An Ethnographic Profile Of The Thengal Kachari Tribe Of Assam

Abstract

The Thengal Kachari tribe is a plain tribe of Assam, having rich cultural history. This small tribe is said to be an offshoot of the great Kachari race. BM Das has stated, ‘Of the tribes of Assam, the Kacharis are distributed  almost all over the state. They have several sub-divisions. One is the Dimasa, who are a hill people and are concentrated in North Cachar Hills. The Sonowals, Thengal and Jharua are  met in Upper Asssam’ (Das 2010). The Kacharis are also known as the Bodo-Kacharis or Bodo-Kacharis in the Brahmaputra valley, particularly of some district like Kamrup, Sonitpur, Mongoldoi, Barpeta and Jalpaiguri of West Bengal.  This Bodo people of the eastern part of Assam who settled themselves in the Cachar district specially in North Cachar of Assam call themselves Kacharis (Brahma 1992). The Thengal Kacharis are very close to the Sonowal Kacharis, one of the largest plain tribe of Assam. As the Thengal Kacharis belong to the Mongoloid race like the Sonowal Kacharis their physical feature are close to the appearance of the Mongolian groups as found in the narrations of the historians. The Thengal Kacharis racially belong to the Kachari race, Rev. Sydney Endle states about the Kacharis as- ‘They are certainly not a tall or handsome race, and in general appearance bear some resemblance to the Nepali, being as a rule shorter and stouter than the people of North-west India, though well fitted to bear up against physical fatigue and hardship. In face and figure they show a distinct approximation to what is known as the Mongolian type, i.e. they have square set faces, projecting cheek bones, with almond shapes eyes, and scanty beard and moustache, the last mentioned being often wanting altogether’ (Endle 1997). Regarding the origin of the tribe there are many myths and legends. There is very information about the origin and history of the ethnic group in the history books and so scholars have arrived at some conclusions depending upon the mythical narratives.