[ Nani Bath ]
Shakespeare writes, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet.”
When in a romantic situation, Shakespeare’s ‘A rose by any other name’ would suggest that a name is just a label to distinguish one thing from another; Juliet would think that Romeo’s name was just a label and he would stay the same for her.
When we come out of the ‘romanticised dream’, we do see a contrasting situation. Names do ‘sell’ and assume the proportion of a ‘brand’ – Lewinsky (Monica) to Zelensky (Volodymr), Elon (Musk) to Elizabeth (Taylor), NAMO (Narendra Modi) to RAGA (Rahul Gandhi).
When discussed in the context of Arunachal Pradesh, the names (person, clan/surname, community/tribe, place, etc), have travelled divergent trajectories, each having its own history.
Some colonial writers have indicated that the distorted names were used “for want of better names.” We have ‘Apa Tanang’, ‘Abor’, ‘Dafla’, ‘Momba’, ‘Aka’, ‘Miri’, ‘Chulikata’, ‘Bebejiya’, ‘Kopachor’, ‘Borduria Naga’, ‘Rangpang Naga’, ‘Dihang’, ‘Bhutia’, etc, used during colonial administration in Assam. These names have now been discarded with more indigenous-sounded ones.
Biblically influenced names such as Abraham, Mary, John, etc, are often used by the converted Christians. Names like Ram and Sita were adopted at a time when the popular Ramayana TV serial was in the air in the late eighties. There are ‘kanchas’ and ‘kanchis’, adopted by those tribal families who stayed in the neighbourhood of Nepali families. Nampong was known as ‘Hellgate’ till 1953.
There are typically sounded names which were adopted in the context of an incident. ‘MP Miyu’ was named because he was born during MP elections. When ‘Sanjeev Dodum’ was born, president Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy was visiting Arunachal Pradesh. Some names like ‘India Modi’ and ‘Bharat Megu’ look to be simply a sign of an “expression of being a proud Indian.”
Influences of Indian Hindi films were visibly reflected in the naming, dressing style (bellbottoms), hairstyle ‘Amitabh Bachchan/Meena Kumari-type’, and the ‘behaviour’ (riding bicycle, puffing bidis or cigarettes, etc) of the first-generation literate people of Arunachal Pradesh. We have JK (Jitendra Kumar) Panggeng, former MLA, Mariang-Geku assembly constituency. His indigenous name, I am told, is Osan Panggeng. A retired APCS officer, Tamak Panyang, changed his name to Rajesh Panyang, after the legendary actor Rajesh Khanna.
The Indian cultural values and school teachers from Assam and Hindi heartland have had a huge influence on adoption of ‘outside’ names by otherwise innocent tribal students. When Wangpha Lowang, former minister, was being admitted in school, his teacher, knowing that he is from a chief’s family, suffixed ‘Rajkumar’ to his name. So, he was ‘Wangpha Rajkumar’ to his fellow students, but got his surname changed to Lowang. However, ‘Rajkumar’ title is continued to be used by some families of the Lowang clan: TL Rajkumar (Thamwang Lowang), Wangcha Rajkumar, Ajay Rajkumar, etc.
Likewise, in the case of Medi Ram Dodum, a former minister, and Biyuram Wahge (state BJP president), the ‘Ram’ was given by one of their teachers.
My sources have confirmed that the late father of Wanglat Lowangcha (former minister) used to write his name as ‘Chotu Raja’, even for official purposes. In an affidavit filed during the 2004 assembly election, Wanglat wrote his father’s name as WC Raja (it could be ‘Wangnyom Chotu Raja’). In 2009, it is written as Wangnyom Lowang C.
Ahom titles/surnames have been adopted by some clans or families of Arunachal Pradesh. One is ‘Gohain’, such as Chow Khamoon Gohain, Chow Chandret Gohain, Chowpauk/Chowpook Gohain, Chow Tewa Mein Gohain, etc. ‘Gohain’, according to BC Chakravorthy (1964), means preceptor.
Although ‘Gohain’ word was a title conferred to the Khamti chief, who was the Sadiya Khowa Gohain, it assumed the surname of the Khamti clans. Chow Khamoon Gohain, the first nominated member of Parliament, desired to put an end to this practice. In fact, as the Khamti chief, he had directed all Khamti clans to revert back to their original surnames. His son now writes Chow Rajingda Namshum. Indrajit Namchoom, Chow Khamoon’s brother, did not use ‘Gohain’ surname. Chowna Mein (Chow Na Mein, prior to 1995) did not think it proper to suffix ‘Gohain’ in his name. His father, Chaupak/Chaupook Gohain, was a member of the Agency Council (1969). His brother, Chow Tewa Mein, used ‘Gohain’ surname as a member of the Pradesh Council (1972), which has been discontinued since 1978.
Who was the Sadiya Khowa Gohain? How did ‘Gohain’ surname come to be adopted by some Khamti clans? The answer(s) to these questions would present a brief clarification as to why Chowna Mein’s father, Choupak Mein, used the title/surname ‘Gohain’.
Around 1794, during the reign of Ahom king Gaurinath Singha, the Khamtis ousted the Sadiya Khowa Gohain. David Scott, the governor general’s agent on the North-East Frontier of Bengal, recognised the Khamti chief, Chousalan, as the Sadiya Khowa Gohain. He was “permitted to collect poll tax of the Assamese of the district,” and allowed to “maintain a contingent of 200 men, to be armed by the British government.” Thereafter, the Khamtis followed the tradition of using ‘Gohain’ as their surnames.
The Ahom surnames that we see today (‘Gohain’, ‘Bora’, ‘Saikia’, ‘Hazarika’, ‘Rajkhowa’, ‘Borgohain’, ‘Burhagohain’, ‘Barbarua’, ‘Barphukan’, etc, were actually military/honorary titles conferred to individuals or group of individuals.
During the Ahom regime, every able-bodied male was required to offer his services to the king’s defence requirements, known as ‘paiks’. Normally, a total of four ‘paiks’ constituted a ‘got’. Seven ‘gots’, headed by an officer, known as ‘Bora’, would constitute a command organisation. Five such ‘Boras’ were under the command of another officer, known as ‘Saikia’. Ten such ‘Saikias’ with one thousand ‘paiks’ were commanded by a ‘Hazarika’. A ‘Rajkhowa’ was the commander of three thousand ‘paiks’. He was junior to ‘Phukon’, who commanded six thousand ‘paiks’.
Besides these military officials, there was a council of ministers (‘patra mantra’), which consisted of five great ministers: the ‘Borgohain’, the ‘Burhagohain’, the ‘Barpatrogohain’, the ‘Barbarua’ and the ‘Barphukan’. In order to protect the frontier areas, the Ahom kings used to appoint frontier officers or ‘jagirdars’. The primary responsibility of these officers was administration of justice and collection of revenues in their respective districts. Sadiya Khowa Gohain, who administered Sadiya region that were acquired by the Ahoms from Chutiya Kingdom in 1523, was one of them.
The second Ahom surname is ‘Handique’/’Hondik’ (Lan-Tai-Mung in Tai). Some clans of the Noctes, who have adopted this title/surname, are Ngongwa clan of Namsang and Kheti villages, Tangdong/Mongwang clan of Borduria and Laptang villages, and Ngoapa clan of Longo village. Changkom Hondiq, a former MLA, Namsang assembly constituency, was one of them. The clans of Borduria and Laptang villages are reverting back to their original (indigenous) names.
Chowna Mein, the deputy chief minister, is accused of being a non-indigenous (read: non-tribal) because his father had a ‘Gohain’ surname. Going by the same logic, all those names having ‘outside’ surnames – ‘Rajkumar’ or ‘Hondik’ or ‘Raja’, etc – are supposedly non-indigenous, and are from Assam or any other Indian states. Even Kiren Rijiju’s father’s name, Rinchin Kharu, does not sound Sajolang (Miji).
If the great Chow Khamoon Gohain (Namshum/Namchoom), who represented the people of NEFA in Parliament, and who laid the political foundation of modern Arunachal Pradesh, and his family are ‘declared’ as non-Arunachalis, then who really is an Arunachali? His younger brother, Chow Chandret ‘Gohain’, succeeded D Ering as the third nominated member of Parliament. These brothers are the ‘mamas’ (mother’s brothers) of Chow Tewa Mein and Chowna Mein.
When history was not followed properly, I also had an impression that those having ‘outside’ titles such as ‘Gohain’, ‘Hondik’, ‘Rajkumar’, etc, were not indigenous to Arunachal Pradesh. We read history to enhance our knowledge and correct ourselves. When the history is understood, let us live in the realm of factuality, and not in the realm of imagination.
The Monpas do not use titles/surnames because, history tells again, their forefathers wanted to maintain equality. If we wish to create a ‘pan-Arunachal’ identity, let us avoid using our surnames, which divide in the name of clan or community. If Elon Musk could name his child ‘X Æ A-12,’ we could think of similar innovative and unifying names minus surnames. (Professor Bath is a faculty member at Rajiv Gandhi University. He can be contacted at nanibath@rediffmail.com)
