KOCHES: THEIR ETHNIC RELATION WITH OTHER TRIBES

Here a brief survey is made to show the ethnic relation of the Koches with the legally declared and undeclared tribes of India with special reference to North-East India; as because Koches are mostly found here in primitive conditions even to day especially in the area covered by the ancient Kamrupa Kingdom. The ethnic origin and development of the Koches.
Who ruled continuously or sporadically, as organized ruling force or as small principalities over a vast empire or at different localities for more than thousand years , is rather shrouded with varied opinions of the historians and scholars of home and abroad, as to their pure Mongoloid origin or blended with the Dravidian stock . From all available historical and traditional records, social customs, observance of religious rites and rituals, linguistic peculiarities and particularities; it can undoubtedly
Be accepted that Koches are the most ancient peoples of India who predominantly inhabiting in present day North East India and scatteredly found in Deccan. No historical data can be fixed for their origin, because of their antiquity and as such exact period of the Koches, who are of late popularly Known as Rajbanshi also in some part, had not yet clearly been established. This new name ‘Rajbanshi’ is though misleading, due to social proselytation which continued upto middle of 20th century A.D. for the material gain of the priest-class. This proselytation started from the Koch-Kocharies to Modashi, from Modashi to Soraniya and from Soraniya to Rajbanshi and even thereafter from Rajbanshi to pure Aryan Kshatria. This is how an original Koch, who was also known as Mlechachas-Asuras-Danavas-Kuvachas etc. had been promoted to the rank of Aryan Kshatriya for the priest class Brahmin’s material gain.
These Koches came down southwards firstly from Tibbetan region, the seat of first human habitation, long ago. When the Austrics were gradually weakened either due to their conflicts with the Negroids or due to their giving way to pleasure and ease; a fresh invasion of their country started from the north along the whole northern front across the Himalayas. The invaders were a race of people who inhabited the country north pf Himalaya and West of China. This region was known as the Bodo, Bod or Borso (Varsha) which means ‘Home-land’ synonymous with Sanskrit Varsha as the Bharat-Varsha the Home-land of Bharatyas i.e. (Indians). There were various parts of that region which were known as Har-Bod, Kush-Bod etc. and in much later times when Budhism spread into that country, the southern part was known as Basti (Lama) Bod which has now been converted into Tibbot (Basti-Bod to Ti-bod). The inhabitants of various parts of Bod country were known as Boddo-Ficha or Bodo-Cha (Fica means children) which means children of the various Bod regions and later known simply as Boddo or Bodacha. Some of them however retained the name of the particular portion pf the region from which they originally migrated at a later date. These were the Koches (Kuch or Kus-Bod) who perhaps migrated from the Kocher or Kucha area and Meches who migrated from Meache area. The area from which Kochi and Mechi rivers originated were known as Kocher and Mecher respectively.“The Koches appear to have been originally a Bodo tribe closely allied to Mechas and Kacharies, but many of them now present the physical characteristics of the Dravidian family. (23)”
The anthropologists and sociologists are of the view that from about 4000 to 2000 B.C. there was a movements of the Mongoloid population in successive waves from the bank of Hoangho and Yangtsekiang rivers to India through North-Western routes and these Mongolian people along with others who migrated from Northern Burma from the remote past of the bulk of population. Sir H. H. Risley had divided the people of India into as many as seven main-type, the people of greater Assam mainly belonged to Mongolo-Dravidian type and their linguistic group is called as Tribeto-Burman. According to Dr. B. M. Das the Mongoloid people came in successive waves from the north and north-eastern region. Tibetans call themselves as Bod and subsequently might be deduced as Bhod-Bhot-Bhotan-Bhottanta or in subsequent sanskritised from Bhot+Onta = Bhotanta = Bhotan = Bhutan. These Bod people or now popularly known as Bodo (Boro) people formed the genus and they included many species like Koches, Kocharies (Koch-Harries, Hari means off shoots or descendants); Garoes, Meches (Koches who lived by the side of Mechi river are called Meches). Ravas (Koches who were invited by the Garoes were known as Rabas). Kocha-Ravas; Hajongs ( Ha joung). Rai Bahadur Kanaklal Barua is of the opinion that these Bodo people were no doubt the Kirats and Meches spoken of in the Mahabharat. The distinguishing features of the Kirats and Meches or Mlechachas were recorded by the Aryan writers. Manu classed the Kirats with Mlechachas. Lord Siva is their family deity and Uma nicknamed Kirati is their female deity. Uma was a princetine daughter of Himalayan region.
According to late Nagendra Nath Basu, the modern Kocharies are no other then the descendants of those Ut-Koches and Kirats (Utkoch means Koch hailing from North), who inhabited in the eastern shore of the Eastern Sea mentioned in the Brahmanda & Kalika Purans. From the prehistoric times the Koches, Rabhas, Meches, Kirates and the like used to live in close proximity to the Koch and Kocharies in the tract of the land at the feet of the Himalayan between the Brahmaputra and the Kochi (Kosi) rivers. The local Nepalee call this vast tract of land as Kocher. There is a popular legend amongst the Limbus on creation. According to this legend one of the two progenitoris of the human race settled in the above Kocher area and he became the father of the Koch, Mech and Dhimal-Tribes. In Brahmaputra valley the Kocharies call themselves as Bodo or Bodo-fisa (sons of Bodos); but in North Cacher Hills area the Kocharies call themselves as Dimasa (Dima-Fisa). ‘Di’ means ‘Water’ and ‘Fisa’ means sons and daughters of the great river Tsangpo alias Brahmaputra alias Lohitya alias Purba-Samudra’s feeding and tributary rivers like Kochi, Tista, Korotoya, Manas, Borak etc.

According to Rabha legend Risi-devota who dwelt in Rang-Karng (heaven) as the creator had created human race in separate group and a groups consisting of four brothers namely Kocheche, Lipchu, Mecheche and Limbu with their respective families were brought down to the Prithimi from Rang-Karang for their settlement. This entire group was re-designated as ‘Rabha-Tang’. Here when scrutinized properly ‘Rang-Karang’ stand for a particular region of dwelling place within Tibbatan pleatu –which is regarded as the roof of the world. Prithimi stood for the country situated on the, it is held south of Himalaya. In the course of time the descendants of the Kocheche-Kochacho-Koch and the Mechiche-Mecho-Mech; the decendants of Lipchu and Limbu are now found in Nepal, Bhutan, North Bengal, Sikkim, Darzeeling, Assam, Arunachal, Meghalaya etc. areas. There is a group of indigenous peoples in Garudachal alias Mandachal alias Garo Hills area, who are known as Atongs. These Atongs are generally known as Koches i.e. descendants of Kocheche. According to Mr. A. Playfair, in the remote past the migration of the Rugas-Rabas-Rabhas, Koches, Garoes and Kocharies took place from the Tibbetan region to the Brahmaputra valley and hence to the hills of Assam. Playfair said that long before the arrival of the Garoes in the present Garo hills, the Rabhas and the Koches were in occupation of the Garo hills where from they had to come down to the plains. Dalton also hold the same view. According to some modern western anthropologists, the Koches, the Meches, the Rabhas, the Dhimals are all one and the same people having sprung from the common stock. At present we do however regard the Koch, the Mech, the Kocheries and the Dhimals as quite different people. According to the elite of the present Rabha society the Rabhas regard that the Rabhas and the Koches are same tribe. Even to-day the original section of the Rabhas are known as ‘Kocha-Rabhas’ who are now found to inhabit in Goalpara district, Meghalaya (Garo Hills), Koch-Behar, Jalpaiguri of west Bengal. The great revolutionary artist late Bishnu Ram Rabha belonged to his group. Sir Edward Gait observed that at the present day the word Koch is a term of some ambiguity. In Assam proper it has become the name of a Hindu caste, into which are received the converts to Hinduism from the ranks of the Kochari, Lalung, Mikir and other tribes, and as the process of conversion is still continuing, the number of persons described as Koch, is increasing rapidly. In North Bengal and Goalpara, on the other hand, it is a term which is falling onto disrepute, and it has, to a great extent, been abandoned in favour of the appellation Rajbanshi. It is here generally regarded as indicative of race, that is to say, as the name of a tribe and not a caste, but the ethnic character of the people so called has been a matter of some controversy. The Koches are frequently referred to as Cuvacha in the Purans and Tantras. The historians of Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilij invasion at the end of twelfth century (1205 A.D.) says that the ‘features of the Koch, Mech and Tharu tribes’ resembled those of a tribe of southern Siberia. That acute observer Bryan Hodgson classed the Koch with the Bodo and Dhimal, and the same view is taken by Buchanan and in the Dacca Blue Book. On the other hand, Colonel Daltonj considered them to be Dravidian and Risley, while admitting an intermixture with Mongoloid stock, held that Dravidian characteristics predominate. The divergence of views seems to have arisen from the confusion caused by the use of the term Rajbanshi. It originally referred to an entirely distinct community of Dravidian affinities; but was afterwards adopted by the Koches west of the Manas river, who attorned toHInduism, appropriated, the caste name of the most numerous Hinduised community in their neighborhood. So long as the Koch kings ruled, there was a considerable intermingling of the two races in the country subject to their domination. There seems, however to be no doubt that the true Koches were a Mongoloid race very closely allied to the Meches and Garos; and we find that in Jalpaiguri, Koch Behar and Goalpara; the persons now known as Rajbanshi are either pure Koches who though dark, have a distinct Mongoloid physiognomy or else a mixed breed, in which the Mongoloid element usually preponderates. The Koch languagre is now practically extinct, but the traces of it which remain, show that it was almost identical with Garo. In former times the Koches and Meches freely intermarried; but the conversion of the former to Hinduism has now caused the practice to be discontinued, east of the Monas, where there were no Rajbanshis properly so-called the Koches as the dominat tribe, were admitted to Hinduism without any change of their tribal name; but members of other Mongoloid tribes who afterwards followed their example were allowed to do so only by sinking their old designasation and joining the ranks of the already Hinduised Koches. There is an excellent paper on the subject by Babu Monomohan Roy, in the J.A.S.B. for 1903 A.D. Colonel Waddle’s head measurements fully establish the predominance of the Mongoloid type in the Koches of Assam (24)”.
As a matter of fact the word ‘Koch’ is older than the Puranas and Tantras which were composed in India by the Aryans to malign their opponents. The word ‘Koch came down with these people when they came downwards from North-China or Siberia region after struggling hard against natural odds and calamities in addition to the opposition from the rival groups in which most of the male members of Koches were killed in the way fightings. This is partly evident from a folk song now occasionally sung by the Kocha-Rabhs which is indicative as to their origin and devlopment. This interesting folk-song, which is mostly forgotten now by the present Rabhas and Koches runs.

“Hulun Lunga Hashong
Chandong Bandong
Kocha Main Chi-ou
Kocha Aamia Nampuangou”

When deciphered the part of the above flok-song the meaning comes that ‘Hulun’ was the name of a place and a lake under Takingtsan province of Mongolia (North-East China). Now this place is a town having Rly. Station known as ‘Heighlan’. ‘Lunga’ is also a name of a place by the side of Howangho river which is now known as Loyang. ‘Hashong’ means at present Hajong or Ha-jou which means high land and hilly places. The present name of Hajo town under the Kamrup District of Assam has been derived from the original word ‘Hashong’ as it appears. Chandong and Bandong are the names of two different places located north from Tinsukia town of present Assam at a distances of 525 K.M. from Sodia town of undivided Assam which are now known as Chamdo and Bomdo. Chamdo is located by the side of Mekong river and Bomdo is now known as Bomdila in Arunachal province. ‘Koch Mian Chi-ou’ means the male members of the Koches died or slain in severe fighting. ‘Kocha Aamai’ means females of Koches; ‘Namprangou’ means bewildered where to go, what to do in helpless condition. The simple, short and direct meaning of the above part of the forgotten folk-song is that the valiant Koches marched downwards from north via Highlong to Loyang to Chamdo to Bomdo after cressing and over- coming many hilly areas, turbulent rivers and ferocious way-side plunderes that cost many able bodied male members and the beautiful females of the Koches became helpless and bewildered.
In Brahmaputra valley Koch, formerly, the name, of a tribe, has become a caste which admits proselyties to Hinduism from ranks of Kocharies and other aboriginal tribes. The Rajbanshies or the Koches to use the title by which the tribe is more generally known are common not only in Assam; but in North Bengal also. They appear to be a mixed lineage. On the west their affinities are with the Dravidians stock and on the east with the Mongolians. The center of Koch power was in Koch Behar and in the Goalpara where the tribe was in a position to be much affected by the tradition of the ruling race. The Koch Rajas and their courts were in a considerable factor in their lives and the tribes-men have assumed the honorific title of the Rajbangshi or ‘men of royal stock’.

To Be Continued....