About Deori People in Brief
Deori People
Deori Couple Deori Girls
Location of the Deori People
Deori people in Assam live in Tinsukia, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Lakhimpur, Sonitpur and Majuli districts. In Arunchal Pradesh, they live in Lohit (Mahadevpur Area) district and Changlang (Sompoi Area) district. Their villages are primarily found alongside the Brahmaputra river valley. Annual floods of Brahmaputra deposit clay and other materials, which the people use for cultivation. This helps reduce the use of fertilizers in the area.
The main crops of the area are rice, wheat, mustard, maize, jute and sugarcane.
Origin and History
The Deori were once considered the priestly section of chutiya community of Assam. But they are not currently associated with the chutiya either in religion or in social domains. The Deori are predominantly a rural community.
The group was once divided into four territorial groups Dibongya, Tengaponya, Borgeenya and Patorganya. The Patorganya are no longer exists, as it was reported by the people that they join with the other groups in Assam hence lost their identity as Deori. The Dibongya speak the Deori language and followed Deori customs more strictly, which has made them more representative of the cultural core of the Deori community.
Population: 70,000 (2011 census),
Language
Deori is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Deori people of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Only one clan of the Deori tribe, the Dibongya, has retained the language, the others having shifted to Assamese, but among the Dibongya it is vigorous. It is related to the Bodo-Garo languages. They called themselves as Jimochaya. The Deoris are traditionally being priests of the Chutiya and Ahom Kingdoms.
Belief system & others practices
The Deori tribe follows indigenous faith. They worship their ancestors; KundiMama-kundigirasi (shiva-parvati), Boliya Baba (pisadema) and Tameshwari (pisasi). They also worship other Hindu deities. Deoris are very religious people. Since antiquity, Deori people worshiped God by singing hymns and holy songs. The priests play an important role in their every religious activity. As a Deori ritual every member of the family has to be present in the cremation and they give blessing to the soul of the dead person to be in a rest in peace and have to put woods into the fire (seven types of woods are used such as mango, sandalwoods etc) with their left hand.
Livelihood and occupation
Industrial development in the Deori territory is very limited. This is primarily due to the fact that eastern India is somewhat isolated from the rest of India. This region also has a poor transportation system and small local markets. The Deori, therefore, are restricted to agriculture for survival. Every woman does weaving at home for the family as well as their income source.
