Mech people
Mech | |
|---|---|
_(14764313365).jpg) A group of Meches, Undivided Goalpara district"; 1911 | |
| Total population | |
| 55,992 (2011 Census) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 India (W Bengal) | 41,242[1] |
| India (Assam) | 9,883[2] |
 Nepal (Nepal) | 4,867[3] |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism, Christianity | |
The Mech (spelled Meche in Nepal; pronounced /mes/ or /meʃ/) is an ethnic group belonging to Bodo-Kachari group of peoples. The first mention is found from the 13th century, where they are mentioned along with the Koch and Tharu.[4][5] It is one of the scheduled tribes of India, listed both in West Bengal and Assam, India.[1][2]
Etymology
It has been suggested that mech is probably a corruption of the Sanskrit word mlechchha.[6] Nevertheless, Stuart N. Wolfenden observed that some people do self-designate as Mech,[7] So, he reconstructed Mech from Tibeto-Burman root "mi" means "man".[8] Other authors have speculated that Meche is derived from the Mechi river because the Bodo-Kachari peoples in Nepal had settled around it;[9][10] Mecha a region of the Bod country; and descendants of Mechel a legendary figure of Nepal.[11]
Origin
Meches, a part of the Bodo-Kachari people that migrated into India and gradually spread themselves into the whole of Assam, North Bengal and parts of East Bengal. It is said that, during their migration to India, they marched towards different directions.one group went along the river Brahmaputra and established themselves in the whole of Assam up to Goalpara district and parts of Jalpaiguri district and Cooch Behar district under the name of Bodo or Bara. Another group went towards the West along the foot of the Himalayas up to the river Mechi, bordering India and Nepal and settled on the North bank of the river known as Mechi or Mechia. Later they spread to Darjeeling Terai, Baikanthpur in Jalpaiguri district again marched further East and settled in the Dooars. It is said that, a group of Mech people, again moved further East, crossed the Sankosh River, and went towards Goalpara in Assam. Due to repeated floods in Dooars and eastern bank of Teesta river, many families migrated towards Assam.[12]
History
Tantra Brahmin writers, after converting the Mech kings into Hinduism, named them as Koch as they had admitted Koches to caste Hindu.[13] Some Mech kings converted to Islam.
Distribution
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Mechs are found in West Bengal and Assam in India, and in Nepal.
Demand of Mech Autonomous Council
Presently, there are two types of Mech. One identify themselves with the Boro people and the other identify themselves separately as Mech. The Mech-Kacharis want to preserve their language, culture and uplift their economic status; and so they have been demanding a Mech autonomous council for some time.[14]
Notable people
Notes
- ^ a b c "ST-14 Scheduled Tribe Population By Religious Community - West Bengal". census.gov.in. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
- ^ a b c "ST-14 Scheduled Tribe Population By Religious Community - Assam". census.gov.in. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
- ^ "Population Monograph of Nepal Volume II" (PDF).
- ^ (Nath 1989:3)
- ^ "The description of (Bakhtiyar Khalji's) disastrous campaign provides us with some information about the populations (Siraj 1881: 560-1):... Konch, sometimes written Koch, (the same hesitation occurs in Buchanan-Hamilton’s manuscripts), is what we today write as Koch. Mej or Meg is the name we write as Mech. We can safely conclude that these names described important groups of people in the 13th century, in the area between the Ganges and the Brahmaputra." (Jaquesson 2008:16–17)
- ^ (Barua 1964:3)The Bodos who live to the west of the present Kamrup district are called ‘Mec’ by their Hindu neighbours. This word is probably a corruption of the Sanskrit word ‘mleccha’.
- ^ "(Mech) is used not only by their neighbours but also to some extent by the people themselves." (Wolfenden 1935:145)
- ^ " As such tribal names are frequently simply words originally meaning "man", it is not unlikely that the term Mes may go back to this source. In such an event it may be expected to represent me-s, in which me is the same word as Tibetan and Meithei mi 'man', and -s is probably the same suffix as -si in Deori-Chutiya (Sibsagar) ma-si (Lakhimpur dialect mo-si) 'man'."(Wolfenden 1935:145)
- ^ "Saru Sanyal has writes that a section of the Boros in the course of their movement in Assam moved towards the west along the foothills of Himalayas up to the river Mech between India and Nepal and settled down along the bank of the river and were called Mech after the river." (Mosahary 1983:46)
- ^ "the Bodos, who migrated into India through Patkoi hills..." (Sanyal 1973:1)
- ^ (Mosahary 1983:46)
- ^ (Sanyal 1973:18-21)
- ^ "BJSM Slams Rajbangshi Leader Pranab Narayan Dev for 'Derogatory' Remarks". The Sentinel. 2019-09-11. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
- ^ "Mech-Kachari demands autonomous council". Assam Times. 2008-09-03. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
References
- Nath, D. (1989), History of the Koch Kingdom, C. 1515-1615, Mittal Publications, pp. 5–6, ISBN 8170991099
{{citation}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Annexure - Ib: List of Notified Scheduled Tribes (PDF) (Report). Census of India. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-07. Retrieved 2019-06-30.
- Endle, Sidney (1911). The Kacharis. London: Macmillan and Co. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Brahma, Kameswar (1989). Aspects of social customs of the Bodos.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Banerjee, Dipankar (2006). Brahmo Samaj and North-East India. Anamika Publishers & Distributors. ISBN 978-81-7975-176-3.
- Jacquesson, François (2008). "Discovering Boro-Garo" (PDF). History of an Analytical and Descriptive Linguistic Category: 21.
- Narjinari, Hira Charan (2000). Reassertiveness of the Great Bodos. Hira Charan Narjinari.
- Maṇḍala, Satyendra Nātha (2011). History and Culture of the Bodos. Satyendranath Mondal. ISBN 978-81-903584-1-5.
- Brahma, Nirjay Kumar (2008). "Introduction: Interpretation of Bodo or Boro". Socio political institutions in Bodo society (PhD). Guwahati University. hdl:10603/66535.
{{cite thesis}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Sanyal, Charu Chandra (1973). The Meches and the Totos: two sub-Himalayan tribes of North Bengal. University of North Bengal.
- Barua, Birinchi Kumar (1964). History of Assamese Literature. East-West Center Press.
- Mosahary, R N (1983). "The Boros : Their Origin, Migration and Settlement in Assam" (PDF). Proceedings of Northeast India History Association. Barapani: Northeast India History Association. pp. 42–70. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-07-01. Retrieved 2019-06-30.
{{cite conference}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Wolfenden, Stuart N (1935). "Note on the Tribal Name Mes (Mech)". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 67 (1): 145–146. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00083295. JSTOR 25201053.
| Sino-Tibetan (Trans-Himalayan) |
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| Indo-Aryan |
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| Indo-Aryan of a distinct origin | |||||||||
| Other peoples (M, D, i) of Indus-Ganga |
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| Immigrants and expatriates |
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| Other basis |
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