Thembang
History
Thembang is a very old village with high historical and cultural significance in West Kameng districts of Arunachal Pradesh, India. The old name of Thembang is Yuchho-pema-chen which literally means a Lotus like village. Legend has it that it was settled in very early century which would be approximately before first century AD. It is considered an oldest village in the region with a large human settlement. It was once ruled by a very powerful king who is believed to have descended from the sky, The remains of the materials are still believed to be there, He used to collect tax from different region including some part of Bodo area, a present Darrang District namely Mishamari, Odalguri, Mazbat etc. It is believed that initially the village was settled in place call Sat-tsi which is on the bank of a small river, 10 km away from Thembang. Due to an epidemic almost ninety-nine percent of the villagers had died, after which the remaining villagers have moved to the present location which is 2300 above msl. It is believed that the Sat-tsi river was not sufficient for the people of the village for domestic purpose.
Tax Collection
Once there became two sons to the king of Thembang who were known as Nyila and Yonpu. They became the king after their father passed away. Most of their day to day affairs were being performed by their uncle including the collection of tax. Everything was fine until somebody out of jealousy told the kings that their uncle is not properly depositing the tax collected from Darrang District of Assam to them, heeding to that person they had killed their uncle with a poisoned arrow. The uncle while dying curse the two brothers that even they would be killed by the people very soon like he had been killed by other people. The next year King Nyila and his brother Yonpu had gone to Mazbat to collect tax where they were misunderstood and were killed by the Bodos, As they didn't know the languages properly so they were mis-understood, actually they saw checked the items and couldn't find the roll of thread, They said there is no Hu-tu-tu but the villagers also couldn't understand it, suddenly the kings took out his sword and draw a long line on the soil, the villagers mis-understood it as a black magic, all the villagers had collected there and killed both the kings.
As a result the people of the area witnessed a the deadliest nature's fury, one time it was a severe drought and another time it was a flood followed by epidemic, famine and what not. After that they have consulted a very renowned and learned Seer, the Seer told them that they have committed a greatest sin, they have killed the sons of god and the only solution to it is to make their statue and preserved them whole life. Under his advice the people of the area has constructed a statue of the Nyila and Yonpu, but even while construction also they had to face lots of difficulties, every-time they go for a lunch the statue would be damaged, if they come the next day the materials went missing, one day the people kept a girl to look after the statue while they had gone for lunch, The girl was carrying a baby on her back, suddenly she saw that two white pigeons have come there, completed the status and installed it. The pigeons told the girl that bigger one is Nyila and smaller one is Yonpu, but the birds warned her that if she tells anybody about the birds then she would die instantly, and if the villagers insist then tell them to give you all the different food available in the region and first eat and feed the baby after that tell them about the birds and the incident. After the lunch the villagers came there and were shocked to see that the statue is already installed there. They have first ask her to which she replied that bigger statue is Nyila and smaller statue is Yonpu, but didn't told them about who came there while they were away. They ask her to tell about the incident repeatedly, at last she ask for all the different food available in the region, She had it and she fed the baby also and after she has narrated the whole incident, instantly she died vomiting a blood the baby also died with her. The statues are still present the Kuli-bong-khai village in Mazbat town in Assam and the Bapu clan of Thembang are forbidden to see the statue. That was the end of the a royal lineage of Cha-Cha-nye at Thembang, but some of their relative had continued to stay at Thembang.
After that a new king Wangma-Pele-dar was brought to Thembang to become a king. He was a grandson of the emperor of Tibet (of Potola Palace) known as Sadnalegs or Tridé Songtsen, a direct descendant of the emperor Songtsen Gampo.
The son of Wangmo-Pele-dar was known as Jhar-Trangpo-dhar who became the king of Thembang. He had gone to Assam to collect tax from Darrang district, where he was denied to give tax after which the matter went to the king of Darrang. He told the Darrang king that he have been made the king of Thembang so he is the rightful owner of the tax, The king replied, " Ok, but you can take tax equal to the weight you can lift and carry," to which the king of Thembang agreed. But he was so powerful and strong that he had lifted a load equal to load of 18 persons, witnessing this, the Darrang king had referred to him as Bapu(Babu),out of honour, from then onward the king of Thembang and his descendants are known as Bapu.
In an early days the people of the village have fought many battles, most important one is the war with Chandagmai a miji queen, some more were a war with Tukpenpa (present Rupa), the head of the a Mag-pon (general) of Tukpen is still buried under the stone stair near the fort at Thembang. With continuous battle with neighbouring empire the villagers made a very strong fortification with two stone wall gates for entry and exit, one in the south and one in the north. The village still has a ruins of the fortification. In 1962 a fierce battle between India and China took place here during Sino-Indian war. The Chinese reached here through this historic Bailey trail (named after the legendary Lt. Colonel Frederick Marshman Bailey who made a tough exploration to the Tsangpo Gorges with Captain Henry Morshead of the Survey of India in 1911-12 and descended down to Thembang while returning back to British India). The Chinese army went directly to Bomdila trapping two brigades of Indian armies in between Sela pass and Bomdila.
Locale
Many small villages occupy the nearby area under its jurisdiction, namely Gonthung, Pangma, Semnak, Cherong, Tangchhenmu, Lagam, Chander, and Lachong which are settled by people either migrated from Thembang or immigrant from other regions.
Population
The Thembang village is constituted by four Bapu clans and four Gilla clans. The Bapu clans are the descendants of a king of south Tibet who was also the descendant of the emperor of Tibet, Songtsen Gampo (6th century) who controlled all the village affairs. The land, including forest, grazing grounds, agricultural were all divided among the Bapus viz. Khochilu, Sharchhokpa, Atajaipu and Dirkhipa. The four Gillas viz. Lhopa, Merakpa, Nyimu and Sharmu subsist with their adjacent Bapu on the land given by the Bapus for agricultural, housing or other purposes.
Coordinates: 27°21′N 92°24′E / 27.350°N 92.400°E