Politico-ritual variations on the Assamese fringes: do social systems exist?

International audienceThe political and ritual disparities in Northeast India offer a valuable testing ground for Edmund Leach thesis on the oscillations between patterns. This area is characterized by an intermingling of politico-ritual institutions which not only differ from one ethnic group to the other but also within each group. No simple correlation between territories, cultures and policies may account for this complexity. The problem will be illustrated by a number of recent data collected among three Tibeto-Burmese speaking groups : the Dimasa, Karbi and Lalung-Tiwa