KAKHYEN MATRONS.
[21] Tamone, a Burmese headman of a village.
[22] Tah-sa-kon, a civil title equivalent to Commissioner or Administrator.
CHAPTER V.
THE KAKHYENS.
The Kakhyens or Kakoos—The clans—Their chiefs—Mountain villages—Cultivation and crops—Personal appearance—Costume—Arms and implements—Female dress and ornaments—Women’s work—Sheroo—Morals—Marriage—Music—Births—Funerals—Religion—Language—Character—How to deal with them—Our party.
From the summit of the lofty hill, fully two thousand feet above our camp, called Shitee-doung, which it became possible to ascend during the latter part of our stay, an extensive view was obtained. From it to the north a sea of hills extended as far as the eye could reach; to the south stretched ranges of hills covered with forest, save where little clearings showed the presence of villages; to the north-east lofty parallel ranges closed in a narrow valley with a river winding down it. These hills are the country of the Kakhyens. These mountaineers belong to the widely spread race that under the name of Singphos, Kakoos, &c. occupy the hills defining the Irawady basin, up to the wall of the Khamti plain, and are probably cognate with the hill tribes of the Mishmees and Nagas. The name Kakhyen is a Burmese appellation; they invariably designating themselves as Chingpaw, or “men.”[23] By their own account the hills to the north of the Tapeng, for a month’s journey, are occupied by kindred tribes. South of the Tapeng, they occupy the hills as far as the latitude of Tagoung, and, as mentioned, were met with on our voyage near the second defile. To the east, they are found occupying the hills, and, intermixed with the Shans and Chinese, almost to Momien. Here they, as it were, run into the Leesaws, who may be a cognate, but are not an identical, race. The two chief tribes in the hills of the Tapeng valley are the Lakone and Kowrie or Kowlie, but numerous subdivisions of clans occur. All are said to have originally come from the Kakoos’ country, north-east of Mogoung; and Shans informed us that two hundred years ago Kakhyens were unknown in Sanda and Hotha valleys. To give one instance of their migrations. The Lakone tribe have at a very recent period driven the Kowlies from the northern to the southern banks of the Tapeng. A Lakone chief, having married the daughter of a Kowlie, asked permission to cultivate land belonging to his father-in-law; receiving a refusal, he took forcible possession, and drove the Kowlies across the river to the hills where they now dwell.
Among these hill tribes the patriarchal system of government has hitherto universally prevailed, although a certain, or rather uncertain, obedience is nominally due to Burmese or Chinese authorities. Thus the Ponsee and Ponline chiefs had each received a gold umbrella and the title of papada raza from the king of Burma. Each clan is ruled by an hereditary chief or tsawbwa, assisted by lieutenants or pawmines, who adjudicate all disputes among the villagers. Their office is also hereditary, and properly limited to the eldest son, whereas the chieftainship descends to the youngest son, or, failing sons, to the youngest surviving brother. The land also follows this law of inheritance, the younger sons in all cases inheriting, while the elder go forth and clear wild land for themselves. Between Tsitkaw and Manwyne seven clans under separate chiefs are met with, each chief considering himself entitled to exact a toll of four annas per mule-load from travellers through his district. The chieftain’s goodwill being secured by payment of his toll or blackmail, that of the people follows as a matter of course. When the traveller quits the lands of one chief, he is handed over by his guide to the next headman, and is as safe with him as with the former. The tsawbwa is the nominal owner of the land, but a suggestion to a villager that the chief might evict him from his holding was replied to by a significant sawing motion of the hand across the throat. As a general rule, the chief owns the slaves found everywhere among these people. Most have been stolen as children, but adults are also kidnapped. The women become concubines, the men are well treated if industrious and willing. The children of slaves belong to the owner, but really are as well treated as the members of his family. When a tsawbwa marries, he is expected to present a slave to his father-in-law, among the other gifts. The market value of a boy or girl is about forty rupees, but that of a man not more than twenty to thirty rupees, or a buffalo.
Every house pays the chief an annual tribute of a basket of rice. Whenever a buffalo is killed, a quarter is presented to him. He is usually a trader, and, besides the receipt of tolls, derives a profit from the hire of mules or coolies for transport. Save in this respect, it was impossible to help being reminded of Scottish highland clans of the olden time, so many were the points of resemblance that occurred in the customs and indeed character of these mountaineers, though, to avert all possible indignation, I hasten to add that no parallel is intended to be drawn, especially as regards their morals or social life.
The Kakhyen villages are always situated near a perennial mountain stream, generally in a sheltered glen, or straggling with their enclosures up a gentle slope, covering a mile of ground. The houses, which usually face eastwards, are all built on the same plan as that tenanted by us at Ponline. The most usual dimensions are about one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet in length, and forty to fifty feet in breadth. These large bamboo structures are veritable barracks. The first room is hospitably reserved for strangers; the others form the apartments of several families, connected by blood or marriage, which compose the household community. The back entrance is reserved for the use of the members of these families. A serious demand for compensation arose out of the inadvertence of one of our servants who entered by the family door, and thus provoked the domestic nat. The projecting eaves, supported by posts which are adorned with the skulls of buffaloes and pigs, form a portico, where men and women lounge or work by day, and at night the live stock—buffaloes, mules, ponies, pigs, and poultry—are housed, while a bamboo fence guards them from possible thief or leopard.
Near the houses are small enclosures, where white-flowered poppies, plantains, and indigo are cultivated; paddy and maize are grown together on the adjacent slopes and knolls, which are carefully scarped in terraces, presenting often the appearance of an amphitheatre. The stream is dammed near the highest point, and directed so as to overflow the terraces and rejoin the channel at the base. Bamboo conduits are sometimes used to convey the water to paddy fields or distant houses. Fresh clearings are also made every year by felling and burning the forest on the hillsides. Near every village disused paths may be seen, which have been cut to former clearings, and along which a little canal has been carried. The cleared ground is broken up with a rude hoe, but in the cultivated terraces wooden ploughs are used. Excessive rain, which makes the paddy weak and the yield scanty, is most dreaded. Generally, the natural fertility of the soil more than repays the rude husbandry with beautiful crops of rice, maize, cotton, and tobacco, of excellent quality. Near the villages, peaches, pomegranates, and guavas are grown; and the forests abound with chestnuts, plums, cherries, and various wild brambleberries. On the higher slopes, oaks and birches grow in abundance, and large areas are covered with Cinnamomum caudatum and C. cassia, the oil of which is commonly sold as oil of cinnamon. Thousands of these trees are annually felled to clear new ground for cultivation and burned where they lie. Another natural production is the tea plant (Camellia thea), which grows freely on the eastern side of the hills, and suggested dreams of future tea plantations, cultivated by improved Kakhyens or imported Shans and Paloungs.