Koch
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Koch, 1908
Tribe in Cooch Behar State, Bengal. See Cooch Behar.
The above line has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Same as the Koch of the Garo Hills?
Indpaedia believes that the Koch tribe of the Western Garo Hills of Meghalaya has to be the same as the Koch of the erstwhile Cooch Behar State because, as can be seen from this 1931 British Raj map, Cooch Behar State is so close to the Garo Hills.
Surely there can't be two different tribes called Koch so close to each other.
The Koches
The Koch is a scheduled tribe inhabiting the Western Garo Hills of Meghalaya. The term Koch is derived from the words ‘Kochimuchi’ which means shrinkage due to shame.They claim that their original home was in the Arbella Hill range of central Garo Hills. They gradually came down to the plain area due to scarcity of Agriculture land. Another section of the Koch,however believe in myth which state that they are the descendants of two sisters Hira and Jhiva, daughters of the sun. Both of them were married to a man named Hajo. Hajo is also name of the place in the Kamrup district of Assam, from Hajo they came to Garo Hills. According to the accepted historical view (Kock 1984) the Koch appear to have migrated from the China.
The original home of the Koches was in the place called ‘rasan’ mukprak tari (the hill where sunrises) or Udoigiri which is probably the sanskritized form the Koch term. Then they migrated to Kamrup and reached to Hajo. But from Hajo also they had to migrate for fear of paramrama the Koches originated from two sisters Mukdi and Kundi, who were daughters of the sun. Mukdi was married to Hajo, who after Mukdi's death married Kundi. In the migration from Hajo they reached Sonapur and thence they went to the place described as titli hacheng (Sand grains as big as tamarind seeds and stayed there for some time. From there they migrated to a place called Rongjeng. From Rongjeng they continued their journey towards the south-west where they reached the Simsang River and followed its downward course. The crossed the river in a very difficult way. Twelve household failed to cross the river and they were left behind. This twelve households intermarried with the Garos. The other branch followed the course of the Simsang River and ultimately in the plain areas in the south-western portion of Garo Hills, they found the kingdom under powerful chief name Suryanarayan. After him, Mahindranarayan became the chief and during his time the Koch Kingdom was annexed to the British empire. Even today in Koch villages of Garo Hills Mahindranarayan is refer to as Pagla Raja (mad king) for his antics. He is also known as Okate Raja, King who tears opened the wound of pregnant women. There is a place in the south western corner of Garo Hills (under Ampati civil sub-division) which is called Mahindra-Ganj after the Koch King Mahindranarayan.
The Koches are mainly concentrated in the western and south western part of West Garo Hills in the district of Meghalaya. They are also found in Assam, Manipur, Tripura, North Bengal, Bangkura in West Bengal, Purnia in Bihar and in Chittagong and Noahkali of Bangladesh.
The Koch dialect is of Tibeto-Burman origin (Gait 1924). The influence of both Bengali and Assamese language is reflected in their dialect.
See also
Koch
