• Golmei Jenthui Rongmei

This paper looks into the perception of the Rongmei Naga of Barak Valley, Assam. Most of the Rongmei Naga lives in the State of Manipur but a stream of migrating Rongmei had reached the Cachar district of Assam and settled here. The non-tribal settlers of the area have named the area as Nagapunji meaning Naga helmets. Although the Rongmei had a long relationship with the plains people of Cachar and a relationship of amity, mutual exchanges and peaceful co-existence was a historical tradition, settlement in Barak Valley posed some serious challenges to them. Firstly they were completely cut off from their main habitat in Manipur. As a result they found it hard to reproduce and perpetuate their traditions, religion and culture. Secondly, after the British occupation of Cachar and the Partition of India, the Bengal Hindu and Muslim population increased manifolds. This tremendous explosion of non-tribal population threatened the small demographic strength of the Rongmei as well as pressure on the land resources. The Rongmei practices shifting cultivation for which they needed large amount of freely available land so that they could change their farm land every ten years. The Rongmei not only had to give their agricultural pursuit due to the non-availability of land, they began to be displaced from their traditional habitat. Thirdly, living amidst non-tribal population who were mostly Hindu practicing a Brahmanic ideology with its accompanying caste structure, the animist beef eating Rongmei were threatened of being treated as untouchables. They were social ostracized by the Muslims too as they were pork eaters. Pushed thus to the territorial as well as social margins, the Rongmei are fighting for survival as an ethnic groups as well as cultural groups.

Barak valley, Rongmei, Challenges, Changes

"STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL: THE RONGMEI NAGAS IN BARAK VALLEY", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no.284-292, June 2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1908983.pdf

"STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL: THE RONGMEI NAGAS IN BARAK VALLEY", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no. pp284-292, June 2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1908983.pdf