Voice of Intellectual Man- An International Journal

This present study tries to examine the customary laws and traditional institution, administering such laws among the Buguns of Arunachal Pradesh. The customary laws are the traditional unwritten laws, transmitted orally from one generation to the next since time immemorial. In recent times, the customary laws have assumed particular significance in indigenous societies brought under the traditional court for dispensation of justice. The Buguns, one of the important tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, traditionally have their own customary laws which governed their socio-cultural life. They have an elaborate Village Council named nimiyang, the supreme authority of the Bugun Tribe. This paper tries to delineate about the customary laws and practices in relation to their socio-cultural life, marriage, family, divorce, inheritance, maintenance, adoption, dispensation of justice, which regulated the entire life of the people. It also helped to understand the functioning of the village council and dispensation of justice, imposition of fines in the cases of various natures as well as the contemporary changing trend of customary laws due to various impinging factors.