G GROUP. 03-02-380
380
NG GROUP.
MIKIR.
Mikirs call themselves 'Arleng,' a word which also means 'man' generally, although more strictly applied to a Mikir man. They have also borrowed from Assamese the word monit or munit for 'a male human being' when a precise term is required. The following account of their habitat is from the pen of Sir Charles Lyall (1882):-
The country which, from its geographical nomenclature, we should look upon
as the home of the Mikir race is tolerably extensive, and includes a large area
of hills in which there are now few or no Mikirs. The characteristic elements
of Mikir topographical nomenclature are L
ng, river, water; Lngso, small
stream; Inglong, mountain; Long, stone; Rong, village; Sr, chief. In the
isolated mountainous block which fills the triangle between the Brahmaputra
on the north, the Dhansiri Valley on the east, and the Kopili and Kalang Valleys
on the west, these names are found everywhere, as well in the southern part
now inhabited by the Rengm Ngs from the hills across the Dhansiri
as in the northern portion included in the Nowgong district, and known more
particularly as the Mikir Hills. They are also found in considerable numbers
to the south of the Lngkher Valley, in the mountains now inhabited by Kukis,
Kachch Ngs, and Kachris (e.g., Lngreng = 'water of life,'
Lngting, Long-lai, etc.) as for south as the courses of the Jhiri and Jhinam.
In the centre of North Cachar they are rarer; but there is a considerable group
of Mikir names again to the west of this tract, about the head waters of the
Kopili, and on the southern face of the hills north of Badarpur. Mikirs also
abound, mixed with Llungs, on the northern face of the Kh
si and Jaintia
Hills, and along the courses of the Kopili and Umkhen rivers.
Across the Brahmaputra the topographical nomenclature shows no trace of them, though there are a few recent colonies of the race in Darrang.
They are thus essentially a people of the lower hills and adjoining lowlands
of the central portion of the range stretching from the Garo Hills to the Ptkoi.
Their neighbours are (1) The Syntengs of Jaintia on the west; (2) Bodos or Kachris
on the south; (3) Assamese on the north and east, where the country is inhabited
at all; and intermixed with them are recent colonies of Kukis and Rengm
Ngs and older ones of Llungs and Hill Kchris.
Mikir is believed to have but slight dialectic variations, although the following dialect names have been reported for this Survey:-
|
Name of Dialect.
|
District where spoken.
|
Number of speakers.
|
|
| Standard... | Cachar |
536
|
|
| Kamrup |
12,200
|
||
| Darrang |
2,400
|
||
| Nowgong |
44,850
|
||
| Sibsagar |
1,000
|
||
| Nga
Hills |
17,000
|
||
|
Total
|
77,986
|
||
| Bhoi Mikir... | Khsi
and Jaintia Hills |
10,080
|
|
| Amri... | North cachar |
725
|
|
| Rengkhang... | North Cachar |
725
|
|
|
TOTAL.
|
89,516
|
||
The last three are said to be, strictly speaking, not dialects but mixtures of pure Mikir with the languages of neighbouring tribes. This is borne out by the only sample of them (that of Bhoi Mikir) which I have succeded in obtaining. It has been found impos- sible to get specimens of Amri and Rengkhang. Through the kindness of Sir Charles Lyall, K.C.S.I., I am able to print the following first three specimens of standard Mikir, together with the very full grammatical sketch which precedes them. The first specimen of the Parable of the Prodigal Son has been translated by Sardoka Perrin Kay, who is by birth a Mikir, and is at present employed in Government service in Shillong.