About Mising Tribe

The Mising people also called Miri is an ethnic tribal group, the second largest tribal group in Assam, first being the Bodos. Earlier in historical days, they were called Miris and the Constitution of India still refers to them as Miris. They are in the list of Scheduled Tribes of India Under the constitutional order of 1950. They were originally hill tribes of the Himalaya region of North Eastern India, living in the mountain ranges lying between the Subansiri and Siyang district of Arunachal Pradesh, India.

 

The Miris ethnically belonged to the Tibeto- Burmese group of Mongoloid stock and originally they belonged to the Tani tribe comprised of Nishi, Galo, Adi, Apatani, Tagin found in the hills of Arunachal Pradesh. The census report of Assam 1881 stated that Miris, Dafalas, and Abors are names that have been given by the Assamese to these sections of the same race inhabiting the mountains between the Assam valley and Tibet. In fact, the Miris of the Brahmaputra Valley and Daphalas and Abors of Arunachal Pradesh have identical religious beliefs(Donyi-Polo), socio-cultural system, and speak the same dialect.

 

The Mising tribe who were originally hill tribes of the Arunachal Pradesh, migrated down to the Plains of Assam in search of a peaceful and better economic life in comparatively early times. It is believed that the first group of Mising people landed in the upper region of the valley sometime between 13th and 14th century A.D. when the area around Sadiya was rules by the Chutia kings (Doley, 1978).

 

The Mising tribe has been living mostly along the bank of the river of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries. They now spread over a wide range of plains and are found in the district of North Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Golaghat, Sonitpur, and Tinsukia. They have been gradually assimilating themselves with other indigenous people of the Plains of Assam and their culture. The total population of Mising in Assam according to the census of India 2011, is 5,87,310 (Census India, 2011). They are now a part and parcel of the Assamese society of India and have been contributing a lot to the growth and enrichment of the Assamese society. But they still maintain their own distinctive socio-cultural system and tribal traditional customs and belief.