A Sketch of Assam: With some account of the Hill TribesButler, John, Major
History
A Sketch of Assam: With some account of the Hill Tribes
Butler, John, Major
Assam (India) -- Description and travel; Assam (India) -- Social life and customs; Ethnology -- India -- Assam
Of all the hill tribes bordering on the Assam valley, north or south,
the Garrows near Goalparah, though not lofty in stature, are endowed
with the most powerful herculean frames. The expression of their
countenances is savage, and their complexion exceedingly black. In
conversation they are loud, and remarkable for asperity. Passing
through Lookee Dooar to the Jeypore stockade, at the foot of the Garrow
hills, I met with many Garrows who reside on the low hills bordering
Assam, and learned that they were frequently in great danger from the
highland Garrows; who, feeling secure in their mountain fastnesses,
made occasional incursions into the territory of the former, and
committed acts of violence upon the British subjects located in
the plains.
A savage custom exists amongst the Garrows, of commemorating the death
of their relatives by massacring our inoffensive subjects whenever
they can do so with impunity; whether in open day, in ambush, or
by a sudden night attack in overwhelming numbers. In this respect
they resemble other tribes of which we have already treated. At
their festive meetings it is said the Garrows are guilty of great
excesses in imbibing spirituous liquors. A dried excavated gourd,
which does duty for a bottle, and holds about one quart and a half, is
filled with an intoxicating liquor distilled from rice: this, at their
jovial parties, is presented to each person, whose nose being seized,
the gourd is applied to the mouth till the individual is perfectly
satiated, or falls prostrate in a fit of intoxication. After this,
the toper is immersed in a pool of water, or the river, that the
temperature of the body may be cooled. In the choice of food few
things come amiss to a Garrow palate. For example, a dog fed with
rice and then roasted alive, is esteemed one of the most exquisite
dainties. Every description of meat is consumed, even when perfectly
putrid. Singularly enough, however, milk is considered unwholesome,
and is never drank.
The Garrow women are remarkably coarse and ugly, with very dark
complexions. They wear scarcely any articles of cloth covering, but,
in common with most savages, they are particularly fond of showy
ornaments. Their necks are adorned with a profusion of coloured
glass beads; and if the lobe of the ear can only be distended to
the shoulders by the weight of ear-rings, they consider that they
have succeeded in rendering themselves peculiarly attractive. The
Garrows to this day are independent of our rule, and are, therefore,
free from any tax on their cultivation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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