Chutia people

Early history

The recorded history of the Chutia people is closely associated with the eastern Brahmaputra Valley and particularly with the Sadiya region, which later became the political centre of the Chutia kingdom. Archaeometric evidence indicates that brick-building was already taking place in the Sadiya region during the early medieval period: a 2024 study grouped bricks from Pratimagarh and Padum Pukhuri within a technological horizon broadly assigned to the seventh–tenth centuries CE.^[24] This evidence predates the securely documented Chutia rulers and therefore indicates an earlier regional building tradition rather than, by itself, Chutia political authority.

The wider region also occupied an important position in the sacred geography represented in the Kalika Purana. Dikkaravasini, identified with Tamreswari at Sadiya, marked the eastern end of one conception of Kamarupa. Jae-Eun Shin notes that the text contrasts the country extending eastward from Lalitakanta, near present-day Guwahati, to Dikkaravasini with the region extending westward from Lalitakanta to the Karatoya River: the former was represented as the country of the Kiratas, generally associated with Tibeto-Burman populations of much of the middle and upper Brahmaputra valley, while the latter was portrayed as a Brahmanical sedentary society of Brahmins, sages and people of the varna order. Shin interprets the contrast as reflecting the uneven expansion of sedentary agriculture and Brahmanical settlement, although both regions were included within Kamarupa's sacred geography.^[25][26]

Chutia kingdom

The Chutia polity developed in this eastern regional setting, although its early history remains poorly documented. The epigraphic record becomes substantially clearer in the second half of the fourteenth century, when rulers centred on Sadhayāpura or Svadhayāpura, identified with later Sadiya, appear in copper-plate inscriptions.^[27] The kingdom developed around Sadiya and adjoining northeastern Assam and present-day Arunachal Pradesh. Its territory principally encompassed the present-day districts of Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Biswanath,^[28][29][30] together with parts of present-day Sivasagar district.^[31][32] It also included plains and foothill regions of present-day Arunachal Pradesh.^[33][34]

It subsequently developed into one of the principal political formations of medieval northeastern India; Amalendu Guha describes the Chutias as "the most developed among the political formations of the region" by the fifteenth century.^[35] The strategic position of the kingdom also enabled its rulers to regulate eastward trade and the movement of people between Assam, Tibet and southern China.^[36]

Among the earliest rulers known from inscriptions was Nandin, also read as Nandi or Nandisvara, who is described in the Dhenukhana copper-plate inscription as the lord of Sadhayapura. The damaged genealogical passage preceding his name describes Nandisvara as born through the daughter (tanayā) of an earlier ruler, whose name is no longer legible in the surviving portion of the inscription.^[b] Nandisvara's wife is named Daivaki, and their son Satyanarayana is represented as belonging to the suraripu-vaṃśa, the lineage of the "enemies of the gods", which Neog interpreted as an Asura lineage.^[39] The prominence accorded to Satyanarayana's maternal connections has been regarded as possible evidence that the Chutia ruling family was matrilineal or, at least, not exclusively patrilineal.^[40] The same inscriptions suggest that by then the autochthonous rulers had undergone Hinduisation in the Vaishnava tradition; their inscriptions invoked Vāsudeva, while Brahmins at the court assisted in the construction of Sanskritic genealogies and royal legitimacy.^[41]

Archaeological remains associated with the Chutia-period landscape are widely distributed across eastern Assam and present-day Arunachal Pradesh, including Tamreswari Temple, Bhismaknagar, Malinithan, Gomsi, Ita Fort, Naksaparvat, Rukmininagar, Buroi, Moiramora Doul and numerous fortified settlements, temple remains, earthen forts and ancient brick-built tanks in the Sadiya–Lohit–Dibang region.^[42][43][c] Direct epigraphic links include the 1442 inscription of Chutia ruler Sri Srimata Muktadharmanarayana at Tamreswari, the inscribed bricks bearing the name of Sri Sri Lakshinarayana recovered from Rukmininagar and the name of Sri Sri Pratyakshanarayana from Bhismakanagar and Padum Pukhuri.^[48][49]

The kingdom was annexed by the Ahoms in 1523-24 during the reign of Suhungmung. By the time of annexation, substantial Hinduisation had already taken place, although scholars differ over the extent to which the caste system had become established: one account describes it as remaining marginal, while another states that it had become prevalent.^[50][51] Archaeological and epigraphic evidence connects the rulers with the wider Sadiya complex and indicate that the kings had their capital in the region.^[52]

Post-conquest period

Following the annexation, the former capital region of Sadhayapura was incorporated into the Ahom state under the Sadiya-khowa Gohain. Chutia nobles were dispersed to different parts of the kingdom to prevent organised resistance,^[53] while artisans and other sections of the population were transferred and resettled elsewhere in Upper Assam.^[54] The Darrang Raj Vamsavali likewise records that after the conquest members of the former Chutia ruling family fled and took refuge among the Miris and Mishmis.^[d]

Ahom authority nevertheless faced recurrent Chutia resistance after the conquest, with major uprisings recorded in 1527, 1529, 1542, 1550–53, 1565 and 1572.^[e] Local tradition at Ghilamara in present-day Lakhimpur associates the locality with a Chutia rebel leader named Ghila, who is said to have been killed there by Ahom forces during the reign of Sukhaamphaa (1552–1603).^[f] During Nara Narayan's invasion of the Ahom kingdom, Chutia nobles accompanying a fugitive prince approached the Koch king, recounted the loss of their former kingdom and apparently sought its restoration.^[59] The Darrang Raj Vamsavali states that Nara Narayan, moved by their appeal, reassured them and arranged for their settlement at a village called Bahbari (present-day Sootea).^[g] The terms of the Ahom–Koch settlement at Majuli also reportedly required that a captured Chutia prince, along with other gifts, be sent to the Koch court.^[60][61] Resistance continued on the north bank, where Chutias joined Miris and Daflas against an Ahom expedition in 1665, followed by another confrontation in 1673 over tribute boats seized from the Miri villages of Rupa and Dimow, located in present-day Dhemaji district.^[h][63]

These rebellions occurred alongside the gradual incorporation and geographical dispersal of Chutias within the Ahom state. Chutia families entered Ahom khels, administrative service and the army. Former members of the ruling family also started serving the Ahom monarchy; a Chutia prince named Jadu, for instance, is mentioned in Buranjis as fighting on the Ahom side against Mughal forces.^[64][65] Maniram Dewan records that following the conquest Suhungmung carried away a large body of blacksmiths from the Chutia kingdom and settled them in the Bosa (Doyang) and Ujoni regions, where smithies were established for the manufacture of knives, daggers, swords, guns and cannons; the blacksmith establishment during his reign is stated to have numbered about 3,000.^[66] Another account connects the formation of the Charingia Naoboicha with the conquest: after Suhungmung defeated the Chutia king, boats and Chutia families were brought to the newly established settlement of Charing in present-day Sibsagar district, where the latter were organised to operate the royal boats and came to be known as the Charingia Naoboicha; the establishment later gave rise to new classes like Senchowa, Tangundhara and Basuwaldhara.^[67]

A substantial Chutia presence also developed in Darrang. The remnant of the royal family was deported to Pakariguri, Darrang.^[68][69][70] Traditions associate the Chutia Kunwar estate with the Rowta–Pakariguri region, approximately the present-day Dalgaon area; Wade later recorded a province Soontiagown near the Pakariguri region of Darrang.^[71][72] Under Pratap Singha, about 3,000 people from the Chutia country were also transferred to the Mangaldai area under Dharma Narayan and organised as paiks; Wade later records these Soontias under three Hazarikas.^[73][74][i] Other Chutia service groups were distributed still farther west. A group of Buruk Chutias served under the Borphukan in Lower Assam and performed duties comparable to those of the chaodangs or royal guards of Upper Assam; they were found principally around Tezpur and Guwahati, while smaller groups in Sivasagar and Jorhat were known as Buruk Chetias.^[76] Chutias are also recorded in the Raha region of present-day Nagaon. The Tungkhungia Buranji identifies Ramnath, a doloi or clan-chief in the territories of the Panchrajias (Roha region), as "a Chutia by caste".^[77] Epigraphic evidence further attests to this geographical dispersal. Eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century copperplate inscriptions record persons explicitly designated as Chutia in grants connected with the Shiva temple at Dergaon (1734), the Bengena-ati Sattra at Majuli (1777), the Visvanatha temple at Biswanath (1774), and the Bardowa Sattra (1805) at Nagaon; a 1805 endowment to the Hayagriva Madhava Temple at Hajo also refers to a Chutia-gaon in its boundary description.^[78]

Over time, resettlement, intermarriage and religious affiliation contributed to the formation of distinct identities within the wider Chutia community. Intermarriage with Ahoms contributed to an Ahom-Chutia identity; one such lineage produced Langi Panisiya, who distinguished himself in royal service and became the first Borphukan.^[79] Other sections became known as Hindu Chutias,^[80] while Chutias living around the Mayamara Satra were initiated into its form of Ekasarana Dharma.^[81] These processes contributed to the historical divisions that subsequently developed within the Chutia community, while political resistance and assimilation into the Ahom state proceeded simultaneously.

Moamaria rebellion period

By the eighteenth century, Chutias were politically divided between the Mayamara movement and the Ahom royalist establishment. Chutias formed one of the principal components of the multi-ethnic Mayamara or Matak community, second only to the Morans.^[82] On the other hand, other sections of Chutias remained within the Ahom paik and military organisation and fought against the rebels. At the beginning of the Moamoria rebellion, the Ahom king ordered a Chutia Hazarika to arrest the rebels; he was captured and killed by the Moamorias.^[83] Another Chutia royalist was Moi Barua of the Buruk-Chutia group, who was among the officers sent by Lakshmi Singha against the Moamorias and was placed in command of a force of 5,000.^[64] Soon afterwards, Bez Bara was sent against the rebels with a force that included 1,000 Bhitarual Chutia kanris, although this force was defeated too.^[84] Chutias continued to occur on both sides during the later phases of the rebellion.^[j] In eastern Assam, the Mayamara leader Sarbananda Singha of Buruk Chutia clan,^[k] eventually established himself at Bengmara and, following the settlement of 1805, was recognised as Barsenapati of the autonomous Matak rajya. Nath (2008) interprets Sarbananda's assertion of a Chutia identity as connected with the earlier Chutia resistance following the loss of their kingdom to the Ahoms.^[88]

Burmese invasions

The Burmese invasions caused severe disruption in regions containing large Chutia populations. In about 1823, Burmese forces crossed the Brahmaputra and overran North Lakhimpur, while later colonial accounts described the wider Lakhimpur district as almost depopulated and reduced to extreme misery following the disturbances of the late Ahom period and the Burmese occupation.^[89][90] Chutias serving within the Ahom establishment participated in resistance to the invaders. During the first invasion, Lapi Dadhara Bora of the Chutia Gharphalia family was sent with other officers against the Burmese.^[91] Another Chutia commander, Hao Sagar Bora of North Lakhimpur, raised his own followers against the Burmese; in the final phase of the occupation his force represented one of the last organised attempts to expel them.^[l] Langi Deka Bora, whose family was of Chutia origin, is also remembered as having resisted the Burmese; he was carried away towards Burma but escaped and returned.^[m]

In pursuit of Hao Bora, Burmese forces crossed the Brahmaputra and overran North Lakhimpur, where contemporary and later accounts describe widespread violence and devastation termed as a “reign of terror”.^[94] Patal Chutia,^[n] who became Borbarua under Chandrakanta Singha, also participated in preparations against the renewed Burmese advance and was killed by the Burmese in 1821.

British period

Under British rule, the Chutias continued to be enumerated as a distinct and widely distributed population. Although their largest concentrations were in Sibsagar and Lakhimpur, substantial populations were also present in Nowgong and Darrang, with smaller communities in Kamrup, Goalpara, the Cachar plains and the Naga Hills.^[o] By this period most Chutias had adopted Assamese as their language, while the older Chutia language survived principally among the Deori section.^[p]

Colonial classifications of the Chutias varied considerably. Nineteenth-century ethnographers commonly regarded them as a tribal or aboriginal population that had undergone extensive Hinduisation: Hunter classified them among the "semi-Hinduized aboriginals", while the 1891 census placed the Chutias in the category of "forest and hill tribes".^[101][102] An official account based on the 1891 census similarly included the Chutias among the principal "aboriginal hill tribes" of the province.^[103] By 1901, however, census superintendent B. C. Allen questioned this classification and described the Chutias as a "race caste", observing that the main body had by then effectively become Hindus.^[102][104]

The early twentieth century also witnessed a renewed organisation of Chutia identity. As educated and emerging middle-class sections of several Assamese communities established organisations centred on social and community interests, the Assam Chutia Sanmilan was founded in 1925.^[105] It formed part of a wider contemporary proliferation of community organisations in Assam, alongside bodies representing the Koch-Rajbanshis, Bodo-Kacharis and other groups, and marked the emergence of an organised platform for articulating Chutia social and ethnic interests during the later colonial period.

Social life

Chutia people generally live in joint families. The number of members in a joint family at times exceeded one hundred. The father is regarded as the head of the family; in his absence or after his death, the mother assumes the position of household head, followed by other relatives.^[112] Household duties are discharged by the family members with mutual understanding and co-operation, on a rotatory basis.^[113] Traditionally, reciprocal assistance also extended beyond the household: villagers helped families during marriages, deaths and other special occasions, a practice known in some areas as hejari and in others as howri.^[114]

Clans

The Chutia community is divided into a number of clans or khels. Recorded clans include the Buruk, Bihiya, Bebejia, Lophai, Borahi, Lahawal, Fesuwal, Uta, Haar, Meleng, Lao-piya, Sesa-gharia, Kantok, Doichung, Diha, Saliki, Baruwati, Baghsua and Dihing-goya.^[115]

Several of these clans are associated in oral tradition with particular occupations or localities. The Buruk clan derives its name from the odal tree, whose fibre was used to make ropes, and associates the clan with the manufacture of such ropes.^[115] The Buruk clan also traditionally avoided goat meat and bottle gourd.^[116] The Bihiya are traditionally associated with the preparation and use of poisons for fishing and hunting and for applying to arrows and other weapons.^[115] The Bebejia are described in one tradition as people who moved from place to place and were associated with the collection of cane shoots.^[115] The names Bihiya, Buruk, and Bebejia are also found in traditions concerning Chutia groups that later became associated with the Misings.

The Lophai name is explained in folk tradition through the cultivation of lopha, a leafy vegetable, while the Saliki are associated with the training of myna birds to imitate speech and songs. The Dihing-goya are associated with Chutia settlements along the Dihing River, while the Sesa-gharia are associated with the Sessa River.^[115] A tradition recorded concerning the Haar Chutia associates the clan with the former sacrificial rites of the principal shrine at Sadiya, in which a person selected for sacrifice was said to have been drawn from this group.^[115] This account survives as a community tradition and does not by itself establish the historicity of the practice.

The term khel was also applied to occupational organisations such as the Sonari, Tanti, Kamar and Khanikar. These occupational khels were organised principally according to occupation rather than kinship, and marriage between members of different such khels was not restricted.^[117]

Historical divisions

Following the fall of the Chutia kingdom, sections of the Chutia population came to be distinguished according to religious affiliation, intermarriage and association with neighbouring communities. Intermarriage following the Ahom conquest contributed to a distinction between Ahom Chutias and Hindu Chutias, both of whom eventually adopted forms of Hinduism. W. B. Brown also recorded the Deoris separately, stating that their traditional religious institution continued to be maintained locally until their removal from the Sadiya district.^[118] Later accounts distinguish several historical divisions of the Chutias.^[119]

Hindu Chutias: The Hindu Chutias formed a large section of the population and included those initiated into Vaishnavism by saints such as Sankardev and Madhavdev. Those following the stricter Vaishnavite observances are popularly called Kesa-ponthi and traditionally restrict animal meat and alcohol in religious rites, whereas the Poka-ponthi retain more of the older tribal customs.^[120]

Ahom Chutias: The Ahom Chutias formed a major section of the Poka-ponthis and were so called because of intermarriage with the Ahoms; most were eventually absorbed into the Ahom social fold.^[121] These Chutias occupied a number of offices in the Ahom administration.^[q] Traditions further record Chutia families such as Som-chiring and Changsai as having entered the Ahom fold as early as Sukapha's reign, while Dutta associates much of the later Chetia and Lahon clans among the Ahoms with Chutia ancestry.^[128] The 1905 Assam District Gazetteers records the Chaklong marriage rite among Ahom Chutias, indicating their full assimilation into Ahom social and cultural practices.^[129]

Borahi Chutias: The Borahi Chutias are described as a section of the Chutias distinguished by certain customs. Khanikar records that Chutias cremated their dead with six layers of firewood whereas the Borahis used seven.^[130] The 1901 Census of India records the Borahi Chutias as avoiding goat meat.^[131] A comparable restriction is recorded for the Buruk clan of the Chutias, whose members traditionally avoided both goat meat and bottle gourd.^[132] The Buranjis describe khels such as the Naoboicha and Hiloidari as originally Chutia but incorporated into the Borahi fold. The Tai designation for the Borahis was Kha-lang, in which kha was used by the Ahoms for peoples not associated with wet-rice cultivation. Although most were absorbed into the Ahom population, some people in Dhemaji, Golaghat and Sivasagar continued to identify as Borahi-Chutias.^[133]

Miri Chutias: The Miri Chutias are described as Chutias from villages along the northern bank of the Brahmaputra who fled towards the Miri hills during the period of Ahom invasion, intermarried with the Misings and were subsequently absorbed among them.^[r] They are chiefly associated in these accounts with the Bihiya, Buruk or Medok, and Bebejia clans.^{[135][136][s]} One of the two groups among the Mishing tribe, the Barogram section has likewise been referred to as Chutia-Miri, which has been interpreted as reflecting former subjection to the Chutia rulers.^[139] The Buranjis independently record a group of Miris near the Dikrong River as former subjects of the Chutia kings who had served as Hatighahis, supplying grass for royal elephants.^[140]

Traditional occupations

Traditional Chutia society had a developed division of labour, with a number of occupational groups associated with particular crafts and industries. The Sonari were goldsmiths, while the Lonpuriya collected and processed salt from the salt brines of Sadiya. The Tanti were weavers who reared silk worms and produced thread and cloth, and the Somar worked with animal hides, including in the manufacture of musical instruments.^[141]

Other occupational groups included the Rupawal, associated with the collection and working of silver; Khanikar, who worked as craftsmen and boat-builders; Kohar, who manufactured bell-metal utensils; Kamar or blacksmiths; Kumar or potters; Sil-katiya, associated with stone-working; and Japi-hajiya, who made jaapis.^[142] Gold-washing was also practised by the Sonowal (especially by the Bihia clan^{[143][144][t]}), who extracted gold particles from river sands, including those of the Subansiri and Dikrong.^[141]

Traditional religion

The Chutias worshipped a primordial male deity and a primordial female deity. The male deity was known as Kundimama, Balia-Baba, or Pisha-dema, and was known among the Kacharis as Bathau or Bathau Brai.^[146] The female deity was known as Kechaikhati or Pisha-si.^[147]

The worship of the tribal goddess Kesai Khaiti was also common among other Bodo-Kachari groups.^[u] The worship of the goddess Kechaikhaiti was officiated by a priestly section that is now identified as the Deori people. Other Bodo-Kachari peoples also had their respective priests, who were likewise called Deoris.^[156]

Another divine pair consisted of Bura and Buri, or the "Old Ones", who, under later Hindu influence, came to be identified with Shiva and Shakti, respectively.^[157]

Traditional Chutia places of worship are known as saal. Four principal saal associated with the community survive in the Sadiya region: the Burha-Burhi or Gira-Girasi Saal, Baliya Baba Saal, Paatar Saal and Tameswari or Kesaikhati Saal. Ritual observances at these shrines are traditionally officiated by Deori priests, who alone enter the inner shrine during the ceremonies. The leaves of tanglati (Blumea lanceolaria) are regarded as sacred and are used by the priests to apply a ritual mark to devotees.^[158]

Sanskritization

The settlement of Brahmins in the kingdom led to the Hinduisation and legitimisation of the Chutia rulers and the rulers claimed their divine descent from the Asuras.^[159][160] The term Asura is used to refers to the Non-Aryans and their otherness in forms of custom, including marriage, and property.^[161]

Following the emergence of Ekasarana Namadharma in the 16th century and the fall of the Chutia kingdom, the Sadiya region gradually became associated with the legend of Bhishmaka and Vidarbha. This association did not originate from a Chutia claim of descent from Bhishmaka. Rather, it developed through the growing popularity of Sankardev's narratives, particularly the Rukminiharana, in which the story of Rukmini, the daughter of King Bhishmaka, was adapted to the cultural and geographical setting of Assam.^[162]

As these narratives became popular in the Sadiya area, places in the local landscape came to be identified with locations mentioned in the Bhishmaka–Rukmini legend. Over time, Sadiya or Kundilnagar came to be regarded as the Vidarbha of the legend, and several local toponyms were derived from or connected with the Vaishnava narrative.^[163]

A section of Chutias were hinduised at an early period,^[80] those that were not were later initiated into the Ekasarana dharma under the Mayamara Satra in the 17th century by Aniruddhadev.^[81][160]

Religious rituals

Traditional Chutia ritual practice incorporates older folk and tantric elements alongside later Hindu and Vaishnavite influences. Differences in religious practice are reflected in the distinction between the Kesa-ponthi and Poka-ponthi sections. The Kesa-ponthis, influenced by Vaishnavism, generally avoid animal sacrifice and alcoholic offerings in religious observances, while the Poka-ponthis have retained a greater number of the older sacrificial and ritual practices.

Religious observances include sabahs such as Holita Loguwa, Aai Sabah, Dangoria Sabah, Borsarakia Sabah, Khuti Sabah, Ranga Sorai, Jal Devota, Jal Kuwari, Apeswari Sabah and Kalika Sabah, as well as hewa or puja traditions such as Deo-kuber, Suvasani, Moh Jokh Rati Hewa and Haun Puja.^[164]

Deo-kuber: Deo-kuber (Deo-kuber Holita loguwa hokam) is a tribal-tantric ancestral rite in which earthen lamps are lit for Kuber, the god of wealth, and Kundi; during the Chutia kingdom it was also performed for the welfare of the state. Offerings include rice beer (Suje or Saj^[165]), Handoh guri, Akhoi, areca nut, betel leaves, Khula dia and Tel diya pitha, duck meat and banana-stem posola. A male and female duck are sacrificed to the ancestral deities Gira-Girasi, who receive smoked meat and two servings of Saj; after the Deori priest completes the prayers, the ducks are cooked and distributed as sacred offerings.^[164][v]

Dangoria Sabah: Dangoria Sabah is performed for the Dangoria, regarded as a village deity, traditionally beneath the tree believed to house the spirit but now also in households. Earthen lamps are lit and four pairs of betel leaves and areca nuts, banana khar, vegetable curry and either Suje (Saj) or payakh are offered; the Poka-panthi additionally offers rice wine and meat, while the Kesa-panthi offers pitha-guri, payakh and bananas.^[164][w]

Apeswari Sabah: Apeswari Sabah honours Apeswari Ai, regarded as a form of Kecaikhati, and is especially performed to seek blessings for a child or infant. After the house and used clothes are cleaned, village girls and elderly women called Gopinis sit in a circle while offerings of pitha-guri, unpasteurised milk (ewa gakhir) and bananas are placed on an agoli kolpat and white cloth over a Saloni/Dala, with lamps, flowers and betel nuts; the Gopinis recite Apeswari naam, after which the household prays and receives their blessings.^[166][x]

Suvasani: Suvasani is generally performed at night during April–May for the welfare of the family or village. The priest first invokes Suvasani Aai, a household deity regarded as a form of Kecaikhati, and distributes prasad and holy water for purification; ducks are then sacrificed, after which the male members of the family or village hold a communal feast.^[164] Under Neo-Vaishnavite influence, many Chutias have discontinued the sacrifice or replaced the duck with an ash gourd.^[y]

Life-cycle customs

The Chutias observe a number of rites associated with birth, marriage and death. Ritual practice varies to some extent between kesa-panthi families, whose ceremonies avoid non-vegetarian offerings, and paka-panthi families, where such offerings may be used; several of these customs are also shared with the wider Assamese society.^[167]

Pregnancy and birth customs include Panchamrit, observed during pregnancy with the participation of elderly women or gopini, and later ceremonies associated with the birth and purification of the child.^[167] Marriage customs include the formal Bar biya, marriage by elopement and other locally recognised forms, while ceremonies surrounding marriage incorporate women's songs, ritual bathing and other household rites.^[167]

The dead are ordinarily cremated, although burial has traditionally been practised in certain circumstances. Funeral observances continue with subsequent rites culminating in kaaj or shraddha, commonly performed on the eleventh or thirteenth day, although the timing and form vary between localities and religious sections.^[167]

Agricultural rituals

A number of traditional Chutia rituals accompany different stages of the agricultural cycle. Pani Tula Borsobah, held for three days in Jeth, invokes rainfall and a good harvest and includes the ceremonial fetching of water by six pre-pubertal girls called Daivakis.^[168] A separate communal observance called Barsabah is recorded in Magh; preparations may begin a month beforehand, and the ceremony includes a shrine to Kecaikhati, an earthen lamp, overnight kirtan, communal cooking and a meal, followed by blessings from the bhakats.^[169][z]

The beginning of cultivation is marked by several rites. At the first annual sowing of paddy, Nakathiya Sisa traditionally included a neighbourhood feast, generally with duck meat, and the placing of titaphool branches, stones and arum plants around the seedbed as protection against birds and insects.^[170] The first day of transplanting is known as Na Bhui, when offerings are made to Lakshmi in the field before seedlings are planted; Mahanta records a corresponding first-transplanting rite called Goch Lowa for both sali and ahu rice.^[169][aa] An older ahu-sowing observance, Jalukia Khowa Utsav or Hariya, similarly involved feeding the cultivators fish cooked with yam leaves and black pepper, traditionally believed to relieve bodily pain from agricultural work.^[169]

Completion of the principal cultivation work is celebrated as Nangal Dhua Pitha or Bhat Pitha (also Kheti Utha Bhat), with rice cakes and a meal;^[168][169] Uparipurusar Sakam, performed before and after sowing sali rice, commemorates the ancestors with lamps and offerings of rice, black gram, rice powder and other foods.^[171] Agricultural cattle are likewise protected through Sada Shivak Diya in Jeth–Ahar, Garakhia Sabah near the cowshed and, during the flooded rainy season, Khuti Sabah; these involve prayers and offerings for the well-being of cattle and buffaloes.^[169][ab]

Harvest begins with Lakhimi Ana or Lakhimi Adara (also Kasi Lagua Sabah), when the first sheaves are ceremonially brought to the granary. The woman carrying them traditionally neither speaks nor looks back, lest Lakhimi return to the field.^[168][169] Na Khuwa or Na-pitha Khowa marks the eating of the new rice, while the post-harvest Na-purukhar Saol Khowa invokes ancestral blessings.^[172][ac] Before stored paddy is subsequently taken from the granary, Bharalot Pitha Diya is performed by offering rice powder in an earthen vessel with a lamp and betel nut to Lakhimi Ai, the rice powder being steamed into sewa diya pitha the following day.^[168][169]

During prolonged drought, Bhekulir Biya ("frog marriage") may be performed to invoke rain, in which a male and female frog are symbolically married according to elements of the traditional wedding ceremony and subsequently released into a water source.^[168][173]

Festivals and Bihu traditions

The Chutias observe the three principal Bihu festivals—Bohag Bihu, Kati Bihu and Magh Bihu—along with a number of community-specific and local ritual practices. During Kati Bihu, earthen lamps are traditionally lit in the paddy fields, granary and household compound, with prayers associated with Lakshmi, prosperity and the protection of crops.^[174] Magh Bihu is associated with the construction and burning of the meji and communal feasting. The study also records a tradition in some Chutia areas of observing Magh Bihu on the first Wednesday of Magh.^[174]

Bohag Bihu follows a seven-day ritual sequence among the Chutias: Garu Bihu, Manuh Bihu, Gohain Bihu, Dangaria or Oja Bihu, Lakhimi or Kutum Bihu, Deo or Mela Bihu, and Sat or Chera Bihu.^[174] On Garu Bihu, jetuli paka (wild raspberry) is hung at doorways against harmful spirits, while portions of the bamboo chaat and leaves of dighlati and makhiati used in the cattle rites are retained in cowsheds and fields for protection; the following morning, whether cattle are found awake or asleep and the outcome of egg-fighting are interpreted as omens for the coming agricultural year.^[175][ad] Manuh Bihu includes preparing 101 leaves and eating amrali or weaver ant eggs, traditionally associated with fertility and increase of the community.^[176] On Gohain Bihu, an image of the Gosani was traditionally bathed and carried from house to house with music and received with cloth, incense and earthen lamps; Dangaria/Oja Bihu included worship of deceased ancestors, while Lakhimi Bihu involved lighting lamps at granaries and doorways. The sixth-day Deo/Mela Bihu included traditions of spirit possession, in which a possessed person danced with a dao, was believed capable of prophecy, and was subsequently ritually pacified.^[177]

In Chutia ritual tradition, Bohag Bihu is associated with the sacred saals of Sadiya. The Hurai Rangali ceremony represents the ceremonial bringing of Bihu from heaven to earth through the saal by means of religious songs, with Ai Kalimati or Kecaikhati associated with its descent. The four saals of Sadiya are regarded in this tradition as the point from which the Chutia Bihu proceeds, and Hurai Rangali is performed there on the first Wednesday of Bohag; a related observance is performed at Harhi Devalaya in Dhakuakhana on the seventh day of Bohag.^[178]

The opening observances also include an ancestral rite known as mritakak diya or holita-loguwa, in which food traditionally eaten by deceased family members is offered together with betel nut and leaf, homemade rice wine Saj and an earthen lamp, and their blessings are sought for the welfare of the household.^[179] A comparable ancestral observance forms part of the Deori Ebaku Bishu (Bohag Bisu), in which the head of the household offers pinda to deceased family members after the ceremonial bathing and worship of cattle; recorded offerings include meat, fish, black lentils and Sujen, the traditional Deori rice beer.^[180][181]

An older agricultural observance associated with ahu rice cultivation is the Jalukia Khowa Utsav. Traditionally observed on the first day of sowing ahu paddy, it involved inviting the cultivators to a communal meal after the beginning of agricultural work. Fish such as barali, saal or kuhi were cooked with yam leaves and black pepper, the peppered food being traditionally believed to relieve bodily pain caused by agricultural labour. The observance has largely declined, although it continues in some Chutia localities.^[182]

A number of local Bihu traditions are also preserved among the Chutias, including Chotor Rati Bihu, Toka Bihu, Dharma Husari and Bar Bihu.^[183] Bar Bihu is a rare, male-only daytime form of Husori, still recorded at Barhola and Bosa Doiyang, in which songs of Manikonwar and Phoolkonwar are performed to several distinctive rhythms and musical instruments.^[184][ae] In Toka Bihu, women play several forms of the toka, which are hung from trees at the conclusion of the performance while wishes are made; the traditional gathigi head-cloth is specifically associated with this Bihu.^{[185][186][af]} Dharma Husari, preserved in the Barekuri area of Tinsukia, is a highly ritualised form performed only at long intervals; beginning on Goru Bihu, it requires participants to undertake vows and observe ritual restrictions, prohibits ordinary merriment, and includes songs of Manikonwar and Phoolkonwar.^[187]

Chotor Rati Bihu survives at places such as Barhola and Basa Daiyang in the Jorhat–Golaghat region, where young men and women traditionally perform at night beneath large mango or aahat trees, singing jura naam and songs of love and separation and holding pepa competitions.^[188] A comparable nocturnal Bisu tradition is preserved among the Deoris, among whom young people gather during Phagun and Chaitra for communal rehearsals, while singing and dancing during Bohagiyo Bisu may continue through the night.^[189] Chot Bihu is associated with the youthful aspect of the goddess Kolimati; the flowering of the tarua kadam is regarded as a sign of her attaining youth and heralding the beginning of the festival.^[190]

Food and cuisine

Rice is the staple food of the Chutias. Traditional rice preparations include paita bhat, in which cooked rice is soaked in water overnight, and korkora bhat, made from leftover rice kept without water. Rice cakes or pitha and forms of jalpan such as chira (flattened rice) and sandoh (roasted rice powder) are also commonly consumed.^[191] Leafy vegetables also form part of the traditional diet. Recorded varieties include Chutia lai, a type of mustard green, and Chutia lofa. The latter is independently identified in Assamese ethnobotanical literature as common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) whose leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Chutia lofa is also recorded among the plants traditionally collected for the herbal preparation associated with Bohag Bihu.^[191][192] Other traditional preparations include fermented bamboo shoots (bah gaaj), various forms of pitika made from mashed fish, potato, meat or other ingredients, and khar, an alkaline preparation associated with Assamese cuisine.^[191]

Non-vegetarian foods traditionally recorded among the Chutias include duck, pork, fish, mutton or goat meat, pigeon and other birds, deer, eri silkworm pupae or cocoons, and insects such as amrali (red ants with their eggs) and jebangkari, the latter being consumed with traditional rice liquor in rural areas.^[191] Meat is also preserved by drying. Buranjis record a Chutia-period bharal for storing dried meat under the charge of a Bharali official.^[193] Swamp eel (kusia) and crabs are also consumed, although dietary practices varied between religious sections of the community. The more Vaishnavite Kesa-panthi or Hindu Chutias traditionally did not rear pigs or hens and avoided saal, singi, kusia and crab; these restrictions are specifically attributed to Vaishnavite influence.^[194] There are restrictions on pork and alcohol as well among the Kesa-panthis, while beef is described as prohibited for all groups.^[191][ag]

This, however, contrasts with the Paka-panthi tradition, in which meat and rice liquor forms part of several ritual observances. In offerings to deceased ancestors, Paka-panthis offer homemade liquor with chicken curry, while Bar Sewa or Bar Sakam, described by Mahanta as an original Paka-panthi observance, involved homemade liquor with chicken or pork. In Aai Sakam, wine and the meat of a white fowl are offer, while another form known as paka sakam consisted of rice with meat and sometimes wine.^[195][196]

Duck features prominently in recorded meat preparations. Duck cooked with ash gourd (kumura) is described as a favourite preparation, while duck is also cooked with pumpkin or bamboo shoots. Other recorded dishes include duck intestine with banana stem, likewise described as a favourite food, duck with sandoh guri (roasted rice powder), and a preparation combining duck, black gram, rice powder and leafy vegetables.^[191]

Fish forms an important component of the diet and is consumed fresh, fried, roasted, boiled and dried. Traditional preparations recorded in the study include boiled fish with ladies' finger, fish boiled with jujube and Chutia lofa, and fish cooked with yam and kuji thekera (Garcinia). Small fish are also prepared as maas patat diya, in which they are wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in hot ash. Dried fish is preserved particularly as sukan maasar guri or sukati, prepared from small fish such as puthi, kuhi and seni which are dried above the hearth, pounded with yam and stored in bamboo containers for several months.^[191]

Music and dance

Traditional Chutia dance forms are associated with marriage ceremonies, religious observances, Bihu and other communal occasions. Kula Burhi Naas is performed during the Bar biya marriage ceremony while gathiyan is being pounded; a female performer assumes the character of an old woman and combines dance with humorous dialogue before blessing the bride and groom. Pani Tula Naas is another marriage-associated performance, traditionally performed by women and girls when ceremonial water for bathing the bride is brought to the household.^[197]

Religious and seasonal performances include Dharma Husari, a highly regulated form of Husori preserved in the Barekuri area of Tinsukia district, as well as Chotor Rati Bihu, Toka Bihu and Bar Bihu. Toka Bihu is characterised by the use of several forms of the toka percussion instrument, while Bar Bihu is a daytime Husori tradition accompanied by instruments such as the dhol, pepa, toka and gagana.^[197] Other recorded forms include Jaja Nritya, performed by adult men, and Ronua Nritya or Ron Nritya, a traditional war dance in which performers dance in a circle carrying swords.^[197]

Traditional performances employ a range of musical instruments also found in the wider musical culture of Assam. These include the dhol, buffalo-horn pepa, bamboo gagana, clay sutuli, various forms of toka, chaksani, bahi (flute), daba and taal. Different forms of the toka, including mati toka, dahin toka, haat toka and muthi toka, are particularly associated with Toka Bihu.^[198]

Traditional attire

Male attire

Traditional Chutia male attire consists of the Chutia paguri (headgear), Chutia sula (shirt), churia (lower garment), gamusa or bisuwan (scarf), cheleng sador (shawl) and tangali (waist-cloth). Cotton, eri, muga and pat silk were traditionally used; royal and wealthier sections wore muga and pat, including finer champa and mejankari varieties, whereas ordinary people generally used cotton, eri and ordinary muga, with cotton particularly used in summer and eri in winter.^{[199][200][ah]}

The Chutia paguri was traditionally tied in the Xatphul or Sarpa Paag, Ronuwa or Junga Paag, and Enajori or Bihuwan Paag forms; the Xatphul and Enajori remain in use, while representations of the Ronuwa and Enajori have been identified in terracotta plaques from Bhismaknagar, the Tamreswari Temple and Hatiduba at Sadiya.^[164] The short churia, back-opening Chutia sula, gamusa/bisuwan, Tangali and Cheleng Chador constituted the other principal male garments, while a protective cloth called Kawas kapoor or Suraksha kapoor is also recorded in Chutia tradition.^[200][ai]

Women's attire

Traditional Chutia women's attire varies according to age and marital status: before puberty girls traditionally wear a Baiga over the upper body and a mekhela or Igu from the waist downward, while after puberty the Riha or Risa replaces the Baiga as a chest-wrapper until marriage.^[207][208] Married women traditionally wear a longer mekhela drawn up to the bosom with the Kokal-bandha, Gathigi and a Chador, while the Riha is now used mainly during Bihu, marriage, temple visits and other ceremonies.^[200][aj]

The Mekhela (Igu) and Riha (Risa) are the principal garments, supplemented by the Gathigi, Dukothia, Chador, Pachkathiya, Kokalmora, Hasoti with Dabua Katari, and the eri Jaki chula; traditional female ornaments include Madoli, Dugdugi, Junbiri, Thuria, Gam-kharu, Bena, Gejara, Sithipati and Kakali.^[200][199] The decorated Harudai or Sorudoi Jaapi was traditionally worn by brides and is also associated with Chutia royal and ceremonial culture.^[210][ak]

Oral literature

The Chutias possess a body of oral literature consisting of folktales, legends, lullabies, folk songs, ballads, proverbs and riddles. Recorded folktales include the stories of Japara and Jagadha and Deolara Mani Konwar, while traditions concerning Rukmini, Sadhani and Jonagabharu are preserved as legends.^[221]

Chutia folk songs are associated with marriage, religious observances, festivals and everyday activities. They include Biya Gaan or marriage songs, Dheki Tana Geet, Bihu songs and religious songs.^[221] Another form is the Dholor Malita, a type of ballad in which an oja renders successive stanzas accompanied by the beating of the dhol, cymbals and dance.^[221] Proverbs and riddles also form part of the oral tradition, although a number of those recorded among the Chutias are shared with the wider Assamese society.^[221]

Material culture and crafts

Traditional Chutia material culture makes extensive use of bamboo, cane, wood and metal. Fishing implements include the jakai, khalai, polo, sepa, thuha, juluki, khuka and barashi, many of which are constructed from bamboo and cane. Wooden boats were also used for fishing, transport and other riverine activities.^[222]

Metal utensils traditionally used in Chutia households include objects made of brass and bell metal, such as the sarai, deksi, banbati, chariya and bankahi.^[222] Weaving was traditionally carried out on the taatsaal or handloom. Its implements include the ugha, chereki, raas, durpadi, maku, phoolkathi, goroka and mahura, made largely from bamboo and wood.^[222]

Housing

Traditional Chutia settlements were generally situated in riverine and agricultural areas. A Chutia village usually consists of about 60 to 140 families. Earlier, each family housed about 100 individuals in joint families.^[223] The household compound consisted of several functionally distinct spaces. The chara ghar served as a guest room and sleeping space for visitors, while the barghar was the principal room of the house and commonly contained a hearth and a dhoa chang, a raised structure above the fireplace used for storing and preserving household items.^[224] Other parts of the household included the mazia ghar, associated with cooking; the maral ghar, which contained household implements such as the dheki, paddy-storage containers and a hearth; a separate granary or bharal for storing grain; and the gohali or cowshed.^[224]

There also exists a tradition of an Eleng Ghar or Marang Ghar among Chutias, described as a raised or stilted communal house in which young men of the village stayed and received instruction in various skills and traditional arts. The person in charge of the institution was known as the Eleng Ghariya Barua.^[224]

Traditional games

Traditional games recorded among the Chutias include Ghila Khel, Dhop Khel or Hetali Khel, wrestling (Malla Jodha) and Nao Khel or boat racing. Ghila Khel is played on a set of squares drawn on the ground, with players moving a small stone or ghila while hopping on one leg. Dhop Khel, also known as Hetali Khel, is a group game played with small pebbles.^[225] Boat racing was also practised during festivals and other special occasions, with competing crews rowing in rhythm while songs were sung.^[225]