Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s6.23.5

c48.s6.23.5

This descent into the plain appears to have resulted in the formation of two clans, the upper, which remains true to its tribal ways of life, and the Brāhmanised community of the valley. The latter have also abandoned their tribal dialect in favour of a corrupt form of Bengali, the others speaking one of the varieties of Gāro. Detached from the main body of the Bōdo is the Mrūng, called Tipparah by the Bengali, and now inhabiting the hills near the little State called by the latter name. A few of them are found in the Sūrma valley, but most of these are said to be immigrants of quite recent arrival. Formerly the connection between the tribes was closer, as the Chiefs of Kacār and Tipparah intermarried. Now, the only link is that of language, as the bulk of the Mrūng are Brāhmanised, the Chief claiming to be a Rājput, and the nobles to belong to the Rājbansī order. The tribe is much subdivided, some clans holding an position far above that of the labourers and rude cultivators of the interior. Many of them are much fairer than any of their neighbours, and this, with their Mongoloidic features and Bōdo speech, seems to connect them with the Brahmaputra rather than with the hills of Arakan. Last of the tribes coming within this group is the formerly dominant community of the Cūtiyā, which, however, repudiates the connection with the Bōdo indicated by their language.