INTRODUCTION

                 welcome to all of you, well if you have visited this blog so let me tell me something on the so called LHOBAS. So here we go :

Lhoba -is the name given to Abo Tani ethnic tribes by the Tibetans, which means 'southerners'. All the Tani ethnic people are found mostly in the following region-( Southeastern Tibet), including Mainling, Medog, Zayü counties of Nyingchi Prefecture and Lhünzê County of Shannan Prefecture. The term is largely promulgated by the Chinese government, which officially recognises Lhoba as one of the 56 ethnic groups in China.  There are two types of lhobas- let me tell me you, first is Lhobas refering to Abo tani ethnics mainly, and secondly it also refers to other tribe living in the belt i,e idus or yidu lhoba.

    Language

           Lhoba tribespeople living in Chinese Tibet speak at least three mutually-unintelligible Tibeto-Burman languages: Idu Mishmi of the Digaro Family, Bokar (Adi) of the Eastern Tani branch, and Na (Bengni) of the Western Tani branch. These languages are far more widely spoken in Arunachal Pradesh. Excluding idu mishmis, the Lhobas of Abo Tani ethnic's have different languages spoken within each sub tribes like, ADI , they speak bokar -ramo-libo-galo-,minyong,-padam( also in Arunachal), NYISHI, na -bangni(bengni),Tajin(tagin) etc. But an amazing fact is that all the different languages spoken between each abo tani group are so much akin , they are just close to each other, the dialects are not much different. This makes clear that once upon a time all the tribes were one, living enormously together.

Customs and dress

BOKAR-ADI

                     Many customs, habits and dress of different clan members may vary. The Lhoba men in Luoyu wear knee-length black jackets without sleeves and buttons made out of sheep's wool. They wear helmet-like hats either made from bearskin or woven from bamboo stripes or rattan laced with bearskin. They also wear ornaments that include earrings, necklaces made of beads, and bamboo plugs inserted into the ear lobe. The Lhoba women wear narrow-sleeved blouses and skirts of sheep's wool. The weight of the ornaments the womenfolk wear is a symbol of their wealth, which includes shells, silver coins, iron chains bells, silver and brass earrings. Both sexes usually go barefooted.  
Lhobas also have bamboo hats, usually wore by bokar man, galo man and also nyishi. Bengni-nyishi are known to wear a horbill  hats using bamboos.

`bolup a lhoba hat

Culture and religion

Few Lhoba know the Tibetan language. In the past, when there was no writing, the Lhobas kept track of history through telling their descendants and tying knot codes about their past. Their literature also poses a significant influence on their Tibetan counterparts.They are known as Bokar in Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India and found in Pidi and Monigong circle(west siang dist) of Arunachal Pradesh. They trace their origin from a common forefather, Abotani. They follow the genealogy counting from Abotani as Nijum-Jumsi-Siki-Kiyor-Yorkar-Kardung-Duram-Ramdung/Ramgu/Ramgo.All Bokars groups have originated from Ramdung, Ramgo and Ramgu.Their immediate brothers are Galo, Ramo, Libo/Pailibo and Tagin.

They engage in barter trade with the Tibetans, trading goods like animal hides, musk, bear paws, dye and captured game for farm tools, salt, wool, clothing, grain and tea from Tibetan traders. As a result of constant trading with the Tibetans, they have been increasingly influenced by the Tibetans in their dress. Many Lhobas have converted to Tibetan Buddhism in the recent years as they traded with the Buddhist monasteries, thus frequently mixing with their indigenous Animist beliefs, which had traditionally deep roots in the tiger. Others remain Animistic, more commonly among those in Arunachal Pradesh, and their pilgrim centre of the community lies at Atho-Popu in Dibang valley. The stories about immigration mentioned is along the banks of twelve rivers in Dibang Valley, the clustered area known as Cheithu-Huluni. Among the Yidu, they traditionally believed that "Inni" is their supreme god.

Festivals such as Reh are celebrated to appease the deities, who were traditionally believed to control the peace and prosperity of the people. The celebration with great fan-fare and the performance of priest dance marks the ending of the festival.

There are four variants of funerals among the Yidu Lhoba (idu Mishmi), and people of different social status would choose to conduct either of the four different variants. In all variants, the Igu priest would recite mourning songs for the dead. Mithuns are being sacrificed in the Yah variant of the funeral, which lasts for three to four days.

The young boys are trained to hunt at an early age. However, women had low status in society and had no inheritance rights from their husbands or fathers. The Lhoba also enjoy a subtropical/warm temperate climate.

Cuisine

Lhoba cuisine varies across regions. Staple foods are dumplings made of maize or millet flour, rice or buckwheat. In places near Tibetan communities people have tsampa, potatoes, buttered tea and spicy food. Being heavy drinkers and smokers, at celebrations the Lhobas enjoy wine and singing to observe good harvests and good luck. The buttered tea is their favorite drink. However, due to the lack of salt, they had suffered endemic goiter, caused by poor living conditions. Many were either born deaf or mute. Their population went down in decline until recent years due to this disease. Due to their low population, many of them either intermarried with the Tibetans or with the tribal groups of Arunachal Pradesh, notably the Monpa.

History

The area which the modern Lhoba live today was known as Lhoyü (a.k.a. Luoyu, lho-yul,  Lhoyü is a name of an area in Tibet now, lower Lhoyü is occupied by India as a part of Arunachal) in medieval texts. Luoyu came under the control of Tibet from the 7th century onwards and came under frequent subjugation from the Tibetans.

It is not currently known whether modern-day "Lhoba" peoples in fact inhabited Luoyu at the time of Tibetan conquest, nor whether languages spoken by modern-day "Lhoba" peoples are indigenous to this region or not. While most Tani tribespeople living in modern-day Arunachal Pradesh point to a traditional homeland in or around this region,^[ there is currently no independent means of verification.