Mech people

The Mech (spelled Meche in Nepal; pronounced /mes/ or /meʃ/) is an ethnic group belonging to Bodo-Kachari group of peoples. The first mention is found from the 13th century, where they are mentioned along with the Koch and Tharu.[4][5] It is one of the scheduled tribes of India, listed both in West Bengal and Assam, India.[1][2]

Mech
Mech
A group of Meches, Undivided Goalpara district"; 1911
Total population
55,992 (2011 Census)
Regions with significant populations
 India (W Bengal)41,242[1]
 India (Assam)9,883[2]
   Nepal (Nepal)4,867[3]
Religion
Hinduism, Christianity

Etymology

It has been suggested that mech is probably a corruption of the Sanskrit word mlechchha.[6] Nevertheless, Stuart N. Wolfenden observed that some people do self-designate as Mech,[7] So, he reconstructed Mech from Tibeto-Burman root "mi" means "man".[8] Other authors have speculated that Meche is derived from the Mechi river because the Bodo-Kachari peoples in Nepal had settled around it;[9][10] Mecha a region of the Bod country; and descendants of Mechel a legendary figure of Nepal.[11]

Origin

Meches, a part of the Bodo-Kachari people that migrated into India and gradually spread themselves into the whole of Assam, North Bengal and parts of East Bengal. It is said that, during their migration to India, they marched towards different directions.one group went along the river Brahmaputra and established themselves in the whole of Assam up to Goalpara district and parts of Jalpaiguri district and Cooch Behar district under the name of Bodo or Bara. Another group went towards the West along the foot of the Himalayas up to the river Mechi, bordering India and Nepal and settled on the North bank of the river known as Mechi or Mechia. Later they spread to Darjeeling Terai, Baikanthpur in Jalpaiguri district again marched further East and settled in the Dooars. It is said that, a group of Mech people, again moved further East, crossed the Sankosh River, and went towards Goalpara in Assam. Due to repeated floods in Dooars and eastern bank of Teesta river, many families migrated towards Assam.[12]

History

Tantra Brahmin writers, after converting the Mech kings into Hinduism, named them as Koch as they had admitted Koches to caste Hindu.[13] Some Mech kings converted to Islam.

Distribution
Distribution of Mech or Bârâ people, as reported in the Language Survey of India 1903

Mechs are found in West Bengal and Assam in India, and in Nepal.

Demand of Mech-Kachari Autonomous Council

Presently, there are two types of Mech. One identify themselves with the Boro people and the other identify themselves separately as Mech-Kachari. The Mech-Kacharis want to preserve their language, culture and uplift their economic status; and so they have been demanding a Mech-Kachari autonomous council for some time.[14]

Notable people
Religion among Meches[1][2]
Religion Percent
Hinduism
 
 71.64%
Christianity
 
 27.89%
Others
 
 0.47%

Notes
  1. "ST-14 Scheduled Tribe Population By Religious Community - West Bengal". census.gov.in. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  2. "ST-14 Scheduled Tribe Population By Religious Community - Assam". census.gov.in. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  3. "Population Monograph of Nepal Volume II" (PDF).
  4. (Nath 1989:3)
  5. "The description of (Bakhtiyar Khalji's) disastrous campaign provides us with some information about the populations (Siraj 1881: 560-1):... Konch, sometimes written Koch, (the same hesitation occurs in Buchanan-Hamilton’s manuscripts), is what we today write as Koch. Mej or Meg is the name we write as Mech. We can safely conclude that these names described important groups of people in the 13th century, in the area between the Ganges and the Brahmaputra." (Jaquesson 2008:16-17)
  6. (Barua 1964:3)The Bodos who live to the west of the present Kamrup district are called ‘Mec’ by their Hindu neighbours. This word is probably a corruption of the Sanskrit word ‘mleccha’.
  7. "(Mech) is used not only by their neighbours but also to some extent by the people themselves." (Wolfenden 1935:145)
  8. " As such tribal names are frequently simply words originally meaning "man", it is not unlikely that the term Mes may go back to this source. In such an event it may be expected to represent me-s, in which me is the same word as Tibetan and Meithei mi 'man', and -s is probably the same suffix as -si in Deori-Chutiya (Sibsagar) ma-si (Lakhimpur dialect mo-si) 'man'."(Wolfenden 1935:145)
  9. "Saru Sanyal has writes that a section of the Boros in the course of their movement in Assam moved towards the west along the foothills of Himalayas up to the river Mech between India and Nepal and settled down along the bank of the river and were called Mech after the river." (Mosahary 1983:46)
  10. "the Bodos, who migrated into India through Patkoi hills..." (Sanyal 1973:1)
  11. (Mosahary 1983:46)
  12. (Sanyal 1973:18-21)
  13. "BJSM Slams Rajbangshi Leader Pranab Narayan Dev for 'Derogatory' Remarks". The Sentinel. 2019-09-11. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
  14. "Mech-Kachari demands autonomous council". Assam Times. 2008-09-03. Retrieved 2020-02-19.

References
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