Tiwa (Lalung)
Encyclopedia
Tiwa is a tribal group inhabiting the States of Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

 and Meghalaya
Meghalaya
Meghalaya is a state in north-eastern India. The word "Meghalaya" literally means the Abode of Clouds in Sanskrit and other Indic languages. Meghalaya is a hilly strip in the eastern part of the country about 300 km long and 100 km wide, with a total area of about 8,700 sq mi . The...

 in Northeast India. They are recognized as a Scheduled tribe within the State of Assam. They were known as Lalungs in the Assamese and Colonial literature and as a Scheduled tribe they are still referred so; some of their neighbours still used this term.

A striking peculiarity of the Tiwa is their division into two sub-groups, Hill Tiwa and Plains Tiwas, displaying very contrasted cultural features.

Hill Tiwas

The Hill Tiwas live in the westernmost areas of Karbi-Anglong (Assam) as well as in the Northeastern corner of Ri-Bhoi district (Meghalaya). They speak a Tibeto-Burman language of the Bodo-Garo group
Bodo-Garo languages
The Bodo–Garo languages are a small family of Tibeto-Burman languages spoken in eastern India. Bodo should not be confused with the Tibetan ethnonym bod, which is the basis of the names Bodic and Bodish....

. They are divided into a dozen of clans recognized by specific names which they use as patronymics. Their descent system can be said to be ambilineal. In most cases, the husband goes to live in her wife's family settlement (matrilocality), and their children are included in their mother's clan. However, in about 30% of unions, the woman comes to live with her husband. In this case, children take the name of their father. This trend is on the rise under the influence of neighbouring populations who are mostly patrilineal. About the half of Hill Tiwas follow their "traditional" religion. It is based on the worship of local deities. The other half have been converted to Christianity since the 1950s. The Hill Tiwas society is organized around seven old villages which constitute political as well as ritual centres. Each of them harbours a chief (loro) who performs judicial and religious duties for a network of settlements. Old villages are also characterized by their bachelor dormitory (samadi).

Plains Tiwas

Plains Tiwas live on the flat lands of the Southern bank of the Brahmaputra valley, mostly in Morigaon and Nagaon
Nagaon
Nagaon , is a medium sized city and a municipal board in Nagaon district in the Indian state of Assam. It is situated east of Guwahati. An older spelling of the name is Nowgong.It is one of the fastest growing cities of the northeast.-History:...

 districts. The vast majority speaks Assamese as their mother tongue, Tiwa language being still spoken on the foothills and in rare villages of the plains. Their descent system is definitely patrilineal. Their patronymics does not consist in their clan's names but in common Assamese names instead (mostly Pator and Bordoloi). Their religion share many elements with Assamese Hinduism, but remains specific.

Population

The 2001 Census reports 171 000 "Lalungs"; this figure comprises only the Plains Tiwas. Tiwas are recognized as a Scheduled Tribe in Assam excluding the Autonomous districts. As they became a Scheduled Tribe after the 2001 Census, the Hill Tiwas were not taken into account. Their population may be estimated around 10 000. The total number of Tiwa speakers amounts only to 26481 (Census of India)

Official status

Tiwas, under the denomination of "Lalung", have been recorded as a Scheduled Tribe since the first Constitution Order (1950) for the State of Assam "excluding the autonomous districts of Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills (now named Dima Hasao)", thus leaving the Hill Tiwas out. It was only in 2002 that the Lalung ST status have been extended to Karbi-Anglong district and thus to the Hill Tiwas. Tiwas still do not benefit the ST status in the State of Meghalaya.

History

Indigenous narratives give various accounts on the migration of the Tiwas to their present habitat. Some of them claim that the tribe came originally from Tibet. Some others tell the Tiwas had to flee the oppression of the Dimasa
Dimasa
The Dimasa people are a group of people in Assam, in northeastern IndiaDimasa mythology says they are the children of Bangla Raja and the great divine bird Arikhidima...

 king.
The Buranjis (Assamese chronicles) recount the meeting of Assamese soldiers with "people of the margins"(datiyaliya) and the settlement of 12 families of Lalung and Mikir, i.e. Tiwas and Karbis
Karbi
The Karbis, mentioned as the Mikir in the Constitution Order of the Government of India, are one of the major ethnic groups in North-east India and especially in the hill areas of Assam. They prefer to call themselves Karbi, and sometimes Arleng . The term Mikir is now not preferred and is...

, in the plains in the 17th century. Tiwa people are closely associated with the principality of Gobha. Gobha raja belongs to a Tiwa clan and his territory covers more or less the Tiwa cultural realm. Gobha is mentioned in the Buranjis since the early 18th century, as an important market for the trade between Ahom dominated plains, i.e. Assam, and the Jaintia Kingdom
Jaintia Kingdom
The Jaintia Kingdom extended from the east of the Shillong Plateau of present-day Meghalaya in north-east India, into the plains to the south, and north to the Barak River valley in Assam, India...

. These two powerful neighbours have since been competing to keep Gobha principality under their authority, with varying success. The historical role of Gobha and the Tiwas as mediators between plains and hills in Central Assam is enacted every year during an old fair, the Jonbeel mela
Jonbeel Mela
Jonbeel Mela is a 3-day-long community fair held at the weekend of Magh Bihu at a historic place known as Dayang Belguri at Jonbeel. It is 5 km from Jagiroad in Marigaon district of Assam and 32 km from Guwahati. The National Highway connecting the mela is NH 37...

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