Idu Mishmi tribe

The Idu Mishmi tribe is mainly concentrated in two districts viz, Lower Dibang Valley and Dibang Valley District of Arunachal Pradesh. Besides, they are also inhabited in small pockets in East Siang (Aohali village), Lohit (Tezu), Upper Siang (Singa) Districts of Arunachal Pradesh. They are included as a part of the larger constellation of the Mishmi group which includes Digaru and Miju Mishmis also. Culturally Idus are very much distinct from the rest of the two which are reflected in various aspects of their day to day life and social structure as well as value systems. Idu Mishmis are popularly known as the ‘Chulikata Mishmis’ because of their distinct hair style, perhaps this nomenclature is given by the people of the plains (Bhattacharjee 1983:13) with whom Idus had trade relations. Dalton (1872:18) reported them as Midhi people and mentioned that they are greatly detested and mistrusted by their neighbours, the Abors and Tains, and they are much dreaded by the Saudiya population in consequence of the prowling expeditions to kidnap women and children. The migratory route is not clear, however, some light has been thrown on the topic by various researchers on the basis of oral history who did the work of the Idu tribe. For example, Bhattacharjee (1983: 13) believed that they must have come from the triangle of Burma where innumerable tribal groups of similar culture use to live in widely dispersed areas between Salween Mekong and Yangten. Baruah (1960: 7-13) in a similar fashion traces the origin homeland of some clans such as Inni-la Pon of Mele clan, Amriti of the Taraon Polo and the Idu Pulu clan who migrated at the present place following the courses of Ilyu or Lohit river. He finally concluded that Idus migrations took them through Tibet. Undeniable that the Idus have followed the various river courses such as Lohit or Illuh, Dri, Mathu, Ithun, Taloh, etc, from somewhere ambiguous location and settled in the various part in the present vast political territory of Arunachal Pradesh as mentioned above. But looking at their ‘total culture’ it is adequate to ascertain that they must have spread out from a particular puddle gradually at different time period following one after another. Their dialectic synonymies with Taraon Mishmi dialect also suggest that both the tribes must have been a homogenous group in the remote past and later on due to some historical reasons they gradually diffused following different river courses. Subsequently, their social formation came to be known as Idu Mishmi and Taraon or Digaru Mishmi. Furthermore, it is interesting to see that the Idus remained and maintained themselves as a distinct cultural group but the Taraon Mishmi, in the process of their migration and contacts, assimilated themselves with the Kaman Mishmi which is well reflected in their social cultural, political, economic and religious aspects but their dialectic distinctiveness suggests that their process of assimilation took place somewhere in the remote past.

Origin of Man Textualise of myths relating to the origin of the Idu Mishmi people varies enormously which is reflected in various writings . Elwin (1958: ix) rightly put it that “In all tribal areas, there is a great divergence of ideas, especially in the realm of folklore, mythology and religion: stories and the names of gods and heroes vary from place to place; the same informant may even pronounce a word, or use a name differently on two successive days. This is inevitable in a region where there is no fixed deposit of doctrine, no sacred books to carry tradition from one generation to another, and where the repositories of knowledge are human beings exposed to the inspirations of their dreams and fancies.” Similar syndrome one may find in the Idu Mishmis mythology which is reflected in various writings. All the versions of Idu mythology in relation to the origin of mankind on earth begin with the initial stage of Inniyala-Phi, literary meaning “fire on the earth”, whereby the whole living and non living things on earth were completely burnt down and destroyed. The second or the after burnt phase starts with the gradual processes of recreation and re-evolution of all that was destroyed by the great fire. It is here in this stage that we find the names of various legends to whom Idus regard as Supreme Being. Some represent Arume Mili to be the lone survivor of the devastating fire and making union with Asi-Anjoru filled the earth with all what we have today (Dele 2006). Bhattcharjee (1983: 14-15) similarly stated that only six could survived of the devastating fire and from among them one Arungomili recreated the existence of all the living and nonliving things on the earth including man. Baruah (1960: 69) stated that god Anya created human beings and other species at the direction of supreme god Inni. Linggi (2000) also touch upon the topic highlighting three versions. In the first one he mentioned Eto Mili who were hiding under Ibri-Po and Ata-Po (Banana tree) during the devastating fire and saved herself and thereafter filled the earth with life. In the second version, he talks about Etothro-Liru and Dondo-Liru to be the creator of life. In the third, he mentioned that the union of Anyome and Ekomu, who were father and daughter, recreated life on earth after the fire destroyed everything. Pulu (1977: 69-70) also wrote about brother Erayi and sister Ekomu who, after the destruction of whole earth by the fire, got married and refilled the earth with life. For the present purpose, the researcher has put the following version of the creation of man on earth. As per the myth, once there was a massive fire on the earth (Inniyala Phi) which was started from Inniyala Witi, a mystical place different from the Idu inhabiting location. As a result, the whole earth came under huge fire and everything was burnt down and devastated and only one woman, Arume Mili, could survive hiding herself in the eight layered walls of Banana tree (Ibri-Po and Ata-Po). She realizes herself alone went to Muduako, a place other than human world, where one Asi-Anjoru, an ancestral shaman, was living. In the course of her wandering she felt a desire for procreation. Having no knowledge she sat on the hill top with her legs apart removing her garments. In the mean time, Asi-Anjoru in the form of wind went into her womb and as a result she conceived. To her surprise, she proceeds to query to Asi Anjoru about how she was impregnated. Responding to her Asi-Anjoru gave her the reason that it was the wind that impregnated her. Thus, Arume Mili first gave birth to a female child and named her Lopome Mili. Later on she got married to one Lomome leru who was from Kandi Ati, other than human world. Their union first gave birth to the Sun, Moon, Stars, thundering and lightning, Beka (Cobra), Amraze (a unique admixture of man and tiger). They also gave birth to spirits like Golo, Apa-sa, etc, diseases like leprosy, cancer, chicken pox, etc. Then they also gave birth to all the human races of the world and their last progeny are believed to be Tudu and Tolo. From Tudu the Idu Mishmi has descended and from Tolo the Chinese appeared.

Almost in all the versions, it is observable that the entire earth was first engulfed by fire which was started from Inniyala Witi, a mystical place, and destroyed everything including human beings on earth. Subsequently various legends replenished the earth with almost everything that exists today including man and spirits, celestial bodies like the sun, moon, stars etc. Unlike Adi tribe, Idu Mishmi folktale does not talk about Nothingness in the beginning but reflects that everything was existed on earth. It is only the incident of fire (Inniyala Phi) that destroyed all life on earth. Therefore, the Idu folktale does not talk about how life itself originated on earth but how few lives escaped from the fire incident repopulated the earth. Furthermore, there is mention of many godly places, other than human world, such as Inyila-Ati, Kandimo, Mudukoh etc., which were occupied by the mythical ancestral shamans. For example, Andijuru who came down from Mudukoh after the devastating fire and he, in the form of wind, conceived Arume mili, the lone survivor of the devastating fire, who helped in procreation of entire living and non living things on the earth. Considering this, it seems that the Idus version of myth represents two different categories of the world of which the first was occupied by the supreme beings and were beyond the reach of common human beings and the other is human world or where the Idus are today. As stated above, many supernatural figures helped in restoring the human world after the great fire on earth, it is here that these supernatural beings also gave birth to celestial bodies like sun, moon, stars, etc. At this point if we analyze the two phases i.e. the initial phase of “Fire on the Earth” (Inniyala-Phi) and afterburnt phase in which everything was created by the various supernatural beings including celestial bodies like sun, moon, than it is convincing that Idus conception of a supreme being is not the sun which is marked today but is something beyond it whose character and activity is shrouded in the mist of antiquity. Elwin (1958: 48-49) informed that there was no Moon at the beginning but there were two Suns who gave light and heat to the world. Epanja was the father of the Suns and their mother was Lanbbai. Similarly, Dele (2006) went on saying that “Apanje and Lammai were the parents of Sun and Moon.” Therefore, the Idu notion of a Supreme Being is not the physical object that is portrayed nowadays in the form of the Sun but something similar to metaphysical and spiritual and eternal in nature and beyond the vision and reach of common man.

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