Mising people
| Languages | |
|---|---|
| Mishing language |
The Mishings are an ethnic tribal group inhabiting in 11 districts of Assam viz.Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath Chariali,Sonitpur, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sibsagar, Majuli,Charaidew, Jorhat and Golaghat and in Three districts: East Siang district, Lower Dibang Valley, and Lohit districts of Arunachal Pradesh.They are the second largest tribal group in North-East India, first being the Bodos in NorthEast. They were earlier called Miris in historical days. and the Constitution of India still refers to them as Miris. MIRI is the ancient name and traces back to the ancestor ABO TANI.
Mishing derives from the two word Mi and Yashing. Men is termed as "Mi" while "Yashing" means Fair or Worthy. So Mishing considers as man of worthiness. To depict non-tribal outsiders the word Mipak is used extensively. Mipak is the opposite meaning of Mishing.
They belong to greater Tani people community which comprises many tribes in Arunachal Pradesh in India and Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) in China. All Tani tribes share linguistic, cultural and ritual similarities.
By virtue of Tibeto-Burman linguistic symmetry, the mishings have also shared ethnologically the Chinese root and the soil. They were believed to be original inhabitant of the northern part of Shansi river stretching Mongolian steppe and said to be remained there during Shang dynasty(1766 to 1122 B.C) up to Chou rule(1122 to 225 B.C) within the pockets of primitive communities which were collectively known as Miao Yao.
There is no written history of Mishings about their migration from northern China to the plains of Assam but history was passed down orally in the form of folk songs and stories of the ancestors from generation to generation and is still prevelant among their society. Though they belong to Tani group of tribes and they used to be hill dwellers, they started living on the banks of rivers in the plains of Assam. The reason for this change of habitat is not known, but there are theories. One theory says that Mishings presently living in plains of Assam were not a one single tribe, but evolved into one when many tribes from various Tani tribes in Arunachal Pradesh migrated to the plains of Assam. This explains the presence of many Mishing clans with different Mishing dialects as well as different levels of development.
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Wikipedia