Mishmi people

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Mishmi
Festival of Kaman Mishmi.jpg
Mishmi celebrating a festival
Total population
35,000 approx [1]
Regions with significant populations
Flag of India.svg  India N/A
           Arunachal Pradesh N/A
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China N/A
           Tibet Autonomous Region N/A
Languages
Northern Mishmi languages, Southern Mishmi languages, Mandarin
Religion
Animism [2]
Related ethnic groups
Tibetans, Other Sino-Tibetan people

In China, the Mishmi-Idu are classified as Lhoba people.

The Deng people (or Dengba, Chinese transcription of Taraon-Kaman languages: 代巴玫; Chinese: 僜人; Hanyu pinyin: Dèng Rén) live in nine villages in Tibet's Zayu County and virgin forest areas between the Himalayas and the Hengduan Mountains at an elevation of 1,000 metres. Bradley (2007) reports 800 ta˧˩ʒuaŋ˥ (Chinese: Darang Deng) and 200 kɯ˧˩mɑn˧˥ (Chinese: Geman Deng; known as the Kaman or Miju Mishmi in India) in China, one village in Burma where they are known as Taraung, and the Taraon, Tayin, or Tain (formerly Digaru Mishmi) in northeastern India. [6]

There is little information on this group due to the sensitivity of the region. The last coordinated effort to understand the Mishmi occurred in the year 1985, after the Chinese academy of social sciences dispatched a total of four anthropologists hailing from the institute of Ethnology and Anthropology. [3]

The Deng Mishmi are not officially recognised by the government of People's Republic of China. [3] (Aiyadurai & Lee, 2018) note that instead, "...they are classified as an 'unidentified ethnicity' or 'others', largely due to the nature of a category for characterizing only a handful of people in contemporary China." [3] Many of them have migrated from China to India.[ citation needed ]

During the British Raj

The beginning of British rule in India with regards to the hill people was generally one of non-interference due to a fear of rebellion from these groups. [3]

However, this policy changed when the British began to realize how important the frontier region of Assam and the adjoining hills (including the Mishmi Hills) were for trade. [3]

According to (Aiyadurai & Lee, 2018), "Another strategic reason to manage such an area was that the British were concerned that if they did not take interest in this region, the Mishmi people would end up becoming 'Chinese' subjects. To win over the local native people, governmental representatives carried with them tea and cigarettes as 'political presents'". [3] Officially, it was not until the murder of Noel Williamson (a political officer) and Dr Gregorson (a tea planter and doctor) that the British began to clamp down on the Mishmi in a show of force and dominance. [3]

The British perceived the Mishmi as something to be contained, and not understood. The Mishmi, in 1882, were labelled as “untouched by any civilizing influences”. The natives in general were typically viewed “as less than human and abominable”. [3]

Creation myth

Members of the Mishmi ethnic group in northern Assam (1922) Jungle tribe of Mishmi Assam.jpg
Members of the Mishmi ethnic group in northern Assam (1922)

很久以前,世界上一片茫茫大水,德饶高创造了大地,金人阿加尼与老鹰通婚,繁衍成了僜人。

Long ago, the world is a vast-flood. Deraogao created the earth, and the gold-people Ajiani married the eagle. Deng people are their offspring.

It is part of the folklore of the Deng people that their ancestor is Ajiani. [ citation needed ]

Notes

  1. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Mishmi". Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 Aug. 2015, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mishmi. Accessed 4 April 2021.
  2. "(T)he Mishmi as it is connected to their animist religion and tradition"(Mayilvaganan, Bej & Khatoon 2020:108)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Aiyadurai A., & Lee C. S. (2018). "Living on the Sino-Indian Border: The Story of the Mishmis in Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India". Asian Ethnology. 76 (2): 367–378 via Ebsco.
  4. "Among many works of Śankaradeva, the Rukmiṇīharaṇa, the poem of Rukmiṇī and Kṛṣṇa, gained considerable popularity in the Sadiya area and influenced its regional identity connstruction. Rukmiṇī, in this poem, was a daughter of king Bhīṣmaka"( Shin 2020 :55)
  5. "Considering the wide popularity of the Rukmiṇīharaṇa among the people, especially as the staged performance, it is not surprising that many toponyms of the area were derived from this Vaiṣṇava legend and the legendary places associated with Bhīṣmaka were reproduced in the local landscape.....Some tribal groups like the Idu Mishmis of the Dibang valley began to link themselves more explicitly with the legendary Vaiṣṇava figure, and this practice led to conscious identity construction."( Shin 2020 :57)
  6. Bradley, David (2007). "Language Endangerment in China and Mainland Southeast Asia". In Matthias Brenzinger, ed. Language diversity endangered. New York: Mouton de Gruyter.

Related Research Articles

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arunachal Pradesh</span> State in northeast India

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dibang Valley district</span> District of Arunachal Pradesh in India

Dibang Valley (Pron:/dɪˈbæŋ/) is a district of Arunachal Pradesh named after the Dibang River or the Talon as the Mishmis call it. It is the least populated district in India and has an area of 9,129 square kilometres (3,525 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lohit district</span> District of Arunachal Pradesh in India

Lohit is an administrative district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India. The district headquarters is located at Tezu. As of 2011 it is the third most populous district of Arunachal Pradesh, after Papum Pare and Changlang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anini</span> District Headquarters in Arunachal Pradesh, India

Anini is the headquarters of the Dibang Valley district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India. Anini was also the district headquarters of the undivided Dibang Valley district. Most of this location's population consists of the Idu Mishmi tribal people. Due to its remote location, Anini remains a small and underdeveloped town. However, it still has basic road and air links to the rest of India. The town is fully dependent on the nearest major settlement, Roing, which is in the Lower Dibang Valley District, for most commercial needs.

Tezu is a census town and the headquarters of Lohit district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is the fifth largest town in Arunachal Pradesh and one of its most developed.

Sadiya is a town in Tinsukia district, Assam. It was the capital of the Chutia Kingdom and after the downfall of the kingdom it became the seat of the Sadiya-khowa-Gohain of the Ahom kingdom. Extensive remains of buildings and fortifications built during the rule of the Chutias near Sadiya still point to the importance of the region in the past. Historically Sadiya referred to the Chutiya kingdom which included at times the districts of Lakhimpur, Dhemaji and Tinsukia. It is claimed to be the center of development of the eastern Assamese dialects, the inscription here are written in a Tai script. Its stands on a grassy plain, almost surrounded by forested Himalayan mountains, on the right bank of Lohit River which is locally considered the main stream of the Brahmaputra River. The deepest point of the Brahmaputra River is located near this village. It is famous for a flower named satphul, which is much like Jasmine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lohit River</span> River in Arunachal Pradesh in India

The Lohit River, which name came from the Assamese word Lohit meaning blood, also known as the Zayul Chu by the Tibetans and Tellu by the Mishmis, is a river in China and India, which joins the Brahmaputra River in the state of Assam. It is formed in the Zayul County of the Tibet Autonomous Region, through a merger of two rivers: the Kangri Karpo Chu, which originates in the Kangri Karpo range, and Zayul Chu, which originates to its northeast. The two rivers merge below the town of Rima. The combined river descends through this mountainous region and surges through Arunachal Pradesh in India for 200 kilometres (120 mi) before entering the plains of Assam where it is known as the Lohit River. Tempestuous and turbulent, and known as the river of blood partly attributable to the lateritic soil, it flows through the Mishmi Hills, to meet the Siang (Brahmaputra) at the head of the Brahmaputra valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roing</span> Town in Arunachal Pradesh, India

Roing is the district headquarter of Lower Dibang Valley district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is the last major township at the north-eastern frontier of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anjaw district</span> District of Arunachal Pradesh in India

Anjaw District (Pron:/ˈændʒɔ:/) is an administrative district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in north-east India. It was created district in 2004, by splitting off from the Lohit district under the Arunachal Pradesh Re-organization of Districts Amendment Act. The district borders China on the north. Hawai, at an altitude of 1296 m above sea level, is the district headquarters, located on the banks of the Lohit River, a tributary of the Brahmaputra River. It is the easternmost district in India. The furthest villages towards the border with China are Dong, Walong, Kibithu and Kaho.

The Digaro (Digarish), Northern Mishmi (Mishmic), or Kera'a–Tawrã languages are a small family of possibly Sino-Tibetan languages spoken by the Mishmi people of southeastern Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Idu Mishmi language</span> Language spoken in India and Tibet

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.

Mishmi may refer to:

Digaro, also Taraon, Tawra, or Darang, is a Digarish language of northeastern Arunachal Pradesh, India and Zayü County, Tibet, China.

Zahkring is a language of Arunachal Pradesh and 3 villages in Tibet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mishmi Hills</span> Mountain range in northeastern Arunachal Pradesh, India

The Mishmi Hills are located at the northeastern tip of India, in northeastern Arunachal Pradesh. On the Chinese side, they form the southern parts of Nyingchi Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Kaman, or Miju, is a small language of India and China. Long assumed to be a Sino-Tibetan language, it may be a language isolate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dibang River</span> River in Arunachal Pradesh, India

Dibang River, also known as Sikang by the Adi and Talo in Idu, is an upstream tributary river of the Brahmaputra in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It originates and flows through the Mishmi Hills in the (Upper) Dibang Valley and Lower Dibang Valley districts.

The Mishmi languages consist of a few Sino-Tibetan languages spoken by the Mishmi people of Tibet, China and Arunachal Pradesh, India. They do not belong to a single branch or genetic grouping, but are rather a cultural grouping of various Sino-Tibetan languages that are not closely related to each other. The languages are:

References

Mishmi people
Chinese 代巴玫