Peopling the Northeast: Part 5

54 neScholar 0 vol 3 0 issue 3 Peopling of the Northeast Tanmoy Bhattacharya Teaches at Centre of Part 5 Advanced Studies in Linguistics Faculty of Arts, University of Delhi & Chief Editor of Indian Linguistics S I was returning from the 23rd version of during the Air-India flight from Guwahati to Delhi, when the Himalayan Languages Symposium, my teacher and ex-colleague from the University of Delhi held from 5th to 7th July, I had this and a well known expert on Tibeto-Burman linguistics, nagging feeling that I am not yet done Prof.K.V.Subbarao, who thinks of and analyses linguistic with the story of peopling of the data even in his sleep, sitting across the aisle, expressed Northeast of India, published in four his surprise at many young scholars classifying Meeteilon instalments in the previous four issues of this increasingly in the Kuki-Chin subgroup of Tibeto-Burman, in several popularA journal (see vol. 2, issues 3-4, 2016; and vol. talks in the Symposium. 3, issues 1-2, 2017). My hunch was confirmed and transformed into an overlapping series of echoes of bells N fact, more than a century ago, the visionary linguist ringing in the ancient corridors of history, as soon as the IGeorge Abraham Grierson had the same doubt as early seat-belt signs were turned off after reaching 20,000 feet as 1904: 54 neScholar 0 vol 3 0 issue 3 neScholar 0 vol 3 0 issue 2 55 PEOPLING OF NE INDIA I HERITAGE “The Kuki-Chin languages must be subdivided in issue better. two branches, Meithei and Kuki-Chin languages proper (p7); it will be seen that Meithei has more points of agreement with Kachin than the other THE QUESTION OF DIVERSITY languages. ... The close connection between Kachin and Kuki-Chin languages, especially Meithei, cannot be doubted, and Meithei must be S a prequel to the Himalayan Symposium, a one- considered as the link between the two groups. The Aday event on Cultural Genetics was planned at IIT, comparative vocabulary also shows that Meithei, Guwahati on 4th June, 2017, organised by the Centre for in some instances, agrees, with the southernmost dialects, as against the rest.” (p14) the Environment, where I was to share the dais with the well known linguist/ cultural genetic expert, George van VEN before this, there has been some doubt in Driem. In that talk, I started with my personal experience Eincluding Meeteilon in the Kuki-Chin group; of diversity in the northeast. Every summer, for the last Grierson, in this connection, reports about Major 8-9 years, I have been coming to the Northeast, and pass McCulloch’s observations that ‘the vocabularies published through Assam, sometimes twice a year. The thing that by Major McCulloch show that they cannot belong to the strikes me most about these visits, and leaves a lasting Kuki-Chin group’. Major W. McCulloch, Political Agent impression is the sense of community-hood that I sense of Manipur, published a book entitled An Account of the and witness. I witness this in various rituals and in Valley of Munnipore and of the Hill Tribes, with a subtitle, peoples’ interactions, in their sense of caring for another ‘with a Comparative Vocabulary of the Munnipore and human being. And what comes out as civility, gentility, Other Languages’, in 1859. The word ‘Munnipore’ in the and I would say even grace, are intimately connected to subtitle part of the title seems to be an error, because the this sense of caring. author clearly identifies the language as ‘Munniporee’ in the Appendix at the beginning of the Vocabulary list. URTHERMORE, as I noted, this community- Ffeeling gives rise to a kind of moral cosmopolitanism. HE bigger question lurking behind this apparent Martha Nussbaum in her book Cultivating Humanity Tinnocuous classificatory issue is of course the appeals to a new moral imagination, that is, of including question of identity and nature of Meiteis and Manipur the ‘other’ within one’s own moral fabric; it is not only in general, notwithstanding the precariousness of the about being a good neighbour but also about taking that tenuous link between language and ethnicity. I will neighbour within the concerns of one’s own morality. But come back to both the issues of classification and this where does it come from? And why does it strike me as bigger question at the end, after having considered other different? intricately related themes that will helpus understand the 56 neScholar 0 vol 3 0 issue 3 ET, at least as far as the ‘Indian’ Yethos is concerned, it is those homogenous occupiers of the centre; that is most vociferous about the so-called Indian diversity. All the artefacts of diversity have therefore been put in place in governmental policies and discourses. Yet, more and more, what we find is the engine of homogeneity bulldozing and tearing through our social fabric. It is no surprise therefore that multilingualism in the sphere of school education and multiculturalism in the sphere of our cultural life remain as mere noises. The over-publicised multidimensionality of Indianness is therefore a false multidimensionality; as long as we continue to define Indianness by the dominant, central Indian. DIVERSITY BY DICHOTOMY OWEVER, here in this article HI would like to develop the concept of diversity of the northeast further by pointing out that in fact diversity everywhere, and especially in thenortheast of India, has a pattern; in the case of Manipur, I will Fig. 1: Kachin speaking area of Myanmar (from Leach (1964:19)) argue that multiplicity or diversity is believe this sense of community-hood and the associated virtues are a established through several strands I result of the need to live cohesively over millennia. I would say that the of dichotomies. Whether or not so-called genetic “purity” of the Northeast is therefore a myth that needs to these different strands are but mere be debunked. As argued in Part 4 of this series (see vol. 3, issue 2, pp. 62- variations on a singular theme, I 65), the East India is the gateway to the most diverse region of India, namely, hope we will discover as we go along. the Northeast, that stretches all the way to the Southeast Asian corridor and Southwest China. Diversity therefore, is an “old” game in the Northeast. During my research for the series of articles on peopling of the Northeast, I DICHOTOMY 1: came to the conclusion that true diversity is always located at the periphery, so MEETEILON-VERSUS- much so that it defines the periphery. The northeast of India is in fact doubly peripheral in being at the northeast periphery of one country (India) and at THE-REST western periphery of another region (SEA). The reason why we find diversity in the periphery is that more homogenous cultures and races have tended to HE first clue that heightened my push them down to the periphery in their zeal to occupy the centre. In the Tsuspicion about the existence of regions I am concerned with, it was the Han Chinese and Indo-Aryan tribes a dichotomy is the above quotation – both arriving from the north, pushed the other linguistic groups to the from Grierson, of Meeteilon to be periphery. treated as somehow standing out 56 neScholar 0 vol 3 0 issue 3 neScholar 0 vol 3 0 issue 2 57 PEOPLING OF NE INDIA I HERITAGE among all the surrounding languages in the region; the statement that “... Meithei has more points of agreement with Kachin than the other languages,” supports a ‘Meeteilon- versus-the-rest’ kind of dyad. Grierson’s further comment that “Meithei must be considered as the link between the two groups,” is admittedly vaguer but I take it to mean that the major language of the valley, namely Meeteilon, stands as a link between the Kachin languages of northern hills and the Chin languages of the southwest of Myanmar. Let me expound on this more clearly. The rough area of where Kachin languages are spoken in Myanmar is shown in Fig. 1. F we compare the map Iin Fig. 1 with the map showing the different districts of Myanmar as in Fig. 2, we get a clearer idea of the Kachin speaking districts of the country which includes the Kachin state and the northern part of the Shan state as well. We can also see the area where Chin languages are spoken by comparing both the maps, namely, in southern Manipur and south- western Myanmar; and it is a fact that the Imphal valley does indeed fall within these two broad Fig 2: Myanmar ethnicity linguistic areas. (http://login.stream.aljazeera.com/story/myanmars-political-opening-0022027) 58 neScholar 0 vol 3 0 issue 3 OWEVER, a mere location in a geographically intermediate position ERE, although Meeteilon is Hcannot be the basis of a Meeteilon-versus-the-rest dichotomy. In fact, Hwrongly though hesitatingly linguists have more to add to this connection between Meeteilon (and other (as clear from the use of the adverb languages) and Kachin. Kachin languages consist of Jinghpaw/ Jingpho ‘perhaps’) included in the Kuki-Naga (Singpho in India), Zaiwa, Lhavo, Lashi, Pola, etc. – all spoken in mostly group, belying his own family tree Myanmar (except Singpho in Assam, as noted). Benedict (1972:6) presented as in Fig. 3, interestingly, he also a family tree, where, except Karenic, all other branches seem to derive from identifies Andro and Sekmai– two Kachin(or more precisely, Jingpho, which is an autonym for the group). This varieties of Meeteilon spoken in the is shown in Fig. 3. valley -- as perhaps included in the Kachin group of languages.

Load more