Indian Antiquary Vol 08

SR No.: 032500
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 404
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 19 MB

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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[JULY, 1879.
sent of the Mabari, who are the owners,-indivi- duals having merely a usufruct. The reason given for this mode of succession is that it preserves the purity of descent.
ABHORRENCE OF THE Cow (ante,p. 176).--I have not found that any abhorrence of the cow exists among any of the Hill tribes which inhabit the mountain ranges of Asam; they nearly all keep cattle and eat the flesh, and I feel confident that no abhorrence of the animal is to be found among them. But these tribes do, with hardly any exception, abhor cows' milk, which they look upon as an unclean thing, and will neither drink nor touch it, nor will they allow their cattle to be milked. To my own knowledge this dislike exists among the Gâros, Khasias, Någås, Lushais, Kukis, Mikirs, and some of the Hill Kachåris, and it is the more extraordinary when we remember that these people are almost omnivorous. They will eat rats, snakes, elephants, and carrion of every description; in fact, it may be said that milk is the only thing they will not eat. I have quite failed to discover any reason for this dislike; a Någå whom I once asked for milk answered me-"You have drunk your mother's milk, why should you want more now P" and it may be that there is some superstition of that kind.
NAGA Customs (ante, p. 88).-I have myself on several occasions seen Någås wearing the ring in the manner described. It is universally B0 worn by the Tangkhol and Luhupa Någâ s, who consider themselves clothed in a perfectly decent manner as long as they wear the ring. In the cold weather they throw a cloth over their shoulders, but dispense with this covering when at work or in warm weather. The ring is made of deer's horn or a dark wood resembling ebony. These two tribes inhabit a tract of country lying to the north-east of Manipur between that country and Burma. There is very little difference between them except in name, the portion lying nearest Manipur being called Tangkhol, and the more distant Luhupa (Manipuri-luhup=a helmet) from the cane helmet which they wear in battle. They are a large and powerful tribe, numbering not less, and probably considerably more, than 20,000 souls. The greater part of them are entirely independent, and their country un. explored; they are a fine warlike set of men, and have hitherto resisted all attempts of the Burmese and Manipuris to subdue them. They are armed only with a long heavy spear, the shaft of which is about ten feet, and the blade from two feet to two foet six inches in length. The northern members of this tribe practise tattooing, and the men of the whole tribe shave their heads on both sides, leaving a ridge of hair in the middle resembling a cock's
comb; their reason for this they say is to distinguish them from the women. The women are well and decently clothed contrary to the custom of a neighbouring tribe, in which the men are decently clothed, while the women are entirely naked.-G. H. DAMANT.
BUNGALOW (ante, p. 173).- In the song of Mánik Chandra, a Rangpuri poem published by me in the Bengal Asiatic Society's Journal for 1878, the first half of verse 244 runs as follows :
वान्दिलाम बडुला घर नाईपाड़ काली। Translated
"I built a humble dwelling, nor yet is it sullied by old age."
In Northern Bengal there are two kinds of houses, the TFT bangald, and it chaudri. The first means "Bangull," or "after the Bangal fashion," and is a style of architecture imported from the south. The people of Dinajpur and Rangpur (i.e. Northern Bengal) do not consider themselves Bang&lis.
The second word means “four-sided," and the difference between the two kinds of houses is as follows :-- Bangald has two sloping roofs, with their top edges meeting on a central beam,--and is, in fact, the style of bungalow in ordinary use throughout the country. A chaudri has four triangular sloping sides to its roof, which meet in the centre in a point, resting on a central pillar.
In Rangpur, the poorer classes live in houses of the bangald style, and hence the word comes to mean generally, "a small house." The chaudri style is adopted by the upper classes.-Geo. A. GRIERSON.
FIRE CAUSED BY FRICTION OF STICKS. --Some eight or nine years ago, while shooting in the Hills between Vizagapatam and Jeypur, I took refuge from a storm in the hut of a hillman just under Endrika mountain.
I asked the owner of the hut if he could make fire by rubbing two sticks together, and to show me how he did it.
He took a piece of dry bamboo, split it lengthways, and cut a notch on the convex side. He then tore a bit of rag from his cloth and placed it on the ground, under the notched bamboo, which he held tightly between his toes. He then got à bit of dry tamarind-tree wood (as far as I can recollect), and cutting a knife-like edge to it, shaped it to fit into the notch. He then rubbed this stick violently to and fro in the notch until dust began to drop on to the cloth. By and by the dust-laden cloth commenced to smoke; and after perhaps two minutes, he took it up and blew the cloth into a flame.