North Cachar Research Articles

Monoliths in Assam.—Mr. J. P. Mills, and Mr. J. H. Hutton in vol. 25, No. 1, of the Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal describe a series of five groups of remarkable monoliths in the Cachar Hills not previously recorded in print. The monoliths are pear-shaped, artificially dressed, and each contains a cavity in the bulbous end. They are now recumbent, though they appear at one time to have been erected on their narrow ends. They fall into two distinct types which may be regarded as male and female. The former constitute the whole of a large group at Kartong, and a smaller group between Kartong and Kobak. Most of the stones are incised with geometric designs and forms of men and animals, such as the pig and the mithun. While the monoliths may be interpreted as embodying the phallic principle, assisting the fertilising of Nature, the hollows seem to have been meant for some specific purpose not easy to discern. It may be that they were intended to hold water to promote rainfall, or they may have been intended to contain offerings on the analogy of holes recently scooped out in ancient monoliths at Kasomari. It is concluded that the North Cachar hollowed monoliths must be regarded as a specialised development of a phallic ancestral cult typical of Assam. It is clear that they were not erected by the Nagas and old Rukis who are the present inhabitants of the area. Local tradition assigns them to the Mikirs. This may be the case, subsequent invasion having overwhelmed the Mikirs and left them in isolated communities too weak to provide the labour requisite to carry on the custom. It is more probable, however, that it is to be associated with the Khasi Synteng group of tribes and that it has disappeared owing to their migration into an unsuitable environment.

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