![Garo Women and head of Garo Boy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Garo_Women_and_head_of_Garo_Boy.jpg)
The Garo is a
Tibeto-Burman
The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non- Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people spea ...
ethnic tribal group from the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
, living mostly in the Indian states of
Meghalaya
Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of As ...
,
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
,
Tripura
Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east a ...
, and
Nagaland
Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...
, and in neighbouring areas of
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, including
Madhupur,
Mymensingh, Haluaghat, Dhobaura,
Durgapur, Kolmakanda,
Jamalpur,
Sherpur, Jhinaigati, Nalitabari, Gazini Hills Madhyanagar,
Bakshiganj
Bakshiganj ( bn, বকশীগঞ্জ) is an upazila of Jamalpur District in the Division of Mymensingh, Bangladesh.
Bakshigonj Thana was converted into an upazila in 1983. In Bakshigonj have some Haat Bazer.
Bakshigonj (Town) The area of the ...
and
Sribardi. Historically, the name Garo was used for wide range of inhabitants in southern bank of Brahmaputra but now refers to those who call themselves A•chik Mande (literally "
hill people
Hill people, also referred to as mountain people, is a general term for people who live in the hills and mountains.
This includes all rugged land above and all land (including plateaus) above elevation.
The climate is generally harsh, with s ...
," from ''A•chik'' "bite soil" + ''mande'' "people") or simply A•chik or Mande and the name "Garo" is now being used by outsiders as an
exonym
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
. They are the second-largest tribe in Meghalaya after the
Khasi
Khasi may refer to:
* Khasi people, an ethnic group of Meghalaya, India
* Khasi language, a major Austroasiatic language spoken in Meghalaya, India
* Khāṣi language, an Indo-Aryan language of Jammu and Kashmir, India
See also
* Khasi Hills
* Gh ...
and comprise about a third of the local population.
Religion
Many of the Garo community follow
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
, with some rural pockets practising traditional animist religion known as
Songsarek
The Garo is a Tibeto-Burman ethnic tribal group from the Indian subcontinent, living mostly in the Indian states of Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura, and Nagaland, and in neighbouring areas of Bangladesh, including Madhupur, Mymensingh, Haluaghat, ...
. It is argued that the indigenous groups who settled in the
Garo Hills
The Garo Hills (Pron: ˈgɑ:rəʊ) are part of the Garo-Khasi range in Meghalaya, India. They are inhabited by the Garo people. It is one of the wettest places in the world. The range is part of the Meghalaya subtropical forests ecoregion.
De ...
brought their ancient
animistic
Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, hum ...
religious beliefs and practices, with deities who must be appeased with rituals, ceremonies and
animal sacrifices
Animal sacrifice is the ritual killing and offering of one or more animals, usually as part of a religious ritual or to appease or maintain favour with a deity. Animal sacrifices were common throughout Europe and the Ancient Near East until the spr ...
to ensure the welfare of the tribe.
Rev
Ramke W. Momin was the first devout Christian from among the Garo. Rev Ramke W. Momin was born in Goalpara, Assam, India, sometime in the 1820s.
Sangsarek
The religion of the ancestors of the Garo is Songsarek. Their tradition "Dakbewal" relates to their most prominent cultural activities. In 2000, the group called "
Risi Jilma Risi may refer to:
People
*Bruno Risi (b. 1968), Swiss professional racing cyclist
*Dino Risi (1916–2008), Italian film director
* Giuliano De Risi (b. 1945), Italian journalist
* Lucio de Risi (b. 1953), Italian electrical engineer
*Nelo Risi ( ...
" was founded to safeguard the ancient Garo Songsarek religion. Seeing the Songsarek population in decline, youth from the Dadenggiri subdivision of
Garo Hills
The Garo Hills (Pron: ˈgɑ:rəʊ) are part of the Garo-Khasi range in Meghalaya, India. They are inhabited by the Garo people. It is one of the wettest places in the world. The range is part of the Meghalaya subtropical forests ecoregion.
De ...
felt the need to preserve the Songsarek culture. The Rishi Jilma group is active in about 480 villages in and around Garo Hills.
Geographical distribution
![Garo tribes House](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Garo_tribes_House.JPG)
The Garo are mainly distributed over the
Garo Hills
The Garo Hills (Pron: ˈgɑ:rəʊ) are part of the Garo-Khasi range in Meghalaya, India. They are inhabited by the Garo people. It is one of the wettest places in the world. The range is part of the Meghalaya subtropical forests ecoregion.
De ...
,
Khasi Hills
The Khasi Hills () is a low mountain formation on the Shillong Plateau in Meghalaya state of India. The Khasi Hills are part of the Garo-Khasi-Jaintia range and connects with the Purvanchal Range and larger Patkai Range further east. Khasi Hill ...
, Ri-Bhoi Districts in
Meghalaya
Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of As ...
,
Kamrup,
Goalpara
Goalpara, Pron: ) is the district headquarters of Goalpara district, Assam, India. It is situated to the west of Guwahati.
Etymology
The name Goalpara is said to have originated from the word "Gwaltippika" meaning Guwali village, or The villa ...
,
Sivasagar
Sivasagar (Pron: or ) ("the sea of Shiva"), is a city in and headquarters of the Sivasagar district, Assam. Sivasagar is situated about 360 kilometers (224 mi) northeast of Guwahati. It is well known for its Ahom palaces and monuments. Si ...
,
Karbi Anglong
Karbi may refer to:
Places
* Karbi, Armenia
* Karbi Anglong Plateau, an extension of the Indian Plate in Assam, India
* Karbi Anglong district, a district of Assam, north-eastern India
Other uses
* Karbi people, an ethnic group of North-east ...
districts of
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
, Khasi Hills in
Meghalaya and Dimapur (Nagaland State), lesser numbers (about 200,000) are found in
Mymensingh
Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is the capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center and educational hub of north ...
(Jamalpur, Sherpur, Netrakona, Mymensingh) and capital
Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
,
Sylhet
Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate an ...
, and
Moulovibazar districts of
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
.
It is estimated that total Garo population in Meghalaya, Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, West Bengal, Canada, USA, Europe, Australia and Bangladesh together is more than 1 million.
Garo are also found scattered in the Indian state of
Tripura
Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east a ...
. The recorded Garo population was around 6,000 in 1971.
Garo form minority groups in
Cooch Behar
Cooch Behar (), or Koch Bihar, is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Cooch Behar district. It is in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas at . Cooch Behar is the only planned city in the ...
,
Jalpaiguri
Jalpaiguri is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Jalpaiguri district as well as of the Jalpaiguri division of West Bengal, covering the jurisdiction of the five districts of North Bengal. The city is loca ...
,
Darjeeling
Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...
and
West Dinajpur of
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
, as well as in
Nagaland
Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...
. The present generation of Garo forming minority groups in these states of India that do not speak the ethnic language any longer.
Garo form small communities in different parts of the world including Canada, America, Australia, England.
Language
The
Garo language
Garo, also referred to by its endonym A•chikku, is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in India in the Garo Hills districts of Meghalaya, some parts of Assam, and in small pockets in Tripura. It is also spoken in certain areas of the neighbourin ...
belongs to the
Tibeto-Burman
The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non- Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people spea ...
language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in hist ...
. The language was not traditionally written down; customs, traditions, and beliefs were handed down
orally.
Brief lists of Garo words were compiled by
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
officials in 1800, and Garo acquired a Latin-based spelling system during the late 19th century, devised by American Baptist missionaries and based on a northeastern dialect of Garo. The first translation of the Garo Bible was published in 1924. The modern official language in schools and government offices is
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
.
Historical accounts
![Garo Girl](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Garo_Girl.jpg)
According to one oral tradition, the Garo first migrated to the Garo Hills from
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 people, ...
(referred to as Tibotgre) around 400 BC under the leadership of Jappa Jalimpa, crossing the
Brahmaputra River
The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. It ...
and tentatively settling in the river valley. The Garo finally settled down in Garo Hills (East-West Garo Hills), finding providence and security in this uncharted territory and claiming it as their own. Records of the tribe by expanding
Mughal armies and by
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
officials in what is now
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
wrote of the brutality of the people.
The earliest written records about the Garo date from around 1800, and were written by officials of the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
. They "...were looked upon as bloodthirsty savages, who inhabited a tract of hills covered with almost impenetrable jungle, the climate of which was considered so deadly as to make it impossible for a white man to live there".
In December 1872, the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
dispatched a military expedition to Garo Hills to establish control over the region. The campaign was conducted from three sides – south, east, and west. The Garo warriors (''matgriks'') confronted them at the
Battle of Rongrenggre equipped with spears, swords, and shields. They were defeated in the engagement, as the Garo did not have guns or mortars like the
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...
. By the early 1900s, the
American Baptist Mission
International Ministries is an international Baptist Christian missionary society. It is a constituent board affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. The headquarters is in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, United States.
History
The so ...
was active in the area, working from
Tura, Meghalaya
Tura (IPA: ˈtʊərə) is a municipality in the West Garo Hills district of the Indian state of Meghalaya. One of the largest towns in Meghalaya, Tura is located in the foothills of the Tura range of the Garo Hills. Before Britishers came to Gar ...
.
Two early histories of the Garo people were written by
deputy commissioner for Eastern Bengal and Assam Major A. Playfair, ''The Garos'' (1909), and by Sinha T.C., ''The Psyche of Garos'' (1955).
Culture
The Garo are one of the few remaining
matrilineal
Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's Lineage (anthropology), lineage – and which can in ...
societies in the world. The individuals take their clan titles from their mothers. Traditionally, the youngest daughter (''nokmechik'') inherits the property from her mother. Sons leave their parents' house at puberty and are trained in the village bachelor dormitory (''nokpante''). After getting married, the man lives in his wife's house.
In Garo habitations, the house where unmarried male youth or bachelors live is called Nokpante. The women were forbidden from entering the Nokpante. Any woman who broke this rule was considered tainted or "marang nangjok." But this is not as common now.
Garo is a matrilineal society but is not to be mistaken to be matriarchal. While the property is owned by women, the men govern the society and domestic affairs and manage the property.
The Garo people have traditional names. However, the culture of the modern Garo community has been greatly influenced by Christianity.
![GARO TRADITIONAL DRESS-1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/GARO_TRADITIONAL_DRESS-1.jpg)
Ornaments: Both men and women enjoy adorning themselves with ornaments:
*''Nadongbi'' or ''sisa'' – made of a brass ring worn in the lobe of the ear
*''Nadirong'' – brass ring worn in the upper part of the ear
*''Natapsi'' – string of beads worn in the upper part of the ear
*''Jaksan'' – bangles of different materials and sizes
*''Ripok'' – necklaces made of long barrel-shaped beads of cornelian or red glass while some are made of brass or silver and are worn in special occasions
*''Jaksil'' – elbow ring worn by rich men on Gana ceremonies
The dresses of Meghalaya worn by the Garo tribe vary depending on the basis of the place of residence of the people. Women who belong to faraway villages of Garo hills wear an eking, a small cloth worn around the waist.
*''Penta'' – small piece of ivory struck into the upper part of the ear projecting upwards parallel to the side of the head
*''Seng·ki'' – waistband consisting of several rows of conch-shells worn by women
*''Pilne'' – head ornament worn during dances only by women
Clothing: The traditional dress of the Garo Women's is Dakmanda, Dakshari. In keeping with the modern age, Garo women wear jeans, Sari, T-shirts, pajamas. Garo men wear jeans, T-shirts, shirts.
Weapons: Garo have their own weapons. One of the principal weapons is a two-edged
sword
A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...
called ''mil·am'' made of one piece of iron from hilt to point. There is a cross-bar between the hilt and the blade where a bunch of ox's tail-hair is attached. The other types of weapons are
shield
A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...
,
spear
A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...
,
bow and arrow
The bow and arrow is a ranged weapon system consisting of an elastic launching device (bow) and long-shafted projectiles ( arrows). Humans used bows and arrows for hunting and aggression long before recorded history, and the practice was comm ...
,
axe
An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has many for ...
,
dagger
A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use de ...
, etc.
Food and drink: The staple cereal food is
rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima
''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...
. They also eat
millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...
,
maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
,
tapioca
Tapioca (; ) is a starch extracted from the storage roots of the cassava plant (''Manihot esculenta,'' also known as manioc), a species native to the North Region, Brazil, North and Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast regions of Brazil, but wh ...
etc. Garo are very liberal in their food habits. They rear
cow
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...
s,
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
s,
pig
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...
s, fowls,
duck
Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...
s etc. and relish their meat. They eat other wild animal like deer, bison, wild pigs etc. Fish, prawns, crabs, eels and dry fish are a part of their food. Their
jhum
The traditional shifting cultivation farming technique of indigenous communities and Bengalis in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh and nearby regions in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Nagaland in India is known as jhum cultivation.
Tec ...
fields and the forests provide them with vegetables and roots for their curry. Bamboo shoots are esteemed as a delicacy. They use a kind of potash in curries, which they obtain by burning dry pieces of
plantain
Plantain may refer to:
Plants and fruits
* Cooking banana, banana cultivars in the genus ''Musa'' whose fruits are generally used in cooking
** True plantains, a group of cultivars of the genus ''Musa''
* ''Plantaginaceae'', a family of flowerin ...
stems or young bamboo locally known as ''kalchi'' or ''katchi''. After they are burnt, the ashes are collected and dipped in water; they are strained in conical shapes in a bamboo strainer. These days most of the townspeople use
cooking soda from the market in place of ash water. The Garo make their own liquor by fermenting a special type of rice and the finished product is called "Minil Bichi". Besides other drinks, country liquor plays an important role in the life of the Garo.
Garo architecture
Generally one finds similar types of
arts
The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...
and
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
in Garo Hills. They normally use locally available
building material
Building material is material used for construction. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, rock (geology), rocks, sand, wood, and even twigs and leaves, have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materia ...
s like timber, bamboo, cane, and
thatch
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...
. Garo architecture can be classified into the following categories:
*''Nokmong'' – The house where every A'chik household can stay together. This house is built so that inside the house there are provisions for sleeping, hearth, sanitary arrangements, kitchen, water storage, place for fermenting wine, place for use as cattle-shed or for stall-feeding the cow, and the space between earthen floor and raised platform for use as pigsty and in the back of the house; the raised platform serves as hencoop for keeping fowl and for storing firewood, thus every need is fully provisioned for in one house.
*''Nokpante'' – In the Garo habitation, the house where unmarried male youth or bachelors live is called Nokpante. The word Nokpante means the house of bachelors. Nokpantes are generally constructed in the front courtyard of the Nokma, the chief. The art of cultivation, arts, and cultures, and games are taught in the Nokpante to the boys by the senior boys and elders.
*''Jamsireng'' – In certain areas, in the rice field or orchards, small huts are constructed. They are called Jamsireng or Jamdap. The season's fruits or grains are collected and stored in the Jamsireng, or it can be used for sleeping.
*''Jamadal'' – The small house, a type of miniature house, built in the jhum fields is called Jamadal or ‘field house’. In certain places, where there is danger from wild animals, a small house with ladder is constructed on the treetop. This is called Borang or ‘house on the treetop’.
Festivals
![Wangala Dance](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Wangala_Dance.1.JPG)
The common and regular festivals are those connected with agricultural operations.
Most Garo festivals are based on the agricultural cycle of crops. The harvesting festival ''
Wangala
Wangala is also called the festival of "The Hundred Drums", a harvest festival celebrated by the Garo tribe, who live in Meghalaya, Nagaland and Assam in India and Greater Mymensingh in Bangladesh. In this post harvest festival, they give than ...
'' is the biggest celebration of the tribe happening in the month of October or November every year. It is the thanksgiving after harvest in the honor of the god ''Saljong'', provider of nature's bounties.
Other festivals include ''Gal·mak Goa'', ''Agalmaka'', etc.
Asanang Wangala
There is a celebration of the 100-drum festival in Asanang near
Tura in
West Garo Hills
West Garo Hills is an administrative district in Garo Hills of the state of Meghalaya in India. Tura town is the administrative headquarters of the district. The district occupies an area of 3714 km². In 2011 its population was 643,291. As ...
,
Meghalaya
Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of As ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
usually in October or November. Thousands of people, especially young people, gather at Asanang and celebrate Wangala. Garo girls known as ''nomil'' and boys ''pante'' take part in 'Wangala' festivals. The pantes beat a kind of long drum called ''dama'' in groups and play bamboo flute. The nomils with colorful costumes dance to the tune of ''dama'' and folk songs in a circle.
Dhaka Wangala
Garo in Dhaka celebrates wangala festival every year in November-December. There are 30,000 Garo in Dhaka Metropolitan city who are preserving the Garo Culture and tradition. In the Wangala day Garo arrive from every corner of the city in Lalmatia Housing Society ground to celebrate the festival. A total number of ten thousand people attend the celebration. Colorful rally with traditional dress, musical drums are played. The speeches from the guests are also one of the attraction for the people. The AMUA for Misi Saljon is take place by the original Kamal from village. The display stalls are arrange with traditional food, dresses, and other materials. There is also Souvenir publication from the Nokma Parishad where Prime Minister's Message is included. The Walgala festival in Dhaka bring special day for the Garo in Dhaka city.
Christmas
Though
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
is a religious celebration, December is a great season of celebration in Garo Hills. In the first week of December, the town of
Tura and all other smaller towns are illuminated with lights. This celebration featured by worship, dance, merry-making, grand feasts, and social visits goes on till 10 January. People from all religions and sections take part in the Christmas celebration. In December 2003 the tallest Christmas tree of the world was erected at Dobasipara, Tura by the Baptist boys of Dobasipara. Its height was 119.3 feet, covered by BBC and widely broadcast on television. The tree was decorated with 16,319 colored light bulbs; it took about 14 days to complete the decoration.
Ahaia Winter Festival
The annual festival, conceptualised in 2008, is aimed to promote and brand this part of the region as a popular tourist destination by giving an opportunity for the local people to showcase their skills and expertise. The three-day fest features a gala event with carnival, cultural show, food festival, rock concert, wine festival, angling competition, ethnic wear competition, children's fancy dress, DJ Nite, exhibitions, housie housie, and other games. The entry forms for carnival and other events are available at the Tourist Office,
Tura.
Simsang Festival
It was first started in 2006 in Williamnagar, Meghalaya. Simsang festival was known as Winter festival before and it promotes the talents of the local people. It also promotes the local bands and the exhibition on hand crafts made by local people. It also promotes the indigenous games of Garo.
Music and dance
Group songs may include Ku·dare sala, Hoa ring·a, Injoka, Kore doka, Ajea, Doroa, Nanggorere goserong, Dim dim chong dading chong, Serejing, Boel sala etc.
Dance forms are Ajema Roa, Mi Su·a, Chambil Moa, Do·kru Sua, Chame mikkang nia, Kambe Toa, Gaewang Roa, Napsepgrika and many others.
Traditional Garo musical instruments can broadly be classified into four groups.
Culture section in the official Garo Hills area
* Idiophones: Self-sounding and made of resonant materials – Kakwa, Nanggilsi, Guridomik, Kamaljakmora, all kinds of gongs, Rangkilding, Rangbong, Nogri etc.
* Aerophone: Wind instruments, whose sound come from air vibrating inside a pipe when is blown – Adil, Singga, Sanai, Kal, Bolbijak, Illep or Illip, Olongna, Tarabeng, Imbanggi, Akok or Dakok, Bangsi rori, Tilara or Taragaku, Bangsi mande, Otekra, Wa·pepe or Wa·pek.
* Chordophone: Stringed instrument – Dotrong, Sarenda, Chigring or Bagring, Dimchrang or Kimjim, Gongmima or Goggins.
* Membranophone: With skins or membranes stretched over a frame – Am·being Dama, Chisak Dama, Atong Dama, Garaganching Dama, Ruga and Chibok Dama, Dual-Matchi Dama, Nagra, Kram etc.
* War Dance: War dance is danced before going to war and after returning victorious. At this time, all the men and women got up to drink and dance with joy
Professions
The Garo rely on nature. Their profession is hunting and warrior known as Matgrik. They practice jhum cultivation which is the most common agricultural tradition. For more than 4,000 years, until modern times, the Garo have been practicing jhum cultivation. Since the middle of the twentieth century, most Garo work in private industry or have government jobs. There is coal mining in the area, as well as the cultivation of bananas and other fruits.
Notable Garo people
Indians
* Martin Danggo
Martin M. Danggo is an Indian politician from the state of Meghalaya who serves as the current Minister of Public Works Department (Roads) in the Government of Meghalaya, and represents the 35th Ranikor Scheduled Tribe (ST) constituency in the Sout ...
, politician, Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
, National People's Party, India
* Kilco Marak, right-handed pace bowlers, Meghalaya cricket team, Meghalaya, India
* S. C. Marak, former Chief Minister, Meghalaya.
* Sanford Marak, former MP, Tura -ST Constituency, fifteenth Lok Sabha Election, India
* Numal Momin
Numal Momin (born 25 February 1972) is a politician who has been serving as an MLA from 17 no Bokajan legislative assembly constituency in the Karbi Anglong district of Assam. He is currently the Deputy Speaker of Assam Legislative Assembly. Dr ...
, MLA, the Assam Legislative Assembly, Chairperson of Assam Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Board
* Ramke W. Momin, educationist and Philosopher.
* Agatha Sangma
Agatha Kongkal Sangma (born 24 July 1980) is an Indian politician serving as a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha representing the Tura (Lok Sabha constituency), Tura constituency of Meghalaya. At the age of 29, she is the youngest member of parli ...
, former Union Minister, Govt of India.
* Captain Williamson A. Sangma, founder Chief Minister Of Meghalaya
Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of As ...
, First Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
amongst tribals.
* Chengkam Sangma, right-handed pace bowler, Meghalaya cricket team
* Conrad Sangma
Conrad Kongkal Sangma (born 27 January 1978) is an Indian politician who is the 12th and current Chief Minister of Meghalaya. He assumed presidency of the National People's Party in 2016 after the death of his father who was former Chief Minis ...
, 12th Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Politician, National People's Party and Nationalist Congress Party
* Dippu Sangma, all-rounders, vice captain, Meghalaya cricket team, Meghalaya, India
* Gilbertson Sangma
Gilbertson Sangma (born 12 April 1955) is a former Indian Association football, footballer. He played as a Forward (association football), striker. Sangma was regarded as "Man with golden boot" by the leading daily ''Hindustan Times'' because o ...
, Indian international footballer
* James Sangma
James Pangsang Kongkal Sangma (born 1976 in Tura, West Garo Hills) is an Indian politician from the state of Meghalaya. Sangma is a current Cabinet Minister of Home, District Council Affairs, Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Law, Power, i ...
, minister of Home, Law, Power, District Council Affairs, Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Government of Meghalaya
* Mukul Sangma
Mukul Manda Sangma is an Indian politician who was Chief Minister of Meghalaya from 2010 to 2018 and is currently leader of the opposition in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly. He has been a member of the All India Trinamool Congress since Nove ...
, former Chief Minister, Meghalaya.
* P. A. Sangma
Purno Agitok Sangma (1 September 1947 – 4 March 2016) was an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Meghalaya from 1988 to 1990 and Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1996 to 1998. He was the candidate for the 2012 Indian presidentia ...
, former Lok Sabha Speaker, Govt. of India.
* Pa Togan Sangma, freedom fighter
* Tengchan Sangma, right-handed batsmen, Meghalaya cricket team, Meghalaya, India
* Timothy Shira
Timothy Shira is an Indian politician from Meghalaya. He is a member of the National People's Party.
In 2003, he was elected from North Garo Hills district's Resubelpara
Resubelpara, also known as Resu, is the headquarters of North Garo ...
, deputy speaker, NPP since 21 March 2018
Bangladeshi
* Jewel Areng
Jewel Nongbak Arengh ( bn, জুয়েল আরেং) is a Bangladeshi Garo people, Garo Awami League politician and the incumbent Member of Parliament from Mymensingh-1. He is the youngest member of parliament and the only Catholic. His f ...
, member of Parliament of Bangladesh.
* Maria Manda, Bangladeshi women's national team footballer
* Promode Mankin
Promode Mankin (18 July 1939 – 11 May 2016) was a Bangladesh Awami League politician and State Ministry of Cultural Affairs (Bangladesh), Minister of Social Welfare Affairs. He was the first Catholic and first member of the country's Christian ...
, former minister, Govt. of Bangladesh.
* Sheuli Azim
Sheuli Azim ( bn, শিউলী আজিম) (born 2001) is a Bangladeshi women's football defender who plays as a right-back or a centre-back for Bashundhara Kings Women and the Bangladesh women's national football team. She previously pla ...
, Bangladeshi
Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay.
Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...
football player
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
(Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
-Garo)
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*"Two new Mymensingh MPs take oath". The Independent. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
*"Awami League's Jewel Areng, Nazim Uddin win Mymensingh constituencies in by-elections". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
*"Mymensingh, a tribal Catholic elected to Parliament". asianews.it. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
*"AL nominates Jewel, Nazim for M'singh by-polls". banglanews24.com. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
*Indigenous Literature: Building a bridge between cultures, thedailystar.net>city.
*Times (2016-11-01). "Garo Icon Ramke W Momin's grave to be memorialized". Meghalaya Times. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
*Sangma, MS (15 October 2019). "Ramke W Momin A search for truth" (PDF). NEHU.
* "Congress outsmarted in Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma to be sworn in March 6". The Hindu. 4 March 2018. Archived from the original on 4 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
External links
Official site of Meghalaya State of India
A Garo, Mande Adivasi: Dance Performance Art in Bangladesh
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20131013132811/http://southgarohills.nic.in/Home/Profile/Culture.html South Garo Hills District official website - People and Culture
Ethnologue entry for Garo
* http://westgarohills.gov.in/culture.html
Still The Children Are Here (brief documentary of a Garo neighbourhood in Sadolpara, interior Garo Hills)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garo (Tribe)
Ethnic groups in Northeast India
Bodo-Kachari
Headhunting
Tribes of Meghalaya
Scheduled Tribes of Meghalaya
Scheduled Tribes of Assam
Scheduled Tribes of Mizoram
Scheduled Tribes of Nagaland
Ethnic groups in Bangladesh
Ethnic groups in South Asia