The principal migrants have been the Austro-Asiatics, the
Dravidians, the Tibeto-Burmans, the Mongoloids and the Aryans.
The Austro-Asiatics, who were one of the earliest to arrive,
initially lived in the Brahmaputra Valley, but were later
pushed to the hills by the subsequent waves of migrants.
The Khasis and Jaintias of present-day Meghalaya are said
to be the descendants of this stock.
Next to come were the Dravidians, and the ethnological
conjecture is that the Kaibarta and Bania communities of
modern Assam are descendants of this group.
The Mongoloid migration to Assam took place at long intervals
and from widely varied sources. They, in general, belong
to the Tibeto-Burman family of the indo-Chinese group. The
early waves of this group constituted the ancestors of the
present-day Kacharis, Dimasas, Bodos, Rabhas and Lalungs,
as also most of the tribes living in the hills neighbouring
modern Assam.
The Kacharis are a powerful family and are today mostly
known as the Bodos in the Brahmaputra Valley and Dimasas
in the North Cachar Hills. The Koches on the other hand
are said to be an admixture of the Dravidian and Mongoloid
stocks. They are called Rajbangshis in the extreme western
part of the State.
The Chutiyas in Upper Assam originally settled in the
north-eastern tip of the region, but later gave way to make
room for the Ahoms, who belonged to the Shan sub-section
of the great indo-Chinese family.
The Mishings and the Karbis belong to the Tibeto-Burman
stock, and inhabit the northern plains of Upper Assam and
the Karbi hills respectively. The Khamits of extreme Upper
Assam, as also the Naras, Phakiyals and Shyams (Man-Tai
and Tai-Turung) belong to the Shan sub-section, and are
believed to be groups who arrived much after the Ahoms.
Assam today has 16 Scheduled Castes and 23 Scheduled Tribes,
with proposals for inclusion of more ethnic groups in the
two categories still awaiting approval of the Centre.
