Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Conversion and Consequent Disintegration of the Boro Race: Emergence of the Koch and other Communities:

A large section of the Boro society however took conversion into Hinduism. The Boro society underwent centuries of assimilation, often termed as ‘Aryanization’ and ‘Hinduization’, which, in Assam meant conversion of non-Aryan tribes into Assamese speaking Hindus. The people of this community came into contact with the Hindus of neighbouring regions since the time of kings. Particularly, with the advent of the Aryan culture to this region in the 7th century AD, the Boro kings themselves took conversion into Hinduism. Then followed the conversion of the masses and their gradual assimilation into Indo-Aryan fold, through the ladder of caste hierarchy. The Boros of North Bengal were the first victims of conversion. During the Ahom rule, conversion of the Boros was extensively undertaken by the Gossains.1 The process of conversion which started in the 7th century A.D., completed in the 16th century when a caste called ‘Koch’ was formed out of the Hinduised Boros.2 The process of conversion continued with considerable momentum during the colonial rule too. The Census of 1881 showed three categories of Boro-Kacharis, that is, Boros uninfluenced by Hinduism which included Kacharis, Lalungs, Mech Hajongs and Garos (plains) (3, 23,303 in number); the Boros who were in the process of conversion, such as the Rabhas, Madhahis, Mahalias, Saranias and the Totilas (numbering 82,889); and the Boros who were wholly converted which included the Chutias, Koch or Rajbangsis (numbering 3, 95,002).3 The process of conversion and consequent assimilation continued for several centuries till a partial check was given in the first half of the 20th century by the English educated Boro intellectuals.

About 15% of the present total Boro population professes Christianity. Conversion of the Boros began in the second half of the 19th century, first by the missionaries of the Anglican Church, followed by the American Baptist and the Noraygian Lutheran missionaries.

The process of conversion and subsequent transformation of the converts into Assam speaking Hindus had multiple adverse affect on the socio-political life of the Boros. The first and the foremost was the disintegration of the great Boro race into numerous smaller nationalities, such as the Koches, Rabhas, Sonowals, Saranias and etc. In the caste hierarchy, the Koch occupied the highest strata among the converts, while the Sarania, Madhahi and Totila formed the first stage of conversion. The Koches gave up their culture and tradition and adapted themselves to the Assamese culture. Ralph Fitch, who visited the Koch kingdom in the 16th century found the Koches discontinuing intermarriages with the Meches, which as converts of Hinduism they were expected of. 4 Other criteria of their conversion were to give up eating pork, drinking of liquor and other items of foods forbidden to the Hindus. After some time, they were initiated into the religious instructions (Saran), giving them admission into the category of Sarania. Only when they could entirely give up the forbidden foods, they were admitted into the Hindu society, first into the lower category of Koch known as ‘Saru Koch’, then to be elevated to the full-fledged Koch caste in the third generation. The Boro converts thus first became Sarania, Madhahi or Totila and then developed to Koch.5 Biswa Singh, who was the first Koch king converted into Hinduism, became a great patron of this religion. He imported numerous Brahmans from Kanauj, Benares and other places. He worshipped Siva and Durga, revived the worship of Kamakhya and rebuilds her temple on the Nilachal hill. Many of his followers discarded their old tribal designation and called themselves Rajbangsis.6 Thus out of the Boro Hindu converts, the Koch emerged as an independent identity. Many of the converts however could not rise higher in the Hindu caste ladder, nor could they go back to their original fold. Caught in a dubious situation and encouraged by the divisive forces, they too constituted themselves into new communities, independent of the Boros. The Rabhas, Koches, Sonowals, Saranias, which have independent entity today, as history says, are the outcome of Hinduization and Aryanization process. The above discussion sufficiently indicates that the process of conversion disintegrated the great Boro race into smaller communities of conflicting socio-economic and political interests of the present time.

Another negative impact of the conversion and consequent disintegration is the reduction of Boros into an ineffective political minority. Though Boros were considered numerous at one time, and found to be more than one third of the total population of Assam, their population continued declining in the decadal census report mainly due to faulty two reasons. Firstly, according to the suggestion of the census officials, the Boro converts, climbing the ladder of caste hierarchy, continued to be elevated from Koch to Kalita, causing decline in the decadal count of Boro population. Observing this phenomenon, one census official stated “The increase in Kamrup and Darrang is so great as to suggest the suspicion that a large number of Koch have returned themselves as Kalitas.”7 The decadal census reports have recorded sudden rise in the number of Kalitas between the periods of 1872-1881. In 1872, the population of Kalitas was 99,226 in the Kamrup district, which increased to 1, 40,923 in 1881. Likewise, the number of Kalitas in Darrang district raised to 24,460 in 1881, as against 16,998 in 1872.8 the sudden increase of the Kalitas and subsequent decrease in the Boro population in those districts mentioned, suggested their elevation to the higher caste of Hinduism. Besides, the Boro Hindu converts were presented as Assamese in the census report, resulting into inclusion of large number of Boros into the Assamese fold. Referring to this duplicity of the census officials, who were mostly Assamese, one census official associated with the census of 1881 observed, “The separation of Hindus as an ethnological class is open to objection that it includes a large number who are not Aryans. The practice of presenting non-Aryan converts as Assamese, irrespective of their tribes, continued till the recent years. The impact of this phenomenon reflected itself in the inconsistent population figures presented in the successive census report. For instance, in 1881, the Boro population incisive of all cognate tribes was 8, 94,885, in 1891, it rose to 10, 58,496. But it fell to 6, 17,989 in 1901. In 1961, their population figured at 12, 28,450, while in 1971, it fell to 11, 66,901.9 Likewise, in 1951 census, only 1.47 lakhs returned as the Boro speakers as against 6.82 lakhs given in the 1911 census report. Such fluctuation in the population growth rate cannot be analyzed by the natural law of demography. While Boro population decreased due to exclusion of the Boro converts, it contrarily increased the Assamese population by their inclusion into the Assamese fold. Thus the conversion not only disintegrated the Boro race but also reduced them into an ineffective political minority, which is apparent in the present day political scenario of the Boros.

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