Kachin

Asiahorticulturalists
Map
expand_more Description

The Kachin are a collection of groups, all speaking Tibeto-Burman languages, who developed more commonality as they lived under the Jinghpaw political system and associated religious ideology in northern Burma (Myanmar). The Kachin live primarily in the mountainous Kachin State of Myanmar, and parts of the northern Shan State, southwestern Yunnan in China, and the northeastern India (Assam and Arunachal Pradesh). Traditionally, all Kachins were farmers, cultivating rice, together with some other cereals, and a variety of fruits and vegetables. The traditional political system varied from a highly stratified system with strictly ranked aristocratic lineages in some regions to a more egalitarian and democratic system ruled by an elected chief and a council of elders in others.

Identifier
Region
  • Asia
Subregion
  • Southeast Asia
Subsistence Type
  • horticulturalists
Samples
Countries
  • Burma
  • China
  • India
External Links