Abotani
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Abotani or Abu Tani is considered the progenitor of the Tani tribes of the state of
Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...
in India. Abotani are located in
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
and
Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...
. In
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, Abotani tribes recognized as part of
Lhoba Lhoba (English translation: ; ; ) is any of a diverse amalgamation of Sino-Tibetan-speaking tribespeople living in and around Pemako, a region in southeastern Tibet including Mainling, Medog and Zayü counties of Nyingchi and Lhünzê Count ...
ethnic group. The Apatani, Mising,
Adi Adi or ADI may refer to: Abbreviations * Acceptable daily intake, in health and medicine * Acting detective inspector, a type of police inspector * Africa Development Indicators, a compilation of data assembled by the World Bank * Alternating ...
, Galos, Tagin and Nyishi are the Subtribes of Abotanis. They follow the
Donyi-Polo Donyi Polo is the designation given to the indigenous religion, of animistic and shamanic type, of the Tani and other Indo-Tibetan and Sino-Tibetan peoples of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in Northeast India. The name "Donyi-Polo" means "Sun- ...
religion and credit Abotani with the technique of
rice cultivation The history of rice cultivation is an interdisciplinary subject that studies archaeological and documentary evidence to explain how rice was first domesticated and cultivated by humans, the spread of cultivation to different regions of the planet ...
.


Etymology

The ''Abo'' or ''Abu'' means "father" and Tani means "human".


Oral history

The following story is told by priests (miri) among the
Adi people The Adi people are one of the most populous groups of indigenous peoples in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. A few thousand are also found in the Tibet Autonomous Region, where they are called the Lhoba together with some of the Nyishi peopl ...
: Other Tani legends reference Abotani: a woman in the Digo Ane region told him how to cultivate rice; Abotani was successful at rice cultivation thanks to his wise wife, Aio Diiliang Diibiu; however, he divorced her to marry another woman. The new wife's pursuit of leisure brought disgrace to his wealth; when Abotani realized this, he left the second wife and continued the cultivation on his own. Once he needed his sister's help to descend from a high tree he had climbed. Events in Abotani's life and his quest for rice are part of Tani traditions and are celebrated in different periods of the year (following the rice cultivation season). Abutani is a symbol of the struggle of humankind for food and prosperity and of the need for harmony between man and woman to bring wealth to the family.


See also

*
Tani people The Tani people include the Adi, Apatani, Galo, Mising, Nyishi, and Tagin ethnic groups of India and China. As members of the Tibeto-Burman ethnic group, they speak various Tani languages and primarily reside in the Indian states of Arunac ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abotani Donyi-Polo Year of birth unknown Mising people Tibetan people Ethnic groups in Northeast India