Tai Aitons (Thai: ชาวไทอ่ายตนChao
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.
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