Khamti people

The Khamti society is divided into classes, each signifying distinct status in the social hierarchy.

The chiefs occupy the highest positions, followed by the priests, who wield considerable influence over all ranks.

Houses have a prayer room, and they pray every morning and evening by offerings flowers (nam taw yongli) and food (khao tang som).

They use a plough (thaie) drawn by a single animal, either an ox or a buffalo (or even an elephant in olden days).

The Khamti raise crops such as paddy rice (khow), mustard/sesame seeds (nga) and potato (man-kala).

Some of the well-known dishes are khao puk (made out of sticky rice and sesame seeds), khao lam (bamboo rice), paa sa (fresh river fish soup with special herbs), paa som, and nam som among others.

It is a Daic language, specifically Kadai, Kam-Tai, Tai, Southwestern, Northwest branch.

[citation needed] The Tai Khamtis have their own writing system called 'Lik-Tai', which closely resembles the Northern Shan script of Myanmar with some of the letters taking divergent shapes.

[citation needed] The traditional Khamti dress of men is a full-sleeved cotton shirt (siu pachai) and multi-coloured sarong (phanoi).

Their jewelry consists of bright amber earplugs, coral, beaded necklaces, silver hairpins, bangles and gold ornaments.

The Khamti tie their hair into a large knot, which is supported by a white turban (pha-ho).

The hair is drawn up from the back and sides in one massive roll, measuring four to five inches in length.

Their weapons include poisoned bamboo spikes (panjis), spear, bow and arrow, sword, and shield, usually made of rhinoceros or buffalo hide.

The traditional folk dances of the Tai Khamtis have their roots in Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and Myanmar.

The Indian national colours are displayed at the Sangken festival where people irrespective of their tribe, caste, culture, race, etc., participate in the rituals.