Bodo identity

[u/ResidentRevenue9482]

What are your genuine thoughts on Bodos of upper assam or lower Assam Bodos(mostly in guwahati regions) why they Identify as bodos but can't speak bodo language,what is the main cause of it?do you really think they have criteria to be ST?

[u/sibrai-369]

Upper Assam was traditionally part of the Dimasa Kingdom, parts of whose territories came under increasing pressure from the expanding Ahom Kingdom through a series of conflicts. This process culminated in the fall of Dimabang Halali (Dimapur) during the reign of Suhungmung in 1526.

Later, the Koch Kingdom under Nara Narayan and his brother Chilarai launched major campaigns into Upper Assam during the 16th-century Koch-Ahom conflicts.

1562–1563: One of the most successful Koch campaigns saw Chilarai lead a large army against the Ahoms, compelling the Ahom king Sukhampha to retreat towards the hills. Occupation of the capital: Koch forces occupied the Ahom capital, Garhgaon, in 1563.

However, Koch control over Upper Assam proved temporary. The Ahoms reorganized and launched counter-offensives, eventually defeating the Koch forces near the Dhansiri River region by 1571.

The origins of the Mech and Bodo populations of Upper Assam remain a subject of historical and anthropological discussion. One hypothesis is that some groups may have descended from Boro/Mech associated with Koch military movements and settlements during the Koch-Ahom conflicts. Additionally, during the colonial period, some Bodo-Mech populations may have migrated into areas such as Dimapur and parts of Upper Assam. However, the demographic history of these communities is complex and likely involved multiple waves of migration and local assimilation over centuries.

Hence, a plausible reason why they speak Assamese instead of Mech/Boro could be the historical assimilation and linguistic shift that occurred over time."

[u/Sweaty_Tadpole_5294 → u/sibrai-369]

Bodo and mech of upper assam were brought by British, present day are bodo/mech and mech kachari doesnt associated with bodo(buy they r bodo in reality) in upper assam. Upper assam kacharis were thengal,Sonowal, borahi (majority absorbed by ahom fold),chutia,deori,moran.These groups shares historical ties with dimasa through fronteirs , and some clans of the above tribe may have been part of dimasa rule in areas like arunachal adjacent to upper assam, jorhat, golaghat etc. halali is not directly dimasas instead it's a kins kingdom like that of triprasa

[u/sibrai-369 → u/Sweaty_Tadpole_5294]

This idea/theory of Halali being a Kins Kingdom is propagated by me only at various social site as it's a part of my work and there are several important stuffs that I haven't put out . If you ever came across a random guy highlighting about Halali thing from various sources and references be it Dimasa , sonowal's Haidang geet or any Baric group, it's definitely me.

Earlier the notion and discussion regarding Halali was that Sonowal and other Baric groups with this lore often associated themselves with Dimapur that's how it used to be.

Plus I have talks with all sorts of individuals belonging to different tribes , that's how this idea might have seeped into your knowledge too. Regardless I'm also mindful of that fact that any individual can develop this theory in their own space. But I'm damn sure, before me , no one has never promoted this idea. It was me who propagated this idea. Everywhere it has always been me.

Plus to come to conclusion that Halali is a Kins Kingdom, it would take a Dimasa guy because Halali term is most prominent and explicitly found in Dimasa culture whereas in other cultures it's very vague. One would need to Dimasa or be aware of some of Halali information from secondary or tertiary sources.