The Constitution of India categorizes the tribes of Assam into two groups: Scheduled Tribes (Hills) and Scheduled Tribes (Plains). [1] Since hills tribes living in the plains and plains tribes living in the hills in large numbers are not recognised as scheduled tribes in the respective places, the census data may not reflect the correct figures. [1] Assamese language is used as the lingua franca by almost all the tribes. [1] According to the 2001 census, Scheduled Tribes made up 12.4 percent of Assam's population. [2] The Assam Tribune reported in 2009 that the tribal communities of Assam were accounted for 15.64 percent of the total population. [1]
Distribution of Scheduled Tribes of Assam, 2011 census [3]
According to 2011 census, only two district viz, Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao are considered as autonomous district
According to the 2011 census, Assam has a Scheduled Tribes (ST) population of 3,884,371, which makes up 12.44% of the state's total population. The major Scheduled Tribes in Assam are the Boro (35.06%), Miri (17.52%), Karbi (11.08%), Rabha (7.63%), and Kachari (6.52%). [3]
However, the Scheduled status of these tribes is subject to specific territories. In the autonomous districts of Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao, the prominent tribal groups are the Karbi (63.63%), Dimasa (including Kachari) (15.22%), any Kuki tribe (4.94%), and any Naga tribe (4.4%). Outside these two autonomous districts, the main Scheduled Tribes are the Boro (44.96%), Miri (22.46%), Rabha (9.78%), Kachari (including Sonwal) (8.38%), Lalung (6.03%), and Garo (4.49%). [3]
Language of Scheduled Tribes of Assam, 2011 census [4]
In terms of linguistic demographics, 33.39% of the total Scheduled Tribe population in Assam speak Boro, 24.73% speak Assamese, 15.39% speak Miri/Mishing, 11.31% speak Karbi/Mikir, 4.09% speak Garo, 3.05% speak Dimasa, and 2.55% speak Rabha. [4] Other languages spoken among the Scheduled Tribes include Haijong (26,540 speakers), Lalung (25,373), Deori (24,766), Zemi (19,561), Kuki (18,652), Hmar (17,584), Khasi (11,520), and Bengali (11,163). Additionally, there are speakers of Rengma, Hindi, Pnar/Synteng, Chakma, Nepali, Ao, Thado, Kachari, and Luhasi/Mizo languages. [4]
Boro, also called Bodo, is an ethnolinguistic group native to the state of Assam in India. They are a part of the greater Bodo-Kachari family of ethnolinguistic groups and are spread across northeastern India. They are concentrated mainly in the Bodoland Territorial Region of Assam, though Boros inhabit all other districts of Assam and Meghalaya.
The Insurgency in Northeast India involves multiple separatist militant groups operating in some of India's northeastern states, which are connected to the rest of India by the Siliguri Corridor, a strip of land as narrow as 14.29 miles (23.00 km) wide.
Dima Hasao district, is an administrative district in the state of Assam, India. As of 2011, it is the least populous district of Assam.
Diphu is the headquarter of Karbi Anglong district in the state of Assam in India. This small town is a popular tourist hill station for people of nearby cities.
The Dimasa people are an ethnolinguistic community presently inhabiting in Assam and Nagaland states in Northeastern India. They speak Dimasa, a Tibeto-Burman language. This community is fairly homogeneous and exclusive, with members required to draw from both parents' separate clans. Dimasa kingdom, one of many early states in Assam following the downfall of Kamarupa kingdom, was established by these people. The Dimasas were till recently agricultural, centering on shifting agriculture; but in recent times this has changed with profound changes in the community. Following political problems in the 18th century, the Dimasa ruler moved further south in the plains of Cachar and there took place a division among them–with the hills Dimasa maintaining their traditional living and political exclusiveness, the plains Dimasas have made no attempt to assert themselves.
Bodo–Kacharis is a name used by anthropologist and linguists to define a collection of ethnic groups living predominantly in the Northeast Indian states of Assam, Tripura, and Meghalaya. These peoples are speakers of either Bodo–Garo languages or Assamese. Some Tibeto-Burman speakers who live closely in and around the Brahmaputra valley, such as the Mising people and Karbi people, are not considered Bodo–Kachari. Many of these peoples have formed early states in the late Medieval era of Indian history and came under varying degrees of Sanskritisation.
The Brahmaputra Valley is a region situated between hill ranges of the eastern and northeastern Himalayan range in Eastern India.
The People of Assam inhabit a multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and multi-religious society. They speak languages that belong to four main language groups: Tibeto-Burman, Indo-Aryan, Tai-Kadai, and Austroasiatic. The large number of ethnic and linguistic groups, the population composition, and the peopling process in the state has led to it being called an "India in miniature".
Kachari is a Sino-Tibetan language of the Boro-Garo branch that is spoken in Assam, India. With fewer than 60,000 speakers recorded in 1997, and the Asam 2001 Census reporting a literacy rate of 81% the Kachari language is currently ranked as threatened. Kachari is closely related to surrounding languages, including Tiwa, Rābhā, Hajong, Kochi and Mechi.
The Board of Secondary Education, Assam commonly known as SEBA, is the state education regulatory board under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Education, Government of Assam for conducting examinations and providing assurance for the quality of education imparted in schools within Assam, India that are affiliated to it. It offers education in Bodo, English (IL), Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, Meitei (Manipuri), Hmar, Nepali, Mizo, Khasi, Garo, Karbi and Urdu languages.
The Boro–Garo languages are a branch of Sino-Tibetan languages, spoken primarily in Northeast India and parts of Bangladesh.
The Tiwa people, are a Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group primarily inhabiting the Northeast Indian states of Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland, and some parts of neighbouring Bangladesh and Myanmar.
The Koch are a small trans-border ethnic group of Assam and Meghalaya in India and northern Bangladesh. The group consists of nine matrilineal and strictly exogamous clans, with some of them preserving a hitherto sparsely documented Boro-Garo language called Koch, whereas others have switched to local varieties of Indo-Aryan languages. It is a Scheduled Tribe in Meghalaya, India. Koches want to preserve language and culture and heritage.
The Chutia people are an ethnic group that are native to Assam and historically associated with the Chutia kingdom. However, after the kingdom was absorbed into the Ahom kingdom in 1523–24, the Chutia population was widely displaced and dispersed in other parts of Upper Assam as well as Central Assam. They constitute one of the core groups that form the Assamese people.
The hill tribes of Northeast India are hill people, mostly classified as Scheduled Tribes (STs), who live in the Northeast India region. This region has the largest proportion of scheduled tribes in the country.
Barman Thar, where “thar” means language, is a highly endangered language. It is a Tibeto-Burman language that belongs to the Boro–Garo sub-group. The population of the Barman Kachari community is 24,237, according to a 2017 census. However, only a small part of this population speaks the language.
Koch is a social group in the Indian state of Assam. The members of the caste are converts from different ethnic groups such as the Bodos, Garos, Tiwas, Karbis, Ahoms, Hajongs, Chutias etc. The Koch is one of many categories in the tribe-caste continuum in Assamese society. In some instance, the identity of the Koch overlaps the identity of the Kachari. Any member of the any ethnic group can become a Koch by employing a Brahmin and giving up habits such as the consumption of liquor, pork, beef etc. and giving up their original mother tongue which are considered to be impure in Hinduism. The caste is mostly found to be concentrated in Upper Assam section of the Brahmaputra Valley.
The population of Assam consist of tribal ethnic groups and linguistic groups such as Assamese, Bengali, Hindi speakers, Nepali and Odia speakers.
Dimasa is section of Kachari community. It belongs to Boro-Garo language family. It is mother tongue to around 500,000 Dimasa population. Large section of Sanskritised Dimasa speak Assamese language e.g. Sonowal Kachari, Thengal Kachari, Moran Kachari, Matak Kachari.