1874.] R. 'B2cnQY]\— Identification of Aloriginal Triles. 11 



mention of the Kiratas occurs more tlian once ; this leads me to infer that the 

 aborigines now known under that appellation must have separated them- 

 selves and formed different clans before the great epic was composed. The 

 Rajmala, which gives an analysis of the royal family of Tipperah, states that 

 the ancient name of Tripura was Kirata. According to Major Fisher the 

 people of Tripura are of the same origin with the Kacharis, but Colonel 

 Dalton places the Kacharis in the same group with the Kirantis — the latter 

 are placed under the head of " Northern borderers," and the former under " Po- 

 pulation of the Assam valley." The dispersipn of a race of hunters like the 

 Kiratas was natural, and it was helped to a large extent by the Aryan 

 settlers pushing them on further and further as they spread, and that will 

 account for the wide range they now occupy. 



No. 2. 



Hayasyas, Haioos or Hayas, The horse-faced race. 



Dr. Campbell gives a tradition that the Hayas originally " came from 

 Lanka, having left that country after the defeat of their king Havana by 

 Ramachandra ; but the Raksha king Ravana is still their hero and god, and 

 the}^ have no other. They say that they remained a long time in the Deccan, 

 whence they journeyed on to Semrounghar, in the days of its glor}', and that 

 lastly, but a long time ago, reached the hills, their present abode." Now the 

 Kinnaras, or heavenly choristers, were described by the poets of India as 

 living in the Himalaya under Kuvera, the Indian Plutus, and they were 

 yclept Hayas^^as or horse-faced, an epithet which is well accounted for when 

 we read the physical traits of the modern Haioos or Hj^as in Hodgson. The 

 tradition of their being the kinsmen of Ravana is explained by the fact that 

 in the Ramayana, Kuvera, the lord of the Hyasyas, is styled the step-brother 

 of Ravana. Again, the Hyasyas were designated Kinnaras, which means, 

 men of ugly features. Mr. Hodgson's description certifies the deformity of 

 this people very plainly and pointedly, as will be seen in the following extract : 

 " The physiognomy of this tribe is rather of the Mongolian cast, the bridge 

 of the nose is not perceptibly raised, the cheek bones are flattened and very 

 high, the forehead narrow." This description may be applied generally to 

 all the offshoots of the Mongolian race inhabiting the sub-Himalaj'^as. The 

 profile and full face sketches given by Hodgson at page 78, Vol. XVII, Part 

 1 of the Journal of the Society, fully justify the Indo-Aryan writers in 

 designating the race with the epithet Turanga-vadanas or horse-faced. 



Mr. Hodgson defines the Kirant country thus : — 



1. Sunkosi to Likhu. 



2. Likhu to Arun, 



3. Arun to Mechi 



4. Sino^ilela ridoje. 



2. Likhu to Arun. j Khombuan, 



j Limbuan. 



