Moran, Maran
Moran Bihu Dance
Regions with significant populations
Predominately in Upper Assam
Languages
Assamese, Formerly Moran
Religion
Ekasarana Dharma
Related ethnic groups
Dimasas, Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis

The Moran are an ethnic group found in the northeast Indian state of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh (distinct from the surname 'Moran' or irish origin). They are of Tibeto-Burman origin and belong to the Kachari family. They speak Assamese language, though they used to speak Moran language which was alive till the early 20th century that was closely related to the Dimasa language.[1] They once shared the same allied customs with other Kachari groups but after their conversion to Vaishnavism, the customs began to diminish but still those customs can be seen intermixed with Vaishnavism.

The Morans were initiated under the fold of Ekasarana Dharma in the tenure of Mayamara abbot Chaturbhujdeva.[2]

Distribution

They are mainly concentrated in the districts of Upper Assam (Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Dhemaji and Lakhimpur) and adjoining districts of Arunachal Pradesh (Lohit, Namsai, Changlang district).

History

The Moran community is one of the aboriginal tribes of Assam. In the 13th century they lived in the south eastern corner of the Brahmaputra valley occupying territories between the Disang and Dihing rivers.[3] The Morans have a long history in the north–eastern part of India. They had their own independent chiefdom before the advent of the Ahoms. The origin of the word Moran is still remains obscure. According to the British reports the Morans are a distinct tribe inhabiting the jungle, which is, a division of upper Assam.

They had an chiefdom led by chief Bodousa before the advent of the Ahom king Sukaphaa. Having arrived in this affluent kingdom, Sukaphaa proposed to marry princess Gondheswari- the daughter of Moran chief Bodousa. The chief Bodousa accepted his proposal and thus the Moran's became a part of the newly created Ahom polity.[4] Due to their close relation with the Ahoms, the Morans seem to have adopted many of the Ahom rites and rituals.

They were also known by the name Habungiya or Hasa where Ha means soil or Earth in Moran language and Sa means son and Habungiya or Hasa means Son of the soil.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "I have recently been able to demonstrate that Gurdon’s dialect is a variety of Dimasa, since it retains all the features examined here: it has the same consonant clusters and diphthongs as Dimasa." (Jaquesson 2017:108)
  2. ↑ (Chetia 2015:70–71)
  3. ↑ "At the time of Sukapha's advent, the Morans were ruling the tract bounded by the rivers Buri Dihing in the north, Disang in the south, Suffry in the east and Brahmaputra in the west."(Dutta 1985:21)
  4. ↑ Dutta 1985, p. 24.
  5. ↑ "By their Ahom conquerors the Morons were employed in various menial capacities, as hewers of wood and drawers of water, and were sometimes known as Habungiyas, earth-folk, or true autoch-thones, " sons of the soil"(Endle 1911:88)

Printed sources

  • Chetia, Noni Rupa (2015), The Mayamara Satra A Study in Institutional System and Social Relationship, p. Dibrugarh University
  • Jaquesson, François (2017). Translated by van Breugel, Seino. "The linguistic reconstruction of the past The case of the Boro-Garo languages". Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area. 40 (1): 90–122. doi:10.1075/ltba.40.1.04van.
  • Dutta, Sristidhar (1985), The Mataks and their Kingdom, Allahabad: Chugh Publications
  • Endle, Sidney (1911). The Kacharis. London: Macmillan and Co. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
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