KHAMPTI, a Shan clan who occupy a tract of country on the extreme eastern frontier of Assam, bordering on Lakhimpur district. The Khampti are a hill tribe of Shan origin, akin to the Ahams. About the middle of the 18th century, owing to internal dissensions, a colony of Khampti migrated into Assam, and established themselves in the division of Saddiya. They came from the country known to the British as that of the Bor-Khampti, near the sources of the Irawadi. According to their own annals, they had occupied that country for many cen turies; but Captain Wilcox found them a divided people. Two great clans had been at feud for 50 years. Captain Wilcox found amongst the Bor - Khampti, the Muluk, the Khalong, the Kumong, cognates of the Singpho, and the Kha pok, whose language is allied to the Singpho, were the labourers.
The Siamese are now the most important branch of the Shan, Tai, or Thai race, and the Khampti belong to the same stock as the Siamese. Their language contains nearly all the Siamese words, and their creed and alphabet are Siamese. There was once a great nation of this people, occupying a tract known by the Manipuri as the kingdom of Pong, which touched Tiperah, Yunnan, and Siam, and of which the city, called Mogong by the Burmese, and Mongmarong by the Shan, was the capital. This kingdom was finally broken up by the Burmese king Alompra, about the middle of the 18th century ; and on its dismemberment, branches of the Shan race migrated to and settled in Assam. The Phaki or Phakial, on the Dihang river, the Kanijang of Saddiya, and the numerous settlements of Khampti, are all colonies of this race, retaining the costume, customs, and religion they brought with them into the valley.
The Khampti are very far iu advance of all the north-eastern frontier tribes in knowledge, arts, and civilisation. . They are Buddhists, and have regular establishments of priests, well versed in .their religion, and a. large proportion of the laity can read and write in their own language.
Their houses are built of strong timber, with raised floors and thatched roofs contiguous to each other, a trough of being fixed under the junction of the two roofs to carry off the water. The interior is divided into chambers, and the whole terminates in a railed open bal cony. The roof of the houses comes down so low, that externally there is no appearance of wall. The temple and priests' quarters are also of timber, and thatched, but the temples are elaborately carved, and fitted with great taste and neatness.
The priests , have shaven heads, and amber coloured garments, and rosaries. The office is not heredita y ; any person may enter upon it after the n essary novitiate andinstruction in the bapue g, as the priests' quarters are called ; but so Ion as they wear the sacerdotal habit they must renounce the world, and live a life of celibacy Every morning the priests move quickly through the villages, preceded by a boy with a little bell, holding a lacquered box, in which ho receives the offerings of the people, generally presented by the women, who stand waiting at the door with a portion of their ready cooked food. In their hours of relaxation the priests amuse themselves by carving in wood, bone, and ivory. In making ivory handles of weapons they evince great skill, taste, and fecund ity of invention, carving in high relief twisted snakes, dragons, and other monsters, with a creditable unity and gracefulness of design. It is customary also for the chiefs to employ themselves in useful and ornamental arts. The Khampti work in gold, silver, and iron, forge their own weapons, make their wives' jewellery, and manufacture embossed shields of buffalo or rhinoceros hide, gilding and lacquering them with skill and taste. The women, although very clever in elaborate embroidery, and making embroidered bands for the hair and other pretty things, are not the less capable of bearing a very severe share of the outdoor farm work.