Question

Which are the communities of assam belonging to high caste?

Answer 1

Keots of Assam belong to the Austric-Mongoloid stock or race in origin according to the All Assam Keot Samaj in their Facebook page as well as the principal organization (All Assam Keot Jatiya Parishad) which represents the Keots of Assam as well as various well known historians and anthroplogists like Suniti Kumar Chatterjee, Gunabhiram Baruah and Haliram Dhekial Phukan, K R Diksit, Putul Saikia, Upendra Rabha Hakasam, Dr. P. C. Choudhury, Lila Gogoi etc. The word Keot has been derived from the word Kaibarta who have a Non-Aryan origin. Caste system in Assam is rather a fluid process and not a rigid one. So, many indigenous tribes like Keots, Kachari, Ahoms, Sutiya , Koch-Rajbongshi etc have been converted into a caste by Sanskritisation. Even not all the Kalitas are Aryan as many Kalitas are actually Mongoloid groups of people who have slowly climbed up the caste hierarchy and now consider themselves Kalitas. Nowadays, some Haluwa Keots have tried to call themselves Kalitas and Aryan forgetting about their Non-Aryan origin because of absence of Reserved Quota for the Haluwa Keots of Lower Assam or Keots of Upper Assam (as there is no division of the Keots of Upper Assam). But, the Jaluwa Keot also known as Keot or Kaibarta in Lower Assam always consider themselves Non-Aryan as they have an Austric-Mongoloid physiognomy and are similar in culture, appearance and traditions to the Khasis of Meghalaya as the Khasis are also originally Austric. The Jaluwa Keot or Keot or Kaibarta of Lower Assam are placed low in the caste hierarchy like the Kachari, Ahoms, Sutiya, Koch-Rajbongshi, Moran, Motok etc and have Reserved Quota (as they are recognised as a Scheduled Caste) as well as Reserved Constituencies and protection of land as the Scheduled Castes are recognised as a protected tribal class in the Protected tribal belts and blocks of Assam for themselves. So, the Keot as a community have a Non-Aryan origin having an Austric-Mongoloid physiognomy.