Paper No. : 05 Tribal Culture of India Module : 05 Tribes of India’s North East Development Team Principal Investigator Prof. Anup Kumar Kapoor Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi Paper Coordinator Prof. Anup Kumar Kapoor Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi Prof.Anup Kumar Kapoor Content Writer Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi Content Reviewer Prof. A. Paparao Sri Venkateswar University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh 1 Tribal Culture of India Anthropology Tribes of India’s North East Description of Module Subject Name Anthropology Paper Name 05 Tribal Culture of India Module Name/Title Tribes of India’s North East Module Id 05 2 Tribal Culture of India Anthropology Tribes of India’s North East 1. Introduction to the North Eastern India 1.1 ethinic affinity 2. The concept of the ‘tribe’ 3. Major tribes of India’s north east 4. Social Structure of tribes 5. Political Structure of tribes 6. Tribal festivals 7. Food culture 8. Summary LEARNING OBJECTIVES: To know about North East India its division their ethnic affinity To understand is the concept of tribe To know the major tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya To understand the social organization of tribes of the north eastern India To understand the political life of tribes of the north eastern India To understand the major tribal festivals To understand food culture. 3 Tribal Culture of India Anthropology Tribes of India’s North East 1. INTRODUCTION: India’s north east is one of the most culturally diverse regions in the world. North eastern India comprises seven states commonly known as “seven sisters,” namely Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya. North eastern region of India is surrounded by Bhutan, Tibet, China, Myanmar, and Bangladesh and a long narrow passage in the west which connects the region with the West Bengal. North eastern India occupies an area of 255,000 sq km, it comprises above 7 % land mass of the total land mass of the India. North East India is unique in its culture and traditions, different tribes have their own oral literature consisting of songs, and folklores. Fig 1. Source: http://www.google.co.in/images?imgurl=http://www.mapsofworld.com/india/maps/north-east-india-.jpg 4 Tribal Culture of India Anthropology Tribes of India’s North East Arunachal Pradesh is called as the Land of Rising Sun, because it is the state where the sun first rises in India. It is situated on the North Eastern end of India. Geographically, it is the largest state of North East region. It has many rivers and streams. It became India’s 24th state in December 1986 and a union territory in 1972. It is surrounded by the border of Bhutan, China and Myanmar, and also by surrounded by Assam and Nagaland. Itanagar (city of bricks) is the capital of the Arunachal Pradesh, which is named after Ita Fort meaning fort of bricks. This region has their unique culture, history and belief. There tribal people speak more than 40 different languages and dialects, main tribal languages of Arunachal Pradesh are Adi, Bodo/Boro, Mikir, Mishmi, Monpa, Nishi/Dafla, Nocte, Tangsa and Wancho, which mostly belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family specially the Tibeto-Burmese branch. Religion the main religions are buddisims, Hinduism, chrishtianity donyi polism. Around 35% people are hindus, and around 19% are Christians and almost 40% of populations follows Buddhism. Followers of Donyi Polism worship celestial bodies. Agriculture is the main occupation of the tribal people of the Arunachal Pradesh. The major crops are rice, millets, maize, potatoes, pulses, mustard. Bamboo is the vital forest product. Adi, Aka, Dafla their occupation revolves around the slash and burn cultivation. Assam: The meaning of the word “Assam” is the not uniform or uneven. The Assam is surrounded by the states Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, and Meghalaya. Capital of the Assam is Dispur. Assam got recognition of statehood on 15 August 1947. There are 23 districts in the Assam. Brahmaputra is the major river of the state. The Assamese is the main language, which belongs to the Indo- Aryan group. Hindi and English are also spoken in Assam. Hinduism is the major religion in the Assam. Islam and Christianity are also followed by the people of the Assam. Also there are people who follow Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism in this state. The main occupation of the tribal people of Assam is agriculture. The main crops are rice, tea, sugarcane, potatoes and jute. About one sixth of the tea production of the world comes from the Assam. In India 50% of tea production of tea is comes from Assam alone. Also there are mines of mineral oil, coal and limestone. Nagaland is surrounded by the Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Myanmar. The capital of the state is Kohima. The name Nagaland is comes from the Sanskrit word “nagan” means naked. Some scholars say that this word comes from the mythology, the daughter of the king of the snakes, princess Ulupi, who lived in this region. Some scholar says that this region attain its name due to abundance of Naga (which is one of the species of snake). The Nagaland got the recognition of statehood on 1 December 1963. The state is divided into 23 districts. Tribes of Nagaland have their own language. There are total thirty languages. Language varies from village to village even within one tribal area. They use Nagamese language to communicate between two different tribes. The Christianity is the predominant religion in the Nagaland. They believe in the concept of the afterlife. They also believe in the spirits and consider nature as alive. The major occupation of the tribes of the Nagaland is 5 Tribal Culture of India Anthropology Tribes of India’s North East agriculture. Shifting and terrace cultivation both are the basis of their agrarian economy. Rice crops are having special importance in agriculture of Nagaland. Some other important crops are maize, pulses, millets, cardamom, tea and coffee. Manipur is surrounded by the Nagaland, Myanmar, Mizoram and Assam. The capital of the Manipur is Imphal. The meaning of the word Manipur is “land of jewels”. Geographically the Manipur state can be divided into two regions – plains and the hills. The main rivers found in the Manipur are iril, barak, irang and thoubal. The Manipur got statehood on 21 January 1972. The people of Manipur speak mainly Manipuri, Hindi and English. The Hinduism is followed by the majority of the people. There is small portion of people who follows Christianity and Islam. Also, there is a small number of Buddhism. Most of the people are depends on the agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries. The major occupation of the people is agriculture. The main crops are rice, sugarcane, tobacco and mustard. The weaving industry of Manipur is famous all over the world. The handloom is present in almost in every house, women are especially engaged in the weaving the traditional designs. Mizoram is surrounded by the Manipur, Myanmar and Tripura. The capital of the Mizoram is Aizwal. The word Mizoram means the “land of the Mizos”. It is declared as 23rd state of India on 20 February 1987. The whole area is hilly. The state is divided into 30 districts. The most common languages in Mizoram are Mizo and English. Some other languages spoken by the people of the Mizoram are paite, lakher, pawi, hmar, Ralte,Pang and Magh. These languages belong to the Tibeto-Burman sub family of Tibeto-Chinese languages. The Christianity is religion followed by the majority of the people of Mizoram. Small proportion of the state is following the Buddhism. The agriculture is the main occupation of the most of the people. The major crops are maize and paddy which are cultivated in slopes of the hilly region. The other important crops are sugarcane, potato, pulses, ginger, chilly, tobacco, pineapple and banana. The Mizoram lacks any major industry due to lack of mineral resources and its physically isolation from the country. Cottage industry consists of mainly the handloom and handicrafts. Tripura is surrounded by the Mizoram, Bangladesh and Assam. The capital of the Tripura is Agartala. Geographically the state is can be divided into two main region- northern region and southern region. The state is covered with the hilly terrains. The state got the position of statehood on the 21 January 1972.Almost the 60% of the total land is covered with forests; major types of trees are Sal, Garjan, Bamboo and miscellaneous species. The majority of the people of Tripura speaks the Bengali language. Other languages like karborak and Manipuri is spoken by the people of the Tripura. Hinduism is the predominant religion of the state. They worship nature such as the God of water, the God of forests, the God of earth, the God of fire etc. Sacrifices are considered as an important part of their religion, animals used for the sacrifices are the buffaloes, pigs, goats, and fowls. “Cantais” and 6 Tribal Culture of India Anthropology Tribes of India’s North East the “Deodais” are regarded as the superintendent of the Tripuri religion and occupy a very important position in society as the Brahmins in Hindu society. Agriculture is the chief occupation of most of the people. The major crops are rice, jute, cotton, tea, mustard, sugarcane maize and potato. Tripura lacks any major industry. There are recently small cottage industries of handloom, weaving, pottery and basket making are initiated by the government of the India. Meghalaya is surrounded by Assam, and the Bangladesh. The meaning of the word Meghalaya is ‘Adobe of clouds’. The state attained the statehood on the 21 January 1972.