Chutia people

The Chutia people (Pron: ˈsʊðiːjaː or Sutia) are an ethnic group that are native to Assam and historically associated with the Chutia kingdom. However, after the kingdom was absorbed into the Ahom kingdom in 1523–24, the Chutia population was widely displaced and dispersed in other parts of Upper Assam as well as Central Assam. They constitute one of the core groups that form the Assamese people. Recent genetic studies have found that in the "tribal" and "caste" continuum, the Chutia people occupy an ambiguous position in the middle, along with the Ahoms and the Rajbanshis. The historic Chutias originally belonged to the Bodo–Kachari group with some suspected Shan admixtures; and it is estimated that their ruling families were originally either matrilineal or not entirely patrilineal. The Chutia people experienced Sanskritisation when the Chutia kingdom was extant, and later from Ekasarana dharma. They have also assimilated with other groups especially the Ahoms. The Chutia community is recognized as an Other Backward Class by the Government of India. Currently there is a political movement to include the Chutia community in the scheduled tribes list of India. During the colonial period, the Chutia community had the second largest population in Upper Assam (east of Kaliabor). Today, most of them reside in this region of Upper Assam. The origin of the name "Chutia" is not entirely clear, and there are several theories about its etymology. One theory suggests that the name "Chutia" is derived from the word "Chutiya" which means "a hill" in the local Assamese language. This theory suggests that the Chutia people were originally from the hill regions of present-day Arunachal Pradesh, and that they migrated to the plains of Assam and established their kingdom there. Another theory suggests that the name "Chutia" is derived from the Tai Ahom word "Chuti", which means "lord" or "ruler". Yet another theory suggests that the name "Chutia" is derived from the Sanskrit word "Chhatriya", which means "warrior" or "kshatriya".

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Related concepts (7)

Assamese people

The Assamese people are a socio-ethnic linguistic identity that has been described at various times as nationalistic or micro-nationalistic. This group is often associated with the Assamese language, the easternmost Indo-Aryan language, and Assamese people mostly live in the Brahmaputra Valley region of Assam, where they are native and constitute around 56% of the Valley's population. The use of the term precedes the name of the language or the people. It has also been used retrospectively to the people of Assam before the term "Assamese" came into use.

Mising people

The Mising people, sometimes called Miri people, are a Tibeto-Burmese indigenous ethnic group inhabiting the Northeast Indian states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. They are part of Tani group of people of Northeast India. Mising is an endonym and literally means "man of the soil." Miri, on the other hand, is an exonym commonly applied by plains Assamese people.

Koch dynasty

The Koch dynasty (Pron: kɒʧ; 1515–1949) ruled parts of eastern Indian subcontinent in present-day Assam and Bengal. Biswa Singha established power in the erstwhile Kamata Kingdom which had emerged from the decaying Kamarupa Kingdom. The dynasty came to power by removing the Baro-Bhuyans, who had earlier removed the short-lived rule established by Alauddin Hussain Shah. The dynasty split into three among the descendants of Biswa Singha's three sons; two antagonistic branches Koch Bihar and Koch Hajo and a third branch at Khaspur.