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

by Major John Butler

ANGAMEE NAGA WARRIOR.

London Smith Elder & C^o 65, Cornhill.

“In the world I am the most powerful and courageous; there is none equal to me. I am the greatest of all men. No one” (pointing to the skulls of his enemies) “can perform such deeds. Like to the clouds that thunder and hurl down fire-balls into the water to the destruction of the fish,—like to the tiger who leaps out to seize the deer,—like to the hawk who pounces down on the chickens and carries them off, do I cut up every one, and carry off their heads; and with these weapons” (dashing them together, to produce a clashing noise) “I have killed such and such persons: yes, I have killed them. You know my name. The greatest beast of the forest, the elephant, I first destroy, and after that all other animals too insignificant to mention. Such a hero am I, there is no one equal to me,” &c. &c.

The same scene is enacted for three or four successive days; when the heads being hacked and sufficiently danced about to satiate Naga revenge, they are suspended from the branches of Nahor trees. After this, the ceremony of tattooing the body is performed, and a most severe operation it is. The burnt ashes of a pot are pricked into the skin with the thorns of the cane: a great quantity of blood exudes, and the body swells to a great size. Being previously thrown into a state of stupid intoxication, the patient is left to welter in the dirt and blood for three days, unconscious of his condition. After this operation, the young sprouts of the Bhat-teeta tree being well pounded, are smeared over the wounds, and in the course of twenty-five days the patient is able to resume his avocations; upon which a number of pigs and fowls are killed, and a great feast is given; the heads of the enemies being brought down from the trees and strewed out upon a platform before the populace in the court, or Raj Moorung. For a whole month from the day of the massacre, the Nagas daily sing the war song quoted above, and dance and manifest the greatest excitement and delight.

All villages are not entitled to the honour of retaining the heads of their enemies; they must be kept in the village of the Khonbao.

In some Naga villages it is the custom, for a man who has committed murder in cutting off the head of a foreigner, to be joined by ten or a dozen Nagas in submitting to the operation of tattooing; which in such cases is an indispensable ceremony. The tattooing is pricked round the calves of the legs in ten or twelve rings or circles interspersed with dots; the thighs, the breast, the neck, the fingers, the back of the hand, the arms, the forehead, and nose, the vicinity of the eyes and the ears being similarly decorated. The poorest Naga peasant deems it an honour to have his body thus embellished with stripes, figures, and dots; and the omission of the ceremony would entail on him eternal disgrace and censure. Indeed, the tattooing determines the character and consequence of the individual; for by certain marks on one arm it is apparent that he has killed a man; when both arms and body are scarred he is known to have murdered two individuals; and when the face and eye-sockets are indelibly impressed with the tattoo, he stands proclaimed the assassin of three of his fellow-creatures, and is thenceforth esteemed a valiant warrior.

On the question being once put to the Nagas whether they would like to become the subjects of the Company, they promptly replied,—“No: we could not then cut off the heads of men and attain renown as warriors, bearing the honourable marks of our valour on our bodies and faces.”

If a Naga happens to be suddenly surprised, and cut off by the inhabitants of a neighbouring village, his corpse is quickly taken up by his friends and placed on a platform in the jungles near the road. At the expiration of three or four days they perform some ceremonies, and wait till a favourable opportunity occurs for avenging his death. The purpose is never relinquished, though its execution may unavoidably be tardy: by day and night they lie in ambush in the jungle, or on the plains near the roads, till they can pounce upon some unwary individual of the enemy. His murder is then communicated to his friends in a singular way. Forty or fifty Nagas, armed with wooden clubs, strike a large hollow piece of wood called a tomkhong, from which a loud, terrific sound proceeds, which gives token to the enemy that one of their tribe has died in acquittance of the debt of revenge. To such an extent does this vindictive spirit prevail, that the Nagas will wait for two or three generations devising plans for decapitating a member of a tribe who has murdered one of their clan; and when the opportunity of vengeance offers, they are sure to take advantage of it, regardless of the personal innocence of the man whom they select as the victim of their fury. The death of the victim is hailed with dance and song, and the liveliest demonstrations of joy: even the old men, women, and children seem in raptures at the announcement of the joyful tidings that their tribe has succeeded in taking revenge.

Naga Customs from Childhood until Marriage.

Ten days after the birth of a child the hair of the infant is shorn off, and the parents perform several ceremonies, inviting all their friends to a grand feast, on which occasion the child is named. On proceeding to field work the mother ties the child to her back, and whilst at work the infant is placed on the ground. When the child is about a year old it is left at home in the village, and the parents pursue their avocations unattended by their little charge. At the age of five or six years, some of the Nagas wear a lungtee (a small piece of cloth) round the waist. On attaining the age of nine or ten years the boy is called a Moorungea, and from that time no longer resides with his parents, but, with all the youths of the village, takes up his abode at the Moorung, a large building set apart for this especial purpose. The parents, however, still continue to provide him with food, and he is obedient to their will, assisting them in cultivating their fields. He carries a sword and spear, and wears the Naga habiliments. At fifteen or sixteen years of age he begins to be dissatisfied with his existence in the Moorung, and makes arrangements for taking a wife; generally selecting a cousin, the daughter of his mother’s brother. On these occasions the parents collect as much rice and liquor, and as many cows and buffaloes, as their means will admit. The girls all live together, like the boys, in a separate Moorung or house allotted for them; sometimes they reside in a house in which a corpse is kept, probably from the greater sanctity such an inmate would confer on their habitation. The youth is not restricted from visiting the damsel of his choice, and he adopts a well understood stratagem to ascertain her sentiments regarding himself. Whilst he is talking to her companion, he carelessly puts down his pipe, and narrowly watches her actions. If the damsel entertains any regard for him she instantly takes up his pipe and smokes it; from that moment the youth is satisfied of his conquest, and hastens to communicate the result to his parents, who arrange matters with the girl’s relatives. Presents of ornaments are sent for the girl, which she immediately wears; and an offering of liquor and tumbool pan (or betel nut leaf) to chew, being accepted by her parents, the marriage is decided on. After this, cows, buffaloes, rice, and liquor are forwarded to the house of the intended bride, and all her relations and friends are invited to a grand feast. An old Deodhunee (or priestess) accompanies the youth to the party with a basket of ginger, and the youth then addresses the chosen damsel, thus:—“This day I take you to be my wife. I will not desert you, neither will I take another; eat this ginger in pledge thereof—henceforth we are husband and wife.” The woman on this eats a bit of the ginger, and then the youth sits down; whereupon the girl, in the same strain, taking up a piece of ginger, says—“I am your wife, and you are my husband, and I will obey you as such. I will not take another husband, for we are husband and wife; in token of which you will eat this ginger.” The marriage ceremony being thus concluded, the youth, after partaking of the feast, returns home to his parents, and in the evening his wife joins him with baskets of food for her husband’s parents and his brothers’ wives. She thenceforth resides with her husband. From that day the husband ceases to abide at the Moorung, and after the lapse of two or three days, according to the village roll, takes his tour of guard duty at the Moorung. From the day of his marriage he commences the preparation of a separate house, upon the completion of which, in a few months, he quits the parental roof. Some Nagas will, however, continue to cultivate the land, and share the produce of their labour with those of their parents; but on the birth of a child the families separate.