The Boro (बर'/बड़ो ), also called Bodo, are a
Tibeto-Burman speaking
ethnolinguistic
Ethnolinguistics (sometimes called cultural linguistics) is an area of anthropological linguistics that studies the relationship between a language or group of languages and the cultural practices of the people who speak those languages.
It exa ...
group native to the state of
Assam
Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...
in
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. They are a part of the greater
Bodo-Kachari family of ethnolinguistic groups and are spread across
northeastern India. They are concentrated mainly in the
Bodoland Territorial Region
The Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) is an Autonomous administrative divisions of India, autonomous division in Assam, India, and a Proposed states and union territories of India#Assam, proposed state in Northeast India. It is made up of five ...
of Assam, though Boros inhabit all other districts of Assam and
Meghalaya
Meghalaya (; "the abode of clouds") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeast India. Its capital is Shillong. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the Assam: the United Khasi Hills an ...
.
Boros were listed under both "Boro" and "Borokachari" in The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, and are continued to be called so in the Census of India documents. Boros speak the
Boro language, a
Boro-Garo language of the
Tibeto-Burman family, which is recognised as one of twenty-two
Scheduled languages of India. Over two-thirds of the people are bilingual, speaking Assamese as second language. The Boro along with other cognate groups of
Bodo-Kachari peoples are prehistoric settlers who are believed to have migrated at least 3,000 years ago. Boros are mostly settled farmers, who have traditional irrigation, dong.
The Boro people are recognised as a plains tribe in the
Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, and have special powers in the
Bodoland Territorial Region
The Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) is an Autonomous administrative divisions of India, autonomous division in Assam, India, and a Proposed states and union territories of India#Assam, proposed state in Northeast India. It is made up of five ...
, an
autonomous division; and also as a minority people.
Etymology
Boro is the self-designation or autonym of the community. ''Boro'' comes from ''Bara-fisa'', which means "son of Bara", and ''Bara'' stands for "man" or "male member" of the group. In the cognate language
Kokborok, ''Borok'' means man ('k' being a suffix for nouns) and so logically, ''Boro'' would mean ''man'' even in the
Boro language. Generally, the word ''Boro'' means a ''man'', in the wider sense ''Boro'' means a ''human being'' (but not specific to a female member of the family) in the languages used by the
Bodo-Kachari peoples.
Language
The
Boro language is a member of the
Sino-Tibetan language family. It belongs to the
Boro–Garo group of the
Tibeto-Burman languages
The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non- Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people spe ...
branch of the Sino-Tibetan family. It is an
official language
An official language is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, "the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country's government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc." Depending on the decree, establishmen ...
of the state of
Assam
Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...
and the
Bodoland Territorial Region
The Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) is an Autonomous administrative divisions of India, autonomous division in Assam, India, and a Proposed states and union territories of India#Assam, proposed state in Northeast India. It is made up of five ...
of
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. It is also one of the twenty-two languages listed in the
Eighth Schedule of the
Constitution of India
The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India, legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures ...
.
Religion
Traditionally, Boros practised
Bathouism, which is the worshiping of
supreme God, known as ''Obonglaoree''. The shijou tree is taken as the symbol of Bathou and worshiped. It is also claimed as the supreme god.
In the Boro language, Ba means five and thou means deep. Since Boros believe in the five mighty elements of God – land, water, air, fire, and ether – the number five has become significant in the Bathou culture, which is similar to the five elements of other Asian religions.
According to Bathouism, before the creation of the universe there was simply a great
void, in which the
supreme being 'Aham Guru', Anan Binan Gosai or Obonglaoree existed formlessly. Aham Guru became tired of living a formless existence and desired to live in flesh and blood. He descended on this great void with all human characteristics and created the universe.
In addition to Bathouism, Boro people have also been converted to
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
, especially
Hoom Jaygya. For this worship through fire ceremony, a clean surface near a home or courtyard is prepared. Usually, worship offerings include a
betel nut called a 'goi' and a betel leaf called a 'pathwi' or 'bathwi' and rice, milk, and sugar. Another important Hindu festival, the Kherai Puja, where an altar is placed in a rice field, is the most important festival of the Boros. However, caste and dowry practices are not practised by the majority of Boro Hindus, who follow a set of rules called Brahma Dharma.
A majority of the Bodo people still follow Bathouism, but in censuses, they are often classified as Hindus, as their native religion has no official recognition under the
Indian constitution
The Constitution of India is the supreme legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and ...
.
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
is followed by around 10% of the Boros and is predominantly of the
Baptist
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
denomination. The major Boro Churches associations are the
Boro Baptist Convention and
Boro Baptist Church Association.
History
After the break-up of
Kamarupa
Kamarupa (; also called Pragjyotisha or Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa), an early state during the Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, was (along with Davaka) the first historical kingdom of Assam. The Kamrupa word first appeared in the ...
around the 12th century till the colonial times (19th century) and beyond different ethnic groups settled in different ecological regions but the constant movements and intermixing of peoples led to the development of distinctive but hybrid cultural practices. According to , even as different state systems emerged, expanded, and fell—such as the
Mughals, the
Koch, the
Ahoms, and
British colonialism—the Boros resisted entry into their fiscal systems and moved slowly but continuously to avoid them. Due to the expansion of these states and the expansion of tenured peasantry, the Boros were those who finally converged close to the forested regions of the lower Himalayan foothills.
In this habitat, the Boros practised
shifting cultivation
Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned while post-disturbance fallow vegetation is allowed to freely grow while the cultivator moves on to another plot. The period of cul ...
for self-sustenance and controlled forest products. To cultivate in this difficult terrain the Boros developed innovative low-cost irrigation systems that supported shifting cultivation. Landholding, sowing and harvesting, irrigation, and hunting were all performed collectively. As those who controlled forest based produce, they emerged as intermediaries in the trade in these as well as other goods between the plains and the hills and complex relationships developed. The Boros remained shifting cultivators at least till the 18th century and then slowly became less mobile; even during the colonial period, most Boros refused permanent land tenure or made no effort to secure landholding documents.
When the
Koch dynasty (1515–1949) consolidated its rule in the 16th century into the regions that the Boro people had settled in, it demarcated the region north of the
Gohain Kamal Ali—which came to be called the
Duars—as the region where non-Brahmin culture could thrive. After the
Ahom kingdom consolidated its power in
western Assam in the 17/18th century it made special arrangements with
Bhutan
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
to share administrative and fiscal responsibilities. But when the British banned forest lands from being used for cultivation in the last quarter of the 19th century the Boros suffered a major habitat loss since the forest lands historically used for shifting cultivation and the source of other produce suddenly became unavailable to them. To alienate indigenous peasants from their lands was a stated colonial aim, to make them available as labour in other enterprises.
Boro identity formation
Boros identity formation began in the colonial period, when the Boro elite and intelligentsia began differentiating themselves from the
Assamese caste
A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...
-
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
society.
["Bodos, who have historically shared their home with other communities in the Assam valley, were one of the first communities in the plains to challenge the Assamese ]hegemony
Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one State (polity), state over other states, either regional or global.
In Ancient Greece (ca. 8th BC – AD 6th c.), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of ...
. Under a broader appellate of Bodo-Kachari, they galvanized a political movement, mobilizing a separate identity from the caste-Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
Assamese community." The Boro, as well as many other communities as also much of the indigenous elite, were not exposed to education till the end of the 19th century, and it was by the early 20th century when a class of Boro/Kachari publicists finally emerged—a small Kachari elite formed in the early 20th century from among traders, school teachers and contractors. Foremost among them was
Kalicharan Brahma, a trader from
Goalpara who established a new
monotheistic
Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...
faith called "
Brahma
Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...
-ism" and most importantly, claimed for himself and his peers a new Bodo Identity. Whereas earlier educated Kacharis like Rupnath had few options for social mobility other than assimilating into the Hindu lower castes, thus the Brahma religion developed by the Bodos that asserted respectable and
autonomous Bodo identity while rejecting the cast dominance, and by the 1921 census the Boros began giving up their tribal names and identifying themselves as ''Boro'' by caste and language and ''Brahma'' by religion. Additional avenues, via conversion to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
, were already available by the late 19th century especially with the evangelical work of Sidney Endle who is also known for his tome "The Kacharis", and this formed a parallel stream of Boro articulation till much later times.
''Boro'' as a self-referential term for all Kacharis was reported by
Montgomery in 1838. ''Bodo'' was a term reported by
Brian Houghton Hodgson
Brian Houghton Hodgson (1 February 1801 – 23 May 1894) was a pioneer natural history, naturalist and ethnologist working in India and Nepal where he was a British Resident (title), Resident. He described numerous species of birds and mammals fr ...
(1847) as a
endonym
An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...
that, he speculated, encompassed a wide group of peoples that included in the minimum the Mech and the Kacharis. This led to two type of approaches to the Boro identity: one is the notion of a wide group was picked up by Kalicharan Brahma and his peers who posited the Boro identity in opposition to the caste-Hindu
Assamese,
and the other one, Jadunath Khakhlari who accepted the notion for the greater Bodo race but at the same time criticised it as a neologism and insisted on the use of the name Kachari and pointed to the Kachari's contribution to the Assamese culture to underline their historical political legacy. Those of the Kacharis who preferred to progress socially by initiation into the
Ekasarana Dharma are called
Sarania Kachari and are not considered as Boros today.
Pre-political Boro associations
The period from 1919 saw the emergence of different Boro organisations: ''Bodo Chatra Sanmilan'' (Bodo Students Association), ''Kachari Chatra Sanmilan'' (Kachari Students Association), ''Bodo Maha Sanmilan'' (Greater Bodo Association), ''Kachari Jatiyo Sanmilan'' (Kachari Community Association), etc. These organisations pushed divergent means for social and political progress. For example, ''Bodo Chatra Sanmilan'' advocated giving up tribal attributes and wanted women to follow the ideals of ''Sita'' of
Ramayana
The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...
. Even as self-assertive politics was on, the Boros were not ready to severe their relationship with the greater Assamese society, with even Kalicharan Brahma advocating Assamese as the medium of instruction in schools,
["On the question of territorial transfer of Goalpara to ]Bengal
Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...
, members of the various Kachari organisations claimed themselves to be Assamese on the basis of cultural affinity. As mentioned earlier, Kalicharan Brahma's efforts to introduce Assamese as the medium of instruction also point to a parallel political and cultural identification to an Assamese identity." and Boro associations seeking patronage from Assamese figures who showed sympathy for their cause. In the absence of an acknowledged past history of
state formation, the associations felt particularly pressed to show that the Boros were not primitive as some other tribal groups and at the same time did not fall into the caste-
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
hierarchy.
The demand for community rights was made for the first time when at the 1929
Simon Commission
The Indian Statutory Commission, also known as the Simon Commission, was a group of seven members of the British Parliament under the chairmanship of John Simon. The commission arrived in the Indian subcontinent in 1928 to study constitutional ...
the Boro leaders evoked colonial imagery of backward tribes and requested protection in the form of reserved representation in local and central legislatures. The Boro delegation to the Simon Commission included, among others, Kalicharan Brahma and Jadav Khakhlari. The delegation submitted that Goalpara should remain with Assam and should not be included with
Bengal
Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...
; and that the Boros were culturally close to the Assamese.
Boros in colonial tribal politics
The only human category in the pre-colonial times was ''
jati''. In the early 19th century the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
became interested in the 'tribal' question owing to situations arising out of insurgencies against local rulers who were seeking British protection; but over the years the East India Company/
British Raj
The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent,
*
* lasting from 1858 to 1947.
*
* It is also called Crown rule ...
evolved its role as saviours of the not the local rulers but the local people by offering to protect them against these rulers just as the primitive people of Africa needed protection. The notion of primitive vs non-primitive difference was further refined by the introduction of European notions of
racial
Race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of va ...
differences and by the census of 1872, categories such as 'aboriginal tribe' and 'semi-Hinduised aboriginals' emerged. The 1881 census proposed that India consisted of two hostile populations and thus did not possess a cohesive nationality. And by 1901 the official definition of a tribe was set down by Risley. Within this formulation
Northeast India
Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...
was seen as a special case that required separate legislation.
The elites from these social groups, including that from the Boros, used these categories for political articulation. The ''Tribal League'', a full political organisation, emerged in 1933 as the common platform for all ''plains tribes'' of the Brahmaputra valley that included the ''Boro'', ''
Karbi'', ''
Mising'', ''
Tiwa'' and the ''
Rabha''. This formation excluded the ''hills tribes'' which were not allowed political participation. The colonial state and ethnographers' desire to define the tribal people, the need of the people to define themselves, and the earlier pre-political associations were significant contributory factors in the development of the ''tribal'' identity among the Boro and other groups.
The Tribal League, which included Boro leaders such as Rabi Chandra Kachari and
Rupnath Brahma, succeeded in protecting the Line system in 1937 against the proposal by the Muslim League.
Demographics
Around 1.45 million Bodos are living in Assam, thus constituting 4.53% of the state population. A majority of them around 68.96% alone are being concentrated in
Bodoland Territorial Region
The Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) is an Autonomous administrative divisions of India, autonomous division in Assam, India, and a Proposed states and union territories of India#Assam, proposed state in Northeast India. It is made up of five ...
of Assam, numbering 1 million out of total 3.15 million population, thus constituting 31% of the region's population. In Bodoland's capital
Kokrajhar
Kokrajhar () is a town in the Bodoland Territorial Region, an Autonomous administrative divisions of India, autonomous territory in Assam, one of the Northeast India, North Eastern states of India.
History Under the Kingdom of Bhutan
From the ...
, they are in minority, forming only 25% of the town's population.
Folk tradition and mythology
The history of the Boro people can be explained from folk traditions. According to
Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...
winner
Suniti Kumar Chatterjee,
mythologically, Boros are "the offspring of son of the Vishnu (
Baraha) and Mother-Earth (
Basumati)" who were termed "Kiratas" during the Epic period.
Social groups
''Aroi'' or ''Ari'' or ''Ary'' is a suffix in Boro language, which means ''folk.''
Some of the important clans of Boros are:
#''Swargiary'': The priestly clan, with ''Deoris'' and ''Ojhas'' selected from this clan.
#''
Basumatary'': The land-holding clan.
#''
Narzary'': The clan associated with the jute cultivation and supply.
#''
Mosahary'': This clan is associated with the protection of cattle.
#''Goyary'': This clan is associated with the cultivation of areca nuts.
#''Owary'': This clan is associated with the supply of bamboos.
#''Khakhlary'': This clan is associated with the supply of Khangkhala plant required for ''kherai puja''.
#''Daimary'': This clan is associated with the river.
#''Lahari'': This clan is associated with the collection of leaves in large quantities for the festival.
#''Hajoary'': The Boros that lived in the hills and foothills.
#''Kherkatari'': The Boros associated with thatch and its supply, found mostly in
Kamrup district
Kamrup Rural district, or simply Kamrup district (Pron: ˈkæmˌrəp or ˈkæmˌru:p), is an administrative districts of Assam, district in the state of Assam in India formed by dividing the Undivided Kamrup district, old Kamrup district into t ...
.
#''Sibingari'': The Boros traditionally associated with raising and supply of sesame.
#''Bingiari'': The Boros associated with musical instruments.
#''Ramchiary'': Ramsa is place name in kamrup. It is the name by which Boros were known to their brethren in the hills.
#''Mahilary'': This clan is associated with collection of tax from Mahallas. Mahela and Mahalia are the variant forms of Mahilary clan.
Gallery
File:Bodo-Kachari 2.jpg, Boro women at Hornbill Festival
File:Kherai Dance of Assam.jpg, Kherai Group Dance
File:Kachári Girls playing Gogona.jpg, Boro woman playing harp
Notable people
*
Rajni Basumatary Filmmaker and actress
*
Ankushita Boro, Indian boxer
*
Jamuna Boro, Indian boxer
*
Pramod Boro, Former President of ABSU, President of UPPL,
CEM of
Bodoland Territorial Council
*
Harishankar Brahma 19th
Chief Election Commissioner of India
The Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) heads the Election Commission of India, a body constitutionally empowered to conduct free and fair elections. An election commissioner is appointed by the President of India on the recommendatio ...
*
Upendra Nath Brahma, Boro activist, known by the title ''Bodofa''
*
Sansuma Khunggur Bwiswmuthiary, former
Member of parliament
*
Hagrama Mohilary, president of
Bodoland People's Front political party and former
Chief Executive Member of
Bodoland Territorial Council.
*
Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary, former governor of
Meghalaya
Meghalaya (; "the abode of clouds") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeast India. Its capital is Shillong. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the Assam: the United Khasi Hills an ...
, retired IPS officer, former director-general of
National Security Guards (NSG) and the
Border Security Force (BSF)
*
Halicharan Narzary, Indian footballer
*
Proneeta Swargiary Dance India Dance (season 5) Winner
See also
*
Bodo Sahitya Sabha
*
Bodo culture
*
Ual (tool)
References
Bibliography
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Further reading
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External links
*{{Commons category-inline
Bodo-Kachari
*
Ethnic groups in India
Ethnic groups in Northeast India
Hindu ethnic groups
Sino-Tibetan-speaking people
Social groups of Assam
Tribes of Assam