OLAC Record: The Traditional Songs And Poetry Of Upper Assam – A Multifaceted Linguistic and Ethnographic Documentation of the Tangsa, Tai and Singpho Communities in Margherita, Northeast India

OLAC Record
oai:www.mpi.nl:1839_00-0000-0000-000D-FAD7-0

Metadata

Title: Malikha Lit

The Traditional Songs And Poetry Of Upper Assam – A Multifaceted Linguistic and Ethnographic Documentation of the Tangsa, Tai and Singpho Communities in Margherita, Northeast India

Contributor: Stephen Morey

Contributor (consultant): Junaram Sangbun Phukan

Medini Mohan

Contributor (researcher): Zeenat Tabassum

Contributor (translator): Chaichuen Khamdaengyodati

Coverage: India

Description: The book entitled Ma Likha Lit, also called Ma Likha Phura, belongs to Medini Madhab Mohan, Parijat village, Sibsagar District, Assam. We first saw the book in November 2007, when Medini Mohan kindly allowed us to photograph it. At that time, the research team consisting of Dr. Stephen Morey, Chaichuen Khamdaengyodtai, Zeenat Tabassum, Karabi Mazumder and Palash Nath were all staying together in Parijat. Taking advantage of Mediniâ��s presence and the expert knowledge of Chaichuen Khamdaengyodtai, we began the work of translating the manuscript. We were also much helped by the Ahom pandits, Chaw Junaram Sangbun Phukan and Chaw Tileswar Mohan. In October 2008, the translation was completely revised by Stephen Morey, Chaichuen Khamdaengyodtai, Zeenat Tabassum and Nabin Shyam. We are now confident that the translation presented here is correct; although alternative readings of some words and passages is possible. The version of Ma Likha Lit we have translated was copied by one Bhetaram Gogoi, whose son is named as Jonomi in the manuscript. The manuscript identifies him as a Mo Pong (Bailung), an Ahom priest. His home was at Halodhibari, now in Dibrugarh district. The book was copied in the Ahom year Rai Singa, which we believe corresponds to 1810 of the common era. The Ahom calendar has a sixty year cycle, so it is possible it was written down in 1750, but we think that the later date is more likely as the names of places and the persons who wrote it are given in Assamese. The scribe also says the book was completed on a Friday, and that it was written in the fourth month (around March). At times it may seem that events related in the story are out of order. For example page 17 finishes with the prince being installed into a new palace, and page 18 finds him alone in the dark forest. It may well be that at some time in the past the order of pages was re-arranged. In our translation, however, we have followed the order of the pages as they are numbered in the manuscript we were working from. In Ahom books, all pages are numbered with Ahom numerals on the back side of the page. The story of Ma Likha Lit The story of Ma Likha Lit, which means â��horse child bookâ��, is a story that has some parallels both with the story of Lord Ram, and also with some of the previous lives, Jataka, of the Lord Buddha. It also contains many cultural aspects of everyday life of the Ahom people. The story begins in a very rich country, where the king has many possessions and all the people are living happily. However the king has no son, and such a son is only born after the Ahom priest, Mo Sang Pha, consults the sacred books and gives a medicine in the form of a golden plum, for the queen to eat. A son is born, and at the same time, a magic horse is born from the afterbirth, a horse that can fly. When this son, the prince, grows up, he is betrothed to a lady, but he does not marry her, rather he elopes with a princess from the sky. They escape on the flying horse, but face many difficulties. The horse is caught by a giant and locked up; the prince and princess escape with the help of some river traders, but are separated after a storm. Eventually they find each other again and set up a house in the forest. When the king, the father of the prince, dies, the people of that country are without a king and they set out to search for the prince in the forest. The story ends with the people asking for the return of the prince.

This project contains linguistic, musicalogical, ethnographic and other cultural information about three communities in Upper Assam: Singpho, Tai and Tangsa. The recordings and analyses have been done by Stephen Morey, together with Palash Kumar Nath (Gauhati University), Juergen Schoepf (Phonogrammarchiv, Vienna), Meenaxi Barkataki Ruscheweyh (Goettingen Academy of Sciences), Chaichuen Khamdaengyodtai (Rajabhat University, Chiang Mai), Zeenat Tabassum (Gauhati University), Karabi Mazumder (Gauhati University), Krishna Boro (Gauhati University), Paul Hastie (LaTrobe University). The key aims of the project were • to provide a comprehensive documentation of the varieties of Tangsa language spoken in the Margherita Subdivision of Upper Assam, India, • to provide a comprehensive documentation of the traditional songs, and poetry of three endangered language communities in the Margherita Subdivision: the Tangsa and Singpho (both Tibeto-Burman) and the Tai (Tai-Kadai), including a study of Tai traditional manuscripts, which are highly relevant for language and culture maintenance among the Tai. Within each of these communities there is considerable linguistic and cultural diversity, so all the files have been divided up and named according to this system: Tai SDM01 Phake SDM02 Aiton SDM03 Khamyang SDM04 Ahom SDM05 Khamti Singpho SDM07 Turung SDM08 Numhpuk Hkawng SDM09 Diyun Hkawng SDM10 Tieng Hkawng Tangsa SDM11 Youngkuk SDM12 Cholim SDM13 Kimsing SDM14 Tikhak SDM15 Lochhang SDM16 Ngaimong SDM17 Maitai SDM18 Shechhyv SDM19 Mossang SDM20 Khvlak SDM21 Lakkai SDM22 Lungri SDM23 Hakhun SDM24 Lungkhe SDM25 Ronrang SDM26 Sangte SDM27 Sangwal SDM28 Halang SDM29 Haseng SDM30 Morang SDM31 Moklum

Ahom is the language spoken by the royal and priestly castes, and by some portion of the population, during the time of the Ahom Kingdom (traditionally 1228 to 1824). It is no longer spoken as a mother tongue, having ceased to be used for all but ritual purposes by 1800. The language survives in ritual, in the vast treasury of manuscripts and in a new revived Ahom.

The book entitled Ma Likha Lit, also called Ma Likha Phura, belongs to Medini Madhab Mohan, Parijat village, Sibsagar District, Assam. We first saw the book in November 2007, when Medini Mohan kindly allowed us to photograph it. At that time, the research team consisting of Dr. Stephen Morey, Chaichuen Khamdaengyodtai, Zeenat Tabassum, Karabi Mazumder and Palash Nath were all staying together in Parijat. Taking advantage of Medini’s presence and the expert knowledge of Chaichuen Khamdaengyodtai, we began the work of translating the manuscript. We were also much helped by the Ahom pandits, Chaw Junaram Sangbun Phukan and Chaw Tileswar Mohan. In October 2008, the translation was completely revised by Stephen Morey, Chaichuen Khamdaengyodtai, Zeenat Tabassum and Nabin Shyam. We are now confident that the translation presented here is correct; although alternative readings of some words and passages is possible. The version of Ma Likha Lit we have translated was copied by one Bhetaram Gogoi, whose son is named as Jonomi in the manuscript. The manuscript identifies him as a Mo Pong (Bailung), an Ahom priest. His home was at Halodhibari, now in Dibrugarh district. The book was copied in the Ahom year Rai Singa, which we believe corresponds to 1810 of the common era. The Ahom calendar has a sixty year cycle, so it is possible it was written down in 1750, but we think that the later date is more likely as the names of places and the persons who wrote it are given in Assamese. The scribe also says the book was completed on a Friday, and that it was written in the fourth month (around March). At times it may seem that events related in the story are out of order. For example page 17 finishes with the prince being installed into a new palace, and page 18 finds him alone in the dark forest. It may well be that at some time in the past the order of pages was re-arranged. In our translation, however, we have followed the order of the pages as they are numbered in the manuscript we were working from. In Ahom books, all pages are numbered with Ahom numerals on the back side of the page. The story of Ma Likha Lit The story of Ma Likha Lit, which means ‘horse child book’, is a story that has some parallels both with the story of Lord Ram, and also with some of the previous lives, Jataka, of the Lord Buddha. It also contains many cultural aspects of everyday life of the Ahom people. The story begins in a very rich country, where the king has many possessions and all the people are living happily. However the king has no son, and such a son is only born after the Ahom priest, Mo Sang Pha, consults the sacred books and gives a medicine in the form of a golden plum, for the queen to eat. A son is born, and at the same time, a magic horse is born from the afterbirth, a horse that can fly. When this son, the prince, grows up, he is betrothed to a lady, but he does not marry her, rather he elopes with a princess from the sky. They escape on the flying horse, but face many difficulties. The horse is caught by a giant and locked up; the prince and princess escape with the help of some river traders, but are separated after a storm. Eventually they find each other again and set up a house in the forest. When the king, the father of the prince, dies, the people of that country are without a king and they set out to search for the prince in the forest. The story ends with the people asking for the return of the prince.

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Identifier: oai:www.mpi.nl:1839_00-0000-0000-000D-FAD7-0

Publisher: Stephen Morey

Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University

Subject: Ritual/religious texts

Unspecified

Ahom language

Tai Ahom

Subject (ISO639): aho

Type: image

OLAC Info

Archive: The Language Archive at the MPI for Psycholinguistics

Description: http://www.language-archives.org/archive/www.mpi.nl

GetRecord: OAI-PMH request for OLAC format

GetRecord: Pre-generated XML file

OAI Info

OaiIdentifier: oai:www.mpi.nl:1839_00-0000-0000-000D-FAD7-0

DateStamp: 2017-02-14

GetRecord: OAI-PMH request for simple DC format

Search Info
Citation: Junaram Sangbun Phukan (consultant); Stephen Morey; Chaichuen Khamdaengyodati (translator); Medini Mohan (consultant); Zeenat Tabassum (researcher). n.d. Stephen Morey.
Terms: area_Asia country_IN iso639_aho

Inferred Metadata
Country: India
Area: Asia

http://www.language-archives.org/item.php/oai:www.mpi.nl:1839_00-0000-0000-000D-FAD7-0
Up-to-date as of: Wed Apr 12 1:15:14 EDT 2017

Metadata
Title:		Malikha Lit
Title:		The Traditional Songs And Poetry Of Upper Assam – A Multifaceted Linguistic and Ethnographic Documentation of the Tangsa, Tai and Singpho Communities in Margherita, Northeast India
Contributor:		Stephen Morey
Contributor (consultant):		Junaram Sangbun Phukan
Contributor (consultant):		Medini Mohan
Contributor (researcher):		Zeenat Tabassum
Contributor (translator):		Chaichuen Khamdaengyodati
Coverage:		India
Description:		The book entitled Ma Likha Lit, also called Ma Likha Phura, belongs to Medini Madhab Mohan, Parijat village, Sibsagar District, Assam. We first saw the book in November 2007, when Medini Mohan kindly allowed us to photograph it. At that time, the research team consisting of Dr. Stephen Morey, Chaichuen Khamdaengyodtai, Zeenat Tabassum, Karabi Mazumder and Palash Nath were all staying together in Parijat. Taking advantage of Mediniâ��s presence and the expert knowledge of Chaichuen Khamdaengyodtai, we began the work of translating the manuscript. We were also much helped by the Ahom pandits, Chaw Junaram Sangbun Phukan and Chaw Tileswar Mohan. In October 2008, the translation was completely revised by Stephen Morey, Chaichuen Khamdaengyodtai, Zeenat Tabassum and Nabin Shyam. We are now confident that the translation presented here is correct; although alternative readings of some words and passages is possible. The version of Ma Likha Lit we have translated was copied by one Bhetaram Gogoi, whose son is named as Jonomi in the manuscript. The manuscript identifies him as a Mo Pong (Bailung), an Ahom priest. His home was at Halodhibari, now in Dibrugarh district. The book was copied in the Ahom year Rai Singa, which we believe corresponds to 1810 of the common era. The Ahom calendar has a sixty year cycle, so it is possible it was written down in 1750, but we think that the later date is more likely as the names of places and the persons who wrote it are given in Assamese. The scribe also says the book was completed on a Friday, and that it was written in the fourth month (around March). At times it may seem that events related in the story are out of order. For example page 17 finishes with the prince being installed into a new palace, and page 18 finds him alone in the dark forest. It may well be that at some time in the past the order of pages was re-arranged. In our translation, however, we have followed the order of the pages as they are numbered in the manuscript we were working from. In Ahom books, all pages are numbered with Ahom numerals on the back side of the page. The story of Ma Likha Lit The story of Ma Likha Lit, which means â��horse child bookâ��, is a story that has some parallels both with the story of Lord Ram, and also with some of the previous lives, Jataka, of the Lord Buddha. It also contains many cultural aspects of everyday life of the Ahom people. The story begins in a very rich country, where the king has many possessions and all the people are living happily. However the king has no son, and such a son is only born after the Ahom priest, Mo Sang Pha, consults the sacred books and gives a medicine in the form of a golden plum, for the queen to eat. A son is born, and at the same time, a magic horse is born from the afterbirth, a horse that can fly. When this son, the prince, grows up, he is betrothed to a lady, but he does not marry her, rather he elopes with a princess from the sky. They escape on the flying horse, but face many difficulties. The horse is caught by a giant and locked up; the prince and princess escape with the help of some river traders, but are separated after a storm. Eventually they find each other again and set up a house in the forest. When the king, the father of the prince, dies, the people of that country are without a king and they set out to search for the prince in the forest. The story ends with the people asking for the return of the prince.
		This project contains linguistic, musicalogical, ethnographic and other cultural information about three communities in Upper Assam: Singpho, Tai and Tangsa. The recordings and analyses have been done by Stephen Morey, together with Palash Kumar Nath (Gauhati University), Juergen Schoepf (Phonogrammarchiv, Vienna), Meenaxi Barkataki Ruscheweyh (Goettingen Academy of Sciences), Chaichuen Khamdaengyodtai (Rajabhat University, Chiang Mai), Zeenat Tabassum (Gauhati University), Karabi Mazumder (Gauhati University), Krishna Boro (Gauhati University), Paul Hastie (LaTrobe University). The key aims of the project were • to provide a comprehensive documentation of the varieties of Tangsa language spoken in the Margherita Subdivision of Upper Assam, India, • to provide a comprehensive documentation of the traditional songs, and poetry of three endangered language communities in the Margherita Subdivision: the Tangsa and Singpho (both Tibeto-Burman) and the Tai (Tai-Kadai), including a study of Tai traditional manuscripts, which are highly relevant for language and culture maintenance among the Tai. Within each of these communities there is considerable linguistic and cultural diversity, so all the files have been divided up and named according to this system: Tai SDM01 Phake SDM02 Aiton SDM03 Khamyang SDM04 Ahom SDM05 Khamti Singpho SDM07 Turung SDM08 Numhpuk Hkawng SDM09 Diyun Hkawng SDM10 Tieng Hkawng Tangsa SDM11 Youngkuk SDM12 Cholim SDM13 Kimsing SDM14 Tikhak SDM15 Lochhang SDM16 Ngaimong SDM17 Maitai SDM18 Shechhyv SDM19 Mossang SDM20 Khvlak SDM21 Lakkai SDM22 Lungri SDM23 Hakhun SDM24 Lungkhe SDM25 Ronrang SDM26 Sangte SDM27 Sangwal SDM28 Halang SDM29 Haseng SDM30 Morang SDM31 Moklum
		Ahom is the language spoken by the royal and priestly castes, and by some portion of the population, during the time of the Ahom Kingdom (traditionally 1228 to 1824). It is no longer spoken as a mother tongue, having ceased to be used for all but ritual purposes by 1800. The language survives in ritual, in the vast treasury of manuscripts and in a new revived Ahom.
		The book entitled Ma Likha Lit, also called Ma Likha Phura, belongs to Medini Madhab Mohan, Parijat village, Sibsagar District, Assam. We first saw the book in November 2007, when Medini Mohan kindly allowed us to photograph it. At that time, the research team consisting of Dr. Stephen Morey, Chaichuen Khamdaengyodtai, Zeenat Tabassum, Karabi Mazumder and Palash Nath were all staying together in Parijat. Taking advantage of Medini’s presence and the expert knowledge of Chaichuen Khamdaengyodtai, we began the work of translating the manuscript. We were also much helped by the Ahom pandits, Chaw Junaram Sangbun Phukan and Chaw Tileswar Mohan. In October 2008, the translation was completely revised by Stephen Morey, Chaichuen Khamdaengyodtai, Zeenat Tabassum and Nabin Shyam. We are now confident that the translation presented here is correct; although alternative readings of some words and passages is possible. The version of Ma Likha Lit we have translated was copied by one Bhetaram Gogoi, whose son is named as Jonomi in the manuscript. The manuscript identifies him as a Mo Pong (Bailung), an Ahom priest. His home was at Halodhibari, now in Dibrugarh district. The book was copied in the Ahom year Rai Singa, which we believe corresponds to 1810 of the common era. The Ahom calendar has a sixty year cycle, so it is possible it was written down in 1750, but we think that the later date is more likely as the names of places and the persons who wrote it are given in Assamese. The scribe also says the book was completed on a Friday, and that it was written in the fourth month (around March). At times it may seem that events related in the story are out of order. For example page 17 finishes with the prince being installed into a new palace, and page 18 finds him alone in the dark forest. It may well be that at some time in the past the order of pages was re-arranged. In our translation, however, we have followed the order of the pages as they are numbered in the manuscript we were working from. In Ahom books, all pages are numbered with Ahom numerals on the back side of the page. The story of Ma Likha Lit The story of Ma Likha Lit, which means ‘horse child book’, is a story that has some parallels both with the story of Lord Ram, and also with some of the previous lives, Jataka, of the Lord Buddha. It also contains many cultural aspects of everyday life of the Ahom people. The story begins in a very rich country, where the king has many possessions and all the people are living happily. However the king has no son, and such a son is only born after the Ahom priest, Mo Sang Pha, consults the sacred books and gives a medicine in the form of a golden plum, for the queen to eat. A son is born, and at the same time, a magic horse is born from the afterbirth, a horse that can fly. When this son, the prince, grows up, he is betrothed to a lady, but he does not marry her, rather he elopes with a princess from the sky. They escape on the flying horse, but face many difficulties. The horse is caught by a giant and locked up; the prince and princess escape with the help of some river traders, but are separated after a storm. Eventually they find each other again and set up a house in the forest. When the king, the father of the prince, dies, the people of that country are without a king and they set out to search for the prince in the forest. The story ends with the people asking for the return of the prince.
Format:		image/jpeg
		application/pdf
		text/html
		text/x-toolbox-text
Identifier:		oai:www.mpi.nl:1839_00-0000-0000-000D-FAD7-0
Publisher:		Stephen Morey
Publisher:		Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University
Subject:		Ritual/religious texts
		Unspecified
		Ahom language
		Tai Ahom
Subject (ISO639):		aho
Type:		image
OLAC Info
Archive:		The Language Archive at the MPI for Psycholinguistics
Description:		http://www.language-archives.org/archive/www.mpi.nl
GetRecord:		OAI-PMH request for OLAC format
GetRecord:		Pre-generated XML file
OAI Info
OaiIdentifier:		oai:www.mpi.nl:1839_00-0000-0000-000D-FAD7-0
DateStamp:		2017-02-14
GetRecord:		OAI-PMH request for simple DC format
Search Info
Citation:		Junaram Sangbun Phukan (consultant); Stephen Morey; Chaichuen Khamdaengyodati (translator); Medini Mohan (consultant); Zeenat Tabassum (researcher). n.d. Stephen Morey.
Terms:		area_Asia country_IN iso639_aho
Inferred Metadata
Country:		India
Area:		Asia