-
25 -
Chanter Two.
TBB WORD NAGfl:
Nomenclature facilitates distinction. That is why
persons, communities, nations, races and things around us have
their own names. The meanings of certain names are obvious and
accepted. There are, however, names which though established
by usage are constantly being disputed when their suitability,
origin and
flip
sources
pf
are lost in remote obscurity.
The word rtNagaM is one such name. All sorts of derivations have
been suggested for this word, the origin of which being hitherto
shrouded in mystery has always led to controversy. There is and
has been no end of speculation over this intriguing word and
hew it came to be. Several theories have been advanced regarding
its sources, its meaning and its scope. A writer upholds the
theory that seems to him to be most satisfactory and refutes the
others giving reasons for doing so. Tet others are satisfied by
merely presenting a few feasible theories. What else can be done
till the truth has been arrived at and facts established?
The Nagas themselves - and specially the border Nagas,
as in all probability the name was first used for them by plains­
men - are unable to throw much light beyond a few stories, regar­
ding the meaning of the word. At the same time they are equally
vague as to who it was that first christened them MNagasM. It has
been suggested that the name was first applied to those people in
derision but whatever the case may be the name HNagaM has come to
stay and is being used incemasingly by all and sundry. Since
Independence it has become prominent in political circles.
-
26-
History upholds the existence of a people known
as "Naga". As early as the 13th century the Ahom Kings had
political and commercial dealings with the Nagas.
An even
earlier reference to them was made by Ptolemy the great geograp
pher and historian in the *fth century A.D.
Before, we too, enter the fray, let us note an
interesting fact, which incidentally is also a very important
one. The appellation "Naga'is not applied to any of the other
Tribes living in the Naga Hills. Strangely enough, the Kukis,
Korn, Paite, Thados, Kacharis and some ether tribal folk, though
living alongside the Nagas from ancient times, are not lumped
together with the Nagas and hare distinct names of their own. I
will not venture to deal with this point in detail at the present
juncture.
It is a vast and controversial issue and no doubt
will be taken up in the near future by historians and writers.
Nevertheless the fact remains that several Tribal groups, staying
permanently in the Naga Hills are not called by the name "Naga"
which is then clearly meant to denote only one peculiar people.
A brief examination of the various theories regar­
ding the meaning and history of the word "Naga" tendered by vari­
ous writers may not be out of place here and we would do well to
be conversant with these.
A popular theory (upheld by those who know next to
nothing about the Naga people) is that the etymon of ’Naga'
-
27-
poses no problem if it is taken to be derived from the root word
•Nag* meaning "Snake" in general and the "Cobra" in particular.
Nagas are so called because they worship "Nag" - the Snake God.
But it may be noted that snake worship is prevalent in many other
parts of India but they are not called Nagas. Further, Nagas
have never been Snake-worshipers. In this context it may be in­
teresting to note that with seme Nagas, Snakes are an item of
food, being considered a delicacy. This theory seems to be the
result of connecting two similar - sounding words with nothing
else in common.
A second and erudite theory derives the word
Naga from the word "Nagna" meaning 'mountaineer'^ •
J.H. Hutton originally derived it from the word
"Nagna" - meaning a "mountaineer" or a mountainous
or in acc­
essible place*'.
L.
W. Robinson
sayst "Our chief authority on the
Naga Tribes, J.H. Hutton originally thought that it was a corr­
uption of the Assamese 'Ntga* (Pronounced "Naga") probably mean­
ing 'A mountaineer', from Sanskrit Njfga, mountain or in accessi­
ble place. Later he 'reluctantly* recanted this opinion in view
of the fact that Ptolemy in the third century and Shyahba -'Idin
Talish in the sixteenth both speak of Nagas as Nanga or 1Naked:
I shall come to this meaning of the term in a minute.
This theory is not authentic in that it was merely
an assumption. If the term means "mountaineer" then it must also
apply to the other hill-tribes living in the Naga Hills as well as
28
to the other hill people rchs«• i>n •
A third theory traces the word 'Naga hack to 'Nangta* i.e."Naked savages" or just "Naked",^ applied te all
*
hill tribes; 'Noga manuh'means 'naked man*. Hutton^" says: "All
along the foot of the hills an Assamese may be still heard
daily addressing himself to the scantily attired hill man with
"Oh, Nauga". As stated earlier on second thought Hutton, accep­
ted Yule's— derivation from 'Nauga* (Hlndusth&ni 'naked')• He
says: 'The change of the long a to a short a (pronounced (
to)
is typical of the Assamese dialect, in which the Bengali thaka
(rupee) becomes thaka and raja, raja. Hence Nanga (the second
is nasal) bedomes riliga, pronounedd noga. J.H. Hutton*7 also off­
ers another 'probable explanation' that the word Naga is merely
a European lengthening of the Assamese "Naga" (pronounced Noga)?
.-.naked Hindus than! "Nanga".
That the Nagas are scantily clothed is true but
*^hy they alone should have been singled out as 'naked men' when
a greater, if not the same degree of nudity is found not only
o
among some other neighbouring hill Tribes
but also among the
South Indians, particularly among the Andhras, Malayalees and
Tamils.
Yet other writers fall in line with the theory
that the word 'Naga' simply means people. This theory is for­
warded by Peal^ who holds that the term occurs in the Buranjis
and that the correct form of it should be 'Noga' and not 'Naga'
which is derived from the root word 'Nog* or *Nok' both words
-
29-
q /o
meaning 'peoples' in the language of some Eastern Naga Tribes7.
We may be inclined to question this theojty on
the following ground: if the word 'Noga' means 'people' why is
the term not applied to all the 'people' living in the hills
or at least the Naga Hills. I have already pointed out that
Non-Nagas are known by their own names. If we take 'Noga' I.e.
'Naga' to mean people, then surely all other Tribes living
there should also answer to that general term. Yet, of all the
theories this seems to be the most probable.
E.A. Gai^it
also derives the word 'Naga' from
*Nok' which means 'folk' or 'people' in some Tribal Dialects.
^
Various African Tribal Titles also meaniji "The men" or "peoples.
\U-
As examples some Nigerian Tribes namely the Mbula Tribe, the
Bura and Pabir tribes and the Murnuye tribes may be taken. The
word 'mbule' means "the men" or "people": again the words 'bura'
and 'Pabir* mean "men" or people; 'Iftimuye' also means 'people'
as the Tikari word for man is 'mum' and the form 'mumume'
meaning 'man' may be found in one of the languages of Nyasaland.
Whosoever might have first called the nagas by
that name and whatever the word may mean, the Nagas themselves
knew each other by the names of the tribe to which they belonged.
Even the present tribal names, like Angami, Ao, Lhota, Sema
and Tangkhul seem to have been coined by outsiders most probably
by the British Administrators. Each naga tribe had and contiib
nues to have its own name. For instance;
o
-
30-
The Angami Tribe was known as Ten;)tala.
The Sema Tribe was known as Semi.
The Reggma Tribe was known as Mezama.
The Lhotha Tribe was known as Chizima.
The Chang Tribe was known as Mochuai.
The Sangtam Tribe was known as Lohphomi.
The Yachimi Tribe was known as Yamsongrr.
The Konyak Tribe was known as Taprongumi.
The Ao Tribe was known as Cholimi or Aorr.
The Kacha Tribe was known as mechemu.
The Tangkhul Tribe was known as Metikumi.
The Mao Tribe was known as Sopomi,
and so on.
The word, mi,me, ma or mia - all mean "people1
in the various naga dialects.
The present awareness of being one people was
understandably absent among the Nagas till very recently.
Head-hunting alone would hare prevented their coming together
or seeing in each other similarities which now pronounce them
to be one people though divided into Tribes. Not only were
the tribes seperated from each other but even villages within
the same tribe were often on terms far from friendly.
In the course of my various interviews I stumbled
upon various stories and some theories which are current among
the Nagas to-day and which attempt to throw light on the origin
31-
of the word 'Naga*. I set down these stories and theories here
for what they are worth.
Some people believe that the present group of
Nagas came from the Philippines where there is still a place
called naga; that is one belief.
Among the Burmese the word *Naka* means people
with pierced ears. The word 'Haga' is said to be another form
of 'Naka' as the people-both men and women pierce their ears.
I heard this story from an aged man of the Ao tribe.
According to him the Nagas once had their own script which was
written on a piece of animal skin. One day a dog got hold of
the precious piece of skin and began chewing it. A man from
the plains saw this and began to shout 'Nakhapi1 or 'Nakhao'
meaning 'don't eat'. The dog however destroyed the skin and
from that day the people of these hilly tracts were called
'Nokha' then 'Noga' and later'Nagas'• An almost similar story
is current among the Tangkhul nagas.
A very interesting information which the Tangkhul
Naga forefathers had given and still give to their children
and youth is, that the Nagas came from the East. To willing
ears they will gladly proceed to tell the whole story. Legend
has it that two very brave brothers once headed an expedition
coming from the 'eastern part of the world*, seeking a suitable
place to settle down. Being weary they decided to make their
32 -
home in the first such place they found but soon found it too
hot and full of pests and insects. They did not like it. So
they decided to look for a better site. The journey was conti­
nued but only after the joint expedition had been split into
two groups - one under each brother. The elder man named •
'Naokhoka’(the name means 'a very brave child’, in the Tangkhul Naga dialect) led his men south-east. The followers of
the latter being weary of travel and impatient to find a home­
land, settled in the fertile plains of what is now known as
the Manipur Valley. ® Meanwhile the elder brothers’s group con­
tinued its search of a land to call their own and finally se­
ttled in the place which is between the present Mae and Angami
countries. Prom there his followers spread to the rest of what
is now the Naga Hills.
The people multiplied and were called 'Naokha'
after their brave leader and ancestor 'Naokhoka; Naokha' means
the offspring of a brave m a n . ^ The Assamese people who were
the first to come in contact with the 'Naokhas' called them in
their own peculiar way ’Noga and thus the word 'Naga', in
current use, came into being. Even today, among the Tangkhuls
a brave young man is addressed as 'Naokhoka'.
I hasten to add that the above are merely stories
and must be accepted as such. If they assist us in establishing
the truth about the origin of the word 'Naga* well and good;
if not they should be taken for what they probably are the procucts of fertile imaginations.
-
33-
I am inclined to think that the meaning of the
word has its origin in the words 'people' or 'man' or 'folk'
as suggested by E.A. Gait, S.E. Peal, Sir George A. Grierson
and Verrier Elwin and others.
Though at present we are hard put to arrive at an
acceptable explanation of the origin of the word Naga the fact
remains that the word denotes a particular group of people and
them only and that of late the political aspiration - one
result of which is the formation in i960 of Nagaland the six­
teenth State in the Indian Union - of the Naga themselves imm­
ensely helped in Ifcking the word popular.
cp^
Chapter two.
FOOT NOTES.
1. Gait, E.A., History of Assam, 1905-1963* Sukhapa is said
to have left Manlang in A.D. 1215 with the following of
eight nobles, and 9,000 men women and children. It may be
surmised, though this is nowhere stated, that the great
majority of his followers were adult males. He had with
him two elephants, and 300 horses; for thirteen years he
wandered about the hilly country of the Patkoi, making
occasional raids on Naga villages, and in 1228 he arrived
in Khamjung.
3y2f. Lieut-Colonel Waddell, The Tribes of the Brahmaputra Valley.
1900. He explains "Naga" as meaning “hill man", deriving
it from the Hindusthani Nag - "a mountain". Hutton "The
Angami Nagas", P. 5 foot note.
Ptolemy, Geoeranhia. VII, 177, 300 A.D.
b* (a) Smith, W.C.in'the Ao Naga Tribe of Assam* quoting from
Robinson - "An account of Assam", P. 380.
(b) Verrier ELwin, Nagaland. "Long ago Ptolemy thought it
(the word 'Naga') meant Naked.
5«
Hutton, J.H., The Angami Nagas. P.
5,
foot note 1.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8.
Robinson, A Descriptive Account of Assam. London 18M . The
origin of the word Naga is unknown; but it has been suppo­
sed by some to have been derived from the Sanskrit word
Nanga, and applied in derision to the people, from the pau­
city of their clothing; but there seems little foundation
for this etymological derivation; and the term has never
been known to be applied by the Bengalees to either the
Khasias or Garos, with whom they were far better acquainted
than with the Nagas; and besides, the Garos especially are
habitually accustomed to a greater degree of nudity than
any of the Naga Tribes with whom we are acquainted".
9.
Keane, A.H., Asia with Ethnological Appendix. London,
1886.
10. Hutton, J.H., The Angami Nagas. P. 5, foot note 1, referr­
ing to Peale's 'Fading Histories', Journal of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal. No. 1, 189^, P. 11*-.
11. Galt, E.A. History nf Assam, PP. 365-66. "The people whom
we call Nagas are known to the Assamese as Nagas; they be­
long to a diversity of Tribes, each speaking its own lan­
guage and calling itself by a distinctive name. The coll­
ective designation by which they are known to the Assamese
seems to be derived, as suggested by Holcombe and Peal,
from 'Nok* which means 'folk' in some of the Tribal dialects.
When strange parties meet in the plains, they are said to ask
each other *Tem-nok-e' or *0 nok e', meaning 'what folk are
you'. The word is also found in village names, such as Nokpan,
"People of the tree", and Nokrang, "people of the Sky". In
this connection, it is worth noting that the Khonds call them­
selves "Hui Loka" and the Oraous 'Ku Nok'. The lengthening of
the first vowel sound in the Bengali and English rendering of
the word is probably due to the old idea that it connected
Snake worship".
12. In the dialect of the Banfra (Eastern) Naga.
1^. Tribal Studies in Northern Nigeria
C.K. Meek, B.A.F. R.A.I.
B. Government of Anthropologist, Nigeria, Vol-I, 1931*
1%. Verrier Elwin,
^ • "The most likely derivation, to
my mind is that which traces 'Naga* from the word 'Nok* or
people which is its meaning in a few Tibeto-Burman languages,
as in Garo, Nocte and Ao. It is common throughout India for
Tribesmen to call themselves by words meaning 'man*, an att­
ractive habit which suggest that they look on themselves
simply as people free of communal or Caste associations.*'.
15. Verrier Elwin, Nagaland. P. *f, "The names, however, wae not
in general use among the Nagas until recently. It was given
them by the people of the plains. Even as late as
I found
the people of Tuensang rarely speaking of themselves as Nagas
but as Konyaks, Changs, Phoms and so on. In the same way the
Mikirs usually speak of themselves as Arlengs the Garos as
Achikrangs (hill people), the Abhors as Mlngongs or Padams.
Gradually, however, as the Nagas became more united they began
to use the name themselves, until today it has become widely
popular".
16. Interview with Tangkhul Naga Elders.
17* Another theory suggest the kachari word 'Naga' - meaning
'a young man' and therefore a warrior'. Smith, W.C., The Ao
Naga Tribe of Assam, page. 167, 1925.