Boro people
Boro (बर'/बड़ो ), also called Bodo, is the largest ethnolinguistic group in the Assam state of India. They are a part of the greater Bodo-Kachari family of ethnolinguistic groups and are spread across northeastern India. They are concentrated mainly in the Bodoland Territorial Region of Assam, though Boros inhabit all other districts of Assam and Meghalaya. Boros are officially identified as "Boro, Borokachari" scheduled tribe under the Constitution of India. Boros speak Boro language, a Boro-Garo language of the Tibeto-Burman family, which is recognised as one of twenty-two Scheduled languages of India. Over two-thirds  of the people are bilingual, speaking Assamese as second language. The Boro along with other cognate groups of Bodo-Kachari peoples are prehistoric settlers who are believed to have migrated at least 3000 years ago. Boros are mostly settled farmers, who have traditional irrigation, dong. The Boro people are recognised as a plains tribe in the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, and have special powers in the Bodoland Territorial Region, an autonomous division; and also as a minority people. Etymology. Boro is the self-designation or autonym of the community. "Boro" comes from "Bara-fisa", which means "son of  Bara", and "Bara" stands for "man" or "male member" of the group. In the cognate language Kokborok, "Borok" means man ('k' being a suffix for nouns) and so logically, "Boro" would mean "man" even in the Boro language. Generally, the word "Boro" means a "man", in the wider sense "Boro" means a "human being" (but not specific to a female member of the family) in the languages used by the Bodo-Kachari peoples. Language. The Boro language is a member of the Sino-Tibetan language family. It belongs to the Boro-Garo group of the Tibeto-Burman languages branch of  the Sino-Tibetan family. It is an official language of the state of Assam and the Bodoland Territorial Region of India. It is also one of the twenty-two languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India. Religion. Traditionally, Boros practised Bathouism, which is the worshiping of supreme God, known as "Obonglaoree". The shijou tree (in the genus "Euphorbia") is taken as the symbol of Bathou and worshiped. It is also claimed as the supreme god. In the Boro language, Ba means five and thou means deep. Since Boros believe in the five mighty elements of God  – land, water, air, fire, and ether – the number five has become significant in the Bathou culture, which is similar to the five elements of other Asian religions. According to Bathouism, before the creation of the universe there was simply a great void, in which the supreme being 'Aham Guru', Anan Binan Gosai or Obonglaoree existed formlessly. Aham Guru became tired of living a formless existence and desired to live in flesh and blood. He descended on this great void with all human characteristics and created the universe. In addition to Bathouism, Boro people have also converted to Hinduism, especially Hoom  Jaygya. For this worship through fire ceremony, a clean surface near a home or courtyard is prepared. Usually, worship offerings include a betel nut called a 'goi' and a betel leaf called a 'pathwi' or 'bathwi' and rice, milk, and sugar. Another important Hindu festival, the Kherai Puja, where an altar is placed in a rice field, is the most important festival of the Boros. However, caste and dowry practices are not practised by the majority of Boro Hindus, who follow a set of rules called Brahma Dharma. Christianity is followed by around 10% of the Boros and is predominantly  of the Baptist denomination. The major Boro Churches associations are the Boro Baptist Convention and Boro Baptist Church Association Folk tradition and mythology. The history of the Boro people can be explained from folk traditions. According to Padma Bhushan winner Suniti Kumar Chatterjee, mythologically, Boros are "the offspring of son of the Vishnu (Baraha) and Mother-Earth (Basumati)" who were termed "Kiratas" during the Epic period. Social groups. "Aroi" or "Ari" or "Ary" is a suffix in Boro language, which means "folk." Some of the important clans of Boros are: