Deori people

The Deori or Deuri is one of the major ethnic tribes of arunachal pradesh and assam, India. They historically live in the upper plains or hinterland of the Brahmaputra Valley. The Deori tribe belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family of Mongoloid stock (as is generally the case of the people of northeast India). In ancient times of Ahom and Sutiya kingdoms, the Deoris used to serve as priests in the temples of the kingdoms and therefore the origin of the name Deori. This tribe has been maintained their racial traits, language, religion, folk tales and traditional beliefs through the centuries.

The people of Deori tribe are mainly divided into four groups or clans, namely- Dibongia, Bo-geenya, Tengaponiya and Pator-goya. The entire people of each main clan or main group are again subdivided into several sub-clans or sub-groups. The word "sub-clan" or "sub-group" is called "BOJA" or "BAHOR" in Deori language. Each of Deori people wants to know or wants to inform about their main clan and sub-clan (sub-group) in their first introduction. Otherwise, their introduction remains incomplete.

The Deori tribe follows indigenous faith.They worship their ancestors; KundiMama-kundigirasi (shiva-parvati), Boliya Baba (pisadema) and Tameshwari (pisasi). They also worship other Hindu deities. Deoris are very religious people. Since antiquity, Deori people worshiped God by singing hymns and holy songs. The priests are played important role in their every religious activities. Any religious festivals, social festivals and social functions, such as BISU-PATIBA (Two main festivals of Deori), BIYA-LAGABA (marriage), MIDIMUMA (worships) etc., can never organise or celebrate without presence of the recognised priests.The priests of Deori tribe are categorise into four categories. They are Bo-deri, Ho-deri, Bor-Bharali and Horu-Bharali. They are prime-persons in sacrificing their God in their temples. As mentioned in the History, they used to serve as priest in the Sutiya and Ahom kingdom and hence got the name "Deori".

However, history says that the homeland of the Deoris is in the North Eastern states of India or in the east of undivided Assam and Arunachal pradesh. According to the book Mataks and their kingdom, the Deoris lived on the bank of the Kundil river which flows through the Sadiya (Chapakhowa) area and for this reason their Kingdom in the North Eastern region of the Brahmaputra Valley was known as Chutam.

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