The Tani is a group of tribes from the Indian states of

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It share ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

, and the

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in Southwest China. It was overlayed on the traditional Tibetan regions of ...

of China which share common

Tani languages Tani (alternatively Miric, ''Adi–Galo–Mising–Nishi-Tagin'' (Bradley 1997), or ''Abor–Miri–Dafla'' (Matisoff 2003)), is a branch of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken mostly in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and neighboring regions. Background Th ...

and certain common beliefs, primarily in

Abotani Abotani or Abu Tani is considered the progenitor of the Tani tribes of the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India, such as the Apatani, Nyishi, Adi, Galos, and Tagin. The Mishing tribe of Assam also belongs to the Abotani group. Abotani tribes are ...

as their primeval ancestor (Father of Human). The group comprises

Nyishi The Nyishi community is the largest ethnic group in Arunachal Pradesh in north-eastern India. In Nyishi, ''Nyi'' refers to "a human" and the word ''shi'' denotes "highland".The Nyishis are mentioned as the Daflas in the contemporary Ahom do ...

, Adi, Apatani, Galo, Tagin, and Mising. They are also often referred to as the Tani group. With a population of 1.7 million, the Tani are one of the largest ethnic groups in North Eastern India. The Tani are scattered across larger regions of Arunachal Pradesh except Tirap, Changlang, Longding,

West Kameng West Kameng (pronounced ) is a district of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India. It accounts for 8.86% of the total area of the state. The name is derived from the Kameng river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, that flows through the distr ...

, and

Tawang Tawang is a town and administrative headquarter of Tawang district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The town was once the capital of the Tawang Tract, which is now divided into the Tawang district and the West Kameng district. Tawang ...

. The major part of the Mising tribe is scattered in the different district of Upper Assam. Thousands of Tani populace are also found across the border in

, China. The Chinese government recognise Tani as members of the

Lhoba people Lhoba (English translation: ; ; bo, ལྷོ་པ།) 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 Nying ...

History

Most of the residents of Arunachal Pradesh belongs to the five Tani tribes (Nyishi, Adi, Galo, Apatani, and Tagin) supposedly descended from

. The history of the Tani people is found in the ancient libraries of Tibet as the Tani people traded swords and other metals to Tibetans in exchange for meat and wool.

Tibetans The Tibetan people (; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans ...

referred to the Tani people as the Lhobhas; ''lho'' means south and ''bha'' means people.

Notable people

* Bakin Pertin (1st elected MP, 1977-79) *Lalit Kumar Doley (1st elected MP, 1977-80) *Gora Pertin (1st Speaker) *Jomin Tayeng (1st IAS) *Jatin Mipun (1st IPS, 1983 Batch- Ex-Director Fire & Emergency Services, Govt of Assam) *Mamuk Lego (Roing Founder) * Mrinal Miri (Educationalist, Padma Bhusan awardee, Nominated Rajya Sabha member) * Indira Miri (Educationist, Padma Shri awardee) *Mahi Chandra Miri(Assam's first chief conservator of forest) * Tabu Taid (Indian educationist, linguist) *James Onyok Tayeng (1st inducted IAS) *Tapi Mra (1st Everest Climber) * Jadav Payeng (environmentalist; part of the Mising ethnic group) *Shakuntala Doley Gamlin (1st Women IAS, 1984 Batch-AGMUT Cadre) * Dyuti Rani Doley Barman (1st Women IPS of Assam, 1986 Batch- Retired Director SVP National Police Academy)

References

Scheduled Tribes of India {{ArunachalPradesh-stub