Karbi people
The Karbis, mentioned as the Mikir in the Constitution Order of the Government of India, are one of the major ethnic groups in North-east India and especially in the hill areas of Assam. They prefer to call themselves Karbi, and sometimes Arleng (literally "man" in the Karbi language). The term Mikir is now not preferred and is considered to be derogatory.[1]
Overview
The Karbis are the principal tribal community in the Karbi Anglong district of Assam, a district administered as per the provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India, having an autonomous district of their own since 17 November, 1951.[2] Besides Karbi Anglong district, the Karbi inhabited ares include North Cachar Hills, Kamrup, Marigaon district, Nagaon, Golaghat, Karimganj and Sonitpur districts of Assam; Balijan circle of Papumpare district in Arunachal Pradesh, Jaintia Hills, Ri Bhoi and East Khasi Hills districts in Meghalaya and Dimapur District in Nagaland. Apart from Assam, the Karbis are also recognised as Scheduled Tribes in Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland. With a population of around 4 lacs 60 thousand as per 2001 Census, the Karbis constitutes the third largest tribal community in Assam after the Bodos and the Mishings.[3]
Language
The Karbi language belongs to the Mikir[4] group of the Tibeto-Burman subgroup of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Notable Karbi scholars like Padmasri Prof. Rongbong Terang and Dr. Phukan Ch. Phangcho in their writings have pointed out the simmilarities between Karbi language and the Kuki-Chin languages like Meitei and Mizo (Lushai). However, it is of interest to mention at this point that in the Linguistic Survey of India, conducted under the supervision of Sir George Abraham Grierson, the Karbi language has been categorized between the Bodo language group on one hand and the Kuki-Chin and Naga language group on the other.
Like most of the languages of the hill tribes of the North-east, Karbi also does not have its own script and is written in the Roman script, however it is sometimes written in Assamese script too. Some of the earliest written text in Karbi were brought to light due to the efforts of the missionaries of the Christian missionaries, especially the American Baptist Mission and the Catholic Church. The missionaries brought out a newspaper in Karbi titled Birta as early as 1903. Rev. R.E. Neighbor's ‘Vocabulary of English and Mikir, with Illustrative Sentences’ published in 1878, which can be called the ‘first’ Karbi ‘dictionary’, Sardoka Perrin Kay’s ‘English-Mikir Dictionary’ published in 1904, Sir Charles Lyall and Edward Stack's ‘The Mikirs’ in 1908, the first ethnographic details on the Karbis and G.D. Walker's ‘A Dictionary of the Mikir Language’ published in 1925 are some of the earliest important books on the Karbis and the Karbi language and grammar.[5]
The Karbis have a rich oral tradition. The Mosera, a lengthy folk narrative that describes the origin and migration ordeal of the Karbis which literally means ‘recalling the past’ is one such example. The Sabin Alun, yet another traditional oral narrative relates the legend of Prince Rama (Ram in Karbi), Lakshmana (Lokhon or Khon) and Princess Sita (Sinta Kungri) in the traditional Karbi and rural setting where Sinta Kungri is adept in weaving clothes and helps her father Bamonpo (Janaka) in his Jhum fields.
History
The Karbis were among the earliest inhabitants of Assam, so much so that Kalaguru Bishnu Prasad Rabha, a noted cultural personality and freedom fighter from Assam has called them the Discoverer of Assam. The Karbis too trace their origin and existence in China and South-east Asia. The traditional Karbi kingdom included Rongkhang, "Kiling", Amri, Chinthong, Nilip-Lumbajong and Longku-Longtar, which corresponds to the present day Hamren subdivision of Karbi Anglong district, Kamrup and Marigaon districts, eastern part of Karbi Anglong and the North Cachar Hills district.
Culture and tradition
The Karbis are a patrilinealsociety and is composed of five major clans or Kur. They are Ingti, Terang, Inghi, Teron and Timung which are again divided into many sub-clans. These clans are exogamous, in other words marriages between members of the same clan are not allowed. The traditional system of governance is headed by the Lindok or the king, who is assisted by the Katharpo, the Dilis, the Habes and the Pinpos. The Lindok is based in Ronghang Rongbong in the Hamren subdivision of the district. These posts of administration, however, are now merely ceremonial with no real power.
The Karbis celebrate many festivals. Rongker is one such festival held around January-february by the entire village as thanksgiving to the various gods and for the prosperity and the well-being of the community. The Chomkan (also known as "thi-karhi" and Chomangkan) is a festival unique to the Karbis. It is actually a ceremony performed by a family for the peace and the safe passage of the soul of family members who died recently.
Most of the Karbis still practice their traditional belief system, however, there is also a significant proportion of Karbis who follow Christianity. The practitioners of traditional religion believes in reincarnation and honours the ancestors, besides the traditional deities like Hemphu and Mukrang.
The Karbi women are expert weavers and they wear home-made clothes. Their main attire consist the pekok, a piece of cloth with designs wrapped around the upper part of the body and tied into a knot on the right shoulder, the pini, similar to a sarong and a vamkok, a decorative piece of cloth tied around the waist over the pini. The men's traditional dress consist of the choi, a sleeveless shirt with a 'V' shaped neck and loose threads at the bottom, a rikong, which looks like a dhoti and a poho, a turban.
Economy
The Karbis traditionally practice jhum cultivation (slash and burn cultivation) in the hills. They grow variety of crops which include foodgrains, vegetables and fruits like rice, maize, potato, tapioca, beans, ginger and turmeric. They are quiet self-sufficient and have homestead gardens with betel nut, jackfruit, oranges, pineapple, etc. which fulfill their nutritional as well as food needs. However, with the integration of the traditional lifestyle with the market economy, many of the traditional institutions and way of life has been left damaged, bringing about unending sufferings on the people.
References
External links
- Karbi-Anglong district information
- [4]ethnography of karbis
- Ethnologue profile, old profile [5]
- MEETING THE THREAT OF CONVERSION: The Emerging Healthy Trends
- Indian Catholic, Christian leaders gather warring ethnic groups for peace
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