Phi Muangs: Khamti Forces of Place in Arunachal Pradesh

This article focuses on the phi muang, a collective of primordial spirits who live among the Khamti in Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India. I first look into contextualizing the ritual expressions associated with the phi muang, based on the description of two associated territorial cults: the ceremony carried out in the context of wild elephant capture operations, and those carried out at the village level for all inhabitants during the agricultural New Year celebrations. My ethnographic descriptions highlight the essential characteristics of phi muangs among the Khamti. Subsequently, by drawing from writings regarding the history of the region, I return to the question of origins, as well as the relations that the Khamti maintained with each of the phi muangs, as the latter’s respective territory was delimited. Following Mus (1933) and more recently Schlemmer (2012), the conclusion considers phi or “force of the place.” Moreover, uncovering the spatial configuration of these local forces allowed for the formulation of several hypotheses about the integration of the Khamti into a region that was and still is located at the margins of India.