Abstract: Historical evidence demonstrated that Tripura has always provided a broad social framework for integration and assimilation of tribes into different tribal social formation. Although the Koloi were Kokborok speakers, they were counted as the sub-tribe of the Halam. Their migration story has four different directions. Looking at their clan structure, it appears that they were admixture of different communities like Reang, Tripuri and Mizo related tribes. The term ‘Koloi’ itself needs a careful examination. Festival, religious practices and marriage system resemble the practice of the Mizo and Tripuri. This paper delves all this issues.
Key words: Migration, society, Halam, Kuki, Mizo, clan, festival, religion and Ochai
The Koloi are normally understood as one of the sub-group of the Halam in Tripura. At present, their total population is estimated to be 10000. Their settlement areas are found in the village of Baishyamunipara, Jantranapara, Halua, Danlekha, Taichhang, Tuidu, Jaksai, Palku etc in the Gomati and Dhalai districts and Brahmacherra, Tuisindrai, Takai in the Khowai district and Darkhai, Taichharangchak in the West district and Kalai and Damcherra area of North districtof Tripura. They adopted Tripuri language called Kokborok as their mother tongue.
Although there is no clear cut agreement among the Koloi elders regarding the meaning of the term ‘Koloi’, many of them believe that the term ‘Koloi’ is derived from the word ‘Kului’ which means soft or mild in nature. Another theory claims that the term was derived from ‘Kol’ meaning tricks. The profounder of this theory said that the Tripura kings controlled them by means of trick. There is also a proverb to support this view which says ‘Kolkhaoi romnani bagui Koloi hin jago’ means they are made to obedient by means of trick (Abhinoy Halam: 2020, p.244). Others are of the opinion that the word ‘Koloi’ has been derived from ‘Kol’ in different tune that could means a spear. By asserting this they claimed that in any battle, the Koloi were very expert in using spear and so they are named as ‘Koloi’ . But there is no historical evidence to the above mentioned points. Therefore, we can put that the term ‘Koloi’ is a generic terms designating the people who share the same culture (Interview: Dasarath Koloi, 2011).
Koloi are regarded as the Mizo group who are assimilated to Tripuri tribe by the early Mizo historians (B. Lalthangliana, 2001, p.86). In Tripura, Mizo brethren are known by three different names, namely Halam, Kuki and Lushai till now. Lushai are clearly understood as the Mizo of Tripura living in the Zampui hill with their Duhlian speaking dialect and there is no Koloi among them. It is pertinent to enquire the composition of the Halam and the Kuki at the outset. In history of Tripura, there was no clear cut differentiation between the Halam and the Kuki. Those tribes who surrender to the kings were given the title-Halam in the same way; those tribes who did not surrender to the kings were called the Kuki (Dr. RN Sen, 2011, p.31). In addition, before the appearance of the term ‘Halam’ we see references of Kuki in Rajmala during the time of Dhanya Manikya between 1490 to 1520 AD. (Shri Rajmala, 1999, pp.67-71). It may be cleared that the term Kuki is earlier than the term Halam. Halam and Kuki are the same people but they were given different names by the Tripura kings for their administrative convenience. According to the record of the govt. of Tripura, Kuki includes Darlong, Lushai, Rokum, Betu (Betlu) and Pautu. Major sub-clans of Halam are Koloi, Korbong, Kaipeng, Bong, Sakechep, Thangachep, Dap, Bongcher, Molsom, Rupini, Rangkhol, Ranglong, Marchapang, Saihmar, Murasing and Uchoi. (SK Dev Varman, 1986, p.35). The last two names of Murasing and Uchoi are not the Mizo related group.
Migration into Tripura
Regarding their migration into Tripura, there are four different directions. Waplom clan is largest population among the Koloi community. According to Waplom tradition, they migrated from the Lalmai hill, which is located inside Bangladesh in the western side of the Tripura. It is observed that the first Koloi chief was from Madhuban in the western part of Tripura. From Lalmai hill, they moved towards Udaipur of the present Tripura in search of fertile jhum land and scattered gradually in Ampi, Teliamura, Tuidu etc.(Interview: Dasarath Koloi, 2011)
Another tradition maintained that their original homeland is Maniapur, located in the south western part of Tripura. They proceeded from Maniapur to Koka of Udaipur in search of jhum land. They claimed that after many years, the king of Tripura with the help of his intelligent officer subdued them by playing a trick. In this tradition, as the Koloi were powerful nomadic tribe, the King of Tripura could not bring them under his control. The king scattered money around the hill places where the Koloi lived, to lure them. The Koloi assembled there to collect money in a body and they gradually became obedient to the kings of Tripura. (Interview: Dasarath Koloi, 2011)
There is another tradition which claimed that the Koloi entered Tripura from the southernmost part of Tripura. Mr. Amulya Koloi of Baishyamunipara of Amarpur sub-division, who had thirty years’ experience (from 1940s to 1970s) as the chief, claimed that the Koloi first came from Arakan to Chittagong Hill Tract. From Chittagong, they entered Tripura in the present southernmost part of Tripura called Deopathar area. From Deopathar they moved towards Mauyangthonghaduk, Udaipur area, Batiban, Madhuban, Kumpuilong, Ampi, Tuidu, Gongrai etc.(Abhinoy Halam: 2020, p.245)
According to another tradition, few section of the Koloi claimed that their original homeland is Khurpuitabhum (SK Dev Varman, 1986, p.35). Even the census record of Tripura in 1941, the original homeland of the Halam is Khurpuitabhum and it was located in eastern side of Tripura. But, Khurpuitabhum is considered as Chhinlung in the present context, which is believed to be located in China. There is also another theory which claimed Koloi as the Kuki group and their original place is Thanangchi (Abhinoy Halam: 2020, p.244). Although the location of Thanangchi was not mentioned, it was believed to be there in the eastern direction, beyond the boundary of Tripura. Based on these two traditions, some section of section of the Koloi migrated into Tripura from the eastern direction.
Rituals and festivals
Festival and rituals are closely interwoven in the Koloi society. Some important festivals which are still prevailing in the Koloi society are given below:
Garia: The whole village performs this occasion into the house of the Village head man called Choudhury after collection of subscription from every household. If any individual family wanted to perform in their house they can do so but they must perform at least three to five consecutive years. In this occasion, they would make idol of Garia and immerged the idol like the Bengali Hindu practice. While accompanying the Garia idol to the river they would sing and dance with merriment accompanied by feast for the whole village. This festival lasted for seven days. Garia festival is observed in the month of April every year. (Dr. Dwijendra Lal Bhowmik, 2002, p.26).
Ker ritual: This ritual is observed to get blessing from the god. This ritual is carry out once in a year at the resident of Rai (Chief). Due to certain circumstance if this ritual could not be observed at the house of the Rai, they would shift to the Choudhury (village leader) house after consultation among the officials. On the eve of the ritual they would collect one bottle of rice beer from each house. On that day, all the people would gather at the premises of the Rai/Choudhury and the priest called Ochai would build Wathop (Bamboo structure) in the nearby rivulet and later on, they would sacrifice Goat. While observing this ritual they took utmost care to prevent any one moving out and moving in to the village. ‘Khong’(special structure to show the stranger that important puja is observing) is built with bamboo on the village border one day before the ritual. At the first night some sanctified indigenous herbs placing in a bamboo pipe are implanted on the four corners of the village boundary. They locally call it Mudra. Thereafter this pipe is tightened on bamboo with rolled cotton thread. Generally two or three Ochai are needed in this occasion. This ritual is done in three places. At first in a lonely place of eastern or southern corner of the village, the priest with his assistant called Barma performs it. These rituals are done for the prosperity of the village and the whole villages do together. This puja is observed at the end of in the second half of November or first half of December, on new moon day or on Saturday or on Tuesday. This puja has similarity with Kangpuisiam ritual of the Mizo.
Chuak Khanmani: This practice is normally held in the month of Agrahayana. In this period they observe a condolence of their family member who had died before by decorating the graveyard. Chuak (liquor) is poured on the burial site. They would sing a song and cry as a sign of longing and love. This ritual has similarity with Mimkut in its purpose.
Role of the Priest (Ochai): Like other tribal communities in the world the role of the Ochai in Koloi community is very important. He must belong to Koloi community and all the execution of the rituals are vested to the Ochai. He is also the village physician; when the villagers suffer from disease they would consult the Ochai and normally he would prescribe sacrifice of animal to appease the evil spirit that caused the disease and certain part of the sacrificial meat became the Ochai’s share. The Ochai are very orthodox and are against any move to refrain from the age old tradition of superstition and beliefs because that could reduce their role in the society. It is true that the Ochai played a very important role in maintaining social unity and integrity by presenting traditional usage and customs. However the present generation are against the role of the Ochai due to medical facilities and the knowledge of scientific ideas from the education , in this way the role of the Ochai do not get proper respect and honour like before (Interview: Dasarath Koloi, 2011)
The traditional rituals of the Koloi have blended with the provincial gods and goddesses of the large section of Bengali people. Besides, performing their own rituals they also perform Laxmi puja, Saraswati puja etc. of the plain people. Bengali influence may be found in their funeral ceremony and in marriage ceremony. Among the Koloi trait of Hindu that are found includes Vaishnavis and Sukta sects.
System of marriage
Man is a social being. He always wants to live in a social unit. The simplest form of social unit based on marriage is a family. The first institution in any social organization is the family which is formed by marriage. Marriage is a legal tie between a man and woman of living together or in other words, marriage may be viewed simply as a ceremony for recognizing formal union between man and woman.
Broadly speaking, there were two kinds of marriage in the Koloi society; marriage by service (Chamani Tangmani) and marriage by negotiation (Kamjuk Rahamani). When the two party agreed the marriage proposal, they would sit together to negotiate the mode of marriage whether marriage by service of marriage by negotiation. It is called fixation ceremony (Chhwnglai Mani). In olden days, on eve of the Chhwnglai Mani ceremony, the fortune of the marriage was predicted by the priest called Ochai.
Marriage by service: This practice seems to have its origin long time back but the ceremony attach to it imitates the Bengali Hindu practices. In this system the bridegroom is to serve in the potential father-in-law’s house for a certain period. There is no fix period for this service, but normally it ranges from three to eight years. During the service episode, he would do all the works at home and in the jhum land. After the completion of the service period he may return home with his wife. If he wishes, he may stay separately at the house of his father-in law. (Dr. Chandika Basu Majumdar, 2002, pp.9-10)
Marriage by negotiation: If a marriage is not settled by service then generally the ceremony is held at the premises of the bridegroom. The bridegroom normally gives certain amount of money to the bridegroom’s father. This marriage is called Hamjuk Rahamani. In this system the bride is brought to the house of the bridegroom (Anugatami Akhanda, 1995, pp.15-19).
In olden days marriage by service was most prevalent in Koloi society. Later on marriage by negotiation was introduced. At present the system of marriage by service is almost abandoned. There is no specific mention of marriageable age of Koloi, only thing is that the couple must be efficient and skillful young man and woman. The marriage of a person, especially a girl must take place at a comparatively younger age. As long as the young boys were not physically able for jhum cultivation and young girls were not fully equipped with the cooking ability and weaving of cloth, question of marriage did not arise. There was no dowry system among the Koloi. In earlier period marriage was performed by the priest (Ochai). Later on the introduction of Brahmin priest has started. Though marriage is confined within their community, in the present context, marriage with the Tripuris, Molsom, Naotia, Jamatia and the Reang could be found.
Clan structure
There are seven clans among the Koloi namely Waplom, Wakbur, Rujgui, Bukang Kuchhu, Abel, and Chorai. The detail may be given as follows:
- Waplom: They are the biggest group among the Koloi. The word ‘Waplom’ is derived from two Kokborok words, ‘Wa’ means bamboo and ‘Boplom’, means the white portion in bamboo. They were known for their white body complexions (Interview: Dasarath Koloi, 2011).
- Wakbur: The word ‘Wakbur’ is a compound of two Kokborok words, ‘Wa’ means bamboo and ‘bur’ means raft. It is said that this group were fond of travelling by yacht (raft). And they entered Tripura by using bamboo raft. It is believed that this group has similarity with the Reang in many aspects. Reang migration route from Chittagong hill tract into Tripura has identical with the Wakbur section of migration story. The old folks still memorize their story of oppression they suffered from the Reang chief named Kakek in Chittagong. Besides, religious festivals, culture and folk-lore of the Koloi have similarity with those of the Reang.
- Rujgui: They are considered as very expert to adjust themselves with other neighbouring people and so they are called Rujgui. It is said that many outsiders’ communities have merged into this group.
- Kuchhu: The number of this group is very few
- Abel: Most of this section came from the Kuki community. The term ‘Abel’ is derived from Kokborok word ‘Abichha’ which means child. At certain point of time, the population of this section was very less and they were compared with children. They also called this people as Betu (wild). People of this section are residing at Taidu village in Amarpur sub-division (Interview: Brojo Molsom, 2011).
- Bukang: The people of this group are generally strong and stout and they are known for their ability to eat food. They are fond of one pea vegetable called Baikang and they are known as Bukang. Concentration of this people may be found in Baishyamunipara of Amarpur sub-division.
- Chorai: This group is very less in number.
The first four sub-clans belong to the mainstream Koloi tribe. The remaining three sub clans were from other Halam-Kuki tribes assimilated to Koloi society (Abhinoy Halam: 2020, p.245)
There are controversies among the writers regarding the inclusion of the Koloi in the Halam group. According to Dr. Subhas Chattopadhyay, in 1961, eight groups of tribal viz. Tripura, Reang (Bru), Noatia, Jamatia, Rupini, Koloi, Uchoi and Murasing belongs to a single language family. They are commonly called Tripuri. The language they usually speak is called Kokborok and they belong to Bodo group of Tibeto-Burman family. Kuki and Halam were normally settled at top of the hill whereas the Koloi generally do not live on the top of the hills. They usually live on the plain areas like the Tripuri.
According to Brojo Molsom, there were many matrimonial relationships between Molsom and Koloi in the past. There is no social bar to settle any matrimonial relations of the Koloi and other tribal. Regarding their connection with Molsom, Dasarath Koloi said that in early days they would speak in Molsom language. After settling in the plain along with other Tripuri, they followed their way of life gradually. At present, though they forgot Molsom language, some Molsom words are still found in them. There are many similarity of tuning old folk song of Molsom and the Koloi. Moreover, the Molsom villages may be found surrounding the Koloi concentrated areas. Even the Molsom elder considered the Koloi as the Pautu clans, one of the clans in the Mizo group (Interview: Brojo Molsom, 2011).
There are also some blood relations of the Koloi with the Kuki. This is corroborated by oral tradition of the Koloi. Throughout history, there was constant change of identity among the Mizo groups. The captives and defeated group in a fight would usually lose their original clans and adopted the powerful group around them. Those who fled away would however, maintained their entity but sometimes they also adopted the larger new clans with which they lived. There are seven groups among the clan structure of the Koloi. Out of these seven sections, three sections has blood relation with the Kuki and Halam. Dasarath Koloi believed that some of the Betlu clan of the Kuki is assimilated to the Koloi society. People of this group are residing at Tuidu of Amarpur sub-division. Mr. Parbamoni Koloi of Tuidu is one such example. It is said that Mr Parbamoni forefathers lived in a Koloi village and gradually their descendants have become Koloi group. (Ram Gopal Singh, 1985, p.17)
Admixture of Reang and Koloi are also found in the Koloi group. There is similarity in the process of migration of the Koloi with the Reang. Moreover, the oral tradition regarding the migration of the Reang from Chittagong Hill Tract and entrance into Tripura which was prevailing has resemblance with such story of the Wakbur section of the Koloi. Wakbur group are the second largest among the Koloi population. According to Wakbur tradition, they were settled in the six Reang villages in Chittagong – Tuilongha, Tuiklaha, Somosoha, Taimosha, Iangsika and Paisika. The cruelty of the Reang chief named Kakek force them to migrate to Tripura during the time of Maharaja Govinda Manikya. Apart from the migration route of the Wakbur section of the Koloi, the religious festivals, culture and folklore of the Bru have many similarities with those of the Koloi. By taking all these into consideration, we can assume that there is admixture of the Koloi and the Bru.
There is a custom in the Koloi society that if anybody is willing to adopt Koloi tradition they can become the member of Koloi community by observing some formalities performed by the priest and the approval of the Koloi chief. This type of changing identity is quite common among the Mizo related tribe and this system is called Saphun in Mizo. By looking at the social formation, it can be assumed that around 20% of the present Koloi population could be made up of the Mizo groups.
Conclusion
In early days, different tribal groups were engaged in war and conflict for their survival. The captives and defeated group in a fight would usually lose their original clans and adopted the powerful group around them. Those who fled away would however, maintained their entity but sometimes they also adopted the larger new clans with which they lived. In this way, loyalty and identity were changed according to the need of the hour. So, it is obvious that there were social intercourse among different tribal groups. The social formation of the Koloi reveals that they are comprised of different groups of people especially the Kuki, Halam, Tripuri and the Reang to form a Koloi in the present day.
References:
- Abhinoy Halam, History and culture of the Halam tribe, TRCI, Agartala, 2020
- Anugatamani Akhanda, Marriage system of tribal societies of Tripura, TRI, Agartala, 1995
- B. Lalthangliana, India, Burma &Bangladesh a Mizo Chanchin (vernacular Mizo), Remkungi, Aizawl, 2001
- Dr. Chandika Basu Majumdar, Demodcratic heritage of tribes of Tripura, TRI, Agartala, 2002
- Dr. Dwijendra Lal Bhowmik, Tribal religion of Tripura: A socio-religious analysis, TRI, Agartala, 2002
- Dr. RN Sen, A socio cultural study on the Molsom tribes of Tripura, TRI, Agartala, 2011
- I gathered important information with my personal interaction of Brojo Molsom, who was 63 years that time in2011.
- I gleaned many information from my personal interviewed with a retired govt. servant, Dasarath Koloi in 2011
- Ram Gopal Singh, The Kukis of Tripura: A socio-economic survey, TRI, Agartala, 1985
- SBK Dev Varman, The Tribes of Tripura: A dissertation, TRI, Agartala, 1986
- Dr. N.C. Nath, Shri Rajmala Vol-1 to Vl, Tribal Research Institute, Agartala, 1999
End Notes:
- As they are not separately counted in the census, it is rough estimate of their prominent citizen, they are included under the category of ‘Tripuri’
- Gopal Singh Koloi, Koloi Sampradayer Niyamaboli(Vernicular Bengali), Unpublished personal note
- Dasarath Koloi heard this information from his father’s generation
- The Koloi system of counting a month which is equal to second part of November to first half of December.
- Since the Koloi could not remember their pre-Hindu period in terms of marriage ceremony, this is the only way to know their practices.
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Cite the original source:
Hmar, Dr Lalrinnunga. “Social History of the Koloi in Tripura.” Mizo Studies, X, no. 3, Sept. 2021, pp. 597–609.
Cite the original source:
Hmar, Dr Lalrinnunga. “Social History of the Koloi in Tripura.” Mizo Studies, X, no. 3, Sept. 2021, pp. 597–609.
