Chapter Vii Settlement and Subsistence Patterns
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CHAPTER VII SETTLEMENT AND SUBSISTENCE PATTERNS CHAPTER VII SETTLEMENT PATTERNS AND SUBSISTENCE 7.1. SETTLEMENT PATTERN Chang (1958: 229) differentiates settlement pattern into two types: (i) Settlement pattern, strictly defined, means the manner in which human settlements are arranged over the landscape in relation to physiography and environment; and (ii) it is the manner in which the inhabitants arranged their various structures within the community and the way the communities are arranged in the 'aggregate' which means a gathering of certain number of communities bound by social, political, military, commercial or religious times. There are many definitions for settlement patterns given by Willey (1953: 155) and so on. Here Sanders' (1956: 105) definition will serve our purpose. According to him "the study of settlement patterns is a study of the ecological and demographic aspects of culture." He equates settlement patterns with human ecology since it is concerned with the distribution of population over the landscape and investigation of the reasons behind their distribution. Studies made so far indicate that all human activities assumed an orderly arrangement in space and they tended to arrange themselves about given points. Hauley (1950: 236-237) traces the reasons of this fact to three fundamental life conditions, namely, interdependence among the individuals, dependence of activities or functions on various characteristics of land, and friction of space. The first two accounts for the tendency for a pattern to develop, while the third affects the size and specific shape the pattern assumes. The first condition exercises an attractive force and leads to concentration of settlements while the second exerts a disruptive influence and 178 leads to distribution of men and their activities. The third condition involves overcoming a number of resistances like mountains, streams, etc. The friction is overcome by models of communication and hence efficiency of these modes at a given time would determine territorial pattern of collective life. The study of spatial pattern of collective life gives a clue not only to the outlines of settlement, it also leads to better understanding of all aspects of human life. Trigger (1967) suggests that settlement should be studied at three levels, viz., (a) individual building or structure, (b) settlement layout which is equivalent to community layout, and (c) settlement distributions or the spatial relationships between different communities on a zonal scale. The different factors have been studied in an analysis of settlement pattern by Tringham (1971) which are as follows: (a) location of the settlements and their relation to the ecology, the natural resources and system of communication, (b) density and distribution of the settlements, (c) exploitation area and subsistence economy of the settlements, (d) distribution of specialized activity loci-buried sites, butchering sites, etc., (e) population movement among the various loci, degree of seasonal and non-seasonal mobility, (f) system of trade between settlements and distribution of markets, (g) social relationship — community ties, kinship ties, etc., — between the settlements, (h) political relationship between the settlements showing political dimension and hierarchy, centralization of political, religious and military activities, warfare and defense, etc., and 179 (i) differential exploitation of the same gross ecological zone, e.g., pastoral/agricultural symbiosis/ rural/urban dichotomy. From the analysis of the concept of settlement pattern made by eminent archaeologists as shown in the forgoing paragraphs, it is clear that settlement pattern has not only a geographical connotation, being spatially based, it also has social, cultural and other implications as people's living in all aspects is permeated through their settlements. In this chapter I have dwelled at length on the settlement pattern, technology, agriculture, fishing and hunting, food habits, and the manufacture of pottery as were practised by the Nagas in general and the Southern Nagas in particular, with special emphasis on the Tangkhul Nagas. 7.1.1. Settlement Patterns of the Nagas The Nagas live in different micro-environments from foot hills to high hills, A Naga settlement is generally located on a commanding position on a hill top. The selection of site was influenced by consideration of defense. Villages are not only defensively situated but they are also well fortified. They construct the settlements on the hill tops as it is easier to detect the movement of the neighbouring head-hunters from a long distance, and, thereby, they can prepare themselves for the fight. The settlers of the villages go down to the foot hill for water resources. Seeing the Naga villages, Woodthorpe (1882; 62) observes thus: "The villages are all built on commanding position, and owing to the almost constant state of war, most of them are very strongly fortified. Stiff stockades, deep ditches, bristling with panjies, and massive stone walls often loopholed for musketry, are their usual defences... The entrances to the villages are through long narrow tortuous lanes, with high banks of stone and earth on 180 either side, tangled creepers and small trees meeting overhead, preventing an escalade, and admitting only of the passage of one man at a time. These lanes lead up to gates, or rather doorways closed by strong, thick, and heavy wooden doors." Naga houses are made in parallel rows, giving sufficient space for the passage and for the road. One of the interesting aspects of the Naga settlements is that the house of the village head is not demarcated or located specifically in a particular place, either in the centre or in the corner. Generally, the houses of the chief is the biggest in the entire village. The houses are also constructed in linear pattern. Usually these houses have three rooms. The first room serves as an entrance to the house (Fig. 26) which also serves as a room for domesticated animals and as a pounding place. The largest room in the house is the middle one which is a kitchen-cum-bedroom-cum-livingroom. This middle room is furnished with long benches of planks, cut out of the single tree. As the area is affected with cold wave in the winter and incessant rain in summer, the family members, in order to keep themselves warm, sleep in the kitchen itself. The third room serves as a storage place, where, besides vegetables and agricultural implements, rice-beer is brewed and kept. The Naga houses are closely packed together. The roads through the villages are uneven but communication is allowed in all parts of the village by numerous lanes which traverse in all directions. The houses are large and well built, gable-ended, with a verandah in front, in which many of the household chores such as spinning, weaving, and pounding rice are performed by the women. There being no windows nor any entrance but at the ends, and the roofs being very low, the interior of the house is dark. 181 The villages are built with little regularity on the summits and crests of the different hills. In the case of Naga communities such as that of the Maram, the Purum, and the Zeliangrong, the houses consist of an extensive thatch, from 91 m 152 m in length, almost touching the ground, with a ridge pole of about 55 m high. These houses are constructed in the most solid and compact manner. Only a nuclear family resides in one house. A common practice among the Rengmas, Semas, Lothas, etc. is that of raising the house above the ground on posts or piles of bamboo. The houses are generally divided into a front room (the floor of which is the ground itself and it is where the fireplace is located) , then a second room occupying the rest of the house, the floor of which is raised, and beyond the house is a small raised platform, a continuation of the floor, on which many of the household duties are performed, and where vegetables are dried. The walls and floors of the house are of bamboo matting, with thatched roofs. The crops are generally stored in rows of small raised houses just outside the villages. The hills here present long narrow ridges, along which are built the villages, the ridge itself forming the main street, and all the houses built on either side facing inwards. In front of the houses are rows of skulls, and in some of the front of the verandah are seen rows of forked posts about 46 m high which are put up on the occasion of the owner of the house giving a big feast, and thereby, proclaiming himself a man of substance. The pig sties are long low structures on piles, having their roofs tapered up for a considerable length. The houses are generally scattered up and down without any attempt at order, and are half hidden among the trees, which are not cut down unless they interfere with the houses. The houses is divided into an entrance hall, where the owner's weapon hang, also skulls of animals taken in the chase, and 182 beyond are two apartments, terminating with a large open verandah. The principal uprights project some 61 cm or 91 cm through the ridge of the roof, this portion of each post being thatched to keep the rain from trickling through into the house. The headman's house is always very large, and built on the most level site in the village. It is generally about 61 m long by 12 m to 15 m broad, and contains two large halls, one at either and, the intervening space being divided up into apartments and store-rooms arranged on either side of a central passage. Every house is furnished with a few small stools on short legs, and one or two large beds which, with their legs and a bolster, are carved out of one log.