User:Kochmandai/sandbox

KOCH MANDAI:
Koch Mandai is a oldest mainstream tribe of Koches a tribe of the North east India states of (Assam, Meghalaya), North Bengal and Bangladesh. As mentioned by James wise in his book Notes on the Races, castes and Trades of Eastern Bengal (1883) Koch mandai are the original inhabitants of Darrang and kamrupa Assam. The language/dialect spoken by the Koch Mandai people is Tibeto Burmese dialect. At present majority of them mostly speak corrupted or impure Bengali but in some areas only Koch Mandai dialect is spoken. In Assam, the Koch Mandai people mostly live in Udalguri, Baksa, Barpeta, chirang, Nagaon, Goalpara and Darrang districts. In Meghalaya, Koch mandai are mostly found in Garo Hills districts. In Bangladesh, Koch Mandai people mainly live in undivided Mymensingh district. The Koch Mandai refer to themselves as Koch and assert a connection to the historical Koch Kingdom. As mentioned by Vasu and Nagendra Nath in their book Social history of kamrupa (1922) Koch Mandai or mandeha are the race of cannibals who inhabited the mountains on the shores of the Lohita sagara or red sea presently known as the Brahmaputra river shores. It has also been shown that the Lohita-sagara or the Red Sea also called Purva-samudra, or the Eastern Sea according to Manu-samhita and Kalika-purana flowed by the south of the Garo hills and the west of the Kachar and Chittagong hills. Taking into consideration the situation of Pragjyotisha above the fathomless home of Varuna, as described in the Ramayana, the modern Brahmaputra also may be taken to have been a part of this Red Sea. The Mandehas, then living on the shores of this sea, have now come to be known as Mandai or Koch-Mandai. Sir H.Risley in the tribes and castes of Eastern Bengal states that the Mandehas are the southern branch of the Koches. Hence the latter are even now found to cherish the memory of the old connection by calling themselves Koch-Mandai.

ETHNICITY AND LANGUAGE:
The Koch Mandai belong to the Indo-Mongoloid group of koch have similarities with other members of Indo-Tibetan burman family group such as Garos, Kachari, Mech and Hajong. According to Pauthang Haokip in Social linguistic situation in north east India (2011) Koch Mandai language is considered to be dying out. In grammar of Atong, joseph and burling states that mandai language belong to Koch the second sub group of Tibeto Burman family languages. As mentioned by G.A Grierson in his book Linguistic survey of India (1891) about Koch language. The Koch words mentioned by Grierson in his book are mainly spoken by the Koch Mandai people. It seems that Koch Mandai is one of the oldest Koch language as compared to other clans of Koches of Meghalaya. G.A. Grierson mentions 23 words of Koch language that belongs to Koch Mandai people. The following is a brief account of the main peculiarities of this Koch dialect. The following are the principal pronominal forms: I: Anga, We: Chinga, Me: Ang-na, us: Ching-na. My: Ang-ne, Our: Ching-ne, Thou: Naa, you: Na-para, Thee: Na-na, You: Na-pa-na,  Thy: Na-ne,  Your: Na-pa-ne, He/that: Ua, They: U-tang, Him: U-na, Them: U-tang-na,  His: U-ne, Their: U-tang-ne, This: Ia, Whose: Sa-ne, Who:Sara, What: Mada. And the negative particle to be added is ja for instance Namm-ja which means bad, Hong-ja which means am not, hon-u-ja means did not give.

RELIGION AND CULTURE:
In Ancient times Koch mandai were Animist and they followed Garami dharma. Today Koch Mandai tribe has change significantly and has accepted Hinduism as their main religion though some are animist and does not worship idols. Some sections of the group are less Hinduized than others, and there are considerable variations in customs and status. Sir E.A. Gait mentions in Census Report, 1891, the Garamis were treated as a separate caste in 1872, when 2416 were recorded in the Goalpara District of Assam.

THE CLANS:
The Koch Mandai refer to their clans as "Dugu" just like the Koches do. The list of Koch Mandai clans by sir H.Risley and James wise is as follows: •	Darang •	Dasika •	Chishim •	Doi or Doais •	Durgu •	Darang-chiachi •	Darang-saudana •	Darang-Dakal •	Darang-Dambak •	Parak •	Lori •	Mekhun/Maikhun •	Senel/chanell •	Richil •	Naffak •	Shayni

THE SUB GROUP
Usha Ranjan koch in koch tharne Hollock states that Hadis or Hodis are the sub group of koch Mandai.