Tripura Tribes

¤ Tribal Community in Tripura

Of all the tribal community in Tripura, the Tripuris constitute the 50% of the entire tribal population. The Tripuris mainly live on the slopes of the hills with a number of five to fifty families in groups. They live in houses made out of bamboo, about five to six feet raised above the ground, to be saved from wild animals. But Tripuris have started coming down to the plains and settling there. When they live in the plains, they also started conforming to the ways of the people of the plain. A typical type of scarf is famous among the Tripuri women, called Pachra. The scarf is worn in such a manner that it reaches below the knee. Another garment as shirt called the Risha is made by the women out of their loin-loom.

Reang Community
The second largest number of tribal community in Tripura is 'the Reang community'. The head of the community prides over the word 'Rai' and has a say in every matter of internal disputes. Hence all the people of the community obeys what he says, as such, Reangs are a very disciplined community and rarely they take the dispute to the court of justice. Most of the Reang are not educated and not economically sound and hence they belong to the primitive group of Tripura.


Chakma Community
Chakma community follows the principles of Buddhism and lives in sub-divisions of Kailashahar. Amarpur, Sabroom, Udaipur, Belonia and Kanchanpur. There are divisions of groups and sub-sections within the community but no salient feature are distinguishable in all these sub-sections. The chiefs or otherwise known as 'Dewans' have influence and authority in all the internal matters of the community. The Chakma women are also skillful in weaving. The community is also said to be very nice and clean in their domestic life.

Malsum Community
Malsum community is branched out of Halam which are originally one of the Kuki tribes. Though Kuki tribes are not indigenous, the Halam are believed to have lived in Tripura even before the Tripuris came and conquer the land. Those of the Kuki tribe who had submitted to the Tripura 'Raja' as subjects came to be known as Halams. Malsum belongs to one of the twelve sub-groups of Halam community. Though the Halams follow the 'Saka' cult, they have influence of 'Vaishnavism' particularly in two sections of the society. They also believe in the existence of the spirit. Sacrifices and offerings are solemnized as their form of worship so that no calamity or natural phenomenon happens to the community in the form of crop failure or any other natural disaster. This community have a tradition of settling the disputes and crimes to inflict punishment to the offender during the festival. In this way the ritual and the Puja are a useful social gathering to settle differences and dispute and harbor peace and harmony in the community.

Garo Community
The Garo community use to live in 'Tong Ghar' made of bamboo to save themselves from wild animals like other Tripuris. Now they are living in houses made of mud wall and 'Chan' grass as roof. The people of Garo community live in the south and Dhalai District of Tripura. The head and priest of the community are known as Sangnakma and Kama respectively. Their traditional dress also resembles the dress of the Khasis.

Lusai Community
The Lusai are settled in the Jampui Hills situated in the Northeast boundary of the state under the Kanchanpur Sub-division in North Tripura District. The Lusai community contributes a tiny portion of the entire population but their social life and customs have been of great interest to others. Their principal means of livelihood is still Jhum cultivation.

Darlong Community
The Darlong community is settled in the Kailashahar sub-division in North Tripura and they are the sub-caste of the Lusai community. Their means of livelihood is cultivation of pineapple, orange and cotton.

Mog Community
Most of the Mog community people are followers of Buddhism. The origin of the word 'Mog' has been a controversy for it is believed to be a Bengali word, or a Burmese word, or derived from the word 'Mogadha'which is a large empire or resembles surnames of the inhabitants of Arakan in 15th and 16th century. The most celebrated festival of the community is the Sangrai (last day of the Chaitra, which is the last month of the Bengali Calendar year) celebrated with great pomp and grandeur.