The Singpho.—This people is said to have come from a locality between their present position and the north-eastern corner of Assam and the Chinese frontier. An imperfect Buddhism, and an unappreciated alphabet of Siamese origin, are the chief phenomena of their civilization.[107]
The Jili.—These are conterminous with the Singpho; to whom they are closely allied, in language, at least; seventy words out of one hundred agreeing in the two vocabularies.
The Khamti come in now. These have been mentioned as Tha'y in their most northern localities. They occupy north-eastern Assam, and are conterminous with the Singpho. The Khamti language, with its per-centage of ninety-two words common to it and the Siamese of Bankok, ten degrees southwards, has only three out of one hundred that agree with the Singpho, and ten in one hundred with the Jili. This shows the remarkable character of their ethnological distribution, and, at the same time, suggests the idea of great displacement.
The Mishimi.—These occupy the north-east extremity of Assam. With the Mishimi we turn the corner, and find ourself on the northern or Tibetan frontier. Here it is the most western tribes which come first; and these are—
The Abors and Padam Bor-Abors.—The first, like the Kuki, on the mountain-tops; the latter, like the Khumia, on the lower ranges.
The Dufla.—Mountaineers west of the Abors, with whom they are conterminous in about 94° East lon.
The Aka.—Mountaineers west of the Dufla, with whom they are conterminous in about 92°[108] East lon. The Akas bound Lower Assam, the eastern part of which lies between them and the Cachari country.
The tribes hitherto mentioned, although sufficiently numerous, represent the mountaineers of the Manipur and Tibetan frontiers only. The native tribes of the valley still stand over. These are—
1. The Muttuck or Moa Mareya, south of the Brahmaputra, and so far Indianized as to be Brahminical in religion. Their locality is the south bank of the Brahmaputra; opposite to that of—
2. The Miri, on the north.—The Miri are backed on the north by the Bor-Abors.