The Koch are a small trans-border ethnic group of Assam and Meghalaya in India and northern Bangladesh. The group consists of nine matrilineal and strictly exogamous clans, with some of them preserving a hitherto sparsely documented Boro-Garo language called Koch, whereas others have switched to local varieties of Indo-Aryan languages. It is a Scheduled Tribe in Meghalaya, India. Koches want to preserve language and culture and heritage.
The Koch people in this group are those who have preserved their languages, their animistic religions and follow non-Hindu customs and traditions. They are related but distinguished from the empire building Koch (the Rajbongshi people) and the Hindu caste called Koch in Assam which receives converts from different tribes.
Etymology of Koch
According to Tabaqat-i-Nasiri , western Kamrud (Kamrup) was inhabited by the Koch, Mech & Tharu. According to Yogini Tantra, Koches were called as Kuvacha. According to Fatiyah-i-Ibriah, Cooch behar was inhabited Koch.
Groups and Clans
The Koch people consist of nine ethno-linguistic groups: Tintekiya, Wanang, Koch-Rabha/Kocha, Harigaya, Margan, Chapra, Satpari, Sankar and Banai. These groups are generally endogamous, with very little intermarriages till recently. Each of these nine groups have matrilineal and strictly exogamous clans called nikini. The matrilineal rules of the Koch are not as rigid as the Garo and the Khasi peoples.
History
The original homeland of the Koches is assumed to be in Tibet from where they populated the present-day Western Assam and North Bengal. In Takabat-i-Nasiri, which contain records of Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji expedition into Kamrup in the early part of the 13th century, described the people who formed the population as Kunch (Koch), Mej/Meg (Mech), Tiharu (Tharu) of Mongoloid appearance. These population made a impression on the Turks, who had similar features as them, i.e.— having slanting eyes, snub nose, high cheek bones, yellow complexion of the Mongols and who spoke a language different than the rest of the subcontinent.
A big part of Koch history is that of Koch dynasty. Koch Hajo (a Koch chief) had two daughters, Hira and Jira. Of the two, Hira was married to Hariya Mandal alias Hariya Mech (a Mech chief). Hira gave birth to Bisu who was Hinduised by the Brahman priest as Biswa Singha. Biswa Singha united the different Tibeto-Burman linguistic groups under the banner of Koches and became the progenitor king of the Koch dynasty of the Kamata Kingdom.
Under his sons Nara Narayan and Chilarai, the Koch dynasty came to control the entire Brahmaputra Valley subjugating the Ahoms, Kacharis, Tripuris. The reign of Naranarayan saw the increase Hinduisation of the Koch royal family, the introduction of fourfold caste systemand the advent of Srimanta Sankardev who preached the ekasarana nama-dharma led to their rapid transformation from the followers of tribalism to Shaivism and Vaishnavism.But the introduction of Hinduism came in conflict with tribal religious beliefs of the Koch, Mech and Kachari people of the Koch-Kamata kingdom, so the conversion of the masses into Hinduism remained relatively slower than in the Koch royal family. The death of Naranarayana saw kingdom split into two — Koch Hajo and Koch Bihar. Attacks from the west and the east, led to Koch Bihar becoming part of the Mughal Empire and Koch Hajo of the Ahom kingdom.