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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Innumerable were the marriages and christenings he celebrated in all parts of Assam, and it was characteristic of the man that he regarded it as a duty to keep himself informed of the welfare, spiritual and physical, of the children he held at the font. During his rare visits to England he endeavoured when he was not busy preaching for his mission, to visit those whom in their infancy he had admitted to his Church. Few chaplains in India can have been so universally popular and respected as he w
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THE KACHÁRIS SECTION I Characteristics, Physical and Moral; Origin, Distribution and Historic Summary, etc.
THE KACHÁRIS SECTION I Characteristics, Physical and Moral; Origin, Distribution and Historic Summary, etc.
It is possible that there were at least two great immigrations from the north and north-east into the rich valley of the Brahmaputra, i.e. , one entering North-east Bengal and Western Assam through the valley of the Tista, Dharla, Sankosh, &c., and founding there what was formerly the powerful kingdom of Kāmārūpa; and the other making its way through the Subansiri, Dibong and Dihong valleys into Eastern Assam, where a branch of the widespread Kachári race, known as Chutiyás, undoubtedly
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Furniture, Implements and Utensils
Furniture, Implements and Utensils
Among other delicacies of the Kachári is what is known as dried fish ( nā grān ), 3 i.e. , the very small fish left on the surface of inundated land after the water has subsided. This is collected in large quantities near the banks of the Brahmaputra, and carried northwards to the Kachári Duars, where it is exchanged for rice and silk ( eri ), &c. This small fish is not cured or prepared in any way, but simply dried in the sun; and is very far from being attractive to the eye or the nose
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Marriage, Endogamy, Exogamy
Marriage, Endogamy, Exogamy
As a rule the Kacháris are a strictly monogamous race, though cases of men having two wives have occasionally come under the writer’s notice. These cases are, however, almost invariably limited to men of a somewhat high social position or great wealth, such as Mauzadárs, Mandals, &c. Where, too, a first wife proves childless, Kachári custom sanctions the taking of a second, mainly with a view to handing down the father’s name to posterity. On the other hand, polyandry would seem to be ab
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Polygamy
Polygamy
Children, more especially orphans, are occasionally adopted, usually by near relatives, but sometimes by absolute strangers. In such cases the children so adopted are treated as full members of the family, and the foster-parents are considered by the community to have done a highly meritorious act. Several pleasing instances of adoption of this character have come under the writer’s notice, and in all such cases the adopted children seem to have found a very happy home....
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Adoption
Adoption
As stated above, the standard of chastity among the Kacháris, both men and women, is by no means a low one. As a rule the young people, in the villages at least, lead pure lives before marriage, and are faithful to their marriage vows in after-life. In cases where there are several unmarried girls in a family, and one of them is suspected of having broken the law of chastity, the following plan for detecting the offender is sometimes adopted. The whole family gathers in the evening around the sa
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Female Chastity
Female Chastity
In some cases where the parents are unwilling to part with their daughter to a prospective son-in-law of somewhat objectionable character, the matter is referred for decision to the village elders, who impose a fine of Rs. 20/- to Rs. 25/- on the offender. But whenever pregnancy follows offences against the law of chastity, marriage becomes absolutely compulsory, and the seducer is made to feel that he has brought disgrace upon the village, and is distinctly under a cloud. In this way a wholesom
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Divorce
Divorce
Among the Kacháris the laws and customs relating to the inheritance of property seem to be very vague, and it is not at all easy to obtain any definite information on the subject. Generally speaking, on the decease of the head of the household the eldest son takes charge of all property, making a home for the time for his widowed mother and his brothers and sisters. In this way the family may be kept together for some years; but eventually it breaks up as the children grow up and marry, in which
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Inheritance of Property
Inheritance of Property
1 On this point Col. Gurdon, Hon. Director of Ethnography, Assam, writes as follows:—“I entertain grave doubts as to the correctness of the author’s remark that the Kachári totemistic clans were originally endogamous. If it had not been for the most unfortunate death of the author before this work went to press, we might have hoped to have had some light on this obscure point. Amongst the Mech, who are the first cousins of the Kacháris, and who live alongside of them, marriage is exogamous, vide
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A. Household Deities.
A. Household Deities.
Only second to Bátháu is his good consort, Maináo, though, unlike her husband, she has no special emblem visible to the human eye. Her special function is that of “Guardian of the rice-fields”; 4 and among a purely agricultural community like that of the Kacháris, she of course is held in very high regard. She is, in short, to the Kachári peasant very much what Ceres was to the old heathen Roman cultivator. Eggs are the offering that finds most favour in her eyes, and these are presented to her
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B. Village Deities.
B. Village Deities.
There is no authorised priestly caste among the Kacháris, nor are Brahmins ever employed in their religious ceremonies, these latter indeed being generally of a social, and even festive, rather than a religious character. In Kamrup, however, one of the recognised sub-tribes is, or was, known as “Brāhmarǒi,” a name which seems to point to Brahmins as having a certain standing in the Bådå community. All religious offices are now discharged by Deoris or Deodáis , who are usually men of a certain ag
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Priesthood
Priesthood
In a Kachári village community there would seem to be no formally recognised midwives ( dháis ), any respectable and competent matron being at liberty to give attendance and assistance to the patient in such cases. In severing the umbilical cord no scissors, knife, or other implement of steel is ever used, nor is the severance effected at one stroke, but in a succession of slight cuts, seven such cuts being made in the case of a girl, and only five in that of a boy. The cutting instruments consi
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1. Ceremonies Attending Birth.
1. Ceremonies Attending Birth.
A. The marriage contract. From certain scattered scraps of information on the subject that have incidentally come to the writer’s knowledge during the past forty years, it would seem that marriage by capture was largely, if not universally, in vogue among the Kacháris in earlier days. Some traces of this practice would seem to survive in the ordinary marriage ceremonial which still to a large extent holds the field. A case somewhat of this character came to the writer’s knowledge some twenty-fiv
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3. Marriage.
3. Marriage.
The actual ceremony of marriage among the Kacháris can perhaps hardly be looked upon as of a religious character, but must be regarded as more of the nature of a social and festive gathering. The order of proceedings is somewhat as follows:—On a fixed day a party of the bridegroom’s friends, numbering some four or five women and thirty or forty men, set out for the house of the bride’s parents or guardians. The bridegroom may himself accompany the party but more frequently does not. The immediat
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4. Death.
4. Death.
Festivities. 1. Domestic. From such information as the writer has been able to ascertain, there would seem to be few well-marked domestic festivities among the Kacháris, though the race is a very sociable and hospitable one, and the people entertain each other freely and frequently. The two following may perhaps be mentioned:— A. “ Mikham gadán zánái ,” i.e. , the “eating of the new rice.” This is a feast held about December 10th (there is apparently no fixed date), in celebration of the commenc
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II
II
(The original Kachári verse is singularly emphatic.) Or “You come to me in bright array: I’m not for you; be off, I say. This dandy swain my mate would be? No ‘second-hand lover,’ girls, for me.” The above couplets may perhaps be fairly looked upon as typical illustrations of the Kachári temperament and character, and it may be inferred from them that human nature among this interesting race does not greatly differ from human nature in other and more civilised countries of the world. It may perh
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I
I
Pháre unau Sri braiá suimá fudrun máse lánánai mùi sessá áru khusung námaibaie námaibaie dùi gángsu dangman. Ereaunu Sri braiá be fukuriau tháng-fnáng-naise. Beaunù dùi nunánai lángnu namaibá, náfrá bikho raidaunaise, “Áfá, nang beni dùi langbá, zangfurkho gahàm khamnánggan.” Beaunu bi sumai lánánai, dùikho lángbá, náfrá bungnaise, “Dá nang zangfurkhu Loitho hálági láng.” Beaunu Sri braiá gaigainu lauthi zang dru-dru bu-bu-bá khithu khithu dùi bù-hùi bùnai, aru náfrá bu fainaise. Bibaidinu dùisá
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II
II
Sásè olsiá gåthå dangman . Bi málai háli oinánai mai gai zap-bá, obásu bi mámmár dubliau háli oi-hùi-dang. Pháre Buthur 5 braiá olsiá gåthå-kho háli oinai nunánai bi thángnu haekhai, bungnaise, “Helùi gåthå, nanglai dá má háli oidang-ùi, buthurá mobábá-nu thángbai. Dá mai gaibá má zá-bau-nu?” Theobu bi bikho nai-finá, mosokno buá dhum dhum dhàm dhàm bunánai, natzret nat-flet háli oibai tháiù. Unau braiá khonle khonle sungnaikhai gåthåá bràp-nánai nai-gedau-nánai bung-naise, “Nanglai máuni brai l
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III
III
Áru bebaidi thángui thángui burmá dulùse nunánai sákhorá Bámunkho sungnaise “Bámun gohain, boi gángsu zábai thánai zanthu-fur má, bungo?” Bámuná khithánaise “Bifur ság.” Sákhorá bungnaise “Nunggá, bifur ságoli.” Beaubu bibaidinu Bámuná phongbá so-zá-naise. Áru binifrai thángnánai dáu-ba dulùse nunánai sungnaise. “Bámun gohain, befur má dáu?” Bámuná bungnaise “Nang bifurkho mithiá? Bifurkho bog hanu.” Bi bungnaise “Má bog hanu? Nunggá. Bikho boguli hanu.” Beaubu bebaidinu Bámuná phongbá sozá nais
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IV Kachári Theory of Thunder and Lightning8
IV Kachári Theory of Thunder and Lightning8
Hence during a thunder storm may sometimes be heard the words “ Ráonikho Ráonaiá hasùdang ,” i.e. “Ráoná is chasing Ráoni.” It is not impossible that the foregoing story may be a Kachári version, greatly altered, of a well-known episode told at length in the Rámáyana, i.e. the abduction of Sitá by Rávana the demon-king of Ceylon. The name Rávana in a slightly altered form (Ráoná) is not unknown among the Kacháris of this district (Darrang). About four or five miles south-west of the Událguri Thá
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I. Nouns.
I. Nouns.
The case endings, which hold good of nouns, pronouns, and adjective are given below:— ( a ) The possessive case has two signs, the former (ni) being by far the more commonly used. ( b ) The ablative case ending is a compound one, as its proper sign (frai) is preceded by that of the genitive, ni. The same remark holds good sometimes with the locative case. 1. Many adjectives begin with the letter g , to which a very short vowel is attached, so short indeed that in rapid speaking the vowel of the
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II. Adjectives.
II. Adjectives.
The numerical system in this District is very defective, only seven digits, i.e. sè, nè, thàm, brè (brŏi), bâ, rå (då), sni (sĭni), being generally used, though the remaining three, skhó, zàt, zi (zu), are occasionally recognised. There is also a useful collective word za-khai = four, which when followed by two numerals is to be multiplied by the former whilst the latter is to be added to the product so obtained; thus Before the second numeral are always inserted certain monosyllables, which cla
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III. Pronouns.
III. Pronouns.
Interrogative pronouns in common use are— The demonstrative pronouns are:— Properly speaking, there are no relative pronouns, though a form zi, borrowed from Assamese, is sometimes heard. The place of the relative pronoun is usually supplied by a participle, e.g. — 1. The verb substantive is dang-a, is, dang-man, was, zá-gan, will be; this last being apparently formed from the root, zá-nŏ, to become. The negative forms are (1) gŏi-á (emphatic gŏi-li-á) and (2) núng-á, it is not. A very useful wo
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IV. Verbs.
IV. Verbs.
3. The Passive voice is not very frequently used. Its tenses, &c., are expressed by conjugating the verb zá-nŏ, to be, with the past participle of the verb, e.g. — Ang bú-nai zá-gan—I beaten be-shall. 4. The causal verb is formed in two ways. The more idiomatic method is to prefix the letter f (with any euphonic vowel) to the principal verb, e.g. — In the above it will be observed that the causal force lies in the letter f , its vowel (always a very short one) being drawn by attraction (
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V. Indeclinable words (avyāya).
V. Indeclinable words (avyāya).
The great and characteristic feature of the Syntax of the language is the remarkable way in which verbal roots, mostly monosyllabic, are combined together to form a very large and useful class of compound verbs. In this way the use of conjunctions &c. is very largely avoided, and the language becomes possessed of a vivid force and picturesqueness often wanting in more cultivated tongues. These compound verbs may perhaps be roughly classified under two groups, e.g. — I.—Those in which eac
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VI. Syntax.
VI. Syntax.
The compound verbs of Class II. are very numerous and in frequent use. A few illustrations only can be given here, which may serve to show that the second and subsequent members of the agglutinative verb, while they have no independent existence, yet serve to enrich and expand the meaning of the primitive root in a very remarkable way. In not a few cases several, sometimes as many as five or six, of these infixes are combined with the original verbal stem, each one materially contributing to enl
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I.—Tribes closely allied to Kacháris.
I.—Tribes closely allied to Kacháris.
Religion. Their religion is distinctly of the Animistic type with a tendency towards Hinduism, Batháu being replaced by Śiva in some cases. The siju tree is regarded with much reverence, and is to be seen in the courtyard of most Mech houses, much more frequently than among the Kacháris of this district. This sacred tree is sometimes used as a means of divination or detecting crime or other misdoings in domestic life. Marriage and funeral ceremonies. In all ceremonies relating to marriage and fu
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(I) Ābrā-nī khorāng.
(I) Ābrā-nī khorāng.
There was once an old man and an old woman, and they had an only son. One day he begged rupees of the old people to buy a bullock, but they, seeing the lad was an innocent, refused his request. However, on his importuning them, they gave him sixteen rupees. On which he marched off to purchase his bullock, and finding a fine one where three roads met, he put down his money on the road and led the beast away, but as he was going, he tied his new acquisition to a branch, and, as he was looking anot
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II. Mŭkhrā ārŭ sessā-nī khorāng.
II. Mŭkhrā ārŭ sessā-nī khorāng.
A monkey and a hare were great friends. They ever lived together, ate together, and went about together. One day meeting a man from Darrang going to a feast with a load of bananas and other delicacies, they said to one another, “We must get what that man is carrying by some trick or other.” Whereupon the monkey bade the hare stay on the road, while he himself hid in the forest. Presently the man, seeing the hare, put down his load and ran after it. On which the monkey, coming out from the jungle
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III.—Sā-se phālāngī gotho-nī khorāng.
III.—Sā-se phālāngī gotho-nī khorāng.
There was a certain lad whose father died before he was born. And, one day, when he had grown a big boy, he asked his mother, “What did my father do for his living?” And his mother, drawing a long breath, said, “Your father used to travel about selling things. Ah, if he were alive we should have no trouble to endure!” But the boy replied, “Do not you think that I too could earn money in that way? Bring out what money there is, and let me see what I can do.” But his mother said, “Ah, my son, you
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Corrections
Corrections
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