The Hill Lalungs (An Old and Rare Book)

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The project of writing a book on the Hill Lalungs was offered jointly to Dr. D.N. Majumdar of Gauhati University and me by the Anundoram Borooah Institute of Language, Art & Culture (ABILAC), but the sudden demise of Dr. Majumdar left me to handle the subject alone at the final stage. Dr. Majumdar went through the first draft of the manuscript and gave his opinion, which has been included in the book. The manuscript was later enlarged to include a somewhat detailed study of the various aspects of the culture of the Hill Lalung tribe.

In this connection, I would like to express my deep sense of gratitude to Shri T.R. Taid, Director, ABILAC, for providing me with the impetus to complete the task after the setback caused by Dr. Majumdar's death.

I gratefully acknowledge the help of my friend, Mr. N. Majumdar, posted as Asssitant Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, Umpanai, at the time of writing this book and the villagers of Bormarjong, Umpanai, Amswai, Chikdamakha, Khawra-krai, Borgaon, etc. of Karbi Anglong district of Assam, whose active cooperation made this work possible. I am also grateful to Shri Indrasingh Deuri, former President of Lalung Darbar for his valuable suggestions and to Shri Rupsingh Deuri of Bormarjong village for going through the manuscript.

I am also thankful to Shri Juga Phukan of Tinsukia and Shri J. Roychoudhuri of the office of the Inspector General of Prisons, Khanapara, Guwahati for the pains they took in typing out the manuscript.

Last, but not the least, I convey my heartiest gratitude to my wife, Arunima, without whose encouragement and cooperation this work would have remained incomplete.

There are very few people in the world who follow the female line in descent, succession and inheritance and follow the matrilineal rule of residence after marriage, at least in a singnificant number of cases. Such people, whom we may call matrilineal, are sparsely spread in the world in the American continents, in Africa, in Oceania and also in India. The Nayars of Kerala and a number of tribes in North East India, particularly in Meghalaya and in some areas adjacent to it, are examples of such ethnic groups in India. The Hill Lalungs of Assam are one of these groups, an ethnographic account of whom has been given in this volume by Dr. B.K. Gohain.

The Lalungs are one of the most numerous tribes in the Brahmaputra valley, and, Gohain has lucidly described the part they played in the history of Assam. Throughout the historical period they were known as Lalung or Datiyal Kachari. During the British rule the name Lalung continued (Grierson has also referred to their language as Lalung). After Independence a tendency developed among many a tribe to change the tribal names from Abor to Adi, from Mikir to Karbi, from Miri to Mising and so on. This tendency developed among a section of the Lalungs of the Brahmaputra valley and they started to dislike the term Lalung because many Assamese people had started to use this term in a somewhat derogatory sense, and ultimately this tendency succeeded in overthrowing the term Lalung and replacing it by the term Tiwa, at least in the official sphere. This change of name has considerable significance in the sphere of identity. As Gohain has described in the book, the Lalungs were under the political power of the Jaintias, and, probably, the Lalungs habitat extended far inside the Jaintia territory. On the other hand, the Lalungs spread widely in the plains of the Brahmaputra valley, particularly in areas now coming under the jurisdiction of the Nagaon and Morigaon districts.