Mishmi people

Diorama of Idu Mishmi people in Jawaharlal Nehru Museum, Itanagar

The Mishmi or Deng people of Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh are an ethnic group comprising mainly three tribes: Idu Mishmi (Idu Lhoba); Digaro tribe (Taraon, Darang Deng), and Miju Mishmi (Kaman Deng). The Mishmis occupy the northeastern tip of the central Arunachal Pradesh in Upper and Lower Dibang Valley, Lohit and Anjaw Districts/Medog County. The three sub-divisions of the tribe emerged due to the geographical distribution, but racially all the three groups are of the same stock. The Idu are also known as Yidu Lhoba in Tibet and often referred as Chulikatas in Assam. The Idus are primarily concentrated in the Upper Dibang Valley and Lower Dibang Valley district and parts of the northern part of Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh in India. Taraon, also called Digaru Mishmis, are distributed in the hill and the foothills between the Dibang, Digaru and the Lohit rivers. Kamans are also known as the Miju Mishmis; they live between the Lohit and the Kambang rivers in the foothills and in the Mishmi Hills on both sides of the Lohit river right up to the frontiers to Rima.

The Idu Mishmis were the first to come from Burma. They were followed by the ancestors of the Digaru Mishmis a little over 500 years ago. The Mijus were the last to migrate from the direction of Hakamti-Long on the Kachin country.

In China

The Deng people (or Dengba, Chinese transcription of Taraon-Kaman languages: 代巴玫; Chinese: 僜人; Hanyu pinyin: Dèng Rén) are not officially recognised by the government of People's Republic of China. They live in nine villages in Tibet's Zayu County and virgin forest areas between the Himalayas and the Hengduan Mountains at an elevation of 1000 meters. Bradley (2007) reports 800 ta31 ʒuaŋ55 (Chinese: Darang Deng) and 200 kɯ31 mɑn35 (Chinese: Geman Deng; known as the Kaman or Miju Mishmi in India) in China, one village in Burma where they are known as Taraung, and the Taraon, Tayin, or Tain (formerly Digaru Mishmi) in northeastern India.[1] Many of them have migrated from China to India.

In 1985, the Chinese government tried to have an expert study the Deng, but the 10th Panchen Lama said "All the people in Tibet should be Tibetans" and "To recognize any new ethnic groups is to split our Tibetans." As a result, the project has been abolished.[2]

Origins

Members of the Mishmi ethnic group in northern Assam (1922)
“ Long ago, the world is a vast-flood. Deraogao created the earth, and the gold-people Ajiani married the eagle. Deng people are their offspring. ”

This is a story among Deng people. They believe their ancestor is Ajiani.

References

  1. ↑ Bradley, David (2007). "Language Endangerment in China and Mainland Southeast Asia". In Matthias Brenzinger, ed. Language diversity endangered. New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
  2. ↑ "Deng people about to disappear," National Geographic China magazine.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mishmi.
Wikisource has the text of the 1905 New International Encyclopedia article Mishmis.
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