ETHNIC CULTURE OF THE KHASIA AND MENDI

Submitted to:
Prof. Dr. Ashit Boran Paul
Course code: HIS101
Section: 12
Group: 2
Date of submission: 17th November, 2018

Submitted by:

Names IDs
Md. Tasnimul Alam Bakshi 1330412042
Yeaasir Bin Yeahyea 1520449630
Ferdoaous AL Imran 1521808030
Sydul Islam Sajib 1521982030
Jaimur Rahman 1530673630
J.M. Nasir 1612148630
Jahid Hasan 1712082630
 Introduction

Different ethnic groups of Bangladesh and their colorful lifestyles have significantly enriched the

entire culture of Bangladesh. For centuries, Bangladesh has been the dwelling place of different

ethnic groups. Their historical background, economic activities, social structure, religious beliefs

and festivals make them distinctive. In our report we focused on two of the big ethnic groups of

Bangladesh- Khasia and Mendi. The Khasia live mainly in Sylhet and are originally from

Meghalaya. The Mendi, an ethnic group in Bangladesh belonging to Bodo sub-sect of the Tibeti-

Burman sect of Mongoloid race. They also live in Indian state of Meghalaya. We are going to

discuss their settlement and demography, occupation, house patterns, language, education, food

habits, dress and ornaments, marriage system, religion, festival, society, and burial system.

Objectives

Our main objective of doing this research is to find out the culture and history of the two indigenous

groups named Khasia and Mendi. Our aim is to find out the background, history, living area,

culture, language, dresses, food habits, religion, marital relation status and system, house

construction, economic conditions and also population and body structure of two indigenous

group, Khasia and Mendi.

 Limitations

Indigenous groups maintain privacy in their lifestyle and they do not always want to share personal

information about that particular group. Sometimes they want to keep their culture and history

information private to unknown people. For this reason, we could not get as much primary data

and photographs for doing our project. We could only use secondary data sources to complete this

report. We could not take any interview of the stated groups to derive primary data directly from

them. So, we have faced some problems in primary data collection and most of our collected data

and photographs are from secondary data sources.

Methodology

Hypothesis:

Our aim is to find out the background, history, living area, culture, language, dresses, food habits,

religion, marital relation status and system, house construction, economic conditions and also

population and body structure of the two indigenous groups, Khasia and Mendi. We believe we

will be able to find out the detailed socio-cultural practices and lifestyles of the mentioned two

groups by the end of this research. We hope to find out vastly diverse and different lifestyles of

the two groups Khasia and Mendi as we proceed in our research.

Research Method:

We have followed “Qualitative Research Strategy” to complete our project and used “Descriptive

Research Method” to find out all the information we needed. In descriptive method, we described

the situations and some information that we could predict as it was difficult to collect accurate
information or photographs without living with them as they often do not allow or share their

information with unknown people. This is why we have done our project by methods of qualitative

research and found out many information by using “Secondary Data”. We have come to know

about many unknown information like economic conditions, marital relationship condition, burial

system etc. Those are the key information we have collected through various secondary data

sources for example- websites, journals and books which discuss their lifestyles in details.

Previous Research on The Tripura and The Khasia

Numerous previous research works have been done on the ethnic groups of Bangladesh

including the Tripura and the Khasia by various researchers including some noted writers who

wrote extensive articles on their culture and ethnicity as well as several factors impacting their

lifestyle and existence. Various articles that have been written on the life of the Mendi

community of Bangladesh give us an insight into the culture of this community and socio-

economic factors affecting their existence and lifestyle both in Chittagong as well as in the

Mendi in Bangladesh. Same goes for the Khasia community based in Sylhet, Bangladesh. Here,

we are going to briefly talk about the notable previous works carried out on the said ethnic

groups of Bangladesh:

 An online article by R. Hasan discussed about the traditional practices of the Tripura

people particularly those living in Bangladesh in 16 different ‘dafa’ among the total 36

‘dafa’ which is their collective groups within the tribe.

 A detailed article “Ethnic communities of Bangladesh” by Kibriaul Khaleque provides an

in-depth discussion on the cultural aspects of the Khasia communities in Bangladesh.

 An extensive research on the complete socio-economic background, culture and lifestyle

of the Khasia community has been carried out in “The Socio-Economic Background of
 Khasia Ethnic Community of Bangladesh” by Md. Kayum Shikdar, Amit Kumar Biswas

and Ripon Mollick of the Sociology department of the University of Khulna, Bangladesh.

In their research they went for an analytical approach about the complete social,

economic, cultural and political aspects of the Khasia community of Sylhet, Bangladesh

(which was a former kingdom called ‘Jayanta’).

 An online article by Joshua P. provides an in-depth information about the demographic

and geographical aspects of the Tripura community- their expansion throughout the

Indian state of Tripura and Chittagong, Bangladesh as well as demographic factors like

their population growth in those 2 states, religions, languages, ethnicity and so on.

 Numerous publications on the official website of “Mendi Tourism” focused on different

tribes of the Tripura state that include the Tripuris- the largest tribal community of the

state and their socio-cultural system and practices like marriage, funeral, rituals on child

birth and so on.

 Several publications by the “Ethnic Community Development Organization” (ECDO)

provided timely annual reports on the condition of the ethnic groups of Sylhet and

Chittagong Hill Tracts which include the Khasia community of Bangladesh.

These valuable previous research works, articles and journals on the Khasia and the

Mendi indigenous tribes living in Bangladesh provided considerable amount of valuable

information for our research on the said communities.

Description of the Khasia

The Khasia:
Khasia is one of the notable ethnic groups of Bangladesh. They are the native people of

Meghalaya. Earlier, Khasia people used to live along the northeast border of Sunamganj district.

At present they are spread over Bishwamvarpur, Tahirpur and Chhatak in Sunamganj. Most

Khasias live in the border region.

Settlement and Demography:

The Khasias are said to be the native people of Meghalaya. Meghalaya was a part of Burma

much before India claimed it as a part of it after its independence from British rule. That is why,

many ethnologists mentioned that the Khasias originally came into Assam from Burma. The

exact time and event of migration of the Khasias in Sylhet is still under mystery. Khasia people

believe that they were planted by the God in the beginning of time. However, many say that they

settled in Jaintapur migrated from Assam in sixteen century. At that time they had established an

independent Kingdom at Jaintapur which was located in Sylhet district. Few ethnologists

mentioned that Jaintia Kingdom was established in 1500 A.D. This Kingdom captured the

areas of present Sylhet, Sunamgonj, parts of Moulavibazar and Hobigonj districts. In courses of

time many of the Khasis shifted their habitat into different hilly forest areas of Sylhet division

and now their major concentration is in Kulaura Upazilla of Moulavibazar districts. Bangladesh

has about 90 (ninety) Khasi villages with an approximate twenty thousand of population.

There are more than one million Khasi people in India and around 30,000 in Bangladesh, mainly

in northeastern Sylhet Division.

Language:

Khasi people has their own language called “Mon Kheme” which is a spoken language and

cannot be written down with alphabet. It was invented by American missionary in the 19th
century, But they are not using it now. In local schools, only Bengali and English are taught. In

the past, the Khasi language had no script of its own. William Carey attempted to write the

language with the Assamese script between 1813 and 1838. A large number of Khasi books were

written in the Assamese script, including the famous book KaNiyiom Jong KaKhasi or The Rule

of the Khasis, which is an important manuscript of the Khasi religion. The Welsh missionary,

Thomas Jones, in 1841 wrote the language in the Latin script. As a result, the Latin alphabet of

the language has a few similarities with the Welsh alphabet.

Religion:

Christian missionary work among the Khasi began in the late nineteenth century with the efforts

of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist mission. The effects of their endeavors and those of other

Christian bodies have been considerable. Today over half of all Khasis have adopted

Christianity. The missionary impact may be noted on almost all levels of culture. However, the

core of traditional Khasi religious beliefs remains intact. The Khasi believe in a creator god

(Ublei Nong-thaw) who is considered feminine in gender (Ka lei Synshar). She is invoked when

sacrifices are offered and during times of trouble. The propitiation of good and evil spirits is also

part of this system, as is the worship of ancestors.

House Patterns:

The typical Khasi house is a shell-shaped building with three rooms: the shynghup is a porch for

storage; the nengpei is the center room for cooking and sitting; and the rumpei is the inner room

for sleeping. The homes of wealthy Khasi are more modern, having iron roofs, chimneys, glass

windows, and doors. Within Khasi villages one may find a number of public buildings, Christian

churches, and schools.

Occupation:

Khasia people’s occupation is called jhum cultivation. They have a peasant based economy. The

Khasia people mainly do farming, grow betel palm and do other businesses. Khasi men now

look after business and women look after family affairs.

Dress Patterns:

The traditional Khasi male dress is a jymphong, a longish sleeveless coat without collar, fastened

by thongs in front. Nowadays, most male Khasis have adopted western attire. On ceremonial

occasions they appear in a jymphong and sarong with an ornamental waist-band and they may

also wear a turban. The traditional Khasi female dress is called the jainsem or dhara, both of

which are rather elaborate with several pieces of cloth, giving the body a cylindrical shape. On

ceremonial occasions they may wear a crown of silver or gold. A spike or peak is fixed to the

back of the crown, corresponding to the feathers worn by the menfolk. The jainsem consists of

two pieces of material fastened at each shoulder. The dhara consists of a single piece of material

also fastened at each shoulder.

Food Habits:

The Khasias consume different kinds of food, but rice forms the staple diet. They eat millet,

maize, potatoes, yam and tapioca. Among the fruits, jackfruits, pine-apples, pears, fig, oranges

and many other local fruits. They also eat cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, turnips, mustard leaves

and a variety of wild vegetables. Beef, pork, and chicken is regularly enjoyed. Use of rice-beer is

a must in ceremonial and religious occasion.

Social System:
The Khasias have a matrilineal and matrilocal society. Descent is traced through the mother,

children taking their mother's surname, with maternal uncles traditionally playing a major role in

the family, while the father keeps an important role in the household. According to Khasia laws,

a woman cannot be forced into marriage, she owns the children and properties. In Khasia

tradition, the youngest daughter, the khaduh, will also inherit the property. A woman may end a

marriage at her will with no objection from her husband.

Festivals:

Dancing and music are important parts of Khasi ritual, and the Nongkrem Dance (part of a goat-

killing ceremony) is the major festival on the Khasi calendar. It is dedicated to Ka lei Synshar,

for the ruling of the Khasi. Its purpose is to ensure substantial crop yield and good fortune for the

state. It is held in late spring (usually in May). A number of state and communal rituals are also

performed, in addition to many ceremonies associated with the human life cycle (birth, marriage,

death, etc.).

Marriage:

Marriage is a purely civil contract in Khasia community. Males are between the ages of 18 and

35 when they marry, while women’s ages range from 13 to 18. Although parentally arranged

marriages do occur, this does not appear to be the preferred form. Young men and women are

permitted considerable freedom in the choice of mates and in premarital sexual relations.

According to Khasia laws, a woman cannot be forced into marriage. A woman may end a

marriage at her will with no objection from her husband. Monogamy marriage system is strictly
followed in Khasia community. According to the tradition, the groom has to live in the bride’s

house after getting married, but now fewer men do so.

MENDI

Location
Mandi, The an ethnic group in Bangladesh belonging to Bodo sub-sect of the Tibeti-Burman sect
of Mongoloid race. They also live in Indian state of Meghalaya. The present population size of
Mandi (Garo) in Bengladesh is 150,000. They live in the districts of Tangail, Jamalpur, Sherpur,
Mymensingh, Netrakona, Sunamganj, Sylhet and Gazipur with a highest concentration in
Haluaghat and Dhobaura upazilas of Mymensingh, Durgapur and Kalmakanda upazilas of
Netrokona, Nalitabari and Jhenaigati upazilas of Sherpur and Madhupur upazila of Tangail
district.
The antecedent home of the Mandi (Garo) is located in the Xinjiang province, north-west of
China. They left that place several thousand years ago and migrated to Tibet. Then they moved
again to the north-eastern Indian Hill tracts and Northern Bangladesh about 4500 years ago. And
finally they migrated to the greater Mymensingh area and established a small feudal kingdom
there.
The Garo society is matrilineal and mothers inherit property and they are the head of their
respective families. Each husband or the father of children works as a manager of the family. The
children assume the surname of their mother. According to the Garo customs, daughters inherit
the family property. However, only the selected daughter, known as Nakna in Garo language
enjoys that opportunity. Generally the youngest daughter of a family is selected as Nakna. At
present, the male children are also given shares in the landed property through registered deeds
in Garo society during the lifetime of their parents.

The entire Garo society is divided into 13 groups. These are Aoye, Abeng, Attong, Ruga,
Chibok, Chisak, Doyal, Machchi, Kochchu, Atiagra, Matjangchi, Gara-ganching and Megham.
In Bangladesh, most of the Garos belong to Abeng, Ruga, Attong, Megham and Chibok groups.
Beside the 13 groups, the whole Garo community is divided into five major clans. These are;
Sangma, Marak, Momin, Shira and Areng. The marriage institution of Garo is totally controlled
by intercaste system. It prohibits intra-clan marriage. They love to be introduced themselves as
Achik Monde (the soul of hill). They think that Garo is an objectionable and inferior word
imposed by others to undermine their social status.
Religion
A large part of the Garo community follow Christianity, with some rural pockets following
traditional animist religion known as Songsarek and its practices. The book The Garo Tribal
Religion: Beliefs And Practices tries to interpret and expound on the origin and migration of the
Garos consisting of tribal groups who settled in the Garo Hills and their ancient animistic
religious beliefs and practices: deities who must be appeased with rituals, ceremonies and animal
sacrifices to ensure welfare of the tribe.

The Garo tribal religion is popularly known as Songsarek. Their tradition "Dakbewal" relates to
their most prominent cultural activities. In 2003 the group called "Rishi Jilma" was founded to
safeguard the ancient Garo Songsarek religion. Seeing the Songsarek population in decline,
youth from the Dadenggiri subdivision of Garo Hills felt the need to preserve the Songsarek
culture. The Rishi Jilma group is active in about 500 villages in and around Garo Hills
Food habit
He staple food of Garo is rice. They take it with fish and meat curry, lentils and vegetables.
Dried fish is their most favourite dish. The dried fish of puti species found in the bhati region
including Gopalganj, Faridpur, Bhairab and Kishoreganj, is regarded as most delicious food.
They are used to have excessive green chily in preparing curry. Garos like to have vegetables
including brinjal, bottle-ground, sweat ground, pumpkin, curcurbitaceons, vegetables, chichinga,
karola, jheenga and kidney beans. They also use to cook with soda water. But now-a-days a few
of Garo families use soda water in cooking as most of their taste and recipe have also been
changed. Garos have become habituated to cook and eat as their Bangali neighbours. Beside their
traditional nakham vegetables, they have become fond of smashed and fried vegetables, pulse,
fish and meat. Even the well-off Garo families frequently take rich foods including hotchpotch,
polao and biriani. However they are still very fond of having pork, turtle meat, eel and
vegetables like bamboo shoots and mushroom.

Profession
The Garos rely on nature. Their profession is hunting and warrior known as Matgrik. They
practice jhum cultivation which is the most common agricultural tradition. For more than 4,000
years, the Garos have been practicing jhum cultivation. It was their main profession for feeding
themselves.

But in the last 50 years the most changing scenario of the Garo ethnic people is the changing of
professions. They are now influenced and have adapted to the modern technology and
professions. They are engaged in Government and non-government jobs. In India Government
jobs are most common for the Garos. They might have jobs in schools, colleges, universities, and
other educational institutions. In Bangladesh, their jobs are more diverse than in India. Almost
30,000 Garos are living in Dhaka metropolitan city and most of them are working in beauty
parlours, EPZ industries, housekeeping, security personnel, driving, NGOs private service, real-
estate, garment industries, etc. There is a good number in Bangladesh Civil Service Cedre
service. In Dimapur, Nagaland State, the Garo people may work as day labourers

Musical instrument
Group songs may include Ku·dare sala, Hoa ring·a, Injoka, Kore doka, Ajea, Doroa, Nanggorere
goserong, Dim dim chong dading chong, Serejing, Boel sala etc.

Dance forms are Ajema Roa, Mi Su·a, Chambil Moa, Do·kru Sua, Chame mikkang nia, Kambe
Toa, Gaewang Roa, Napsepgrika and many others.

Traditional Garo musical instruments can broadly be classified into four groups.[10]

Idiophones: Self-sounding and made of resonant materials – Kakwa, Nanggilsi, Guridomik,

Kamaljakmora, all kinds of gongs, Rangkilding, Rangbong, Nogri etc.
Aerophone: Wind instruments, whose sound come from air vibrating inside a pipe when is blown
– Adil, Singga, Sanai, Kal, Bolbijak, Illep or Illip, Olongna, Tarabeng, Imbanggi, Akok or
Dakok, Bangsi rori, Tilara or Taragaku, Bangsi mande, Otekra, Wa·pepe or Wa·pek.
Chordophone: Stringed instrument – Dotrong, Sarenda, Chigring or Bagring, Dimchrang or
Kimjim, Gongmima or Gonggina.
Membranophone: With skins or membranes stretched over a frame – Am·being Dama, Chisak
Dama, Atong Dama, Garaganching Dama, Ruga and Chibok Dama, Dual-Matchi Dama, Nagra,
Kram etc.

Festival
The common and regular festivals are those connected with agricultural operations.

Most Garo festivals are based on the agricultural cycle of crops. The harvesting festival Wangala
is the biggest celebration of the tribe happening in the month of October or November every
year. It is the thanksgiving after harvest in the honor of the god Saljong, provider of nature's
bounties.
Other festivals include Gal·mak Goa, Agalmaka, etc.

Wangala of Asanang
There is a celebration of the 100-drum festival in Asanang near Tura in West Garo Hills,
Meghalaya, India usually in October or November. Thousands of people, especially young
people, gather at Asanang and celebrate Wangala with great joy. Beautiful Garo girls known as
nomil and handsome boys pante take part in 'Wangala' festivals. The pantes beat a kind of long
drum called dama in groups and play bamboo flute. The nomils with colorful costumes dance to
the tune of dama and folk songs in a circle. Most of the folk songs depict ordinary Garo life,
God's blessings, beauty of nature, day-to-day struggles, romance, and human aspirations.

Dhaka Wangala
There are 30,000 Garos living in Dhaka. They celebrate their Wangala festival every year with
the new spirit as a thanksgiving to the creator. The Garos started the Dhaka Wangala festival in
the capital city in 1994 by the leadership of Fr. Cammillus Rema, a professor of National Major
Seminary. There were a Nokma Committee for the celebration. The first Kamal was Fr.
Cammilus Rema. The committee included Albert Mankin, Topon Marak, Sanjeeb Drong, Nipun
Sangma, Theophil Nokrek, Ranjit Ruga, Torun Marak, Premson Mrong and others. At least
10,000 Garos attended the first Dhaka Wangala. At present Garos celebrates three Wangala in
Dhaka (Botomly, Gulshan and Banani). The Nokma of Wangala is elected every year. He is the
head of the feast. In 2014 Dhaka Wangala was celebrated at Technical School field of Botomly.
The chief guest was Adv. Promode Mankin MP, Minister for Social Welfare, People's Republic
of Bangladesh. Special guests were Nirmal Rozario, Secretary of Bangladesh Christian
Association; and Theophil Nokrek, Ph.D researcher and Director, Caritas Development Institute,
Dhaka. More than 15,000 Garos attended. The celebration started with the Wangala mass
presided over by Rt. Rev. Bishop Ponen Paul Kubi, csc, Bishop of Mymensingh. The mixed
culture Wangala bring together all Garos to one place for worship and thanksgiving to God. The
Garos of Bangladesh celebrates Wangala at Abima, Modhupur, Tangail, Durgapur, Netrokona,
and Ranikhong as '100 Drums.

The ancient traditional culture of Garos is disappearing in some areas due to lack of practice and
nurturing by society and Government. Some researchers are trying to promote this traditional
culture to preserve it in Bangladesh and in India. Rev. Monindronath Marak, Subhash Jengcham,
Theophil Nokrek, Sanjeeb Drong, Albert Mankin, Badhon Areng, Babul D' Nokrek, Bashor
Dango are trying to research the Garo culture and tradition.
Christmas
Though Christmas is a religious celebration, December is a great season of celebration in Garo
Hills. In the first week of December, the town of Tura and all other smaller towns are illuminated
with lights. This celebration featured by worship, dance, merry-making, grand feasts, and social
visits goes on till 10 January. People from all religions and sections take part in the Christmas
celebration. In December 2003 the tallest Christmas tree of the world was erected at Dobasipara,
Tura by the Baptist boys of Dobasipara. Its height was 119.3 feet, covered by BBC and widely
broadcast on television. The tree was decorated with 16,319 colored light bulbs; it took about 14
days to complete the decoration.

Ahaia Winter Festival

The annual festival, conceptualised in 2008, is aimed to promote and brand this part of the region
as a popular tourist destination by giving an opportunity for the local people to showcase their
skills and expertise. The three-day fest features a gala event with carnival, cultural show, food
festival, rock concert, wine festival, angling competition, ethnic wear competition, children's
fancy dress, DJ Nite, exhibitions, housie housie, and other games. The entry forms for carnival
and other events are available at the Tourist Office, Tura.

Discussion and Observation

We observed some essential points in our analysis:

 The socio economic condition of the Khasia people is not satisfactory.

 They are mainly involved with agricultural activities specially betel leaf cultivation.

 They have their own traditional cultural and religious beliefs.

 They can enjoy all their religious and traditional customs and festivals freely.

 There is little awareness about family planning, health and hygiene within tribal communities

 In particularly Khasia communities the status of women is quite good.

 They have little access to land right.

 Most of the Khasias are illiterate. Language also creates a problem as many lessons are

conducted in Bangla and not usually in their respective mother tongues.

 Their overall health condition is not very satisfactory.

 They have the rights to take participation in electing local and national Govt.

 The Mendi follow Christianity and their main profession is hunting. They are known as

matgrik.

After observation we can say that the beauty of the hilly zones as well as the plain areas of our

country has been enhanced by the colorful culture and traditional practices of different ethnic

groups. All the tribal cultures have their own identity that treasure and practice. In this report it

has not been unnoticed how flourishing the cultures of the Khasia and Mendi are. However,

political and economic rights of the people of these indigenous tribes in our country still remain

ignored. The Govt. should take proper steps to secure the rights of these tribes and uphold their

glory as an essential part of Bangladesh.

 References

i. Tripuri. (n.d). Retrieved September , 2009, from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripuri_people
ii. Khasi. (n.d). Retrieved February, 2014, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khasi_people
iii. Roy, R. K. (2017, February 17). Practice of tribal language in Bangladesh. Daily Sun,
Retrieved from http://www.daily-
sun.com/printversion/details/206142/2017/02/17/Practice-Of-TribalLanguages-In-
Bangladesh
iv. Ghosh, B. (2003). Ethnicity and Insurgency in Tripura. Sociological Bulletin, 52(2), 221–
243. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038022920030204 Retrieved from
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0038022920030204?journalCode=soba#art
icleCitationDownloadContainer
v. Friend, J. Bangladesh: A country with contrast and diversity [Web log post]. Retrieved
from https://nijhoom.com/bangladesh-contrast-diversity/
vi. (2008), Kok borkok in Bangladesh. Retrieved from
https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/15498/BG
vii. Tripura Tourism. (2018). Different tribes of Tripura. Retrieved from
http://tripuratourism.gov.in/tribes
viii. Shikdar, M. K., Biswas, A., & Mollik, R. (2013). The socio economic background of
Khasia Ethnic community of Bangladesh, (Vol.7, pp.58-72). Retrieved
fromhttp://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jhss/papers/Vol7-issue4/J0745872.pdf
ix. (2010). Ethnic community development organization. Retrieved from
https://sites.google.com/site/bdguiber/home/6-english/bangladesh/adivasy/ethnic-
communities-of-bangladesh
x. Quader, G.M. (2008, July 17). Indigenous people of Bangladesh. The Daily Star.
Retrieved from https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-46025

Mendi References
1. ^ "A-11 Individual Scheduled Tribe Primary Census Abstract Data and its
Appendix". censusindia.gov.in. Government of India. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
2. ^ "Garo". Ethnologue. SIL International. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
3. ^ Official Homepage of Meghalaya State of India Archived 8 March 2008 at
the Wayback Machine
4. ^ "People of Meghalaya".
5. ^ Paulinus R. Marak: The Garo tribal religion: beliefs and practices (Delhi:
Anshah Pub. House, 2005) ISBN 8183640028
6. ^ 'Garo' in: Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.).
2013. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 17th edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL
International: 889,000 in India (2001 census), 120,000 in Bangladesh (2005).
Population total all countries: 1,009,000.
7. ^ Gan-Chaudhuri, Jagadis. Tripura: The Land and its People. (Delhi: Leeladevi
Publications, 1980) p. 10
8. ^ Alejandro Gutman and Beatriz Avanzati (2013). "The Garo language". The
Language Gulper. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
9. ^ An academic study about personal names in Garo villages
10. ^ Culture section in the official Garo Hills area Archived 2 May 2006 at
the Wayback Machine