Singpho Community: Location and Characteristic Features

GS Paper I Indian Tribes

Context

Children of the Singpho community are named according to the order they are born in the family, incorporating numbers into their names.

Belongs to: The Lisus belong to the Tibeto-Burman family and inhabit the contiguous hilly regions of Arunachal Pradesh, China, Myanmar, and Thailand. They number about 5,000 in India.
Similar Naming System as Singphos: The Lisus and Singphos have similar usage of numbers in their names, probably due to belonging to the Wunpong group, which has four more communities in the Kachin State of Myanmar.
- Lisu boys and girls have separate sets of numbered names to indicate the order of their birth.

An Ethnic Group: Singphos community is an ethnic group inhabiting 27 countries, including China’s Yunnan province. They are not as complex as other tribal societies.
- In India, they mostly inhabit the Changlang and Namsai districts of Arunachal Pradesh, and the Tinsukia district of Assam.
Division: The Singpho society is divided mainly in three groups such as Sisen, N’khum and Mirip which is further divided into a number of clans each under a chief.
- The clan organisation is based on lineage or sub-lineage.

Reflecting birth order Names: In a family of seven Singpho brothers, the eldest has Gam in his name followed by Nong, La, Du, Tang, Yong, and Yun.
- For seven Singpho sisters, the sequence is Ko, Lu, Roi, Thu, Kai, Kha, and Pi.
- Their names may also have the name of the clan or an ancestor.
Chieftainship: It is an important feature of Singpho society.
Patriarchal System: The Singpho family system is patriarchal and lives in a joint family.
- But now-a-days with a changing situation the family is slowly and gradually breaking up from a joint family to a single family.
Expert Weavers: The Singpho women are experts in weaving and they make their own dress themselves.
- Up till now women are using hand-spun and prepared home-made dresses.

Against Britishers: An Singhpo uprising took place in 1843 against the Britishers in Tirap, Arunachal Pradesh.
A Retaliatory Act: It was an act of retaliation to reclaim the Singhpo lands that were encroached on by the East India Company.
- All the Singhpo chiefs came together to fight against the common enemy, including those who had signed an agreement of support with the Britishers earlier.
Result: The Singhpos attacked soldiers posted at the Beesa post, for which they were captured and held captive by the garrisoned soldiers.
- Later the sepoys surrendered when they were informed about the capture of Nigroo and Koojoo by the Singphos.
- This incident claimed the lives of many British soldiers.
- During the attack, the Singhpos were assaulted severely and their villages were sabotaged and burnt.
- Prominent leaders of the Singhpos like Beesa Gaum and Nigroola had no choice but to finally surrender to the advanced British artillery.

Also Read: Tribal Communities In India

News Source: The Hindu

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