Past Present Continuum: The Case of Megalithic Tradition in Northeast India
Smita Devi Bora*, Dwipen Bezbaruah
Department of Anthropology, Gauhati University, Assam
*Corresponding Author Email: smitadevibora1986@gmail.com
ABSTRACT:
Understanding the past cultural history of the ethnic communities has been an arduous task. Anthropological and archaeological sources can provide significant clue to the extinct cultural processes of the region. Megalithic tradition is one such practice which due to its temporal and spatial expansion has considerable significance. Apart from certain societies of northeast India like the Khasis, Nagas and the Karbis the tradition has also survived among certain communities of eastern India and southeast Asian territories. The tradition among the mentioned communities has survived as a commemorative or funerary practice. The ritualistic aspects of the practice also reflect several interesting aspects of the communities. The present paper is an attempt to understand these aspects of the megalithic tradition based on field data supplemented by literary sources.
KEYWORDS: Atenolol, Losartan, Validation, Simultaneous Equation Method.
INTRODUCTION:
Reconstruction of the prehistory and early history of the ethnic communities of Northeast India has been a difficult task due to non availability of written records and scientifically excavated archaeological materials. As such archaeological remains scattered on the surface and facts of oral traditions are the materials which can be fruitfully studied to know the past of these communities as well as the dynamics of inter-territorial migration and cultural diffusion through ages in this region. Interestingly, many prehistoric traditions have survived among the ethnic groups of this part of India which have an overt manifestation. One such example is the practice of megalithic erection which of late has been considered as an important field of ethno archaeological investigation. The occurrence of megaliths in almost over the entire world is a matter that evokes serious thoughts. Its occurrence is reported from European territories, south and southeast Asia, Mediterranean region, Africa, West Asia, Polynesian and Melanesian islands etc.
In India, occurrence of megaliths is reported from south Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, the Chotanagpur and Bastar regions of Central and Eastern India, North as well as the Northeastern states. The present paper is an attempt to thow light on the megalithic tradition of the North-East and its nature of continuity till present.
THE LIVING MEGALITHIC PRACTICE:
As mentioned earlier, megalithic practice has survived as a living practice among some tribal communities in eastern, central and northeastern part of India. Haimendorf1 reports that the Bastar Gond, hill Marias, Dorlas and Murias erect uraskal (menhir) and sometimes danyakal (dolmen) as memorial to the dead and the erection is generally accompanied by feast and the sacrifice of a cow and a bullock. Similarly among the Mundas of Chotanagpur, large stone slabs are put to cover certain graves and dolmen supported by smaller stones serving as family burial place where bones of the family members are buried. Other Munda speaking tribes and Hos also have identical megalithic practice. The Gadabas, Bondus and Keenghar of Orissa have the tradition of erecting menhirs, dolmens and stone circles for commemorative and funerary purposes. Stone erection with a feast of merit is reported among the Gadabas too. Similarly Keenghar erect menhirs when the head of the village dies. Besides stones, some tribes also erect wooden post. Thus the Koyas of Hyderabad erect a temporary forked post on the place where the memorial feast is performed. It is to be noted that on such occasions the sacrificed cows are invariably tied to these posts. Square wooden post are also erected by the Korkus of west central India and Raj Gonds of Hyderabad in course of the memorial feast of the dead individual Large stone slabs locally known as sasandri cover certain graves like the dolmen supported by smaller stones serves as family burial place.
Northeast India occupies a prominent place in the archaeological map of the world because of the rich megalithic remains. it is one of the few places in the world where this practice has still survived as a living practice. Realising the significance of NE Indian megaliths, J.P. Mills et. al2 reports, “An ethno archaeological characteristic of Assam is worldwide fame is its wealth of megaliths. Indeed it is one of the few places in the world where monuments of this type are still erected.” According to Clarke3 although none of the megalithic structures of the North East India has yet been dated, the custom of megalithic erection prevailed here from prehistoric period. In NE India megaliths are spread over a wide territory across the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram; NC hills, Karbi Anglong, Nagaon, Morigaon and Kamrup districts of Assam and eastern part of Meghalaya. T.C. Sharma4 comments that the greatest concentration of megaliths in NE India is observed in the Khasi and Jayantia hills districts of Meghalaya and that the region houses some of the largest pieces of menhirs. Some of the tribal societies of Northeast India are reported to have elaborate practices of megalithic erection.
The Khasis and the Nagas of North East India are known to be have the culture of megalithic erection. Various sections of the Naga tribes like the Ao, Angami, Sema, Maram, Rengama, Kanyak and others are known to have this practice amongst them. In the course of field investigation it was found that the western Angamis use to erect menhirs both as monument to the dead and also as memorials of social accomplishments of the living. Rich men put up menhirs in the course of great feast of merit by which they gain social prestige and rank. Even when a menhir is erected in the honour of the dead man, a feast of merit must be held by his son in the name of the deceased person and erect stones to enhance the prestige of the living. Besides menhirs, sitting places of stones sometimes consisting of several ascending rows of seats are erected by the Nagas to contain the grave of clan ancestors. N.S. Sen5 writes that among the Nagas, whose megaliths do not seem very closely linked with the cult of the dead, thought of the afterlife is not completely absent. Ceremonial feast of the Angamis is of seven grades, according to their cost, size and duration. Erection of only wooden monuments commemorates feast of the sixth grade. On the other hand, monoliths are erected as memorials to those of the seventh. The Angamis believe that a man dies seven times each time falling to a deeper underworld so, one purpose of the feast of merit is meant for upliftment of the soul of the donor after his death.
The Khasi menhirs are erected in a linear pattern that generally consists of uneven number of stones. The tallest of the stones is generally placed at the middle and is occasionally ornamented with a small stone. These groups of Khasi megaliths may probably represent clan burial. In the front of the line of the menhirs, a large flat table stone resting on stone support is placed. The largest table stone are to be seen at Nartiang in the Jayantia hills and Lailongkoti in the Khasi hills of Northeast India. Sometimes two table stones are found parallel to one another. The table stones are always placed towards the middle of the group generally in front of the great central merthir. These groups of stones are usually situated along the road where they readily attract the attention of passersby. Gurdon6 classifies the megaliths of the Khasis into the following three groups: i) Menhirs or Vertical Stones ii) Table Stones or Dolmen Stone iii) Cromlechs or Cairn.
S.N. Rao7, however, classifies the megaliths of Khasi hills into two broad group i) Funerary stones and ii) Memorial Stones. The funerary stones are directly associated with the post-cremation rituals including the disposal of the remains of the deceased. Memorial stones include the menhirs and the table stones which are put up by the clansmen to commemorate the dead or an event. The megalithic tradition of the Khasis tells about a closely-knit matrilineal tradition. That a prominent position is given to the eldest maternal uncle is reflected in the stone monuments with a taller central memorial stone (mawkni) erected in his memory thus reflecting the matrilineal solidarity in the Khasi social organization.
Stone circles erected as memorials for rich tribesmen are reported among the Nagas. Hutton8 reports that the Marring villages of Nagaland have as their sacred enclosures, circles of stones with a stone in the middle. Shakespear9 writes that there are records of Naga circle of thirty-two large stones in conjunction with a row of fourteen menhirs within which ritual dances are held at an annual feast in commemoration of the dead. Such Circular enclosure made up of smaller stones are known as kpep among the Khasis but these are not a common type among them as in case of the Nagas.
Erection of stone in the form a menhir with a table stone in front is still prevalent among the Karbis living in the plains areas of undivided Kamrup, Nagaon and Morigaon districts of Assam as a post-cremation rite. Compared to their hill counterparts, the plain Karbis mainly inhabiting parts of Southern Kamrup, Nagaon and Morigaon districts of Assam have undergone through the process of acculturation and many elements of Assamese caste Hindu society have penetrated into their life ways. But stone erection as post-cremation rite has stiff survived among them as a living example of a primitive tradition. The erection of a vertically placed stone in the form a menhir locally known as Long-e along with another flat stone slab placed on three or more pieces of smaller stones locally called Long-dang is observed by them after the death of a person. The ceremony is observed generally after one month of the death of the person and is marked by chanting of hymns in different steps and ceremonial offerings of fowl and pig meat and horlang (rice-beer of the Karbis) by family members and relatives of the deceased. Although variation exists in the practices from village to village there is an overall uniformity in the rite. An analysis of the hymns chanted on the occasion of megalithic erection among the Karbis reveals that besides propitiation of the soul of the deceased, there is an undertone of fertility aspect in it. The sacrifice of animal and fowl associated with the practice also supplements this contention. The practice has been recorded in detail by the present author (Bezbaruah: 2003)10.
Compared to the Nagas and the Khasis, the structural significance of the Karbi megaliths is not that elaborate. The dominant megalithic structures of the Karbis are menhir and menhir with a table stone in front. Structures similar to the third type are also recorded from Indonesia by Perry11 who has used the term dissolith for these structures. The functional aspect of the menhir in the Karbi society is the representation of the deceased, which is similar to a great extent to other tribes like the Nagas and the Khasis. So far the ritual aspect is concerned, all tribal communities have elaborate rites followed by animal sacrifice. The Karbis in the past were also reported to have erected memorial stones. Such stones as recorded by Stack and Lyall12 were set up by the Karbis only in the memory of the important personage such as the Sarthe or Sardars. The following table will clarify the differences and similarities in the megalithic practices of the Nagas, the Khasis, the Karbis and tribes of central India.
Table 1 showing comparison of megalithic practice
Si. No. |
Tribes |
Nature of the Practice |
Megalithic Structures Erected |
1 |
Nagas (various groups as Ao, Angami, Sema, Marams etc.) |
Commemorative. Feast of Merit, Funerary etc. |
Menhir, Menhir with a stone platform in front, Cist, stone platform, Alignment etc. |
2 |
Khasi |
Funerary, Commemorative, Associated with bone-deposition |
Menhir, Dolmen, Menhir with a stone platform in front, Cromlech, cist |
3 |
Karbis |
Commemorative. Associated with post-cremation rite |
Menhir, Menhir with a stone platform in front, Alignment |
4 |
Central and middle Tribes like Gonda Murias, Dorlas, Mundas etc. |
Commemorative. Sometimes associated with post-cremation rite. |
Menhir, Dolmen, Stone- platform. |
CONCLUSION:
An analysis of the erection of megaliths prevalent among certain communities of northeast India reveals many absorbing facts. First, it confirms the place of these communities in the Eastern India megalithic complex and this can further be extended to establish its link with Southeast Asia. This Southeast Asian belt is defined on the basis of its uniformity in structural, socio-cultural and territorial aspects. It further indicates the presence of a more devolved form of worshipping the dead, which is well knit to their socio-cultural system. The ritualistic use of rice beer and sacrifice of birds and animals to commemorate and worship the ancestor has been doubtlessly a part of the religious system of the early farmers. Haimendorf1 thus elaborates his argument, “Ethnologically it is important that this megalithic culture of the Southeast Asiatic type, as we may conveniently call it, is mainly concentrated among tribes of well developed agricultural civilizations, characterized by the use of hoes, shifting cultivation on hill-fields and sometimes also permanent cultivation on irrigated terraces and the keeping of cattle for slaughter, but not for use in the yoke or for milking. It is not found in the more primitive strata of Indian aboriginal cultures, neither the food gatherers and hunters, such as the Chenchus and the jungle tribes of the Southwest, nor the early digging-stick cultivators, such as Hill Baigas, show any trace of megalithic ritual.” The Karbis who still practice megalithic erection have a developed agricultural system characterized by wet cultivation together with shifting cultivation. An examination of the hymns chanted by the Kathar the Karbi priest on the occasion of megalithic erection reflects a deep concern over the well-being of the crops and cattle besides propitiating the soul of the dead which indicates an underlying principle of fertility and generation behind megalithic erection among them and belief that their land and herd belonged to them because their forebearers had owned them. This conforms well to the observation made by Soumen Sen13 who states, “The spread of megalithic culture was associated with the cult of the ancestor (though not necessarily universal) as well as the principle of fertility and generation Among the early farming communities the processes of birth and generation and those of fertility appeared to be so intimate that the two aspects of the same mystery found symbolic expressions in their customs and rituals.”
A group of scholars motivated by Heine-Geldern14 proposes the association of Neolithic culture with the spread of megalithic ritual in Asia According to this view, people with Quadrangular Adze Culture speaking early forms of Malayo-Polynesian languages were responsible for spread of the megalithic culture in Southeast Asia and Eastern India. These groups pushed through Indonesia and beyond taking with them the cult of megaliths. In their progress in mainland Southeast Asia, they met and mixed up with men of another culture of mainland Southeast Asia known as Shouldered Axe culture associated with people speaking languages of Mon-Khmer type who learnt the use of megalith from people with Quadrangular Adze culture. Possibly some of them migrated to India taking their megalithic culture with them, and became one of the ancestors of the Munda seeking tribes of more recent time. This hypothesis presupposes a relationship between the Mon-Khemr and the Munda language. The Neolithic materials from Indonesia and Pacific suggests that there has been an amalgamation of these two industries which occurred probably in the Asiatic mainland and resulted in the polished shouldered adze with quadrangular section as reported by Haimendorf 1. Exploration in Karbi Anglong has resulted in the discovery of polished shouldered adze with quadrangular section as reported by Medhi15 and this has further substantiated the observation made by Haimendorf who himself collected similar Neolithic tool type from the Naga Hills.
The survival and continuity of the megalithic practice among the ethnic communities of northeast India can be examined in the light of the observation made by S.N. Rao16 in his scholarly discussion on the survival and continuity of Neolithic tradition in northeast India. He thus commented In the case of Northeast India, where the environment exerts a profound influence on cultural development, resulting in the continuity and survival of cultures from the prehistoric past down to the present. “The nuclear area of Brahmaputra Valley with its fertile alluvial plains has fostered in its lap a civilization characterized by relative complexity:
The cul de sac or areas of isolation show a harmonious adjustment of adjustment of physical and cultural environment, enabling the hill folk to subsist on jhumming or shifting cultivation supplement by hunting and fishing. It is in the area of isolation that we can trace this cultural continuity and survival.” The megalithic communities of erstwhile Assam have been living in isolation for years in an environment that reflects a harmonious adjustment of physical and cultural environment which can well be understood even with a cursory observation on the life of the communities about whom reference has already been made. Under such conditions many primitive traditions have continued to survive including the prehistoric megalithic erection.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST:
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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Received on 17.11.2017 Modified on 01.12.2017
Accepted on 22.05.2018 ©AandV Publications All right reserved
Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2018; 9(2): 403-406.
DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2018.00069.4