Head stones of Deka Chang of Semkhor (Image number U.010, J.P. Mills Photographic Collection)
On these stones outside the "deka chang" (bachelor's dormitory) enemy heads were placed after returning from a raid. They were kept there until the days of "genna" (ritual taboo time) were over and then thrown away, rather than kept, as Konyak Nagas would have done. Mills wa...
| Full title: |
Head stones of Deka Chang of Semkhor (Image number U.010, J.P. Mills Photographic Collection) [electronic resource]. |
|---|---|
| Format: | Photo |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1927.
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| Series: |
SOAS Digital Library.
ASC. REGIONS. RSA. JPMILLS. ILOAA. |
| Subjects: | |
| Online access: |
Click here to view record |
| LEADER | 05018nkm a22005653a 4500 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | LOAA005184_00001 | ||
| 005 | 20150315174401.0 | ||
| 006 | m o c | ||
| 007 | cr n ---ma mp | ||
| 008 | 150313n xx nnn o neng d | ||
| 024 | 7 | |a PP MS 58/02/U/10 |2 calm reference | |
| 040 | |a LOA |c LOA | ||
| 245 | 0 | 0 | |a Head stones of Deka Chang of Semkhor (Image number U.010, J.P. Mills Photographic Collection) |h [electronic resource]. |
| 260 | |c 1927. | ||
| 490 | |a Ancestral stones. | ||
| 500 | |a Date of photograph: 1927 March 6 | ||
| 500 | |a Copyright held by the Estate of J.P. Mills. The Estate is currently (2015) represented by Geraldine Hobson. | ||
| 500 | |a This item may be used under license: Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial (CC BY-NC) | ||
| 500 | |a This image is part of album U. This album and the preceding one both refer to the time between 1927 and 1928 when Mills was posted as Acting Deputy Commissioner to Cachar, in the southern part of Assam. The adminsitrative headquarters was at Silchar in the plains, but the area which particularly concerned Mills was the hill country of North Cachar. This was regarded as the Cinderella of Subdivisions, to which officers were often sent temporarily while waiting for a better posting. They usually had no experience of working with hill tribes and were not interested in learning about their customs and history. Mills, with his vast experience of the hill tribes was asked to sort out the resultant mess, and took it as golden opportunity to study and photograph the people and their way of life. The album also contains a few photographs from other areas. | ||
| 500 | |a Originally collected in Album U of the "J.P. Mills Photographic Collection". (Held in the SOAS, University of London, Archives and Special Collections.) | ||
| 500 | |a Mills, J. P. (James Philip), 1890-1960. [Note on Semkhor, 4.4.27 and Tour Diary 1927.] (Held by SOAS, University of London.) | ||
| 500 | |a The Dimasa Kachari are alternately known as the Semkhor and the Dwimasa | ||
| 500 | |a VIAF ID: 2475026 (name authority) : Mills, J.P. (James Philip), 1890-1960 | ||
| 500 | |a VIAF ID: 24095368 (name authority) : Hobson, Geraldine | ||
| 500 | |a Ethnologue reference: http://www.ethnologue.com/language/dis | ||
| 506 | |a Image: © 1927, The Estate of J.P. Mills. Text: © 1996, Geraldine Hobson. | ||
| 520 | 3 | |a On these stones outside the "deka chang" (bachelor's dormitory) enemy heads were placed after returning from a raid. They were kept there until the days of "genna" (ritual taboo time) were over and then thrown away, rather than kept, as Konyak Nagas would have done. Mills was told this was "because the Semkhor people are Hindus". Despite this, Mills considered that the customs associated with the deka chang and the head stones suggested affinities with the Konyaks. The inhabitants of Semkhor are very different from the Zemi Nagas which surround them. They speak Kachari, dress like Kacharis and their houses are of the Kachari pattern, yet they are definitely not Kacharis, though Kacharis are the only people allowed to enter their houses, a right which is reciprocated. They are Hindus, like Kacharis. Mills considered that they could be descendants of the Konyak Nagas who used to form the bodyguard of the Kachari kings. This theory was borne out, in his opinion, by certain similarities with the Konyaks in burial customs and items of dress. There are the remains of a Kachari fort about three miles from the village. The people of Semkhor have never intermarried with Kacharis, and the reason why the village is the only one of its kind is that the Kachari kings strictly forbade the founding of any colony villages.Mills, with his vast experience of the hill tribes was | |
| 533 | |a Electronic reproduction. |b London : |c SOAS, University of London, |c Archives and Special Collections, |d 2015. |f (SOAS Digital Library) |n Mode of access: World Wide Web. |n System requirements: Internet connectivity; Web browser software. | ||
| 535 | 1 | |a Archives and Special Collections. | |
| 650 | |a एशिया -- भारत -- असम -- उत्तर कछर जिला. | ||
| 650 | |a এশিয়া -- ভারত -- আসাম. | ||
| 650 | 7 | |a Bodo Kachari. |2 ethnicity | |
| 650 | 7 | |a Dimasa Kachari. |2 ethnicity | |
| 650 | 7 | |a Kachari. |2 ethnicity | |
| 650 | 7 | |a बोड़ो कछारी. |2 ethnicity | |
| 650 | 7 | |a कछारी. |2 ethnicity | |
| 650 | 7 | |a ডিমাছা कछारी. |2 ethnicity | |
| 650 | 7 | |a বড়ো জনগোষ্ঠী. |2 ethnicity | |
| 720 | 1 | |a Mills, J. P. (James Philip), 1890-1960.. | |
| 720 | 1 | |a Hobson, Geraldine. |4 ctb | |
| 752 | |a India |b Assam |c Dima Hasao District |d Semkhor. | ||
| 830 | 0 | |a SOAS Digital Library. | |
| 830 | 0 | |a ASC. | |
| 830 | 0 | |a REGIONS. | |
| 830 | 0 | |a RSA. | |
| 830 | 0 | |a JPMILLS. | |
| 830 | 0 | |a ILOAA. | |
| 852 | |a SOAS | ||
| 856 | 4 | 0 | |y Electronic Resource |
| 992 | 0 | 4 | |a http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/LO/AA/00/51/84/00001/00010thm.jpg |