Abstract
Wild Men in Assam. In a contribution to the Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. 27, No. 2, Mr. J. H. Hutton reviews the traditions relating to wild men current in the Naga Hills. Roughly they may be classified under five heads. (1) Little people, pixies, generally unseen but often audible and occasionally caught. To some extent they have the attributes of earth spirits. All tribes have traditions of jungle men who have been caught and kept, eventually becoming the ancestors of existing clans. It is possible that the tradition may be a reference to a race of negritos, who apparently did at one time inhabit the area now inhabited by the Nagas. (2) Ogres, near to the familiar rakshasas of Hindustan. They carry off children and fatten them for food. The daughters of these spirits have been known to marry mortals and live on human flesh. The ogre is perhaps the characterisation of a conquering race by the conquered. It is possible that cannibalism was actually practised at one time in Assam. So late as 1879 the flesh of a British officer killed at Khonoma was undoubtedly tasted by some of the young warriors. (3) Tiger-men. There is a widespread belief in the Naga Hills in a village further east where the inhabitants are lycanthropists tiger-men according to the Nagas, lion-men according to the Kukis; and in tradition this village is nearly always associated with cannibals and Amazons. The belief in tiger-men may be due to a misunderstanding of the totem kin in tribal contacts. It may also be due to contact with pathological cases such as have been recorded in the Malay Peninsula, and for which there is more doubtful evidence in the Naga Hills. (4) Amazons live still further to the east of the cannibal and tiger-men villages. They have marvellous methods of reproducing their kind. The martial aspect of the legend is absent; but the story probably arises from the fact that villages without males do exist. (5) Monstrous races which appear to be due to exaggerated accounts of physical peculiarities such as the ears enlarged by plugs and the extreme platyrrhiny of the Garos.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Research Items. Nature 132, 246–248 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/132246a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/132246a0