjectured his function. Shortly afterwards, the rite still proceeding, the Déódá got up, entered the circle and commenced dancing with the rest, but more wildly. He held a short staff in his hand, with which, from time to time, he struck the bedizened poles, one by one, and lowering it as he struck. The chief dancer with the odd-shaped instrument waxed more and more vehement in his dance; the inspired grew more and more maniacal; the music more and more rapid; the incantation more and more solemn and earnest; till at last, amid a general lowering of the heads of the decked bamboo poles, so that they met and formed a canopy over him, the Déódá went off in an affected fit, and the ceremony closed without any revelation—a circumstance which must be ascribed to the presence of the sceptical strangers; for it is faith alone thatworketh miracles and only among and for the faithful. This ceremony is performed annually by the Rajah of Sikim's orders, or rather with his sanction of the usages of his subjects; is addressed to the sun, the moon, the elemental gods, and, above all, to the rivers; and is designed to ensure health and plenty in the coming year, as well as to ascertain, beforehand, its promise or prospect through the revelations of the Déódá. With regard to the festival sacred to the national or homebred (noöni) gods, called Aihuno[19]by the Bodo, and Pochima páká by the Dhimáls, it is to be observed that the rite, like the separate class of deities adored thereby, is more distinctively Bodo than Dhimál. With both people the pre-eminence of water among the elements is conspicuous; but whereas the river gods of the Dhimáls have nearly absorbed all the rest, elementary or other, the household gods of the Bodo stand conspicuously distinguished from the fluviatile deities. The Pochima and Timáng of the Dhimáls are one or both rivers: the Bátho and Mainang of the Bodo are neither of them rivers, and their interparietal rites are as clearly distinguished from the rites performed abroad to the fluviatile and other elemental gods. However, the rites of Báthó and Mainou areparticipatedby deities of elementary and watery nature, and, on the other hand, the Dhimáls assert that Pochima and Timai have a twofold character, one of river gods (Dhorla and Tishta), and one of supreme gods; and they that are adored, separately, in these two characters, the Pochima páká, or home-rite of October, being appropriated to them in the latter capacity of that of supreme gods. I have not witnessed the Pochima páká, and therefore speak withhesitation. The Ai húnó is performed as follows. The friends and family being assembled, including as many persons as the master of the house can afford to feast, the Déóshi or priest enters the enclosure or yard of the house, in the centre of which is invariably planted a Sij or Euphorbia, as the representative of Bátho who is the family as well as national god of the Bodo. The Báthó, thus represented, the Déóshi offers prayers, and sacrifices a cock. He then proceeds into the house, adores Mainou, and sacrifices to her a hog. Next, the priest, the family, and all the friends proceed to some convenient and pleasant spot in the vicinity, previously selected, and at which a little temporary shed has been erected as an altar, and there, with due ceremonies, another hog is sacrificed to Agráng, a he-goat to Manásho and to Búli, and a fowl, duck, or pigeon (black, red, or white, according to the special and well known taste of each god) to each of the remaining nine of the Noöni madai. The blood of the sacrifice belongs to the gods—the flesh to his worshippers, and these now hold a high feast, at which beer and tobacco are freely used to animate the joyous conclave, but not spirits, nor opium, nor hemp. The goddess Mainou is represented in the interior of each house, by a bamboo post, about three feet high, fixed in the ground, and surmounted by a small earthen cup filled with rice. Before this symbol is the great annual sacrifice of the hog above noted, performed; and before this, the females of the familyonce a month, make offerings of eggs. For the males, due attention to the four annual festivals is deemed sufficient in prosperous and healthful seasons. But sickness or scarcity always begets special rites and ceremonies, suited to the circumstances of the calamity, and addressed more particularly to the elemental gods,if the calamity be drought, or blight, or devastations of wild animals—to the household gods, if it be sickness. Hunters, likewise, and fishers, when they go forth to the chase, sacrifice a fowl to the Sylvan gods, to promote their success; and lastly, those who have a petition to prefer to their superiors, conceive that a similar propitiation of Jishim and Mishim, or of the Chiris, will tend to the fulfilment of their requests. And this, I think, is nearly the whole amount of rites and ceremonies, which their religion prescribes to the Bodo and Dhimáls. And anxious as I am fully to illustrate the topic, I will not try the patience of my readers by describing all that variety of black victims and white, of red victims and blue, which each particular deity is alleged to prefer; first, because the subject is intrinsically trifling; and second because the diverse statements of my informants lead me to suspect, that the matter is optional or discretionary with each individual priest prescribing these minutiæ. I have mentioned the rude symbols proper to Báthó and Mainou. None of the other gods seem to have any at all, though a low line of kneaded clay attached to the Thalí that surrounds the sacred Euphorbia in the yards of the Bodo is said to stand for the rest of the divinities who, as I have already said, are wont to be worshipped collectively rather than individually; and thus the sun, the moon, and the earth, though adored by Bodo and by Dhimál, have no separate rites, but are included in those appropriated to the elemental gods. Witchcraft is universally dreaded by both Bodo and Dhimál. The names of the craft and of its professors, male and female, will be found in the vocabulary. Witches (Dain and Mháï) are supposed to owe their noxious power to their own wicked studies,orto the aid of preternatural beings. When any person is afflicted, the elders assembleand summon three Ojhás or exorcists, with whose aid and that of a cane freely used, the elders endeavour to extort from the witch a confession of the fact and the motives. By dint of questioning and of beating, the witch is generally brought to confession, when he or she is asked to remove the spell, and to heal the sufferer, means of propitiating preternatural allies (if their agency be alleged) being at the same time tendered to the witch, who is, however, forthwith expelled the district, and put across the next river, with the concurrence of the local authorities. No other sorcery or black art save that of witches is known; nor palmistry, augury, astrology, nor, in a word, any other supposed command of the future than that described in the 'Wa galéno' as the attribute (for the nonce) of the Déódá or vates. The evil eye causes some alarm to Bodo and to Dhimál who call it mogon nángo and mí nójó respectively, and who cautiously avoid the evil-eyed person, but cannot eject him from the community. The influence of the evil eye is sought to be neutralised by offerings of parched millet and eggs to Khoja Kajah and Mansha Rajah—Dii minores who find no place in my catalogue, ample as it is. Moïsh madai, I am told, likewise claims a place in the Bodo Pantheon, and a distinguished place, too, as the protector of this forest-dwelling people from beasts of prey, and especially the tiger.
"Priesthood.—The priesthood of the Bodo and Dhimáls is entirely the same, even to the nomenclature, which with both people expresses the three sorts of clergy by the terms Déóshi, Dhámi and Ojhá. The Dhámi (seniores priores!) is the district priest. The Déóshi the village priest; and the Ojhá the village exorcist. The Déóshi has under him one servitor called Phantwál. There is a Déóshi in nearly every village. Over a small circle of villages one Dhámipresides and possesses a vaguely defined but universally recognised control over the Déóshis of his district. The general constitutions and functions of the clerical body have already been fully explained. Priests are subject to no peculiar restraints, nor marked by any external sign of diverse dress or other. The connexion between pastor and flock is full of liberty for the latter, who collectively can eject their priest if they disapprove him, or individually can desert him for another if they please. He marries and cultivates like his flock, and all that he can claim from them for his services is, first, a share of every animal sacrificed by him, and second, three days' help from each of his flock (the grown males) per annum, towards the clearing and cultivation of the land, he holds on the same terms with them, and which have already been explained. Whoever thinks fit to learn the forms of offering, sacrifice, and accompanying invocation, can be a priest; and if he get tired of the profession, he can throw it up when he will. Ojhás stand not on the same footing with Dhámis and Déóshis: they are remunerated solely by fees; but into either office—priests or exorcists—the form of induction is similar, consisting merely of an introduction by the priests or exorcists of the neophyte to the gods, the first time he officiates. One Dhámi and two Déóshis usually induct a Déóshi—three Ojhás, an Ojhá; and the formula is literally that of an introduction—'this is so and so, who proposes, O ye gods! to dedicate himself to your service: mark how he performs the rites, and, if correctly, accept them at his hands.'"
These remarks will conclude with the notice of an ethnological question of primary importance, but not yet laid before the reader, viz.: the extent to which certain varieties of the human species can live and thrive in localitieswhich are either deleterious or deadly to others. Some rough facts of the kind in question are generally known; such, for instance, as the tolerance on the part of the Negro of the heat and malaria of the tropical climates. A similar tolerance of climatologic influences otherwise deleterious is shewn by the Bodo, and its allied tribes. According to Mr. Hodgson, none but themselves can live in their own localities; since "the Saul forest everywhere, but especially to the east of the Kósi, is malarious to an extent which no human beings can endure, save the remarkable races, which for ages have made it their dwelling-place. To all others, European or native, it is deadly from April to November. Yet the Dhimál, the Bodo, the Kíchak, the Tharú, the Dénwár, not only live but thrive in it, exhibiting no symptoms whatever of that dreadful stricken aspect of countenance and form which marks the victim of malaria."
The converse of this position, or the incapacity of the Bodo, &c., for living elsewhere, is also mentioned by Mr. Hodgson, but with an expression of doubt as to its accuracy. "The Bodo and Dhimáls, whom I communicated with, alleged that they cannot endure the climate of the open plains, where the heat gives them fevers. This is a mere excuse for their known aversion to quit the forest; for their eastern brethren dwell and till like natives in the open plains of Assam, just as the Kóls of south Bihár (Dhángars) do now in every part of the plains of Bihár and Bengal, in various sites abroad, and lastly in the lofty sub-Himálayas."
The Bodo tribes will again be brought prominently forward when the ethnology of the peninsula of India is discussed.
Each of these countries, although south of the Himalayas, and although to a great extent Hindu in religion, government, and language, must be looked upon as countries of which the aboriginal population is an extension of that of Tibet. The tribes of Sikkim and Nepal are Cis-Himalayan Tibetans; the word Tibetan being used in its general sense.
1.The Magars.—Imperfectly Braminical in their religion, with a separate monosyllabic language, and remains of their old Paganism. Their priests were calledDamis.[20]
2.The Gurungs.—Adherents to Buddhism. Inhabitants of the same localities with the Magars; only higher in the mountains.
3.The Jariyas.—Indianized.
4.The Newars.—Probably the oldest inhabitants of Nepal. Adherents to Buddhism; alphabet derived from the Devanagari.
5.The Murmis.—Buddhist. Language like, but different from, that of the Newars.
6.The Kirata.—Eastern Nepal; Buddhist.
7.Limbu.—Same localities as the Kirata: differing in language.
8.The Lepchas.—Inhabitants of Sikkim. Have a tradition that they lately migrated from Tibet, crossing the mountains; also that they then had a native alphabet, since lost.