The Garos are the earliest human group that migrated into North East India from the Tibetan Plateau during the pre-historic period; the evidence of this being the Garo villages found across the Brahmaputra Valley, including many in and around the Guwahati metropolitan area and spread far and wide as far as the Chindwin valley in Myanmar. It is often put forward that the famous Kamakhya was a Garo shrine before it was stolen by the patriarchal Aryans during the reign of the Koch kings.
Origin and Sub-Tribes of the Garos
The origin of the term ‘Garo’ has been a subject of controversy. Different historians and writers have given diverse opinion about the meaning of this term. The tribe itself is known to outsiders as Garo but the Garos call themselves as ‘A.Chik’ or ‘Mande’. There are twelve sub-tribes of the Garos. They are:
1. The Chisak
2. The Matchi
3. The Matabeng or Matjangchi
4. The Ambeng
5. The Dual or Matchi-Dual
6. The Atong
7. The Gara-Ganching
8. The Chibok
9. The Ruga
10. The Me.gam
11. The A.wes or A.kawes
12. The Koch or Kotchu or Kochus.
According to Major Playfair, the Gara-Ganching sub-tribe received their appellation of GARA and that the name was extended to all the other sub-tribes and in time it became corrupted from ‘Gara’ to ‘Garo’. Again, he says that ‘the Garos never use the term except in conversation with a foreigner and always refer to themselves as A.chik (hill man), Mande (the man) or A.chik Mande. Yet another explanation is that the term Garo is derived from the Bodo word ‘Gau’ which means to separate and migrate. In Bodo, Gaoro-Gaolang also means to become separated gradually. The Bodos and the Dimasas regard the Garo tribe as being separated from them as ‘Gao’ or ‘Gaoro’.
Migration and Settlement
According to historians like Major Playfair, Rev. C.D. Baldwin, Fr. G. Costa and Dr. V. Venkata Rao, the Garos belong to the Bodo group who are also the members of the great Tibeto-Burman race and are said to have been cradled in the north-eastern China between the upper rivers of Hwang-Ho and Yang-tse-Kiang. The history of the migration of the Garos is contained in the ‘Katta aganna’ or epic lore in verse as well as prose which has been handed down from generation to generation. It is quite remarkable that the tradition of their migration from Tibet to their present places of settlement is still current among the Garos. The tenacity of oral tradition amongst the unlettered tribe is interesting and unique.
The place of their migration is known as A.song nonoini, Chiga Nengkuchotni or Timbori (Achik Lake or Inland Lake in Tibet). The Garos believe that they come from A.song Tibetgreni, Chiga A.pil jangsani. According to migrational records, there are eight ancestors who came along with their husbands. They are Himma, Dolma, Bisonma, Sikme, Donse, Ullongga and Ullonggi. The leaders of which are Jappa, Jalimpa, Sukapa, Bonggepa, Toginpa, Damjangpa, Ejingpa, Kusanpa, Dasingpa, Asanpa, Chupanpa, Kumapa, Rejapa, Kukrengpa, Nenggilpa, Nagongpa, Chongdapa, Panangpa, Rekinpa, Dopapa, Gisin Kalsin and Raji Dopa. The main reason for the Garos’ migration from Tibet was the lack of fertile land and water for irrigation. Thus, the Garos started migrating to their present settlements from Tibet under the leadership of the above mentioned chieftains. The Garos migrated towards the fertile valley of Assam and Burma from the uplands of the Himalayas during the early years of 1000 B.C. Among them the first group of migrating Garos settled down in the Brahmaputra Valley for a long time. They named the mighty river Brahmaputra as ‘Amawari’ or Mother River. Gradually they settled in the present day Garo Hills. The second group of Garos migrated towards the west from Burma, under the leadership of Raja Sirampa, Kotta Nangrepa, Basanpa, Dingat Dajepa through the Patkai Hills of present day Nagaland along Disang, Dike (Dikhaw or Dikhu), Zanji, Bokdai (present day Bhogdoi), Desai and Kadang (Kadang Korong River in East Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh) Rivers. This migration from the Arakan and Yoma Valley and Mandalaya (present day Mandalay) in Myanmar (erstwhile Burma) took place during the 11th Century.
The Garos presently settled in Nagaland are part of the second group of Garos who had migrated from Tibet via Myanmar (erstwhile Burma) in Mandalaya. It is believed that the Garos living in Myanmar constantly came under attack by hordes of barbaric enemies. Due to these constant attacks, they were compelled to shift their settlement to safer places. So, after a long journey across mountains and rivers, they came through Manipur to present day Nagaland in Dimapur. The group of Garos who came and settled in the present day Nagaland State like the other Naga Tribes was led by Nokma Muga Dingsepa, Sirampa and Ajimpa to whom the Garos of Nagaland owe their present generation. This ethnic migration of the Garos from Mandalay to present day Nagaland took place even before the advent of the Mughals in India.
A majority of the Garos who had migrated from Burma settled in and around the foothills of Samaguting (present day Chumukedima) though some groups scattered and settled in some Angami villages like Khonoma, Medziphema and Kohima Village. In those days, there was a village by the name Panbari near Samaguting (present day Chumukedima) where the early Garos initially settled after migrating from Burma. This Panbari village is no more in existence. The Garos shifted their settlements from the foothills of Chumukedima (Samaguting) to the present day Darogapathar in the year 1811. The Garo villages which are still in existence in Dimapur District under Nagaland are Darogapathar (1811), Dubagaon(1910), Ekranipathar(1942), Eralibill(1910) and Samaguri(1951). The Garos of Nagaland also strictly follow the traditional Garo matrilineal norms and practices of Chras and Maharis.
Though a minority tribe in Nagaland, they have not lost their identity and unique culture along with the Kacharis with whom they have historically maintained a close affinity by virtue of belonging to the same Bodo Race. The Garos of Nagaland also celebrate the Wangala Festival every year during which cultural programmes are conducted by various cultural troupes from within and outside the state of Nagaland. The Nagaland Garo Tribal Council (NGTC), Garo Students’ Union Nagaland Zone (GSUNZ) and the Garo Mothers’ Association Nagaland are some of the organizations that have been spearheading the preservation of the Garo culture, language and identity in the State. Barring a few families, most of the Garos in Nagaland are Christians like their brothers in Garo Hills but they have definitely not lost their touch with the common past of a culturally rich tradition of the Garo Tribe.
Because of all the above mentioned historical facts the Garos of Nagaland are an integral part of the Naga society. This is also to clear the air of doubt for once and for all that the Garos of Nagaland have not migrated from Assam or Meghalaya as is often misconstrued by many. This unique history of the Garos of Nagaland has been recognized since the statehood and therefore they are recognized as an integral indigenous tribe of the state by the Government based on facts rather than myths.
1. The Garos by Major A. Playfair, I.A, Deputy Commissioner, Eastern Bengal and Assam, 1909.
2. Gimagimin A’chikrangni A’dokrang (Lost Land of Garos) by Mihir N. Sangma, 1983.
3. Garo Hills Land and The People by L.S. Gassah, Dept. of Political Science, NEHU Shillong, 1984.
4. Garo Customary Laws and Practices by Dr. Julius L. R. Marak, Ph. D, Curator, State Museum, Meghalaya, 1999.
