618 Notes on Northern Cacliar. [No. 7- 



obliged to eke out his communication by signs, by meaus of which 

 his purpose might have been equally well made known, had he 

 been an Englishman. Not only do the clans and, more widely, the 

 sects differ in dialect, but their manners and customs, government 

 and ceremonies, and with respect to the sects their religion also, 

 is not the same. I can divine no cause for such a state of things ; 

 and the matter becomes still more inexplicable when it is known 

 that these are not all the tribes of Kookies extant. The Looshais, 

 a large tribe inhabiting the jungles south of Cachar, by whom the 

 clans of new Kookies were driven northward, are themselves, undoubt- 

 edly, of the same family, and speak a language quite intelligible to 

 the new Kookies. The Manipoories, a nation of proselyte Hindus, 

 governing an immense tract of mountainous country to the east of 

 Cachar, and inhabiting a large basin of plain ground among the hills, 

 called the valley of Manipoor, can be traced by their own written 

 history to a Kookie origin ; and were this proof wanting it would be 

 easy to supply one by pointing to the similarity of the Mauipoorie and 

 Kookie languages, or rather dialects, any new Kookie being able 

 to understand Mauipoorie without much difficulty, and indeed, the 

 languages being almost identical. 



The old Kookies emigrated from the jungles of Tipperah, the 

 hilly country south of Cachar, some fifty or sixty years ago. Their 

 first appearance in Cachar, in a state of almost perfect nudity, 

 appears to have shocked the inhabitants very much, and they were 

 compelled by the rulers to adopt clothing, which they did, and do 

 to the present day. Some years after their arrival they were made 

 available by the Kajah of Cachar in prosecuting his wars with 

 Toolaram, in which they distinguished themselves considerably, and 

 gained a name for martial courage, which together with their good- 

 natured dispositions, has established a general respect for them in 

 the minds of their neighbours, the Nagas and Meekirs. 



They are a hardy, stalwart and pains taking race, and together with 

 the Meekirs are considered the best subjects in Northern Cachar, 

 being peaceable, and regular in the payment of their rents. Their posi- 

 tion in the district lies along the western boundary along the banks 

 of the Copilee, where they cut down the timber forests, and raise 

 crops of rice and cotton, disposing of the latter, which is of the best 



