My Experiences in Manipur and the Naga HillsJohnstone, James, Sir
History
My Experiences in Manipur and the Naga Hills
Johnstone, James, Sir
Manipur (India) -- Description and travel; Naga Hills (India) -- Description and travel
All kinds of animals are readily eaten by the Angamis, and those dying
a natural death are not rejected. Dogs' flesh is highly esteemed. When
a man wants to have a delicate dish, he starves his dog for a day to
make him unusually voracious, and then cooks a huge dish of rice on
which he feeds the hungry beast. As soon as the dog has eaten his
fill, he is knocked on the head and roasted, cut up and divided,
and the rice being taken out, is considered the bonne bouche. The
Manipur dogs are regularly bred for sale to the hill-tribes, Nagas
included, and a portion of the bazaar, or market, used to be allotted
to them. I have seen a string of nineteen dogs being led away to be
strangled. Poor things, they seemed to realise that all was not well.
The Naga women are not handsome but very pleasant-looking, and
many of the girls are pretty, but soon age with the hard toil they
have to perform; working in the fields and carrying heavy loads up
endless hills. They have plenty of spirit and can generally hold
their own. They do not marry till they are nearly or quite grown
up. Divorce can be easily obtained when there is an equal division of
goods. Often a young man takes advantage of this, and marries a rich
old widow, and soon divorces her, receiving half her property, when he
is in a position to marry a nice young girl. The tribal name of the
Angami Nagas is "Tengima." Naga is a name given by the inhabitants
of the plains, and in the Assamese language means "naked." As some
of the Naga tribes are seen habitually in that state, the name was
arbitrarily applied to them all. It is the greatest mistake to connect
them with the snake worshippers, "Nag Bungsees" of India. Neither Nagas
or Manipuris, or any tribes on the eastern frontier, are addicted to
this worship, or have any traditions connected with it, and any snake,
cobra (Nag) or otherwise, would receive small mercy at their hands. The
slightest personal acquaintance with the Assamese and their language,
would have dispelled this myth for ever.
The Nagas are skilful iron-workers and turn out very handsome
spears. Their women weave substantial and pretty coloured cloths,
and every man knows enough of rough carpentering to enable him to
build his house, and make pestles and mortars for husking rice. They
make rough pottery, but without the potter's wheel.
After Ghumbeer Singh's Expedition, our next dealings with the Angamis
were in 1833, when Lieut. Gordon, adjutant of the Manipur Levy,
accompanied the Rajah of Manipur with a large force of Manipuris into
the Angami hills. On this occasion, Kohima and other villages were
subdued, as already stated, and an annual tribute exacted by Manipur.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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