Traditional Beliefs and Practices of the Misings of Assam

The Misings are one of the tribes of Assam and are the second largest group with a population of 587,310 soul. They are one of the offshoots of Mongoloid stock while linguistically they are Tibeto-Burmans and most of them are inhabited in Upper Assam. The Misings have their own traditional beliefs and practices. They believe themselves to be the off springs of Do:nyi-Polo (sun-Moon) and also believe in the existence of spirits which consist of both benevolent and malevolent spirits. The objective of my paper is to look in to the traditional beliefs and practices of the Misings and the different rites and rituals performed by them to appease the spirits so that they can live a happy and peaceful life.