Khampti

The Tai Khamti, (Khamti: တဲး ၵံးတီႈ, (Thai: ชาวไทคำตี่, Burmese: ခန္တီးရှမ်းလူမျိုး, Hkamti Shan) or simply Khamti as they are also known, are a Tai ethnic group native to the Hkamti Long, Mogaung and Myitkyina regions of Kachin State as well as Hkamti District of Sagaing Division of Myanmar. In India, they are found in Namsai district and Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh. Smaller numbers are present in Lakhimpur district, Dhemaji district and Munglang Khamti village in Tinsukia district of Assam and possibly in some parts of China. According to 2001 census of India, the Tai Khamtis have a population of 12,890. In Myanmar their total population is estimated at 200,000 people.The Tai Khamtis who inhabit the region around the Tengapani basin of Arunachal Pradesh were descendants of migrants who came during the eighteenth century from the Hkamti Long region, the mountainous valley of the Irrawaddy.
The Tai-Khamti are followers of Theravada Buddhism. The Tai-Khamti have their own script for their language, known as ‘Lik Tai’, which originated from the Shan (Tai) script of Myanmar. Their mother tongue is known as Khamti language. It is a Tai language, closely related to Thai and Lao.