Sociology of the Karbis

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

In the central highland of Assam there is a series of hills which has for centuries been known as the Mikir Hills. The present day Karbi Anglong District is a literal translation of the Mikir Hills. This vast tract of land in the centre of the state is the habitat of the Mikirs or the Karbis. The Karbis who live in the western portion of the district have retained their tribal characteristics while those settled down near Gauhati have already lost many tribal traits.

The work is an indepth study of the Karbis from the sociological perspective and takes into its purview their origin and growth, social and political system, economy and education, customs and traditions, beliefs and superstitions, legends and language. All put together, the enormous range of aspects makes this study truly an overview of the Karbi hilly people. The book holds the promise of making an enlightening and interesting reading.

Dr. Tanmay Bhattacharjee (born 1943) was awarded Ph.D. Degree in 1983 by the Gauhati University. He was the Head of the Department of Political Science in the Haflong Government College, Assam. He has been associated with Assam Education Service for about two decades. The author also holds a diploma in the U.N. Studies.

The Karbis are an important tribe in North-East India. They played little role in politics during the British period. Sir Robert Neil Reid's historic visit to Mohungdijua in 1937 opened a new vista for the Karbis, the hollow of which sustained them adequately afterwards. They were a tribe who were in history and thus it was quite a hard task to recapture their proper place.

Edward Stack in the eighties of the last century made an attempt to open up the tribe to the civilised world, with the assistance of Sardoka Perrin Kay. But the inhospitable geogra phical conditions soon dissipated his energies and he died after sometime while on voyage to Australia (d. 1887).

Sir Bamfylde Fuller's administration (1902-1904) initiated a tribal policy which included a series of monograph writings on the tribes of the North-east. Sir Charles Lyall, who officiated as the Chief Commissioner of Assam for a while, was given the onerous duty of writing a m onograph on the Mikirs (the Karbis at present). Lyall had very little time to investigate into the theme due to his preoccupation in the administration but he produced a unique account of the tribe.

It offers a good reading but it is incomplete for more than one reason. Firstly, the monograph was written under definite official direction. Its main purpose was to expose the tribe to the administration. Secondly, Lyall had to depend on the borrowed data. Thirdly, the book is pre-dated by more than seventy six years.

**Contents and Sample Pages**