Khamti people

     The Khamti, or Tai Khamti, Thai: (ชาวไทคำตี่, Chao Tai Kam Dtee) as they are also known, are a sub-group of the Shan people found in the Sagaing Division, Hkamti District in northwestern Burma as well as Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh in India. Smaller numbers can be found in parts of Assam as well as the East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh. As of 1990 their total population was estimated to be around 70,000, but in 2000 it was recalculated that it actually stood at 13,100, of which 4,235 live in Burma. The tribe's name is also spelled as Hkamti by the Burmese and Khampti by the Assamese.

         

The Khamti who inhabit the region around the Tengapani basin were descendants of migrants who came during the 18th century from the Bor-Khampti region, the mountainous valley of the Irrawaddy. The Khamti possess East Asian features.

The Tai-Khamti are followers of Theravada Buddhism. The Tai-Khampti adopted a script of Shan origin, known as Lik-Tai for their language.Their mother tongue is known as Khamti language

                         Tai Aiton people

Tai Aitons (Thai: ชาวไทอ่ายตน Chao Tai Ai Dton) are one among the six Indigenous Tai communities of Assam. They are Buddhist by religion. The Assamese people commonly term them as Shyams or the people from Siam i.e. Thailand. The names of their villages are directly translatable into modern Thai, as both sounds and meaning correspond.

The speak the Tai Aiton language, which is similar to other Tai languages spoken in Thailand. They came to Assam far back in the 16th-17th century from the east crossing the Patkai hills. Presently they live in small pockets in Upper Assam along with the Turung and Khamyang people. Their population is unknown but is expected to be less than 8,000. Their language has almost become extinct with only around 15,000 people still using it. They live in certain villages of Jorhat , Golaghat and Karbi Anglong districts. They have been recognized  as Scheduled tribes (Hills) and are listed as Man-Tai speaking people by the Government of Assam.

Man Tai Speaking people are not Ahom people as many may confuse them to be.

                                Turung people

The Turung people (also known as the Tai Turung, Thai: คนไทตุรุง) are a numerically small Buddhist community in the northeastern Indian state of Assam.

They originally migrated from Upper Burma and settled in Assam in the latter part of 18th century. During migration, they were captured and made slaves by the Singpho people and hence have had a lot of Singpho influences on their culture, language and lifestyle.

They presently reside in certain pockets in Upper Assam in the districts of Golaghat, Jorhat and Karbi Anglong.

Although the origin of the word Turung is not known, many believe that it is derived from the name of a river in Patkai region named Turungpani. Another school of thought is that the word Turung is derived from the word Tai Long meaning Great Tai, since these people were of Shan origin.

Their language is a dialect of the Tai language spoken throughout South East Asia, with large influences of Singpho language. The language has become almost extinct, since only a handful of elderly people use it.

The present population of the community is unknown but is believed to be around 10,000.

                          Tai Phake people

Tai Phake, (Thai: ชาวไทพ่าเก also Chao Tai Faagae literally Peoples Tai Old Wall) also known as Phakial or simply Phake belong to the Tai-speaking tribal group living in Dibrugarh district and Tinsukia district of Assam, principally along the areas of Dihing river as well as adjacent parts of Lohit and Changlang districts in Arunachal Pradesh.^[1] As of 1990, their population stood at 5,000, which consists of less than 250 families. Princess Sirindhorn of Thailand visited one of their villages, and was able to communicate with very good mutual intelligibility despite centuries of distance.

                             Singpho people

The Singpho/Jingpho people of Arunachal Pradesh inhabit in the district of Lohit and Changlang and the Kachin State of Burma andDehong of Yunnan Province, China Some are also found in the Tinsukia district of Assam. Comprising a population of at least 7,200 in India, they live in 13 villages, namely Bordumsa, Miao, Innao, Ketetong, Pangna, Phup, N-htem, Mungbhon, Pangsun, Hasak, Katha, Bisa, Namo and Namsai. The Singpho are the same people as those called the Kachin in Burma and the Jingpo in China.They speak theSingpho dialect of the Jingpo language.

The Singphos are divided into a number of clans, each under a chief known as a Gam. The principal Gams include the Bessa, Duffa, Luttao, Luttora, Tesari, Mirip, Lophae, Lutong and Magrong. The Singpho are also divided into four classes, namely Shangai, Myung, Lubrung and Mirip.

                         Khamyang people

           Khamyang , also known as Shyam, is a tribal group found primarily in Tinsukia, Jorhat and Sivasagar districts of Assam as well as adjacent parts of Arunachal Pradesh. Their population totals about 3,5000 of which only a small minority speak the native Tai Khamyang language. The Khamyang are followers of Theravada Buddhism and are closely related to the Khampti. They maintain good relations with other Tai Buddhist tribes of Assam.

The Khamyangs, who are popularly known as Noras, are of Thai-stock. "Khamyang" itself is a Thai word, deriving etymologically from "kham" (gold) and "yang" or "jang" (to have)"Kau means I","Khau means Rice", and meaning "people of gold". They ruled an independent principality in Mungkong until the end of the 18th century.

Many Khamyang have historically used "Shyam", which is a cognate with "Siam", the old word for Thailand, as a surname. The modern trend is for most Khamyang to use family names including Chowlu, Chowlik, Wailong, Pangyok, Thaomung, Chawsong, Tungkhang, Phalek, Chaohai.Tai Khamyang family is Nine to Assam Live.