Descriptive ethnology of Bengal

Front matter

ETHNOLOGY OF BE - GROUP OF ORAONS. DESCRIPTIVE ETHNOLOGY OF BENGAL. BT EDWARD TUITE DALTON, C.S.I.y COLONEL, BENGAL STAFF CORPS; COMMISSIONER OF CHUTIA NAGPUR ; MEMBER OF THE ASIATIC^OCIETT OF BENGAL, ETC. * Illustrate*) tm lithograph portraits eopicb from photographs. PRINTED FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF BENGAL, UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL. — ♦ — CALCUTTA: OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF GOVERNMENT PRINTING. 1872. CALCUTTA : PRINTED BY O. T. CUTTER, SUPERINTENDENT OF GOVERNMENT PRINTING.

Preface

. Early in the year 1866, Dr. J. Fayrer, c s. i., submitted to the Asiatic Society of Bengal a proposal for a great Ethnological Congress in Calcutta, which was to bring together in one exhibition typical examples of the races of the Old World, to be made the subject of scientific study when so collected.* The Council of the Society were unanimous in regarding the proposition as one highly calculated to advance the science of ethnology, and in submitting it to the Government of India warmly advocated its adoption, suggesting that it would form an appropriate adjunct to the general industrial exhibition which it was then in tended to hold in 1869-70. The scheme was a grand one, and there is no capital in the world possessing greater facilities for its successful accomplishment than Calcutta.

But difficulties presented themselves. It was of importance that the wild tribes of India should be fully represented. Yet it is sometimes no easy matter to induce those strange shy creatures to visit even the stations nearest to them, and to induce them to proceed to a remote and unknown country for a purpose they could not be made to comprehend, would in many cases have been utterly impracticable. It was also pointed out that such people were liable to suffer in health from change of climate. The Commissioner of Asam stated his conviction that twenty typical specimens of the hill tribes of his province could not be conveyed to Calcutta and back at any time of the year without casualties that the greatest enthusiast for anthropological research would shrink from encountering ; and he added — " if speci mens of the more independent tribes fell sick and died in Calcutta or on the journey, it might lead to inconvenient political complications."

For these and other reasons the scheme was allowed to drop. But in the mean time the Government of Bengal and the Supreme Government had, in compliance with the request of the Society, called on all local authorities to furnish complete and accurate lists of various races found within theh* respective jurisdictions ; and * Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for April, 1866. under the impulse thus given, some valuable papers from different parts of India were received. Before the design of a Congress was abandoned, I had been asked to edit the ethnological information submitted in compliance with this requisition by the Commissioners of Divisions and Provinces under the Bengal Government ; and in undertaking the duty, my intention was to draw up a descriptive catalogue which might prove a useful guide to the ethnological exhibition ; for had the scheme been carried out, the compilation of a more elaborate descriptive work on the subject would have been best left to the scientific visitors of the Congress.

However, on examining the papers made over to me, I found no material sufficient even for a catalogue : in truth, there was nothing to edit. It was then suggested that I should draw up an account of the tribes in Bengal from all available sources of information, and this proposition I have endeavoured to carry out. It is right, however, to state in apology for the selection made of a compiler, and for my acceptance of such a duty, that I am conscious I was applied to solely because it was known that I had spent the greater portion of a long* service in Asam and Chiitia Nagpur, the most interesting fields of ethnological research in all Bengal ; and though without any pretension to scientific knowledge of the subject, without practice as an author, or experience as a compiler, I have probably had more opportunities of observing various races and tribes, especially those usually called Aborigines, than have been conceded to any other officer now in the service.

The Asiatic Society of Bengal did me the honor to approve of the proposal, and kindly offered to give me all the assistance in their power. On the 3rd October, 1866, the Council tendered their services to Government to superintend the printing of the work, and the Government in reply thankfully accepted the offer. The first step was to bring together all the materials available ; and in this I was cordially aided by Dr. J. Anderson, then Honorary Secretary of the Asiatic Society, and subsequently by Dr. F. Stoliczka, who succeeded him in that office. Any publications on the subject in the library of the Bengal Secretariat were also placed at my disposal by the Honorable Ashley Eden, who was the first to propose my being employed on the work, and who interested himself generally in the undertaking.

When the project of a collection of the tribes in Calcutta had been reluctantlv abandoned, it occurred to all who were interested in the matter that any descriptive work of the kind proposed should be abundantly illustrated. For this purpose a few of a series of photographs taken for the London Exhi bition of 1862 were available; and Dr. B. Simpson, who had contributed them, received a commission to the valley of the Brahmaputra to add to the collection from that most prolific of ethnological fields. The majority of the illus trations which are now given have been copied from the beautiful photographs taken by Dr. Simpson, one of the most successful of Indian photographers, and he has kindly Ill added much to their value by contributing also the measurement of the individuals photographed, all of which were carefully taken by himself.

The photographic skill of Dr. Brown, Political Agent at Manipur, was also utilized for illustrations of the Manipuris and neighbouring tribes ; others were sought elsewhere, and quite recently, after the work had approached completion, the Chutia Nagpur collection was enriched by the artistic labors of Messrs. T. F. and Tosco Peppe. The latter gentleman, at my request, proceeded into wild parts of Singbhum and Keonjhur, and brought his camera to bear on some of the most primitive of human beings, the Juangs, never previously subjected to the process. It will be observed that the plates are not referred to in the body of the work ; this was unavoidable, as, while putting together my notes, I did not know what illustrations I could have, and the manuscripts of the different chapters or sometimes of sections, were sent to Calcutta as completed.

Explanatory notes and references to the pages of the work in which the tribes illustrated are described have, therefore, been given with the plates. The cost of publication of a work which had thus advanced from the modest project of a catalogue to a copiously-illustrated quarto volume of considerable dimen sions, became matter for serious consideration ; but on application to the Government of Bengal a grant of Rs. 10,000 was accorded. Steps were now taken for an immediate commencement, and in May, 1870, I received the gratifying intelligence that Dr. Thomas Oldham, Superintendent of the Geological Survey of India, and Mr. H. Blochmann, of the Madrasah College and Secretary of the Asiatic Society, had kindly undertaken to superintend the printing of the Ethnology on the part of the Council of that Society ; and to those gentlemen, both so well-known to the scientific world, I am deeply indebted for most valuable advice, and for the unremit ting care and attention they have been so good as to devote to the work in the midst of other arduous and important duties.

Dr. Oldham specially took charge of the illustrations, and I am informed by him that the success of the plates is due to the artistic skill of Dr. George Wallich, London, who, as a gifted artist and one of the first photographers of the day, was specially qualified to undertake the duty of seeing to their execution, and without whose guiding hand a result so satisfactory could not have been attained. At considerable inconvenience, he at once, on being applied to, undertook the revision of the lithographs. Messrs. Hanhart have also ably carried out his suggestions. It will be found that I am myself responsible for the accuracy of a large pro portion of the descriptions given. During my Asam career, I was employed in various expeditions amongst the hill tribes, and always kept journals of such trips.

Some of these had appeared in print in different publications, and I knew where to look for them, but the manuscripts of the remainder were lost to me during the mutinies ; and from this circumstance, and the want of other material, my notices of some of the Asam tribes are not so full as I should like to have made them. But I did not confine myself to my own reminiscences. I availed myself of various other sources of information, gleaning from all published works that I could find bearing on the < IV subject, and freely using valuable original notes drawn up at my solicitation by friends in different parts of the country, for whose contributions I now wish to make my grateful acknowledgments. I am especially indebted to Mr. T. E. Ravenshaw, c. s., Commissioner of the Province of Orissa; to Captain W. L. Samuells, Boundary Commissioner, Bengal and Rewa ; to Babiis Rakhaldas Haldar and Kalidas Palit, and Mr. L. R. Forbes, all Assistants to the Commissioner of Chutia Nagpur; to Mr. J. F. K. Hewitt, Settlement Officer, Central Provinces; Captain J. John stone, Assistant to Superin tendent, Katak Tributary Mahals; Dr. W. H. Hayes, Deputy Commissioner of Singbhiim; Mr. W. Atkinson, of Rajmahal; Mr. W. Ritchie, District Superin tendent of Police, Singbhum; Mr. V. Ball, of the Geological Survey of India; and Dr. J. M. Coates, Superintendent of Jails, Hazaribagh.

All the above gentlemen I have to thank for supplying information which they will find embodied in the following pages. TABLE OF CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION— 1 GROUP I.— HILL TRIBES OF THE NORTHERN FRONTIER 5 Section 1.— The Khamtis ... ... . ... 5 2. — The Singhphos .......... 9 3.— The Mishmis .......... 13 4. — The Chulikata (cbop-haieed) Mishmis. ...... 18 5. — The Aboe Group — (1). The Padam and other Abors ....... 21 (2)." The Miris and Hill Miris ....... 28 (3). The Dophlas ......... 35 (4). The Al.as or Hrusso ........ 37 6. — The Nagas of Uppee Asam ........ 38 7. — The Lower Naga Group — (1). The Nagas west of the Doyang River ...... 42 (2). The Kukis ...... . . 44 (3). The Manipuris and their Neighbours ...... 48 (4).

Tbe Koupouis ......... 51 8.— The Mikibs .......... 53 9. — The J yntias and Kasias . . . . . . . .54 10.— The Garos .......... 58 Vocabularies to Group I .......... 69 GROUP IL— POPULATION OF THE ASAM VALLEY 77 Section 1. — General view .......... 77 2. — The Kachari or Bodo, Mech, and Dhimal Tribes . . . .82 3.— The Mech .......... 88 4. — The Koch or Kocch ......... 89 Vocabularies to Group II .......... 93 GROUP III.— THE NORTHERN BORDERS 95 Section 1. — The Butias .......... 95 2.— The Lepchas .......... 100 3. — The Limbus and Kirantis ........ 102 4.— The Mubmis .......... 105 5. — The Haioos (Campbell), or Hatas, ob Vatas ...... 105 Vocabularies to Group III . . . . . . . . . . 107 GROUP IV.— TIPERAH AND CHITTAGONG TRIBES 109 Vocabularies to Group IV ......... . 120 GROUP V— HINDUISED ABORIGINES AND BROKEN TRIBES 123 Section 1. — Preliminary Remarks ......... 123 2. — The Cheros and Kharwars ........ 125 3. — The Parhetas .......... 131 4. — The Kisans ob Nagesar Teibe ........ 138 5. — The Bhuihees .......... 133 6.— The BotjCbs ....... 134 7. — The Nagbangsis . . . . . . . . . .135 8. — The Kaurs or Kaubavas .......... 136 9.— The MjCbs . . . ..... > VI Page.

GROUP VI.— BHUXIYA OR BHUIYA ... 139 Section 1. — The Bhliyas .......... 139 2. — The Bhuitas or Bhuniyas of Keonjhak ...... 144 3. — The Bendkaes of Keonjhae, ob Savaras ...... 149 GROUP VIL— THE KOLARIANS 150 Pbeliminaey Remarks .......... 151 Section 1. — The Juangs .......... 152 2.— The Khaerias .......... 158 3. — The Mundas, Hos, Bhumij ........ 161 4. — The Ho or Larka Kols ........ 177 5. — The Mundas, Hos, Bhumij ........ 185 6.— The Santals .......... 207 7.— The Birhobs .......... 218 8.— The Kobwas .......... 221 9. — The Kubs, Kubkus, or Muasis. ....... 231 VOCABULABIES TO GfiOUP VII .......,, 235 GROUP VIIL— THE DRAVIDIANS . . . 243 Intboductory Remarks .......... 243 Section 1. — The Oraons .......... 245 2. — The Malers, PahjCrias or Hillmen of RajmaHjCl ..... 263 3— The Gonds .......... 275 4.— The Kandhs .......... 285 Vocabularies to Geocp VIII .......... 303 GROUP IX.— THE ARYANS 305 Introductory Remarks ........'.. 305 Section 1. — Brahmans .... ..... 309 2.— Rjvjputs, or Kshateyas ......... 311 3. — The KjCyasths .......... 312 4. — Pastoeal Tribes, the Gopas ........ 314 Agicultubal Tribes — The Kubmis .......... 317 The Kolitas .......... 317 The Agabeahs .......... 317 Trading Classes, Aetizans, Mixed and Impuee Tbibes .... . 323 \