Jamatia
Encyclopedia
Jamatia is one of the 21 scheduled tribes
of Tripura
http://www.tripura.nic.in state of India
. They are mainly dwelling in the West Tripura http://www.westtripura.nic.in and the South Tripura http://www.southtripura.nic.in districts. They speak the language Kokborok which is of Tibeto-Burmese origin. Their appearance is mongoloid.
Jamatia clan is the third largest sub-tribe of among indigenous Tripuris, after the Tripuris(Debbarma
), and the Reang
sub-tribe in Tripura. The origin of the word Jamatia, in one opinion had derived from the word Jamat, which means collection or union of peoples. This later on turned to Jamatia. It is to be noted that the people of this clan live in unity and concentrated in any particular place even today.
According to other opinion Jamatia is conjugation of two Kokborok words, Jama, means tax and twiya means no need to pay. It is fact that the men of this clan were used to engaged in Tripura royal force as soldier by the kings of Tripura during the rule of Manikya Dynasty. So the peoples of Jomatia clan were exempted to pay any tax by the king for their loyalty, service and sacrifice for the royal regime. Later on the people of this clan had been known as Jamatia.
The Jamatias are physically very strong, stout, and courageous, muscular as a whole. This fact had led to induct them to royal force during kings' regime. It was evidently proved by the mighty rebel leader like Porikshit Jamatia who fought against the unjust oppression by king's corrupt officials.
Bamboo Based jamatia community Kingdom time Lifehood this Villages Kill Kami, Garjee Kami,Amapur Kami.
, twima, and other god of fourteen gods. The Jamatias were annoyed and agitated after the armed rebellion under the leadership of Porkshit Jamatia was brutally curved out. The Jamatias decided to leave the state en masse and migrate to neighbouring state. They were motivated to convert to Vaishnavism
; since then, they had feeling of superiority and did not allow other clans to enter to their kitchen. They had stopped drinking wine
, eating various meat
s, raring various live stocks like pig
s, goat
s, hen
s, etc. altogether.
The village head or the chokdiri is selected unanimously by the head of each family of the village once in every five year.
Similarly the head of the hoda, which is the hoda okra, is selected unanimously by the village chokdiris and moyal panchais at the annual conference for five years. There are two hoda okras at the apex body at present.
The supreme authority to govern the society is vested collectively with the two HODA OKRAS. They are assisted by an Advisory Board consisting of four members, possessing sound knowledge and experience of traditional religion, cultural affairs, administrative rule, and Jamatia customary law.
There are ten priests appointed by Hoda Okras and accountable to Okras. There is also a Hoda Working Committee consisting of 33 members which function under the direct supervision of Hoda Okras. One third of the board members have to be women folk. Hoda have an audit board with five members, who are selected by the hoda members for three years. All the income and expenditure are audited by this board once in every year, to maintain the financial regularity of the hoda. The hoda has 321 villages which are governed by the above social system. The hoda is very strong and influential among the Jamatia clan, and that is why the traditional social life and the customary laws are still strictly practiced by the Jomatia clan of indigenous Tripuri.
Adivasi
Adivasi is an umbrella term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups claimed to be the aboriginal population of India. They comprise a substantial indigenous minority of the population of India...
of Tripura
Tripura
Tripura is a state in North-East India, with an area of . It is the third smallest state of India, according to area. Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on the north, south, and west. The Indian states of Assam and Mizoram lie to the east. The capital is Agartala and the main languages spoken are...
http://www.tripura.nic.in state of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. They are mainly dwelling in the West Tripura http://www.westtripura.nic.in and the South Tripura http://www.southtripura.nic.in districts. They speak the language Kokborok which is of Tibeto-Burmese origin. Their appearance is mongoloid.
Origin of the Jamatia clan
Debbarma
Debbarma is the surname or the title generally used by the Borok people, indigenous people of Tripura, a state in India. The mother tongue of this ethnic group is Kokborok.and Bengali-Variations:...
), and the Reang
Reang
Reang or Riang, as it may be spelt, is one of the 21 scheduled tribes of Tripura state of India.Reang is mistakenly recorded by the government actually it's Bru. They are mainly dwelling in the North Tripura, Dalai and the South Tripura districts of Tripura state in India, but are also found in...
sub-tribe in Tripura. The origin of the word Jamatia, in one opinion had derived from the word Jamat, which means collection or union of peoples. This later on turned to Jamatia. It is to be noted that the people of this clan live in unity and concentrated in any particular place even today.
According to other opinion Jamatia is conjugation of two Kokborok words, Jama, means tax and twiya means no need to pay. It is fact that the men of this clan were used to engaged in Tripura royal force as soldier by the kings of Tripura during the rule of Manikya Dynasty. So the peoples of Jomatia clan were exempted to pay any tax by the king for their loyalty, service and sacrifice for the royal regime. Later on the people of this clan had been known as Jamatia.
The Jamatias are physically very strong, stout, and courageous, muscular as a whole. This fact had led to induct them to royal force during kings' regime. It was evidently proved by the mighty rebel leader like Porikshit Jamatia who fought against the unjust oppression by king's corrupt officials.
Economy and livelihood
The economic condition and financial condition of Jamatia clan is same as rest of the indigenous Tripuris. Nowadays many youths are getting education and employed in various state and central government office.Bamboo Based jamatia community Kingdom time Lifehood this Villages Kill Kami, Garjee Kami,Amapur Kami.
Jamatia Hoda
The Jamatia are also followers of traditional Tripuri religion like rest of the clans of Tripura. They worship the Goria mwtai the most, which is worshipped by all other clans. Goria celebration of the Jamatias needs special mention and shall be dealt separately. Besides this, they worship the Mahadev or Mwtai Kotor, Tripura sundoriTripura Sundari temple
Tripura Sundari Temple is situated in the ancient Udaipur, about 55 km from Agartala, believed to be one of the holiest Hindu shrines in this part of the country. Popularly known as Matabari, crowns in a small hillock and is served by the red-robed priests who traditionally, minister to the mother...
, twima, and other god of fourteen gods. The Jamatias were annoyed and agitated after the armed rebellion under the leadership of Porkshit Jamatia was brutally curved out. The Jamatias decided to leave the state en masse and migrate to neighbouring state. They were motivated to convert to Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism, distinguished from other schools by its worship of Vishnu, or his associated Avatars such as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God....
; since then, they had feeling of superiority and did not allow other clans to enter to their kitchen. They had stopped drinking wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
, eating various meat
Meat
Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...
s, raring various live stocks like pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
s, goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
s, hen
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
s, etc. altogether.
Social structure of the "Hoda"
The Jamatia clan had three tier social structures for smooth inter action and social order. These are:- Hoda,
- Moyal, and
- Luku.
Hoda
Hoda means the apex body of the Jamatia society. It is headed by the Okra who is the supreme of the clan. The whole of the Jamatia population is divided in to sixteen regions called Moyals. The head of the moyal is known as panchai.Moyal
The Moyal is consisted by five to thirty-two villages, where two panchais are selected in each moyal by the regions Chokdiri and prominent persons of the village for the period of five years.Luku
The luku is the village whose chief is called chokdiri.The village head or the chokdiri is selected unanimously by the head of each family of the village once in every five year.
Similarly the head of the hoda, which is the hoda okra, is selected unanimously by the village chokdiris and moyal panchais at the annual conference for five years. There are two hoda okras at the apex body at present.
The supreme authority to govern the society is vested collectively with the two HODA OKRAS. They are assisted by an Advisory Board consisting of four members, possessing sound knowledge and experience of traditional religion, cultural affairs, administrative rule, and Jamatia customary law.
There are ten priests appointed by Hoda Okras and accountable to Okras. There is also a Hoda Working Committee consisting of 33 members which function under the direct supervision of Hoda Okras. One third of the board members have to be women folk. Hoda have an audit board with five members, who are selected by the hoda members for three years. All the income and expenditure are audited by this board once in every year, to maintain the financial regularity of the hoda. The hoda has 321 villages which are governed by the above social system. The hoda is very strong and influential among the Jamatia clan, and that is why the traditional social life and the customary laws are still strictly practiced by the Jomatia clan of indigenous Tripuri.
Duty of Hoda Okras
- The twin Hoda Okras shall not do or follow opposite or contradictory policy.
- They should ensure that the Hoda rules and regulations are adhered in performing social occasions and worshiping different gods.
- The first and the foremost duty of the Okras is to implement the resolutions and decisions of the Hoda.
- The hoda Okras should protect any person who is assaulted while protecting the society's rules and regulation.
- Whenever there are disputes or conflicts among the members of the clan the Okras shall do the conciliation independently and impartially.
- The okras should hold the responsibility for five years. But if they indulge in any unfair and corrupt practice, they may be removed before the expiry of the terms. Such expulsion from the post can be done only by 2/3 majority of the advisory board and 2/3 majority of the Hoda working committee. There should be a majority support for the removal by the moyal Panchais also.
- The Okras can resign from the post by giving appropriate reasons. They should do so jointly as they were elected.
- If any okra dies or any of their wives dies the two okras shall resign from the post and the emergency meeting of the Hoda shall be convened and new Okras selected unanimously.
Duty and power of the Panchai
- The prime and primary function of the pachais is to peacePeacePeace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
and discipline of the Moyal. - They shall solve all the disputes among the members by the help of working committee.
- They should implement the programs of the Okras.
- They shall keep contact with the Okras to maintain peace and tranquility at the region.
- They should tale any such step to maintain the harmony and discipline of the society with the approval of Okras.
- They should collect he subscription for the welfare of the society.
- They should preside over any working committee of the moyal.
- They can do arbitration in any problems related to women, theftTheftIn common usage, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud...
, dacoityDacoityDacoity is a term used for "banditry" in India. The spelling is the anglicized version of the Hindi word and as a colloquial Anglo-Indian word with this meaning, also appears in the Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases Banditry is criminal activity involving robbery by groups of...
, burglaryBurglaryBurglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...
etc. and punish the accused accordingly.
See also
- Tripuri people
- Kokborok
- Jamatia HodaJamatia HodaJamatia Hoda is the institution that looks after the rights and safeguard of the culture of the Jamatia community. It has head-office in Atharobla in Udaipur town of South Tripura district of Tripura and a branch office at Khejurbagan, Agartala near Sri Krishna Mission School...
- List of Scheduled Tribes in India
- Tripuri KshatriyaTripuri KshatriyaTripuri Kshatriya is a Vaishnav caste group which encompasses almost all the members of the Tripuri, Reang, Jamatia and Noatia ethnic groups, most of whom live in the Indian state of Tripura. Their Kshatriya status is actively contested by local as well as foreign Brahmins. The Tripuri Royal Family...