The Ramke Story
Excerpted by Alvin
Fisher
From “The Garo Jungle Book,” by William
Carey
(perhaps a descendant of the famous William
Carey)
published by the Judson Press, back in 1919
The Garo People
To understand Ramke better, we need to look at his background, the
Garo tribe of northeastern India. It was said of them that “almost
any and every event serves as an occasion for feasting and an excuse
for drink. The liquor, which is generally a weak home-brewed beer, of
a milky color, made from rice or other grains, is even poured into
the mouths of their babies as soon as they can swallow. Their
festivities sometimes last for two or three days. Drunkenness is the
tribal weakness, the almost universal habit.” Nevertheless,
they were “grateful for kindness, and with this righteousness
about them - fidelity to their spoken word.” (p. 9)
Besides
being habitual drunkards, “The Garos of the north early won an
evil reputation for murderous raids.” (p. 10)
“In
1807, four times within a few days the Garos rushed from their hills,
plundered two official headquarters, [burned down] several
[villages], and left the headless corpses of twenty-seven men and
women on the ground....
“Raiders who succeeded in massacring their landholders on the plains, would, on their return, collect vast numbers of their relatives and neighbors round the reeking heads; and filling these with wine and food, would eat, drink, and dance, shouting songs of triumph.” (p. 11)
“The imagination of the Garos is constantly darkened and terrorized by the presence of evil spirits, malignant and powerful, whose sole occupation is to trap and hurt mankind. To appease them is the one hope of existence.” (p. 22)
“They have, indeed, a dim, specterlike conception of one omnipotent Spirit, well disposed toward men, whom there is no need to propitiate, but who, nevertheless, does nothing to protect them from the spiteful machinations of the evil spirits of the air.
“The Garo priests have little power, being usually forced
into the service, and selected on account of having some physical
defect, because of some general apprehension that, through ignorance
or bungling, the wrath of some demon will sooner or later put them
out of their way; and those who can best be spared should therefore
undertake the risk.” (p. 23)
“Worship consists of
bloody and cruel sacrifices. Cocks, bullocks, slaves and kidnaped
captives are offered according to the gravity of the occasion.”
(p. 27)
The British gradually took power over the area where the Garo lived. They did this both by peaceful and military means. “When punitive expeditions entered the hills, exacting vengeance for the raids, they sometimes captured young, bright-eyed, clean-limbed, laughing lads, and brought them away as hostages for the good behavior of the clan. These boys, if they did not give their captors the slip, were taught to read and write, and afterward employed as interpreters at the courts, or drafted into the frontier police. But most of them were disappointments. Their slight introduction into the world of knowledge familiarized them more with the evil than with the good of civilized life....There were exceptions of course, as will be seen.” (p. 51-52) Force was not always the method that brought the Garo boys to school, either.