Mara or Mra (also known as Mura) refers to a tribe in
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares ...
. The Mara are ethnically
Tagin although they claim to be a separate group, just like the
Nga to the north, but they acknowledge a common ancestry. Like the Nga, the Mara (Mrs) also engage in barter trade with the
Tibetans
The Tibetan people (; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans liv ...
in the north prior to the closure of the Indo-Tibetan border in view of the 1962
Sino-Indian War
The Sino-Indian War took place between China and India from October to November 1962, as a major flare-up of the Sino-Indian border dispute. There had been a series of violent border skirmishes between the two countries after the 1959 Tibet ...
. They traded ornaments, Tibetan dao from the Tibetans in the north and
Mithun, tribal masks, animal hides and dyes of plants from the
Nishi and
Sulung on the south.
The Mara(Mra) inhabit in Limeking in
Upper Subansiri, just south of Taksing which is inhabited by the Nga. The Mara believed that they were descended from two brothers, Kangra and Mara, who came from Nyime (
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...
) and settled in the region. Like other
Tagins, the Mara subscribe to the
Donyi Polo
Donyi-Polo (also Donyi-Poloism) is the designation given to the indigenous religion, of animistic and shamanic type, of the Tani and other Tibeto-Burman peoples of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in Northeast India. The name "Donyi-Polo" means "Su ...
faith but have come under considerable
Tibetan Buddhist
Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...
influence as a result of centuries of interactions with the Tibetans in the north.
References
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Donyi-Polo communities
Upper Subansiri district