A Sketch of Assam: With some account of the Hill Tribes

by Major John Butler

Their second and third attacks on the Koojoo and Ningroo stockades, defended by European officers, were completely frustrated. The Koojoo stockade was besieged for some days, but a sally being made on the enemy whilst the Singphoos were at dinner, they were defeated and fled in the utmost consternation. The Ningroo stockade was likewise at night suddenly attacked and taken by surprise, but after a short, sharp struggle, in which several lives were lost, the Singphoos left the stockade in greater haste than they entered it.

The Tippum Rajah’s sister was married to the late king of Ava, and she is supposed to be in favour with the present king. It may be owing to her influence that the Tippum Rajah is reported to be now Governor of Hookong, to take advantage of any opportunity to invade Assam. Scarcely a year passes without some such reports being spread throughout the province, and there is great reason to believe that the Singphoo insurrection of 1843 was raised at the suggestion, or at least through the connivance of the Rajah; as many Burmese or Shans under his jurisdiction crossed the frontier and joined the insurgents in the hope of plundering the province. Had success attended their first attempts, it cannot be doubted but that many more would have soon followed their example, in the speedy removal of slaves and property from Assam. But the real origin of the insurrection was the occupation of the Koojoo tea garden and other tea tracts. The constant desertion of the Dooaneah slaves and dependants, who are the people chiefly employed in cultivation under the Singphoos, besides the advance of civilization consequent on the establishment of a considerable village at Jeypore with European residents, was the source of much heart-burning. The occupation of Muttuck, formerly under native management, must also have proved distasteful to a savage people possessing a wild country and delighting in extensive hunting-grounds. These circumstances, aggravated by frequent quarrels with the Sipahees at Ningroo, the unauthorized apprehension of two Let Singphoos by the Jemadar, and a desire of revenge for the execution, many years ago, of Ningroola Gaum’s kinsman, certainly contributed to produce the insurrection of 1843.

Viewing the nature of our connection with the Singphoos generally, it must be acknowledged that the balance of advantage had been decidedly in their favour; for while we have been called upon to fight their battles, little or no assistance has, comparatively, been afforded us by them. Being a rude, treacherous people, little faith can be placed in them; neither can we expect they will be influenced or bound by any treaties not in accordance with their own views: in fact they have in no respect fulfilled their obligations to the British Government.

The Singphoo country is eminently unfavourable to the operations of regular troops, owing to its mountainous character, unrelieved by plains or table lands, the want of roads, the extreme scarcity of provisions, the absence of local means of transport, and above all the unhealthiness of the climate. The Government is likewise put to a great expense without commensurate benefit, for in such a rude and barbarous state of society revenue cannot be collected without the employment of military force; and this is not always adequate to the success of hostile operations, because of its paucity and the advantage afforded to the natives by the natural defences of the country: of which they are not slow to avail themselves.

In reviewing the different tribes of Assam, it may not be out of place to offer a brief sketch of one or two of the chieftains.

Wakut-chang-nang is the son of a Singphoo chief who submitted to Captain Neufville in 1825, and received a present of a gun and other articles from him, which he requited by firing upon the captain a day or two afterwards. The ball missed Captain Neufville and went through Lieutenant Kerr’s hat without doing him any injury. Subsequent to this, Wakut-chang-nang absconded to Hookong within the Burmese boundary, and only returned in 1835 to the Assam territory. During his sojourn within the Hookong territory he is stated to have committed several murders; and with the money accumulated by crime and robbery, he has been enabled to marry the Beesa Gaum’s daughter. From his having been the principal agent in breaking off the negotiation with the Duffa chief, and consequently the cause of the subsequent bloodshed, he was imprisoned during 1836–37 at Bishnath. He is now residing at Beesa, and is considered, as heretofore, an intriguing, dangerous character. The Beesa Gaum, having been implicated in the rebellion of 1843, is now a state prisoner for life; he is nearly blind, and his career may be said to have closed, as it is not probable he will survive many years. He was supposed to be a man of good sense and to possess considerable information regarding border politics, but of no enlarged capacity or superior energy of character, and totally incapable of forming those comprehensive designs which have been attributed to him. He is not of a warlike character. Most of his battles have been fought by others: for a Singphoo chief is not expected to head his troops in action. Nevertheless his disposition is sanguinary, and it is said his career has been marked by blood and treachery in a greater degree than usual, even amongst the Singphoos.

The Shan is the written character used by the Singphoos, and their language is distinct from any of the neighbouring tribes: they write on leaves and a peculiar kind of paper. As yet no European has sufficiently studied the language to appreciate justly the Singphoo literature, or to prepare elementary works for the guidance of others. Nor are we aware of there being any written works in the language either historical or theological. As civil members of society they are anything but good subjects, from their excessive laziness, immoderate addiction to opium, and general uncertainty of character. They are so indolent and improvident, that notwithstanding they have the most fertile soil in Assam, which yields fruit with little labour, and might be made to produce an abundant crop—notwithstanding, too, their freedom from taxation, grain is always so extravagantly dear, that during several months in the year the people are reduced to subsist on yams and other roots found in the jungles. Almost the whole of the field work is performed by the women and slaves, while the men delight in lounging about the villages, and basking in the sun, when not engaged in hunting or war.

The religion of the Singphoos appears to be a mixture of all the various idolatries and superstitions of the natives with whom they have intercourse. They seem to have no fixed principles common to the whole tribe. Their ostensible worship is that of Guduma, whose temples and priests are to be found in all their principal villages. They are also in the habit of deifying any Singphoos who may chance to be killed in action during a foray upon some other tribe or village, and of sacrificing to them as to their penates. On emergencies, such as famine, pestilence, or danger, they make offerings to the “Ning Deota,” God of the Elements, called also “Ningschees;” sacrificing buffaloes, hogs, and cocks. The skulls of the buffaloes so offered are afterwards hung up in their houses as mementos of their own piety.

Their funeral ceremonies are simple. The poorer classes burn or bury the body, according to the previously expressed wish of the deceased, and invariably make to the deity an offering of a pig, fowl, or fish, through their Deodhies or priests. On the death of a chief, numerous ceremonies are performed: the body is detained until all the friends of the deceased can be assembled, when buffaloes, pigs, and deer are sacrificed, a grand feast is given, and spirituous liquor distributed to the company. The corpse is then committed to the earth, the priest chants a prayer for the deceased, a clay tomb is raised over the remains, and the grave is encircled with a bamboo fence. Sacrifices are always offered up on the death of every Singphoo, according to the means of the surviving relatives; no matter whether death be caused by accident or war, or in the course of nature.

Polygamy, without restriction, prevails among the Singphoos, and they make no distinction between the children born of Singphoo women and those born of foreign or Assamese women. They reject with horror the idea of infanticide, under any shape or pretext. Marriage is only forbidden with a mother or sister: they may marry stepmothers, brothers’ widows, or any other relative. In the marriage ceremony the bridegroom has to present the parents of the bride with a Khamtee Dhao, or short sword, a velvet jacket, a silk Dhota, and a slave; the rich give gold and silver, buffaloes, and as many slaves as the wealth of the bridegroom will permit. The bridegroom has also to furnish a marriage feast to the friends and relations of the bride; and after the Deodhies or priests have performed a certain religious ceremony, the bride is delivered over to the bridegroom, and the jewels, &c., which are on her person, are returned to her parents.