Paper Title
The Mising Tribe of North East India- A Glimpse
Abstract
The Mishing people or MisÃng also called Miri are an ethnic tribal group, the second largest tribal group in North-East India, first being the Bodos in Assam. They were earlier called Miris in historical days and the Constitution of India still refers to them as Miris. They are in the list of Scheduled Tribes of India Under constitutional order 1950. They were originally hill tribes of the Himalaya region of North Eastern India, living in the mountain ranges lying between the Suvansiri and Siyang district of Arunachal Pradesh. They are one of the major sections of tribal population in the Brahmaputra Valley of Assam and now spread over wide range of plains and are found in the district of North Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Golaghat, Sonitpur and Tinsukia. They have been gradually assimilating themselves with other indigenous people of the Plains of Assam and their culture. According to the census of India 2011, the total population of Mising in Assam is 5,87,310. They are now a part and parcel of Assamese society of India and have been contributing a lot to the growth and enrichment of the Assamese society. But still they maintain their own distinctive socio-cultural system and tribal traditional belief and customs. Therefore, this paper attempts to provide a glimpse of the diverse socio-cultural life of Mising people with special reference to Assam , India.
Keywords: Mising , Marriage system, Agriculture, Socio-cultural organization and Religious life.