![]() an elderly Adi women from Arunachal Pradesh singing a folk song | |
Regions with significant populations | |
---|---|
![]() | N/A |
Arunachal Pradesh | N/A |
![]() | N/A |
Tibet Autonomous Region | N/A |
Languages | |
Tani | |
Religion | |
Majority: Donyi-Polo Minority: Christianity, Buddhism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Tani people, Lhoba people |
The Adi people are one of the most populous groups of indigenous peoples in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. A few thousand are also found in the Tibet Autonomous Region, where they are called the Lhoba together with some of the Nyishi people, Na people, Mishmi people and Tagin people.
They live in a region of the Southern Himalayas which falls within the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Mainling, Lhunze, Zayu, Medog, and Nyingchi counties in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. The present habitat of the Adi people is heavily influenced by the historic location of the ancient Lhoyu. They are found in the temperate and sub-tropical regions within the districts of Siang, East Siang, Upper Siang, West Siang, Lower Dibang Valley, Lohit, Shi Yomi and Namsai within Arunachal Pradesh. The term "Adi" however, is not to be confused with the Lhoba people, since the Lhoba also includes the Mishmi along with the Adi people. All the ethnic groups recognizing themselves as "Adi" are believed to be descendants of the Abutani/Abotani. The older term Abor is an exonym from Assamese and its literal meaning is "independent". The literal meaning of adi is "hill" or "mountain top".
The Adi live in hill villages, each traditionally keeping to itself, under a selected chief styled Gam or Gao Burra who moderates the village council, which acts even as the traditional court, referred to as a Kebang. The olden day councils consisted of all the village elders and decisions were decided in a Musup/Dere (village community house).
![]() | It has been suggested that this section be split out into another articletitled Adi languages . (Discuss) (February 2023) |
Adi | |
---|---|
(not a single language) | |
Abor, Lhoba | |
Native to | India, China |
Region | Arunachal Pradesh, India and Tibet Autonomous Region, China |
Native speakers | 150,000 total for the various languages (2011 census) [1] |
Sino-Tibetan
| |
Latin | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | adi |
Glottolog | None |
ELP | Adi |
![]() Speakers of Adi by Indian district | |
![]() Adi is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |
The various languages and dialects of the Adi people fall into two groups: Abor (Abor-Minyong, Bor-abor (Padam), Abor-Miri, etc.) and Lhoba (Lho-Pa, Luoba).
Adi literature has been developed by Christian missionaries since 1900. The missionaries J. H. Lorrain and F. W. Savidge published an Abor-Miri Dictionary [2] in 1906 with the help of Mupak Mili and Atsong Pertin, considered the fathers of the Adi language or Adi script.[ clarification needed ] [3]
Adi[ which? ] is taught as a third language in schools of communities dominated by the Adi. [4]
The Adi speak Hindi as a lingua-franca for communicating with other indigenous groups of people in Arunachal Pradesh and the other northeast states. [ citation needed ]
Dormitories play an important role among the Adi people, and certain rules governing the dormitories are observed. For example, a male can visit the dormitory of a female, although he is not allowed to stay overnight. At times, guardians will have to be around to guide the youngsters.
There are separate dresses for women and men which are woven by women of the tribes. Helmets made from cane, bear, and deerskin are sometimes worn by the men, depending on the region.
While the older women wear yellow necklaces and spiral earrings, unmarried girls wear a beyop, an ornament that consists of five to six brass plates fixed under their petticoats. Tattooing was popular among the older women.
The traditional measure of a family's wealth is the possession of domestic animals (particularly gayals), beads and ornaments, and land.
The Adi celebrate a number of festivals, in particular, their prime festivals are Aran, Donggin, Solung, Podi Barbii and Etor. Solung is observed in the first week of September for five days or more. It is a harvest festival performed after the sowing of seeds and transplantation, to seek for future bumper crops. Ponung songs and dances are performed by women folk during the festival. On the last day of Solung, throne and indigenous weaponry are displayed along the passage of the houses – a belief that they would protect people from evil spirits (This ritual is called Taktor).
Adi dances vary from the slow, rustic and beautifully enchanting Ponung style (performed in Solung festival) to the exhilarating, exuberant thumps of Delong performed by men during the Etor festival. These dances have led to certain forms of dancing which jointly narrate a story, the Tapu (War Dance). In the Tapu, the dancers vigorously re-enact the actions of war, its gory details and the triumphant cries of the warriors. Yakjong is performed in the Aran festival. This is another kind of dance whereby the dancers carry sticks with designs created by removing the barks in certain patterns and then put into the fire for some time, which creates the marked black designs.
Name of festival | Dates |
---|---|
Donggin | February 2 |
Aran or Unying | March 7 |
Etor (Lutor) | May 15 |
Solung (Lune) | September 1 |
Podi Barbii | December 5 |
The Adi practice wet rice cultivation and have a considerable agricultural economy. Rice serves as the staple food for them along with meat and other vegetables
The majority of Adi traditionally follow the tribal Donyi-Polo religion. Worship of gods and goddesses like Kine Nane, Doying Bote, Gumin Soyin and Pedong Nane, etc., and religious observances are led by a shaman, called Miri (can be a female). Each deity is associated with certain tasks and acts as a protector and guardian of various topics related to nature which revolves around their daily life. This includes the food crops, home, rain, etc.
Adi in Tibet, in particular the Bokars, have adopted Tibetan Buddhism to a certain extent, as a result of Tibetan influence. However, in recent years a revival in indigenous identity on the part of the Tibetan Adi people has made traditional religion popular with the youth again. In modern times, a few Adi people have converted to Christianity. But been increasing and call of local leaders to stop converting and demographics shift.
Lhoba is any of a diverse amalgamation of Sino-Tibetan-speaking tribespeople living in and around Pemako, a region in southeastern Tibet including Mainling, Medog and Zayü counties of Nyingchi and Lhünzê County of Shannan, Tibet.
Arunachal Pradesh is a state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and largest town. It borders the Indian states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares international borders with Bhutan in the west, Myanmar in the east, and a disputed 1,129 km border with China's Tibet Autonomous Region in the north at the McMahon Line. Arunachal Pradesh is claimed by China as part of the Tibet Autonomous Region; China occupied some regions of Arunachal Pradesh in 1962 but later withdrew its forces.
The Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh has a total population of roughly 1.4 million on an area of 84,000 km2, amounting to a population density of about 17 pop./km2. The "indigenous groups" account for about two thirds of population, while immigrants, mostly of Bengali/Hindi belt origin, account for the remaining third.
Donyi Polo is the designation given to the indigenous religion, of animistic and shamanic type, of the Tani and other Sino-Tibetan peoples of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in Northeast India. The name "Donyi-Polo" means "Sun-Moon", and was chosen for the religion in the process of its revitalisation and institutionalisation started in the 1970s in response to inroads made by Christianity and the possibility of absorption into Hinduism.
Pasighat is the headquarters of East Siang district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Situated at the eastern foothills of the Himalayas at 155 metres (509 ft) above mean sea level, Pasighat is Arunachal's oldest town. The Government of India included Pasighat in the Smart Cities Mission development scheme in June 2017.
Yingkiong is a town in and the administrative headquarters of Upper Siang district in the Northeast Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is located 250 kilometres (160 mi) north of Itanagar, the capital of the state, and 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) east of the River Siang. According to the 2011 Census, the town has a total population of 8,573.
The Tani language, often referred to as Tani languages, encompasses a group of closely related languages spoken by the Tani people in the northeastern region of India, primarily in the state of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. These languages belong to the Sino-Tibetan family and include several major dialects such as Nyishi, Galo, Apatani, Adi, Tagin, and Mising.
Padam is a sub-tribe of the Adi tribe of Abotani clan which speaks one of the Sino-Tibetan languages. Padam makes up 30–35% of the Adis and are the strongest sub-tribe of the Adis. They were a nomadic warrior race and used to had a reputation as fierce warrior by pre colonial period, they are believed to have migrated to present Arunachal Pradesh from Tibet. They were also known by the name Bor Abors in the past by their Assam counterparts and the British government.
The North–East Frontier Agency (NEFA), originally known as the North-East Frontier Tracts (NEFT), was one of the political divisions in British India, and later the Republic of India until 20 January 1972, when it became the Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh and some parts of Assam. Its administrative headquarters was Shillong. It received state status on 20 February 1987.
Mising is a Tani language spoken by the Mising people. There are 629,954 speakers, who inhabit mostly in the Dhemaji district, Lakhimpur, Sonitpur, Dibrugarh, Sibsagar, Jorhat, Majuli, Golaghat, Tinsukia districts of Assam and also some parts of Arunachal Pradesh. The primary literary body of Mising is known as 'Mising Agom Kébang '.
The Idu Mishmi language is a small language spoken by the Mishmi people in Dibang Valley district, Lower Dibang Valley district, Lohit district, East Siang district, Upper Siang district of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and in Zayü County of the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. There were 8569 speakers in India in 1981 and 7000 speakers in China in 1994. It is considered an endangered language.
The Minyong are a sub-group of the Adi people, a tribal people living in Arunachal Pradesh, India. The Minyong are found in East Siang, Siang and West Siang district. They consider Donyi-Polo as their religion but recently there has been conversion to Christianity.
Bori is a Tani language of India. Bori is spoken in Payum Circle, West Siang District, Arunachal Pradesh.
The Milang tribe are a tribe of the Adi people of Arunachal Pradesh and nearby Jonai, in Assam, India.
The Milang tribe are a sub-group of the Adi people found in Arunachal Pradesh and nearby Rigbi, Jonai, in the Indian state of Assam.
The Mising people are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group inhabiting mostly in the Northeast Indian states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. They are part of the greater Tani group of people of India and Tibet Autonomous Region of China.
The Bori are an indigenous tribe of the Adi people living in the districts of East Siang, Upper Siang, Siang and West Siang in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
Bakin Pertin was an Indian politician. Pertin belonged to the Adi people. He was one of the first elected Lok Sabha members of Arunachal Pradesh, and later became a Member of the Legislative Assembly of that state.
Tamo Mibang was an Indian professor, Pro Chancellor of APEX Professional University and Vice Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University in Doimukh, Arunachal Pradesh. He was from the Adi Tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, and sought to promote literacy in the state.
Arunachal Pradesh is primarily a hilly tract nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas in northeast India. It is spread over an area of 83,743 km2 (32,333 sq mi). 98% of the geographical area is land out of which 80% is forest cover; 2% is water. River systems in the region, including those from the higher Himalayas and Patkoi and Arakan Ranges, eventually drain into the Brahmaputra River.