Abotani
progenitor of the Tani tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, India
Abotani or Abu Tani is considered the progenitor of the Tani tribes of the state of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in India. Abotani are located in Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh. In China, Abotani tribes are recognized as part of Lhoba ethnic group. The Apatani, Mising, Adi, Galos, Tagin and Nyishi are the subtribes of Abotanis. They follow the Donyi-Polo religion and credit Abotani with the technique of rice cultivation.
Etymology
The Abo or Abu means "father" and Tani means "human".
Oral history
The following story is told by priests (miri) among the Adi people:
Once Abotani wandered in the forest seeking food. He went to Takar-Taji's place (Tatar-Taji) during a marriage ceremony where a gayal (sebbe) was sacrificed. Due to a trick of Abotani, Takar-Taji could sacrifice only one animal, which was meagre for distribution to the guest. Abotani's dog (Kipung) and deer (Dumpo) shared a packet of rotten soya seeds (the staple food in those days).
The public source identifies “Abotani” as progenitor of the Tani tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, India. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Abotani, progenitor and Tani.
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This entry incorporates text from “Abotani” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.