Mech people

The Mech (spelled Meche in Nepal; pronounced /mes/ or /meʃ/) is an ethnic group belonging to the Bodo-Kachari group of peoples. It is one of the scheduled tribes of India, listed in the states of West Bengal and Assam, India. They also inhabit Nagaland in India as well as Nepal.

Meche or Mech language is western Boro dialect spoken in Jhapa district of Nepal and it belongs to Boro-Garo subgroup of Tibeto-Burman family. Though it's often considered similar to the eastern Boro dialects, the language, as spoken in Nepal and northern West Bengal, differs in significant ways.

It has been suggested that mech is probably a corruption of the Sanskrit word mlechchha. Nevertheless, Stuart N. Wolfenden observed that some people do self-designate as Mech, So, he reconstructed Mech from Tibeto-Burman root "mi" means "man". Other authors have speculated that Meche is derived from the Mechi River because the Bodo-Kachari peoples in Nepal had settled around it; Mecha a region of the Bod country; and descendants of Mechel a legendary figure of Nepal.

The Bodo-Kachari peoples migrated into present-day India and gradually spread themselves throughout Assam, North Bengal and parts of East Bengal. It is said that during their migration to India, they marched towards different directions. One group went along the river Brahmaputra and established themselves in the whole of Assam up to Goalpara district as well as parts of Jalpaiguri district and Cooch Behar district under the name of Bodo or Boro. Another group went towards the West along the foot of the Himalayas up to the river Mechi, bordering India and Nepal and settled on the North bank of the river known as Mechi or Mechia. Later they spread to Darjeeling Terai, Baikanthpur in Jalpaiguri district again marched further East and settled in the Dooars. It is said that, a group of Mech people, again moved further East, crossed the Sankosh River, and went towards Goalpara in Assam.