Karbi Weaving - Textile, Tradition and Transformation

Dharamsing Teron
(karbistudies@gmail.com)

Karbis are one of the earliest settlers in the Northeast Indian landscape among the multitude of
Tibeto-Burman speakers who today live in the political boundary of Assam’s central hilly region of Karbi
Anglong with half a million population. Majority of them adhere to a vernacular religion who worship
and renew their spiritual bonds with a host of unseen ‘other than human entities’ by performing regular
rituals. In spite of modernity invading every aspects of their modern existence, they still possess a huge
repertoire of oral traditions which encapsulate their philosophy of life through the retelling of numerous
sacred tales of origin and migration, healing chants and sacred prayers, funeral epics and eulogies,
farming and harvest songs, wedding and ordination songs, love ballads and erotic songs, and so on and so
forth. There are a number of community festivals associated with rituals of annual thanks giving to or
invocation of rice spirits (Minu Kekur), weather spirits (Botor Kikur), guardian spirits of the territories
(Rongker), animal spirits (Sonti-Sonbon) and ancestor spirits (Chojun) etc.. However, the biggest, most
expensive, colorful, complex but truly community festival is ‘Chomangkan’ (Chomkan or Karhi), which
is performed to re-cremate the dead relatives in an opportune time and unite their souls with their
ancestors’ in a grand fashion over a period of three to four days. Karbi social fabric is woven around the
five major clans, viz. Teron, Terang, Ingti, Timung and Inghi with numerous corresponding sub-clans
which each possesses interesting tales about taboos within clans and sub-clans. They practice a strict clan
exogamy and maintain the huge network of kinship as the more than thirty-four kinship terminologies
demonstrate.1 A matrilateral prescriptive asymmetrical cross-cousin marriage is the accepted custom and
‘…such a prescriptive rule of alliance unites a whole series of distinct clans or lineages on the basis of
wife-taking and wife-giving relationship…’ Incest is a custom among Karbis which continues to be
adhered to and violation is not tolerated even today. Clan, which also serves as one of the important social
structures among Karbis, and therefore, an individual, irrespective of marital status, gender or change of
religion, retains it.

Weaving Tradition among Karbis -

Weaving is regarded as ‘…one of the most ancient crafts…invented in preceramic age, it has
remained unchanged to this day’, new inventions and even the introduction of power machinery has not
changed the basic principle of weaving. 2 According to a legend, this ancient art was introduced to the
Karbis by a damsel known as Serdihun and the surviving verses dedicated to her praise the female as the
reigning deity of this art. The verse narrates that Serdihun ‘disappeared in a haze like a dream’, only
leaving behind stone images of herself, the backstrap loom and weaving implements on the hill top of
Punja.
Another legend of the origin of the weaving tradition is ascribed to the legendary ‘Ru Kathang
Etlet.’3 This version narrates the first use of mi-chrongkret (traditional ginning implement), mi-
thongkerang (spinning implement) and liso (bow) to make ‘golden yarns’ (ser ahon) from the ‘golden
cotton’ (ser pholo).
1
Teron, DS (ed.) 2012 - Karbi Studies – Memories. Myths. Metaphors (Vol.1, 2nd Edition); Assam Book Hive,
Chancellor Commercial Building, HB Road, Pan Bazar, Guwahati and Printed at NE Pritners, North Sarania,
Lalmati, Ghy.; pp. 20-25
2
Albers, Anni, 1993 – On Weaving; Dover Publications, Inc, Mineola, NY; pp. 19
3
Ru Kathang Etlet - from the transcript of a version recorded from Harsing Kro of Borkok by Sikari Tisso
 Weaving tradition is still alive among Karbis in spite of the stark economic realities and
globalisation. Old textile motives have made their way back into mainstream fashion as the search for
root has become a dominant theme in present environment. However, the flooding of the local market
with culturally inappropriate unauthorized imitated commercial products are threatening to kill the revival
of this art, which is struggling to survive in the rural areas and through a few self-help groups operating in
the urban pockets.

Karbi Cotton in Colonial Days -

Another ancient tradition Karbis were famously known for was cotton farming. The sacred verse
known as ‘Phelo Keplang’ or the ‘Origin of Cotton’ describes how cotton was first domesticated and
became a popular economic and cultural pursuit among Karbis. The verse is performed by a priest when
strands of cotton yarns are tied to the wrist of a newborn after a purification ritual ( klongklo a’thekar) to
assign it full membership of the clan.
During colonial days, cotton was cultivated in ‘patches …here and there’, and the crop was ‘almost
unknown in the plains of the Assam valley…’ The ‘only district in the Assam valley which grows cotton
largely’ was Nowgong, ‘the exception is due to the fact that the range of the Mikir Hills is included
within its boundary.’4 Karbis grew cotton, not only for their domestic use, but also for export and ‘boat-
loads of it may be seen going down the Kopili and Kollong towards the close of the cold weather.’ When
an American Baptist missionary, Rev. J Rae of Serampore Mission, the first ever European ‘to have
penetrated’ the Mikir, Lalong and Naga country in the winter of 1836, he found them ‘connected together
by simplicity of manners…entirely void of Hindu prejudices…’ but also saw them as ‘nation of
drunkards…’ Rev. Rae found them to be ‘extensive cultivators of cotton, which is their principal
commodity for export’ and he vouched that without them ‘Asam would fare poorly for cotton, to make
clothes etc.’ Cotton was chiefly used to exchange for salt with the plainsmen. The Karbis also reared ‘a
worm called Ariah’ to make ‘Ariah thread’ and ‘this thread made into cloth is worn by all the inhabitants
of Asam.’ Rev. Rae, being a man of the colonial time and attitude, found Mikirs ‘without a knowledge of
the God who made them’ and dismissed their worship as consisting of ‘a few unmeaning ceremonies…’ 5
And the rearing of eri worm ‘regarded as of doubtful purity’, was therefore ‘left principally to Rabhas,
Meches, Kacharis, Mikirs, Kukis, and other non-Hindu tribes,’ 6 but Marwari traders made advance
payments to them in lean period and ‘take repayment afterwards in thread or cloth’ who sold them in
‘petty markets’, and the ‘eri thread was in great request for weaving those striped cloths in which the
mountaineers delight’ which also found its way to the market in Bengal.
Cotton cultivation among Karbis, as Rev. Rae had suggested ‘in great measure contribute to the
general wealth…’ of the colonial state, and this trade was their economic and cultural lifeline of the
period. Karbis therefore were very familiar and well-versed in the farming, treatment and spinning of the
cotton they produced to make yarns which fulfilled multiple of social, cultural, and economic purposes.
The Karbi tradition of weaving therefore had an intimate cultural and economic connection to cotton
farming. A lot many tribal groups in the Northeast use universal traditional loom as Karbis do,
differentiated only in minor details due to regional variations. The various parts of Karbi loom, made of
wood, bamboo and cane, also carry indigenous Karbi terms. Lyall perhaps was less informed when he

4
Watt, George, 1890 (2014) – A Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, Vol. 4; Cambridge University Press;
pp.140
5
See Calcutta Christian Observer, 1836 (Vol. V); pp. 157-174
6
Notes on Some Industries in Assam from 1884-1895; Printed at the Assam Secretariat of Printing, Shillong; pp. 11
called this craft as only ‘a rude wooden loom (pe-therang)’7. However, Dr Junius Bird, noted
archaeologist and textile historian had cautioned against such simplistic assumption and asserted that ‘it is
a finer and more responsive instrument than the modern treadle loom, because the warp tension is
constantly tuned by the weaver.’8
Weaving ‘consists of the interlacing at right angles by one series of filaments or threads, known as
the weft (or woof) of another series, known as the warp, both being in the same plane.’ The Karbi
weavers call the longitudinal warp yarns a’tuk and the horizontal weft yarns used crosswise as a’rang.
The Karbi backstrap or ‘kachevur atherang’ basically comprises a few ‘sticks and strings’, seemingly a
very simple tool, is an extension of the weaver who controls and adjusts the tension by her constant
bodily movements. The various parts of the Karbi backstrap generally consist of the following —
Therang (loom bar), Uvek (bobbin), Thelangpong (heddle rod), Harpi (batten), Honthari Langpong
(bobbin case), Dang (bamboo stick used to straighten the margins of the woven cloth), Thening (shed
rod), Barlim (slender design sticks made of bamboo) and Thehu (belt of the backstrap). A colonial
monograph of 1897 by HF Samman9 also has given a description of the Karbi loom procured from Tezpur
with some minor variations in names.

Women and the Making of Karbi Dress -

Karbi women produce a wide range of textile motifs (amang) inspired by natural phenomena such as
birds, animals, fishes, flowers, trees and simple articles of daily household use etc. Interestingly, these
motifs are geometrical in shapes, or hieroglyphic. These amang10 are named as ok a’lip (fish scales), ru
a’lip (scale of fish trap), ok a’mek (eye of fish), suvat athe (fruit of Begonia Rex.), longle-pharche athe
(fruit of jatropha/gossypifolia Linn./Ballyache Bush), plimplam a’bo (seeds of elephant apple/Dillenia
Indica Linn.), chainong a’soni (molars of cow), methan a’soni (molars of dog), phongrong
angsu/phongrong angphar (thorns/flowers of Castanopsis indica A. DC.; Fagaceae), voso a’mek (eye of
birdie), vo’ak angho (mouth of crow), vosaru a’mek (eye of myna), voram (peacock), hijap (hand-fan),
chorchet (diamond shaped), ingnar (elephant with rider), kove a’rong (areca tree), nudeng (umbrella),
long-aling (bottom of wooden mortar), longle-angphar (a kind of flower), jambili athon (traditional Karbi
emblem), and chiri (banyan) etc. According to weavers, the most intricate designs are those called
‘bermum’ who also use techniques of embroidery called marbong and kirip etc.
Textile motifs carry gender, social hierarchy and geographical identity of the wearer. There are
distinctive textile designs for Chiefs which declare their statuses. Similarly, textile designs also serve as
markers of marital statuses. There are taboos on wearing certain cloths carrying certain specific motifs on
certain occasions. Chiefs (of higher status) use white turbans measuring 12½ cubits and jackets with big
red and white stripes. Smaller stripes denote lesser status. Unmarried males wear choi-hongthor of white
color with distinctive symbols of the sun (arni a’mek: eye of the sun).
Modern female dress comprises woven pini (sarong), vamkok (highly ornamental girdle or belt
‘secured round the waist), pekok (decorated/embroidered body cloth or wrap around the torso/upper body)
and, a blouse (which is a modern adaptation). In older times or till the 50s, unmarried women wore jiso as

7
Lyall & Stack, 1908 – The Mikirs; David Nutt, London; pp. 10
8
Broudy, Eric, 1979 – The Book of Loom-A History of the Handloom from Ancient Times to the Present;
University Press of New England, Hanover, NH 03755; pp. 76
9
Samman, HF, 1897 – Monograph on the Cotton Fabrics of Assam and Printed at the Office of the Superintendent
of Government Printing, Calcutta; pp. 65
10
Teron, DS, 2011 – Karbi Studies, Vol. 2 – Reclaiming the Ancestors’ Voices…; Assam Book Hive and Printed by
NE Printers, Lalmati, Guwahati; pp. 108-109
breast cloth with or without the pekok. The pekok was earlier worn around the body loosely tied in the
front around the chest which is now worn from left to right with the upper ends of the open side tied
above the right shoulder. Similarly, jiso is no more in use which has given way to the blouse. Young
mothers in older days did not bother using the jiso at all. The distinctive and trendy look of a modern
female dress has evolved in the course of the second half of the 21 st century. Modern male clothing
includes seleng, choi’ik (black jacket) , choi’ang (red jacket) and poho (turban).

Karbi Weaving as Identity -

Joanne B Eicher, a renowned ‘dress’ historian was right when he commented - ‘In a world of shifting
identities, dress often indicates as aspect of identity…’ 30 and dress certainly contributes in a big way to
the ‘identity construction of individuals, families, castes, regions, and nations.’ For Karbis too, cultural
dressing has become the most visible identity statement today, thanks to the enduring tradition of weaving
that women have kept alive. Weaving for Karbi women is both a medium of economic self-reliance and a
symbol of cultural resistance, and many of them struggle to preserve and promote it as a matter of
individual and family pride. As Daniel Wah has beautifully put it - ‘Weaving is inter-generational, making
deep ties visible between generations alive today and their far distant ancestors. Weaving is inter-species,
reconnecting us to what makes us truly human - our membership in the community of life as a planetary
process.’11

***

11
Wahl, Daniel Christian – Deep Weaving: Indigenous Earth Wisdom, Mythology, and Cosmology; Age of
Awareness, Feb. 17, 2018; See https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/deep-weaving-indigenous-earth-wisdom-
mythology-and-cosmology-dad5da368b0d Accessed 23 June 2019