Documentation on Life and Culture of Deori

Abstract

The word Deori is derived from Sanskrit word Devagrihik. Therefore, commonly Deoris are referred to as the people who know Deo or Gods or Goddess and worship with devotion De meaning God, U meaning offering and Ri referring to manner or system. Those who know the proceedings of Puja and perform sacrifice before the deities are called Deoris. There are four broad divisions called Gayan amongst the Deoris, Dibangias, Tengapanias, Borgoyan and Patorgonga. Each of the divisions is said to have originated from the name of a particular river or a place. For instance, the group that settled on the banks of the river Dibang is called Dibangia, the group that settled on the banks of river Tengapani is called Tengapania while the group that settled on the banks of river Borpani or Bargang is called Borgoyan. The other group living at Patsadiya was known as Patorgonya. However, presently the existence of this group could not be traced. This might be due to the continuous processes of acculturation and assimilation due to which members of the group might have amalgamated with other communities. The name Borgoyan is said to have originated from the great number of households in the village. This study is hence a documentation of the life and culture of the Deori tribe. Fieldwork and data collection for the study was done in thirty two Deori villages of Assam, out of which twenty are from Lakhimpur district, four villages are from Sivasagar district, two each from Jorhat and Dibrugarh disticts, one from Sonitpur district while three villages are from Tinsukia district of Assam.