Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s6.23.3

c48.s6.23.3

The Lālung are now found on the north slope of the Jaintyā hills, spreading into the valley bordering the Mikir country, with apparently a tendency to advance still more to the eastwards. Traditions differ as to their original home. Some clans say they came from the south bank of the Brahmaputra, others that they are wholly Jaintyā, and have never lived anywhere else. They do not appear to have been in the low country when the Āhōm invasion took place, in the 13th and 14th centuries. It is said that they are succumbing to the influence of Brāhmanism, but if this be so, they must either change their name on conversion or the enumerators at the Census must ignore their tendencies, as they are recorded as wholly Animistic in their beliefs. There is no doubt, however, that they are dropping their tribal language in favour of that of the lowlands. The number of exogamous subdivisions into which the tribe is split up is very large, and it does not appear that they are usually totemistic as a rule, but are named after some peculiarity of the founder. The Rābhā is a tribe certainly of Bōdo blood but whether a distinct community, allied to the Gāro, or merely a branch of the Bōdo, alongside of whom it is chiefly found, is not determined.