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The MISHINGS – spelt MISINGS by the members of the tribe, known in earlier times as the ‘Miris’ and mentioned as such is the Constitution of India, are the present Mising community of Assam, the second largest tribe.
Assam is a land of racial assimilation. The civilization that emerged centuries back in ancient Kamrupa was and still is marked by two dominant features – ethnic heterogeneity and linguistic diversity. Presumably, the offshoots of various racial origins, especially, of the Nordic (Aryan), Mongoloid, Mediterranean, Proto-Austroloid and Negrite, are believed to have grown into different ethnic groups in the present demographic composition of Assam.
Ethnically, the Misings are affiliated with the Mongoloid stock of human races. They, along with a number of tribes speaking cognate languages, were formerly referred to as MIRI in the accounts of the Ahom chronicle, the religious scriptures left by the great Vaishnavite saint, Shrimanta Shankardeva, and his chief disciple, Shri shri Madhaveva, the ethnographies handed down to us by the alien authorities on the discipline and the administrative records of the British rule in Assam.
The MISHINGS spelt MISINGS by the members of the tribe, known in earlier times as the ‘Miris’ and mentioned as such in the Constitution of India, are the present Mising community of Assam, the second largest tribe.
Assam is a land of racial assimilation. The civilization that emerged centuries back in ancient Kamrupa was and still is marked by two dominant features – ethnic heterogeneity and linguistic diversity. Presumably, the offshoots of various racial origins, especially, of the Nordic (Aryan), Mongoloid, Mediterranean, Proto-Austroloid and Negrite, are believed to have grown into different ethnic groups in the present demographic composition of Assam.
Ethnically, the Misings are affiliated with the Mongoloid stock of human races. They, along with a number of tribes speaking cognate languages, were formerly referred to as MIRI in the accounts of the Ahom chronicle, the religious scriptures left by the great Vaishnavite saint, Shrimanta Shankardeva, and his chief disciple, Shri shri Madhaveva, the ethnographies handed down to us by the alien authorities on the discipline and the administrative records of the British rule in Assam.
Ethnically, the Misings hail from the same stock as the Adis, the Nishis (Dafla), the Apatanis and the hill Miris of Arunachal Pradesh and belong to the North-Assam branch of the Mongoloid races. They call themselves as the Tanis or the Amis which in Mising language means ‘man’. These tribes have similar language, traditions and culture. Misings and Adis closely resemble each other. The Misings were originally hill tribes living in North-west China. They came down to Arunachal Pradesh many centuries ago, and occupied the mountain ranges lying in between the Subansiri and the Siang districts of Arunachal Pradesh, formerly known as NEFA (North East Frontier Agency). Their Folk literature suggests that they migrated down to the plains of Assam in search of a peaceful and prosperous life in comparatively early times i.e., in the early part of the 12th century, almost at the same time as the arrival of the Ahoms to Assam, and their migration continued for almost 600 years. Since they are latecomers to Assam, they did not manage to occupy much land for themselves.
Although the Misings loved migration and frequently moved from place to place along the Brahmaputra valley, it seems that they did not advance downstream beyond the confluence of the Brahmaputra and the Subansiri. They are mostly found in the eight districts of upper Assam, namely, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sibsagarh, Jorhat, Golaghat, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur and Sonitpur. The Dhemaji district has the highest percentage of Mising population. The northern bank of the Brahmaputra river is predominantly a Mising territory. In the Brahmaputra valley, the Misings occupied a strategic area lying between the turbulent hill tribes and the mighty Ahom kings of the valley, and played an important role in keeping the diplomatic fulcrum in balance. They have been living mostly along the banks of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries because of which they were called a riverine people by British writers.
The areas where Misings live make news every year as ‘flood affected’. The Brahmaputra and its tributaries eat up the low-lying areas. These areas are characterized by underdevelopment, poverty, lack of communication, and educational backwardness.
There are three names come into our sight in case of Classification of Tibeto-Burman languages. They are Shafer (1966), Benedict (1972) and Bradley (1997). Among these classifications Benedict and Bradley are the most important ones for our purpose.
Sino-Tibetan- i. Sinitic ii. Daic iii. Bodic iv. Burmic v. Baric vi. Karenic
He has classified Abor, Miri and Dafla under Tibeto-Burman sub-family. Sino-Tibetan- i. Chinese ii. Tibeto-Karen a. Karen b. Tibeto-Burman Again Tibeto-Burman sub-family is divided into seven branches, they are- 1. Tibetan-Kanauri i. Bodish ii. Himalayish 2. Bahing-Vayu i. Bahing ii. Khambu iii. Vayu-Chepang iv. Nepal-Bhasa 3. Abor- Miri -Dafla 4. Kachin 5. Burmese-Lolo 6. Bodo-Garo i. Bodo ii. Garo a.Garo A b. Garo B iii. Naked Naga iv. Chairel 7. Kuki-Naga i. Central Kuki ii. Northern Kuki iii. Old Kuki iv. Southern Kuki v. Northern Naga vi. Southern Naga Bradley’s Classification- 1. Bodic 2. North-east India i. Bodo-Garo a. Northern Naga ii. Jinghpaw iii. Luish iv. Pyu 3. Kuki-Chin i. Southern Naga ii. Kuki iii. Chin iv. Arleng 4. Central i. Lepacha ii. Western Arunachal iii. Adi- Mising -Nishi iv. Digarish ‘Mishmi’ v. Keman ‘Mishmi’ vi. Rawang 5. North-Eastern 6. South-Eastern i. Burmese-Lolo a. Mru b. Gong c. Burmish d. Loloish i. Northern ii. Central iii. Southern iv. Karen According to Ethnologue, Miri is included under North Assam group of Tibeto-Burman sub-group of Sino-Tibetan family. Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman North Assam Tani (Mising/Miri)Typological
Miri has close connection with Mishmi, another language of Tibeto-Burman family.
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