Last modified: 2015-07-28 by ian macdonald
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image by Chrystian Kretowicz, 16 April 2009
Total Karbi population in Karbi Anglong District : 353, 513 ( 2001 Census).
However the actual population figure of the tribe for the whole of NE of India
is more than 800, 000. Most are Hindu (84.64 %) but 15 % are Christian, the rest
follows the traditional beliefs. Racially the Karbis belong to the Mongoloid
group and linguistically they belong to the Tibeto-Burman group. The original
home of the various people speaking Tibeto-Burman languages was in western China
near the Yang-Tee-Kiang and the Howang-ho rivers and from these places they went
down the courses of the Brahmaputra, the Chindwin and the Irrawaddy and entered
India and Burma. The Kabis, along with others entered Assam from Central Asia in
one of the waves of migration.
The Karbis, mentioned as the Mikirs in the
Constitution Order, Govt. of India, constitute an important ethnic group in the
hill areas of Assam. However, they never call themselves Mikir but call
themselves Karbi and sometimes Arleng which literally means a man. Although at
present, they are found to inhabit in the Karbi Anglong District, nevertheless,
some Karbi inhabited pockets are found in the North Cachar Hills, Kamrup,
Morigaon, Nagaon and Sonitpur Districts also.
More on Karbis at
http://karbi.wordpress.com/about-karbis/ and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karbi,
http://karbianglong.nic.in/,
http://karbianglong.nic.in/ataglance.html.
More militant Karbi
organizations demand a separation of Karbi homeland from Assam. Some are
fighting for complete independence.
James B. Minahan (Encyclopedia of the
Stateless Nations - Ethnic and National Groups Around the World - volume III)
describes the flag (using the name: Mikir")
"The Mikir national flag, the
flag of the nationalist organizations, is a blue field bearing a white crescent
moon and two white, five-pointed stars at the points."
Chrystian Kretowicz,
16 April 2009
image by Eugene Ipavec, 17 April 2009
The most active group fighting for self-rule and self-determination of the Karbi Nation - "Hemprek Kangthim" - is KLNLF - Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front. They used to have their own website, but it was deleted recently from the net. Jaume Ollé prepared the provisional image of their flag sometime ago for Flag Report, based on the above mentioned defunct website.
KLNLF
profile at
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/assam/terrorist_outfits/KLNLF.HTM.
Chrystian Kretowicz, 16 April 2009
The stripes appear to be unequal, ~31:42:27.
Eugene Ipavec, 17
April 2009