RicoSturdivant at 19:49, 5 May 2026

2026-05-05T19:49:30Z

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The [[Dimasa people|Dimasa]] speaking community (Dimasa language speakers) of [[Cachar district|Cachar]] ([[Assam]], [[India]]) are known as Barman,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kolb |first1=Michael R. |title=Out Of The Hills Young Dimasas and Traditional Religion |date=2019 |publisher=North Eastern Social Research Centre |location=Assam |isbn=978-81-938785-0-7 |page=30}}</ref> forming one of the indigenous tribes of undivided Cachar (including [[Dima Hasao district|Dima-Hasao]], [[Hailakandi district|Hailakandi]] and [[Karimganj district|Karimganj]]). They are officially recognized as one of the [[List of Scheduled Tribes in India|Scheduled Tribes]] under the plains category in [[Assam]] in the name called “Barmans in Cachar”.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barman, Kh. D. & Kh. D. Singha |title=Keynote on the Term Barman: One of the Exonyms of Dimasa. In Kh. D. Singha, D. M. K. Haokip and M Longmailai (Eds) Under Documented Languages of Northeast India and Beyond |date=2025 |publisher=DVS Publishers |location=Guwahati |isbn=978-81-971388-3-6 |pages=187–209}}</ref> [[File:Barman Dimasa Girl.jpg|thumb|alt=Barman Dimasa damsel while performing Baidima, the traditional dance.|Barman Dimasa damsel performing Baidima, the traditional dance.]]
As per population census 2024 prepared by existing "Barman Dimasa Kachari Development Council" the total population of Barman Dimasa Kachari (outside sixth schedule area) was 97,904 in five districts of Assam: Cachar, Karimganj, Hailakandi, Hojai and Nagaon.

==Historical Background==
It is worth sharing that linguistically Dimasa, Koch, Bodo, Kokborok, Deori, Garo, Rabha, and Tiwa are cognate groups. Shafer (1955: 107) classified them under Barish Section (aka Boro-Garo) of Baric Division language family. Grierson, in his work, shared "it said that some 200 years ago, the Raja of Hill Tipperah, when giving his daughter in marriage to the Raja of Maibang in the North Cachar (present Dima Hasao), gave her a dowry the Surma Valley in what is now known as the district of Cachar.".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Grierson |first1=G.A. |title=Linguistic Survey of India Vol.III Tibeto Burman Family Part II Specimens of the Bodo. Naga, Kachin Groups)) |date=1903 |publisher=Low Price Publications |location=Delhi |pages=8}}</ref> In the sixteenth century, a [[Koch people|Koch]] principality was established in [[Dimasa Kingdom|Khaspur]] by Chilarai, who made it a “crown colony” of Koch Behar under Uparaja, who later declared his independence and formed the Kingdom of Khaspur. However, since the beginning of the eighteenth century, this Kingdom was declining; its last ruler Bhimsingha, was growing old with no male heir. His only daughter Kanchani, was given in marriage to the Dimasa prince Lakshmi Chandra in 1745 A.D. Shortly after the demise of Bhimsingha, the two states (Maibang and Khaspur) were merged, and the capital of Dimasas was shifted from Maibang to Khaspur, near Silchar, the Cachar valley or South Cachar (aka Barak Valley) became the core area of the Dimasa state. The North Cachar Hills (present Dima-Hasao) was administered by a Dimasa governor and Central Cachar (Nagaon portion) through an Aditya or Sezwal. Members of the royal family and a large number of the aristocracy moved to the plains of Cachar. The aristocracy which settled in Cachar formed a Hindu caste called [[Barman (surname)|BARMAN]] and consecrated as Kshatriya by Brahmanas and allowed to put on [[Upanayana|sacred threads]] (Janeo).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barpujari |first1=S.K. |title=History Of The Dimasas (From earliest times to 1896 A.D.)) |date=1997 |publisher=Autonomous Council, N.C. Hills |location=Assam |pages=45–79}}</ref> Thus, Barman is a Hindu name of Dimasa.

==Religion==
[[File:Barman Dimasa Priest.jpg|thumb|Hojai, the Dimasa Priest (in the middle) with Baruwa (assistant priest) and Dangjuruya/Deori (assistant priest).]]
[[File:Maiyoapa Garba.jpg|thumb|alt=Hojai, the Dimasa Priest performing age old traditional ritual called Maiyaopa Garba|Dimasa Priest while performing their age old traditional ritual.]]
They came close to the mainstream of the [[Sanātanī|Sanatana]] (aka [[Hindus|Hindu]]) religious life by replacing their many age-old customs and rituals with Sanatana practices, later they were grouped to [[Kshatriya]] and referred to as Barman. Even then they retained some of their age old animistic customs and rituals which they still practice. Like most of the indigenous peoples, the animistic perspective is so inherent that they do not even have a word in their language that corresponds to "[[Animism]]" (the term, which is an [[Anthropology|anthropological]] construct).

==Demographics==

The Barmans of cachar number some 21,747 persons, forming 0.6% of [[Barak Valley]]'s population, according to [[2011 census of India|2011 Census]]. They are mainly found in Upper Cachar's (most particularly in an around Khaspur area where once their [[Kachari kingdom]] stood) respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/10195/download/13307/DDW-C16-STMT-MDDS-1800.XLSX |title=C-16 Population by Mother Tongue |website=censusindia.gov.in |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240315090034/https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/10195/download/13307/DDW-C16-STMT-MDDS-1800.XLSX |type=XLSX |archive-date=15 March 2024 |access-date=14 July 2025}}</ref>

Whereas, Dimasa people in [[North Cachar Hills]] are known by the name of [[Dimasa people|Dimasa Kachari people]], numbering 74,502 persons, thus constituting around 35% of the district's population.

==Language==
The mother tongue of Barmans is Dimasa. From the four major dialects of Dimasa, i.e., Hasao, Hawar, Dembra and Dizuwa <ref>{{cite book |last1=Singha |first1=Kh. Dhiren |title=An Introduction to Dimasa Phonology |date=2007 |publisher=DVS Publishers |location=Guwahati |isbn=978-81-86307-11-3 |page=3}}</ref> (aka Dijuha), the Barmans speak the Hawar dialect. Linguistically, it comes under Barish (aka [[List of Scheduled Tribes in India|Bodo-Garo]] or Bodo-Koch) section of Baric (aka Sal or Bodo-Konyak-Jinghpaw) division of Tibeto-Burman language family.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shafer |first1=Robert |title=Classification of the Sino-Tibetan Languages, WORD |date=1955 |publisher=Routledge |issn=0043-7956 |page=94 |doi=10.1080/00437956.1955.11659552 |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00437956.1955.11659552}}</ref>

==Clans==
The Barmans of Cachar have 40 patri clans called Sengphong /seŋpoŋ/ and 42 matri clans called Julu /zulu/. Both clans are exogamous in nature apart from the matrimonial relationship.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hakacham |first1=Upen Rabha |title=Clans and Surnames of Indigenous People and Tribes of Assam |date=2018 |publisher=Anundoram Borooah Institute of Language, Art & Culture |location=Assam |isbn=978-93-82680-33-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Danda |first1=D.G. |title=Among the Dimasa of Assam An Ethnographic Study |date=1978 |publisher=Sterling Publishers |location=New Delhi}}</ref> A male member of Barmans inherits his father's Sengphong and mother's Julu (aka Jilik) but he handed down only the Sengphong to his lineage, not his Julu. Similarly, a female member inherits both the clans from parents but she handed down only one clan, that is, her mother's Julu.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Cachar district]]
[[Category:Dimasa people]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Northeast India]]
[[Category:Languages of Assam]]
[[Category:Sino-Tibetan-speaking peoples]]

Barmans in Cachar - Revision history

RicoSturdivant at 19:49, 5 May 2026