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
In the Cosseah hills a large supply of potatoes is annually raised
and sold in the Gowahatty market, realizing to the Cosseahs no
inconsiderable profit. The effect of this traffic being to promote a
more frequent intercourse with the people of the plains, it is hoped
that in course of time the Cosseahs may learn the value of peaceable
commercial pursuits, and become a prosperous and civilized race.
BOOTEAHS.
The hills of Bootan, about two hundred and twenty miles long by
ninety broad, form the northern boundary of Assam. The population of
the country, including the Dooars, is assumed at 145,200 souls, the
Bootan hills 79,200, and the Dooars or low lands at 66,000; but this
calculation, made by the late Captain Pemberton, has been proved to
be greatly in excess of the truth, as regards the population of the
Dooars. In 1842 a census was taken of five Dooars: namely, Ghurkola,
Banska, Chapagorie, Chapakhamar, and Bijnee, in the Kamroop district;
when it appeared there were about 10,000 inhabitants, and the net
revenue of the tracts amounted to 17,544 rupees 7 ans. 4 pice,
or 1,754l. 8s. 11d. It may, therefore, justly be inferred that
the population of the whole of the Dooars would not exceed 40,000
souls. Captain Pemberton, the British Envoy deputed to Bootan in 1838,
describes the Booteah to be "in disposition naturally excellent;
he possesses an equanimity of temper almost bordering on apathy,
and he is seldom sufficiently roused to give vent to his feelings in
any exclamations of pleasure or surprise; on the other hand, they are
indolent to an extreme degree, totally wanting in energy, illiterate,
immoral, and victims of the most unqualified superstition. The
punishment of the most heinous offences may be evaded by the payment
of a fine, which for murder varies from eighty to two hundred Deba
rupees, or 40 to 100 Company's rupees, or from 4l. to 10l."
Polyandry, or plurality of husbands, prevails throughout Thibet
and the northern parts of Bootan; and on the death of the head of a
family his property becomes escheated to the Deba or Dhurma Rajahs,
without the slightest reference to the distress entailed on the
afflicted survivors. "The highest officers of state in Bootan are
shameless beggars, liars of the first magnitude, whose most solemnly
pledged words are violated without the slightest hesitation; who enter
into engagements which they have not the most distant intention of
fulfilling; who play the bully and sycophant with equal readiness, and
are apparently totally void of gratitude, exhibiting in their conduct
a rare compound of official pride and presumption with the low cunning
of needy mediocrity; and yet preserving, at the same time, a mild
deportment, and speaking generally in a remarkably low tone of voice."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account