1. A descriptive account of Asam, with a sketch of the local geography, and a concise history of the Tea-plant of Asam, to which is added a short account of the neighbouring tribes, exhibiting their history, manners and customs, by William Robinson, Gowhatti Government Seminary: Calcutta, 1841. Account of the Mikirs at pp. 308–312.

The facts stated agree generally with those recorded by Mr. Stack. The chief deity of the Mikirs is called Hempatin. This may be a mistranscription for Hemphu, but is more probably a mistake due to a confusion between Mikirs and Kukis; Patin (or a closely similar form) is the word for God in a number of the Kuki dialects (Khongzai, Thado, Lushei, Rangkhol, Aimol, Kolren, etc.). Of course if the name Hempatin was ever actually used by the Mikirs for their chief tribal god, this would be an additional important evidence of a connexion between them and the Kukis.

2. Notes on the languages of the various tribes inhabiting the Valley of Asam and its mountain confines, by Wm. Robinson, Inspector of Government Schools in Asam. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. xviii. (1849).

The Mikir language is treated at pp. 330–336. It is probable from certain indications that the Mikir words were written down for Mr. Robinson in Assamese characters, and transliterated by him into Roman. There are a great many misprints. The declension of nouns, the distinctions of gender, and the position of adjectives are in general correctly explained; but the important prefix a- is not noticed, nor its original force understood. The omission of the plural affix -tum is remarkable. The numerals agree with those of the present day, save that ch is used (as in Assamese) to indicate s. The use of determinative class-words with numerals is mentioned. The personal pronouns are in part correctly, but often wrongly given; the demonstrative pronouns are wrongly stated, and so are the interrogatives. The absence of a relative pronoun, and the substitute for it, are noticed. In the verbal forms there are many errors, unless the particles used to indicate time have greatly changed since 1849, which is improbable. Thus, -ye is given as the future suffix instead of -ji, and -bo instead of -po. The participle in ke-, ki-, ka- is omitted, and the much-used conjunctive participle in -si is misrepresented as the present participle. There is no mention of the past in tÀng; ayok (possibly a mistranscription of the Assamese) is given instead of apÒt as the particle indicating purpose. The form of the negative verb is altogether misunderstood. There is no mention of the causative in pe-, pi-, pa-.

One interesting point in Mr. Robinson’s grammatical sketch is that words borrowed from Assamese, which now end in -i as a substitute for Assamese l, as hai for hal, tamoi for tamol, pitoi for pitol, are all written with l; and in the following cases final l appears in Mikir words now written with final i:—

• ingkol, a score, now ingkoi
• inghol, to do, now inghoi
• sal (field-) work, now sai
• aphel, afterwards, now aphi
• phurul, snake, now phirui

It seems possible that this represents a real change in pronunciation, since l was certainly the original ending in the borrowed words, and most probably (from the similar forms in the Kuki-Chin languages) was the original ending in the Mikir words. This vocalization of final l is quite common in the Kuki dialects, and is an additional argument for their connexion with Mikir.

3. Travels and adventures in the Province of Assam, by Major John Butler: London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1855. The Mikirs are described at pp. 126–139. Major Butler was in charge of the district of Nowgong, and visited the Mikir Hills in 1848. His notes on the Mikir people are not very detailed, but indicate that their condition sixty years ago was much the same as it is now. On the question of polygamy (see ante, p. 19), he writes (p. 138): “Polygamy is not practised, and they reproach their countrymen of the plains for having adopted the Assamese custom.”

4. Notes on Northern Cachar, by Lieut. R. Stewart. J.A.S.B., vol. xxiv. (1855), pp. 582–701. This treatise is an excellent account of the various tribes inhabiting the tract. The Mikirs are dealt with at pp. 604–607. There is a full and useful comparative vocabulary at pp. 658–675 of more than 400 words, besides verbal and adverbial forms, in Manipuri, Hill Kachari (Dimasa), New Kuki (Thado), Angami Naga, Arung Naga (or Empeo), Old Kuki (Bete), and Mikir. This is much the most important evidence of the state of the language half a century ago, and is superior in several respects to the materials collected a little earlier by Robinson (to which Stewart does not refer). The Mikir words are generally recognisable as identical with those of the present day, and it is noticeable, with reference to the change of final l to i, that Stewart gives the forms now in use (pitoi, brass, pheroi, snake, ingkoi, a score, in(g)hoi, to do). The verbs are chiefly given in the imperative, with nÒn (often wrongly printed not), sometimes as the bare root, and sometimes with -lo added. There are some good measurements and other physical characters of Mikirs at pp. 690–693, from which it appears that in Lieut. Stewart’s time most of the Mikir men shaved their heads, with the exception of a large tuft of hair on the scalp.

5. Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal, by Col. E. T. Dalton: Calcutta, 1872. There is a brief section on the Mikirs at pp. 53–4, which however contains no information that is not in Robinson or Stewart. The race is not among those figured in the volume.

6. Specimens of the Languages of India, collected by Sir George Campbell: Calcutta, 1874. The specimens of Mikir are at pp. 205–217; they are full of misprints and misunderstandings of what was desired, and are worthless for linguistic purposes.

7. A Vocabulary in English and Mikir, with sentences illustrating the use of words, by the Rev. R. E. Neighbor, of Nowgong, Assam: Calcutta, 1878.

A most useful publication.

8. Notes on the Locality and Population of the Tribes dwelling between the Brahmaputra and Ningthi Rivers, by G. H. Damant. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xii., 1880, pp. 228 ff.

A posthumous work (Mr. Damant was killed in the Naga Hills in 1879). The Mikirs are mentioned on p. 236, and there is a short vocabulary on p. 254.

9. A Statistical Account of Assam, compiled by J. S. Cotton under the direction of W. W. Hunter: London, 1879. Contains an article on the Mikirs at vol. ii., pp. 188–190.

10. A Gazetteer of India, by Sir W. W. Hunter, London. First edition 1881, second edition 1886. Article on the Mikir Hills and their inhabitants.

11 to 13. The next occasions on which the tribe was dealt with were in the Reports of the Censuses of 1881, 1891, and 1901 (Assam Province):—

11. The Report on the Census of 1881 (Calcutta, 1883) contains a chapter (VI.) on Castes and Tribes, written by Mr. Stack. The Mikirs are described at pp. 77–82. The inquiries on which these paragraphs were based were followed by the more detailed investigations which afforded the materials for the present monograph.

12. The Report on the Census of 1891, by Mr. E. A. Gait, reproduces part of the matter of the previous report relating to the Mikirs, and adds the detailed list of kurs or exogamous divisions already referred to (ante, pp. 23 ff.). It also contains an interesting comparison of the Mikir language with those of the Naga tribes, by Mr. A. W. Davis (reproduced in the Linguistic Survey, vol. iii., part ii., pp. 198–202). At pp. 254–256 there is an account of the Mikirs in North Cachar by Mr. E. C. Baker, sub-divisional officer, which states that their principal deity is called “Pertart Rijie.” This is correctly PirthÀt Recho, the first word being the Khasi Pyrthat,“thunder,” and indicates a borrowing by the small remaining Mikir population in North Cachar of the ideas of their Khasi neighbours.

13. The Report on the Census of 1901, by Mr. B. C. Allen: Shillong, 1902. A few remarks on the religion of the Mikirs will be found at pp. 46–47, which however require correction by the more accurate data contained in this monograph.

14. The Tribes of the Brahmaputra Valley, by Lt.-Col. L. A. Waddell, I.M.S.: J.A.S.B., vol. lxix., part iii., 1900. This account is chiefly based on anthropometrical data. The facts stated concerning the Arlengs at pp. 29–35 appear to be taken from Dalton and the Assam Census Reports of 1881 and 1891. The measurements taken by Col. Waddell (see ante, p. 4) are at pp. 78–79. The tribe is not figured in the plates appended to the paper.

15. Linguistic Survey of India, vol. iii., part ii., compiled and edited by Dr. G. A. Grierson, Calcutta, 1902. The Mikir language is dealt with at pp. 380–410 and 432–448.

16. An English-Mikir Vocabulary, with Assamese Equivalents, to which have been added a few Mikir phrases, by S[ardoka] P[errin] Kay: Shillong, Govt. Press, 1904. An extremely useful book by an educated Mikir (see Introductory Note, p. viii.). Sardoka was Mr. Stack’s chief authority on the Mikir language. The phrases (388 in number) are very important illustrations of the structure of the speech. The vocabulary is an enlargement of Mr. Neighbor’s work (No. 7).

A Mikir-English dictionary or vocabulary is still a desideratum.

The following is a list of all the publications in the Mikir language which have come under the notice of the writer. They are all due to missionaries.

1. Dhorom ArnÀm aphrÀng ikithÀn: First Catechism, in Mikir (Assamese character), pp. 13. Anon. Sibsagar, 1875.

2. ArlÈng AlÀm, a Mikir Primer, by Miss E. Pursell, 1891.

3. ArlÈng AlÀm (Plipli-akitÀp)1 A Mikir Primer. Anon. Published by the American Baptist Mission, Tika, Nowgong, Assam, 1903.

4. ArlÈng AlÀm, AngbÒng akitÀp. Mikir Reader, second book, by the Rev. J. M. Carvell and Thengkur Pandit. Published by the Government of Assam, Shillong, 1904.

5. ArlÈng kalakha akitÀp. Mikir Primary Arithmetic, by the Rev. P. E. Moore and the Rev. J. M. Carvell. Published by the Assam Secretariat Press, Shillong, 1904.

6. Birta Keme, “Glad Tidings,” in Mikir, by Mosendra Pandit and Missionaries to the Mikirs. Published by the American Baptist Missionary Union, Tika, Assam, 1904. A summary of the Gospel history and teaching.

(All except the first are in the Roman character.)