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Kom is the name both of the people and the language. Kom is one of the constituents of the larger group called the Kom-rem. Kom-rem consists of indigenous minorities groups of five small tribes namely- Aimol, Chiru, Koireng, Kom and Purum. Kom-rem literally means ‘caves’ (Khur) and ‘people’ (Rem). The five component tribes share the common legend/history of cave origin. Today the Kom-rem stands as a distinct community, occupying mainly buffer zones between the hills and the plains and they are accustomed to both the hill and the plain life. The Kom-rems are found in the states of Manipur, Assam and Tripura. The major chunk of the population resides in Manipur, occupying the buffer areas between the hills and the plains of the states, inhabiting in all the districts of Manipur, but concentrated mainly in the districts of Churachandpur, Bishenpur and Senapati.
According to the Royal Chronicle of Manipur, the five tribes were first identified in the 14th century in Manipur, when they were known by the villages they settled in rather than by their tribe’s name. These villages include Sagang, Aimol and Tikhup. According to Lt. Col. J. Shakespear, the Koms claim to have come from the Shakripung area in the Chiru hills. They are believed to have entered Manipur during the reign of Maharaja Gambhir Singh. It is also believed that they originally inhabited the hills lying the south of Manipur valley and entered into Manipur probably in the year 1600 A.D. from the east of Manipur. A statistical account by R. Brown of the native states of Manipur and the hill territory under the British rule said, “the only remaining Kuki tribes of importance are those called Aimol, Chiru, Purum, Koireng (Kuoireng) and Kom. These are the sub-divisions of Kom tribe”. They were known as Nagas during the Manipur state Durbar, whereas J. Shakespear called them old Kuki in his book ‘The Luchai-Kuki Clans.’ But in reality, the Kom-Rem tribes have not joined any major tribal group like the Nagas, the Kukis or the Mizos.
According to Kom researchers, they entered Burma between 100 B.C. and 100 A.D., and sometime in 200 A.D., they had moved towards Arakan Hills and Bay of Bengal. Then the Kom people entered Tripura and from there they entered Manipur as the Soktes ousted them. According to their folk tales and tradition, it is believed that they originally might have come from Mongolia passing through China, Burma and settled at Tripura, Assam, and Manipur. It is also believed that they were the second community to have arrived in Manipur, only after the Meiteis.
According to the traditional belief, they claim to have emerged out of a cave, ‘Khurpui’ (the big cave). One of the legends had it that while trying to come out of the cave, a tiger obstructed them and nobody could come out of the cave as the tiger lay in wait to kill them.
The ‘Karongpa’ who came out of the cave wearing a stripped cloth made friends with the tiger as his cloth resembled the skin of the tiger, and that’s why his descendents refrain from eating or killing a tiger. ‘Saichapa’, after having come out, killed the tiger. ‘Leivonpa’ cut out the tiger's tongue and wrapped it up in his waist. These people, in the subsequent generations became the heads of the various Kom clans, namely Karong, Saiche, Leivon, Tellein, Hmangte, Serto etc. After killing the Tiger they came out of the cave and settled in highland (Chungkhopui). All these tribes have the similar story regarding the origin of their tribes. This cave episode left many remarkable scars, one of which later became an instrument of identification among these five tribes. Of all the remnants, cultural traits have become the most accepted attributes of their belongingness or oneness, which have been binding them for ages.
The Kom-Rem people have a common language known as ‘Kom-tong’ which means ‘Kom language’. All the tribes constituting it can communicate through this language. More or less all their languages are similar and their customary practices too. They have common associations like the Kom-rem Baptist churches association and union. Despite their gradual diversification in their dialects/languages, names and clans, they still assert having common ownership of the original cave song (folk songs), shawls, dresses etc. Today, the Kom Rem consists of Aimol, Chiru, Kom, Koren (Koireng) and Purum which are all recognized separately as a scheduled tribe by the Indian Constitution. Komrem, known as the united banner of five small tribes Aimol, Chiru, Koireng, Kom and Purum, seems to be heading for disintegration as some of its constituent members are showing the indication of pulling out from the common platform. In spite of all this, Kom-rem still maintains its hold as the symbol of emotional bond of love and brotherhood amongst its people. They have some similarities with the Lushai tribe of Mizoram, the Hmars of Manipur and the Hrangkhawls of Tripura.
Kom is one of the Tibeto-Burman languages, which is not well described. Show (1929), a civil servant, stated, “ The Koms, Aimols, Khawtlangs, Thadous, Lushais, Chins, Pois, Siktes, Paites, Gangtes, etc are undoubtedly all connected and are Kukis, and that the language alone has many similarities and the syntax is not dissimilar. Again, there are their customs which have a common principle running through them all.”
R. Brown in his “A statistical account by of the natives states of Manipur and the hill territory under the British rule” said, “the only remaining Kuki tribes of importance are those called Aimol, Chiru, Purum, Koireng (Kuoireng) and Kom”. He even called all these tribes as the sub-tribes of Kuki. Shakespear (1912) made the division of the tribes on the basis of their arrival:
Old Kukis New Kukis Aimol, Anal, Chiru Thadous (their other kins) Chothe, Gangte, Koirou Groups such as, Dongel, Misao Koireng, Kom, Lamkang Lupheng, Lupho, Ngoilu, Lamhao Paite, Purum, Simte, Thengeo, Thouthang, etc. which Vaiphei, Zou, Hmar are not recognized as tribes.
G. A. Grierson in his ‘Linguistic survey of India’ (vol. III, part III) classified Kom under the customary name of old Kuki, which includes Rangkhol, Bete, Halam, Langrong, Aimol, Chiru, Kolren, Kom, Cha, Hmar, Anal, Haloi-Lamkang. He also described Kom and other languages that constitute old Kukis as a mere dialect of one language. He further states that these languages are closely related to the central Chin languages. Kom, Anal, and Haroi-Lamkang show a closer connection with the Naga languages than the other dialects of the Kuki-Chin group. According to Grierson, the original old Kuki tribe seems to have lived in the Lushai hills, from where they were driven out by the Thadous. Kom, no doubt has some language affinities with the Lushai of Mizoram, the Hmar of Manipur and the Hrangkhawl of Tripura.
Due to lack of sufficient researches, it is difficult to get the proper division or classification of this language. Hence it is difficult to fix the position of Kom in the Tibeto-Burman language family. But there is no doubt that Kom is one of the Tibeto-Burman languages which has the language affinities with the languages like Hmar, Hrangkhawl, Malsom, Darlong, Lushai and Kuki apart from Koireng, Purum, Chothe, Chiru, and Aimol.
Family tree of Tibeto- Burman Languages:
Tibeto Burman
Tibeto Himalayan North Assam Assam-Burmese
Naga Kachin Kuki-chin Burma Sak Lolomass
Naga Western Central Eastern Naga-Kuki Chin
Angami Sema Rengma Kezama Hmar Kom
1. On the basis of the analysis of the morphological structure, Kom appears to be an agglutinating language.
2. Kom, like any other Tibeto-Burman language, has subject +object+ verb (SOV) order of the words in a simple unmarked sentence, i.e., the verb occurs in the final position. Consider the following example.
Kei bu kasak. I food eat ‘I eat food.’
3. Like other Tibeto-Burman languages, Kom has post-positions.
Kutcoi kha jekhum cuŋa kaom Gift that (DEM) bed on there ‘The gift is on the bed.’ Kutcoi kha jekhum thuiya kaom Gift that (DEM) bed under there ‘The gift is under the bed.’
4. Kom is a pro-drop language. The subject is not always essential because it is inferred from the AGR. In most of the cases the AGR indicates the number and person; gender remains unmarked.
Kei kamaluŋ kacam. I my heart sad/tired →Kamaluŋ kacam. ‘I am sad/tired.’ Kei inpak eŋ. I happy AGR →Inpak eng. ‘I am happy.’
5. In kom the genitive precedes the governing noun.
Ka lekha My book Acuŋ sanu Achung’s daughter
6. Kom is a tone language. Pitch plays a role in differentiating the meaning.
sun ‘to write’ sún ‘day’ sùn ‘to stab’
7. Reduplication is also seen in Kom. Both full and partial reduplication is found in Kom.
Naŋ ín-ín rakip-a se roh. You house-house every in go IMP ‘You go to each and every house.’
8. Echo-word formation is another typological feature found in Kom. However, in most of the cases compound words are used like bube-anbe ‘ricepot-currypot’ but it means all the utensils. In the same manner, the echo word like maju-khawa ‘rat and the like’ is used to describe rodents. Although the word ‘khawa’ holds no meaning of its own, it is believed that it must have been originated from ‘khaw and wa’ meaning ‘locust and bird’, which along with rat are considered as pest in the agrarian Kom society.
Thiŋbi-luŋbi karra se mak roh. Forest and the like into go NEG IMP ‘Do not go into the forest, etc.’
9. In comparative constructions, the marker of comparison follows the standard of comparison.
Aŋam kha akhup kanek-a insaŋ-det Angam DEM Akhup Comp-marker tall-er ‘Angam is taller than Akhup.’
10. In Kom, indirect object (IO) precedes the direct object (DO).
Mary-in naipaŋ neŋ lekha alapek-hei. Mary-ERG child (IO) to book (DO) give-PAST ‘Mary gave the book to the child.’
11. Numerals in Kom follow the decimal system.
1 inkhat 2 inni: 3 inthum 4 manli: 5 raŋa: 6 karuk 7 sari 8 karet 9 ko: 10 som 11 somleh inkhat = som leh inkhat (10 and 1) 21 somni leh inni: = somni leh inkhat (20 and 1)
12. In the adjective - noun relationship in Kom is not head-final, since the adjective follows the noun.
Hiva perhi katha neŋ That flower good ATTR ‘That flower is good.’
Copyright CIIL-India Mysore