Note 7 — APPENDIX I

Origin (traditional). The original home of the Moráns is said to have been at Mongkong (Maingkhwang) in the Hukong Valley at the upper reaches of the Chindwin river, where some centuries ago resided three brothers Moylang, Morán, and Moyrán. Of these, Moylang, the eldest, remained in the Hukong Valley, whilst the youngest, Moyrán, migrated into Nipál, and was there lost sight of; and Morán, the second brother, passed the Patkoi range into Assam and, settling on the Tiphuk river, became the ancestor of or at least gave its present name to the Morán tribe. But however this may be, it is fairly certain that, when the Áhoms passed into Assam about the middle of the thirteenth century, they at once came into conflict with the Moráns, whom they seem to have subdued with but little difficulty. By their Áhom conquerors the Moráns were employed in various menial capacities, as hewers of wood and drawers of water, and were sometimes known as Hábungiyás,7 earth-folk, or true autochthones, “sons of the soil,” though they seem to have intermarried freely with their Áhom rulers. But in spite of their subordinate position in political life the Moráns, like other branches of the Bårå race, have sturdily maintained some of their national characteristics to this day, e.g., their language, though apparently doomed to early extinction, is still to some extent retained by members of the clan.