www.iaset.us editor@iaset.us THE YOUTH DORMITORY SYSTEM AMONG THE TIWA: CONTINUITY AND CHANGES RAKTIM PATAR Research Scholar, Department of History, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya, India ABSTRACT The youth dormitory system among the Tiwa tribe of North East India is an important social institution. So far very limited studies have been undertaken solely devoted to this system. The Tiwa youth dormitory is known as the Chamadi. It is not only a meeting place for all the male members of a Tiwa village but also an institution of non formal education. It is a seat of learning for the younger generations. They learn music, dance, handicraft and other essential facts of life at the Chamadi. However with the progress of time and emergence of modern education system the significance of the Chamadi has drastically reduced. This paper is an attempt to highlight the various aspect of the Chamadi system among the Tiwa tribe and to understand its continuity and changes. KEYWORDS: Chamadi, Dormitory, Tiwa INTRODUCTION Ethnographers and the British colonial officers studied about many ethnic tribes of North East India. In their studies the youth dormitory system occupied a significant place. The English word ‘dormitory’ is derived from the Latin word dormitorium signifies a communal or collective sleeping quarter. This word is inappropriate for the communal sleeping quarter, which is like a preparatory school for the tribal children. During the colonial period Shakespear 1 studied about the Mizo youth dormitory. Gurdon 2 talked about the dormitory system among the war clan of the Khasi tribe. He observed that the bachelor dormitory system is Tibeto-Burman trait. 3 Endle 4 write about once the bachelor dormitory system was obtained among the Kachari in the past but all traces have disappeared. Hutton 5 also opined that this system was prevalent among the Kacharis in Assam but discontinued due to cultural change. Similarly Haimendorf 6 and Hutton 7 studied the dormitory system of various Naga tribes of North East India. In the post independence period some scholars carried out studies on this system while dealing with other aspects of particular tribes. There were some works on the Tiwa which also dealt with the dormitory system. However so far no systematic studies solely dedicated to this system is yet to be made. Hence this paper examines the youth dormitory system of the Tiwa and discusses about its continuity and change. It gives a brief descriptive account of the traditional youth dormitory system of the Chamadi. This paper is primarily based on colonial and contemporary writings and filed studies. The Tiwa Tribe The Tiwa are one of the many tribal groups in North-East India. They are one of the early settlers of North east India. Ancient scriptures mentioned the earliest inhabitants of Assam as Kirata. In the puranas Kirata are designated as foresters, barbarians, mountaineers. The Mahabharata mentioned these early inhabitants of Assam as Mlechhas. According to B.K. Baruah 8 these Kirata and Mlechhas are the Mongolians belongs to the Tibeto-Buraman family of the Indo-Chinese group and their representatives of the present day are the Kacharis, Koches Rabhas, Lalungs(Tiwa), Garos. Therefore the International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (IJHSS) ISSN(P): 2319-393X; ISSN(E): 2319-3948 Vol. 4, Issue 4, Jun - Jul 2015, 31-38 © IASET