Tai Phake people

Tai Phake (Thai: ชาวไทพ่าเก also Chao Tai Faagae literally Peoples Tai Old Wall), also known as Phakial or simplyPhake, belong to the Tai-speaking tribal group living in Dibrugarh district and Tinsukia district of Assam, principally along the areas of Dihing river as well as adjacent parts of Lohit and Changlang districts in Arunachal Pradesh.^[1] As of 1990, their population stood at 5,000, which consists of less than 250 families. Princess Sirindhorn of Thailand visited one of their villages, and was able to communicate with very good mutual intelligibility despite centuries of distance.

History

The Tai Phake people were believed to have migrated from the Shan kingdom Mong Mao (Muang Mao), Myanmar in the 18th century. The word Phake has been derived from the Tai words "Pha" meaning wall and "Ke" meaning ancient or old.

Prior to their immigration into Assam, they were residents on the banks of the Nam Turung or Turung Pani. Coming to Assam, they at first settled under their chief Chow Ta Meng Khuen Meng of the royal line of Mung Kong at a place called Moongkongtat, a little above Ningroo on the Buridihing.

In the early 19th century the Tai Phake people were subjugated by the then Ahom officer Chandra Gohain who visited the eastern districts with a small force. Chandra Gohain brought them from their original habitat to Jorhat. When the Burmese invaded Assam, they and others of the Shan race were ordered by the Burmese authorities to return to Mogoung. The Tai Phake people went up to Buridihing and settled there. On their arrival in Assam, they settled in the rich south bank of the Buridihing River, which came to be known as Nam Phake.

Villages

Significant population of Tai Phake people are found in Dibrugarh, Tinsukia districts of Assam and Lohit and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh. The village with most population of the Tai Phake people is in Namphake village. Besides Namphake, they are also found in Tipamphake, Borphake, Manmau, Namchai, Manlong, Nanglai, Ninggum, Phaneng, Lalung (Bordumsa) villages.

Economy

The main occupation of the Tai Phake people is agriculture. They cultivate crops such as rice paddy, mustard, potatoes. Besides agriculture they also have other subsidiary sources of income from which the people earn good income. They also rear cattle, buffaloes. Fishing is a major practice of the Tai Phakes.

Society:

Administrative structure:

The Tai Phakes are essentially democratic and simple. Although the people do not possess any formal council, yet the meeting of the village elders headed by the "Chow maan"(Village chief) exercises the highest legal and judicial powers. Any dispute among the people are settled by the village meeting headed by the village chief. The Tai Phakes possess a written code called "thamchat", which is referred to by the village elders while deciding of local nature. The penalties for breaches of law, the idea of right and wrong, appear to be genuinely indigenous to their culture. The rules of conduct that the "thamchat" enjoins on its members are mainly based on ethical principles.

Marriage:

The Tai Phakes usually marry within the community. The society is basically patriarchal -the son inherits his father's property. They are monogamous although polygamy is not forbidden provided the man has the requisite means to support such a family. The Tai Phakes do not keep any matrimonial relations with people of other caste or tribes. Widow and cross cousin marriage take place in the Tai Phake society. The marriage is celebrated with a detailed ceremony. Divorce is not a common affair in the Tai Phake society. The husband or a wife files a divorce case before the "chow maan"(Village chief) who takes a decision in the meeting of the village elders which is final. Divorce can be made effective only by the verdict of the village elders meeting.

Beliefs:

The Tai Phakes believe in the existence of spirit and certain rituals are observed to appease to malevolent spirits. Sympathetic magic is practised and efficacy of mantras is very much believed by them. For the ordinary personal ailments the Tai Phakes have their indigenous supernatural treatment. Traditional prescription in respect of sickness and cure are resorted to occasionally when the worship of Lord has no effect.

Culture:

Language:

The Tai Phake people are bilingual. They speak Phake language among themselves and speak Assamese with an outsider. The Phake language is similar to those of Shan. They have their own separate scripts and also have preserved manuscripts. Most of them are religious scriptures.

The Tai Phake language has 10 vowel phonemes, 15 consonant phonemes, 2 semivowels, a few diphthongs, and 3 consonant clusters.^{[citation needed]}

It is a tonal language and retains 6 prominent tones-rising, falling, high (mid), low high (falling) and low (mid). It is also monosyllabic. Suffixes are added to retain the monosyllabic quality of the words.

Being followers of Theravada Buddhism, some of the Tai Phake people are also able to read Pali.

(Main article: Tai Phake language)

Houses:

The houses of the Tai Phakes are chang-ghars. Built on piles of wood above the ground locally known as "haun hang". Materials is like takau (toko paat) leaves, timber and bamboos are used in the construction of their houses. There are two hearths in each house and the inside one is considered as sacred. Every house has a drawing room called "kan nok", a prayer room called "khok tang-som" with a kitchen called "haun aom".

Dress:

The Tai Phake women wear colourful dresses woven by them. Their outfit consists of an ankle-long skirt ("chin"), a blouse open at the front ("nang-wat") and fastened around the armpits and a girdle ("chai-chin") to tighten the skirt around the waist. The female child wears a skirt ("chin") and a blouse. A white turban ("phahu") is worn by the women folk on individual preference. The colours of their dresses are expressive of their ages. Dresses includes dress proper, ornaments and decoration. Dress proper includes articles of personal clothing as are used mainly for the purpose of covering. There are two dresses for phakes:

• General dress for everyday use.
• Special dress for particular occasions.

Very small amount of ornaments are used as assign of femininity than for enhancing the effectiveness of the personal appearance of the wearer. Decoration which signifies tattooing and marks on the body, is however, obviously not present where it should be. The Phakes have a fairly elaborate pattern of dresses and nudity or scanty dress is disliked by all. Even a child below the age of five years is rarely seen to go without dress. Men and women, young and old. Cover their body whether they are inside their residence or outside. The phakes do not possess any traditional ceremonial dress. On festive occasion, however, washed clothes are used. For their warm clothes people depend upon the market products like coat, sweater, Scarf, Shawl etc.

Male costumes:

The dress of the elderly male is generally house woven checkered lungi (Fatong) of green and black color lined with red, yellow or white yarn, one genji, one shirt (Sho) of mill made cloth purchased from the market and a white turban (Fa Ho Ho). A white chaddar (about 2 meters long and 1 meter wide) with a plain border (Fa Fek Mai) and white long sleeved shirt are worn by the elderly people when they go to the Vihar or to any distant places. For their warm clothes the elderly male persons prefer Endi Chaddar (Fa Jang) which they collect from the market. In the congregational prayer, every one, except the boys and girls below the age of 10 years, wears the chaddar.

Female costumes:

The Phake women wear their traditional dresses. The elderly female persons wear one girdle (Chin) around the waist extending up to their ankles. It is just like mens lungi with the differences that the stripes in a Chin are breadth wise and the waist portion of the Chin is much thicker. To cover the upper half of the body, the women use a long stripped cloth called Fa Nangwait, about 2.3 meters long and 1 meter wide. A cloth belt, Chairchin, about 6 centimeters wide and 1.5 meter long) is worn around their waist. Before the attainment of puberty, girls do not wear Fa Nangwait. Instead, they wear a white cloth, Fafek, about 2 meters long and 1 meter wide, with or without border, to cover the upper half of the body.If a girl has an unmarried elder sister, she does not wear a Fa Nangwait even though she has attained puberty. Wearing a Fafek is a sign of unpreparedness for marriage. All the women wear a traditional white chaddar when they go to the Vihar or to a distant place. The bride during marriage ceremony uses a similar chaddar as a veil. Elderly women wear a blouse called Chekhamchum, which extends up to the waist. Young girls and the unmarried women wear blouses of different colors but use of sleeveless or short blouse is not encouraged. The elderly women wear a white turban all the time while the younger married women wear the same when they visit the Vihar or the weekly market. The dress of unmarried grownup girls constitutes a Chin, a Fa Fek Mai and a blouse.

Costumes of boys and girls:

The boys wear trousers and shirts when they go to Naharkatia or to their schools, while in the village they use their traditional lungi. Young girls use bazaar made frocks. The school going girls wear their traditional Chin even in their educational institutions.

The dress of the monks:

There are special clothes for the monks which must be of yellow colour. It was reported that previously when the marketing centres were not easily accessible, the people prepared all their dyes indigenously. The yellow colour was prepared from the yellowish kernel of the Jackfruit tree. The monks wear four kinds of cloths viz; main cloth i.e. a lungi (Cham Paying), one chaddar like cloth (Chang Kan, about 9.3 meters long and 1.5 meters wide) which is used in the upper part of the body, one sanghati i.e. a locally prepared genji and one piece of cloth (about 1.2 meters long and 6 centimeters wide) to cover their secret parts. The eight inevitables (Asta Pariskar) of a monk include the above-mentioned four varieties of clothes and a filter cloth( Jal Chakani), a blade for shaving the head fortnightly and thread and needle.

Ornaments:

For personal adornment the Phake women wear very few ornaments. In fact married and elderly women do not show much interest in ornaments. It was reported that till 1950 the elderly women used Kenhu (an ear ornament made of transparent crystal material) but since that year the supply of that material became irregular and the Phake women had to opt for modern ornaments like ear ring, bracelets, gold ring, necklaces etc. It was also reported that till 1950 necklace made of silver coins was considered as valuable ornament by the womenfolk, but today this type of necklace is hardly seen. The reason, as reported by the Phake, is that old silver rupee and half rupee coins contained much metal value and the villagers therefore, exchanged those silver ornaments for much higher price in terms of new coins, which however, contain less metal value. The married women wear a pair of bangles (Beyan) made of either gold or silver. Gold or silver ring (Ungehop) is also worn by those who can afford. Necklace made of small beads is worn by the small children in order to avoid dangers from evil spirits. Bead armlets are used by some elderly people of both the villages for similar purpose. Objects of natural beauty like flowers are special favourites of the teenage girls who wear those in their hair.

Hair dressing:

The Phake women wear their hair long. Men crop their hair short, except the followers of eight principles of Buddhism. Wearing of long hair is strictly prohibited for the monks and they must shave their head after every fortnight.

Festivals and practices:

Poi Sangken is the major festival of the Tai Phakes. It is similar to Songkran which is celebrated in Thailand. It marks the beginning of new year in the Tai calendar. It is celebrated for three days. Basically it starts from 13 or 14 April every year. In this festival people throw water on each other which signifies washing away the sins of one another. They also cleanse Buddha images and statues from household shrines as well as from monasteries by gently pouring water over them.

Buddha Purnima is also a major festival of the Tai Phakes. It marks the birthday of Lord Gautama Buddha. On this day the people gather together in the Buddhist Monastery and offer prayers to the God. This is followed by a feast. Generally this festival falls in the month of May.

Naun-wa is a three-month period in which no marriages or construction work are done. This period is considered to be inauspicious. In each month during the day of "purnima" the people of the village gather together in the monastery and offer prayers. It is not festival but an important religious practice.

Poi Ok-wa is celebrated after the three-months period of "Naun-wa". It marks the end of "Naun-wa". People from different villages and a union of monks gather together in a single village and offer prayers and pray to God to forgive them for their faults.

Poi Mai-ko-chum-fai is a festival which is celebrated during the full moon day of February month. Small piles of wood and hay are set on fire by the people at late evening of this day. During this occasion they prepare traditional dishes like "khau-laam".

In addition to above the Tai Phake people also celebrate festivals like Poi Lu-fra, Poi Lu-kyong, Poi Kithing, etc.

Food habits:

Rice is the staple food of the Tai Phakes. Their meals consist of cooked or steamed rice wrapped in banana or tara or kau leaves that known as "khau how" and boiled vegetables. Moreover, many wild leafy vegetables such as "pukut", "khi kai" etc. are eaten by them. Beside this their meals comprise meat, fish, eggs, steamed rice, dry fish, sour fish, dry meat, rice cakes. Tea is their favourite beverage. Killing of animals is prohibited so hunting is not practised by the Tai Phakes.

Death:

Cremation is the rule for normal death. For abnormal ones, burial is prescribed. The purification ceremony, in case of normal death is observed on the seventh day after death. Entertainment of the villagers with a feast and gift to the monks are the salient features of their purification ceremony. The Tai Phakes have special provision for the disposal of the dead body of a monk. The monk's dead body is not disposed on the same day, rather it is kept for a year or so in a watertight coffin. After about one year a big festival is arranged and all the Tai Phakes of different villages are invited and the dead body of the monk is ceremonially cremated.

The Tai Phake community of Assam

The Namphake village in Naharkatiya is home to a small population of the Tai Phakes community. Zafri Mudasser Nofil writes about their glorious legacy, customs, festivals and way of life.

About six kilometres from the upper Assam town of Naharkatiya and 37 kilometres from Dibrugarh town, is the Namphake village in the riverine area of Buridihing, home to a small population of Tai Phakes. About 150 Phakial families of this village are keeping alive their unique identity, customs and traditions.

Tai Phake is the branch of the great Tai race that entered Assam in the latter half of the 18th century. The word Phake has been derived from the Tai words ‘Pha’ meaning wall and ‘Ke’ meaning ancient or old. People living near and around the stoned walls in due course came to be known as Kunphake, i.e., people residing near Phake part of the country. In The Tai and the Tai Kingdom, Padmeswar Gogoi writes, “The Tai is a generic name denoting a great branch of the Mongoloid population of Asia. The Tai people are now mainly concentrated in the Indo-Chinese peninsula. The present habitat of the Tai people extends from Assam in the west to Kwangsi and Hainan in the east and from the interior of Yunnan in the north to the southern-most extremity of Thailand (Siam) in the south.

Wherever they have spread, the Tai people have acquired local appellation. In the four major areas of East Asia namely, Burma, Thailand (Siam), French Indo-China and Yunnan, they are known as the Shan, Siamese, Lao and Pai respectively. There are many instances of the same groups being named differently by different people at different historical periods. But the members of this great race, to whatever local groups they may belong, call themselves Tai.” Edward Gait in his History of Assam writes, “Prior to their immigration into Assam, they were residents on the banks of the Nam Turung or Turung Pani. Coming to Assam, they at first settled under their chief Chow Ta Meng Khuen Meng of the royal line of Mung Kong at a place called Moongkongtat, a little above Ningroo on the Buridihing. Hannay says the Phakials were subjugated by the Ahom officer Chandra Gohain who visited the eastern districts with a small force early in the 19th century. Chandra Gohain brought the Phakials from their original habitat to Jorhat. When the Burmese invaded Assam, they and others of the Shan race were ordered by the Burmese authorities to return to Mogoung. The Phakials went up to Buridihing and settled there.” On their arrival in Assam, they settled in the rich south bank of the Buridihing River, about 2 km from the present Naharkatiya College. The village, in recent years, has been a victim of massive erosion by the river. This year, however, in spite of heavy floods, the village miraculously escaped from the clutches of erosion. There has been no sincere effort on the part of the State Government to initiate measures to check erosion. An embankment was constructed in the early 1980s, but even then, the problem of back flow of water was not solved. The Phakials are scattered in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts. Besides Namphake, they are also found in Tipamphake, Borphake, Man Mau, Nam Chai, Man Long, Nang Lai, Ning Gum and Phaneng villages.

The Phakials are bilingual. They speak Phakial among themselves and Assamese in other places. All the people are well versed in both the languages. They have their own separate scripts and also have preserved manuscripts, most of them religious scriptures. According to Ganesh C Sarmah’s The Tai Phakes of Assam, “The Phakials have a fine tradition of keeping records of family history. Ho Likboi is such a record in which genealogies of a particular family are recorded. Generally, Ho Likboi is prepared by an elderly man called Pathek who is well versed in all the details about the people. One such Ho Likboi was found in the possession of one Ai Mya Kheng Gohain of the Namphake village. It was written sometime in the year 1790 and read by one Thou Mung Cheng Chon on the occasion of Borsabasa festival held at Nongtao. According to these records, the first person who descended from Mung Phake (Phake principality at Mogoung) was Thou Kyo Khon. The record says that originally, the Phakes resided on the confluence of the three small rivers – Turung, Taram and Silip – under the jurisdiction of the Hokong valley. The person who established Mung Phake was known as Chou Tai Cheo. They had 101 clans, Fan Kun Pak Chu Neng and the boundary of Mung Phake was the Patkai Hills on the north, Nai Langta attached to Borkhamti on the east, Jambubum attached to Mogoung on the south and the Hokong Hame Hills along with the Pungi Punga on the west.”

The Tai Phake people are followers of Buddhism. The Buddhist monastery at Namphake village was established in 1850. The monastery has mosaic and tiled floors. The head priest of the Namphake Buddhist temple is Gyanapal Bhikhu. The affairs of the monastery are run by the monks with active cooperation of the people. The people provide food and clothes to the monks. There is a modern-equipped guest house near the Vihar premises.

The Phakial language has ten vowel phonemes, 15 consonant phonemes, two semi-vowels, a few diphthongs and three consonant clusters. It is a tonal language and retains six prominent tones – rising, falling, high (mid), low, high (falling) and low (mid). It is also monosyllabic. Suffixes are added to retain the monosyllabic quality of the words. The Phakials also have a sound knowledge of Pali. There is a teaching centre in the village, where Pali is taught by one Wannar Sava. He first trained a team of villagers in the language who now assist him in his deliberations. The residents of Namphake village claim to be hundred per cent literate. The village has produced a number of doctors, engineers and lawyers. A primary school was established in the village in 1910. There is a high school nearby.

The houses are changghars. “It is not that we are following any traditions but the changghars are safe as the area is flood-prone,” said Ngen Gohain, a resident. The changghars are constructed in such a way that there is sufficient land for vegetable cultivation and flower gardens. The residents love flowers but the ladies never wear them. They also rear poultry. The people have a knack for vegetarianism. The children after adolescence vow not to kill animals in a ceremony known as Ostomarg. The people eat steamed rice.

The striking factor of the Namphake village is their claim that police have never entered its premises. Any dispute is settled among the people by the monks. The people are also not dependent on modern medicinal facilities. They rely on herbal method of curing. A 90-year-old woman Jingmya Gohain said, “We at fresh vegetables and food and seldom fall ill. In case of some complications, we rely on our traditional ways of healing.”

The Phakials usually marry within the community. But there is no hard and fast rule that they cannot marry outside their community. The society is basically patriarchal – the son inherits his father’s property.

The Tai Phake women wear colourful dresses woven by them. Their outfit consists of an ankle-long skirt (Chin), a blouse open at the front (Nang Wat) and fastened around the armpits and a girdle (Chai Chin) to tighten the skirt around the waist. The female child wears a skirt (Chin) and a blouse. A white turban (Phahu) is worn by the women folk on individual preference. The colours of their dresses are expressive of their ages. The girls wear white sarongs; women stripped red, yellow and green sarongs and old women deep purple and blue sarongs with stripes. The men wear lungis known as phanoot, a kurta, and a folded chadar.

Last month, on the 7th and 8th, the Poy Kanto Sangha celebrations were held in the Namphake village. On the occasion, the president of the Purbanchal Bhikhu Sangha U Gunawantha Mahathera, popular as Moung Lang Bhante inaugurated the ceremony by hoisting the world Buddhist flag. A taziya-like structure known as kalpataru is constructed where people extend their offerings, including money. Most ask for world peace and self-sufficiency. Then in the evening of November 7, the Kathin Chivara festival began. Kathin Chivara is a piece of cloth which has to be hand woven within the night. This cloth is presented at the Buddhist temple in presence of at least six monks. But most importantly, the presentation has to be completed before sunrise. Other festivals include Poiu Chang Ken (the water splashing festival), Buddha Purnima and Poi Nen Chi.

An Australian scholar has started a research project called Tai Languages of Assam. The project undertaken by Stephen Morey of the Department of Linguistics, Monash University, Melbourne involves the recording of stories, songs and history of the Tai people as well as the transcription, translation and analysis of manuscripts, considered important by pundits of the Tai language. In addition, the project will include the production of teaching material and grammatical study of the Tai language. His Tai Phake Primer is the first of the teaching material to be produced in the Tai language.

Though less in number, and in spite of facing an identity crisis, the Tai Phakes are able to maintain their glorious legacy.