Revision as of 19:05, 10 October 2013

Photo: Misual

Old Mizoram. Photo: Henry Vangchhia

Mary Winchester ‘Zoluti,’‘from The Graphic’, 20th July 1872. ‘Áfter her release from Looshai’ The child had been kidnapped. Rescued by wai soldiers from the India plains? Photo: MizoStory

Mizoram Government

HISTORICAL BACKDROP

The origin of the Mizos, like those of many other tribes in the North Eastern India is shrouded in mystery. The generally accepted as part of a great Mongoloid wave of migration from China and later moved out to India to their present habitat.

It is possible that the Mizos came from Shinlung or Chhinlungsan located on the banks of the river Yalung in China. They first settled in the Shan State and moved on to Kabaw Valley to Khampat and then to the Chin Hills in the middle of the 16th century.

The earliest Mizos who migrated to India were known as Kukis, the second batch of immigrants were called New Kukis. The Lushais were the last of the Mizo tribes migrate to India. The Mizo history in the 18th and 19th Century is marked by many instances of tribal raids and retaliatory expeditions of security.

FACTS AND LEGEND

But folklore has an interests tale of offer. The Mizos, so goes the legend, emerged from under a large covering rock known as Chhinlung. Two people of the Ralte clan, known for their loquaciousness, started talking noisily while coming out of the region. They made a great noise which leg God, called Pathian by the Mizos, to throw up his hands in disgust and say enough is enough. He felt, too many people had already been allowed to step out and so closed the door with the rock.

History often varies from legends. But the story of the Mizos getting out into open from the nether world through a rock opening is now part of the Mizo fable. Chhinlung however, is taken by some as the Chinese city of Sinlung or Chinlingsang situated close on the sino-Burmese border. The Mizos have songs and stories about the glory of the ancient Chhinlung civilization handed down from one generation to another powerful people.

It is hard to tell how far the story is true. It is nevertheless possible that the Mizos came from Sinlung or Chinlungsan located on the banks of the river Yalung in China. According to K.S.Latourette, there were political upheavals in China in 210 B.C. when the dynastic rule was abolished and the whole empire was brought under one administrative system.

Rebellions broke out and chaos reigned throughout the Chinese State. That the Mizos left China as part of one of those waves of migration. Whatever the case may have been, it seems probable that the Mizos mover from China to Burma and then to India under forces of circumstances. They first settled in the Shan State after having overcome the resistance put up by the indigenous people. Then they changed settlements several times, moving from the Shan State to Kabaw Valley to Khampat to Chin Hills in Burma. They finally began to move across the river Tiau to India in the Middle of the 16th Century.

The Shans had already been firmly settled in their State when Mizos came there from Chhinlung around 5th Century. The Shans did not welcome the new arrivals, but failed to throw the Mizos out. The Mizos had lived happily in the Shan state for about 300 years before they moved on the Kabaw Valley around the 8th Century.

It was in the Kabaw Valley that Mizos got the opportunity to have an unhindered interaction with the local Burmese. The two cultures met and the two tribes influenced each other in the spheres of clothing, customs, music and sports. According to some, the Mizos learnt the art of cultivation from the Burmese at Kabaw. Many of their agricultural implements bore the prefix Kawl which was the name given by the Mizos to the Burmese.

Khampat (now in Myanmar) is known to have been the next Mizo settlement. The area claimed by the Mizos as their earliest town, was encircled by an earthen rampart and divided into several parts. The residence of the ruler stood at the central block call Nan Yar (Palace Site). The construction of the town indicates the Mizos had already acquired considerable architecture skills. They are said to have planted a banyan tree at Nan Yar before they left Khampat as a sign that town was made by them.

The Mizos, in the early 14th century, came to settle at Chin Hills on the Indo-Burmese border. They built villages and called them by their clan names such as Seipui, Saihmun and Bochung. The hill and difficult terrain of Chin Hills stood in the way of the building of another central township like Khampat. The villages were scattered so unsystematically that it was not always possible for the various Mizo clans to keep in touch with one another.

Historical artefacts and evidence

Pukzing Cave

The largest cave in Mizoram, it is situated at Pukzing village near Marpara in the district of Aizawl district (Mamit). Legend has it that cave was carved out of the hills with the help of only a hair pin by a very strong man called Mualzavata

Milu Puk

In the Mizo language, puk means a cave. Situated near Mamte village over 100 kms, from Lunglei town, the Milu Puk, which is a large cave, was found many years ago to contain heaps of human skeleton.

Lamsial Puk

Sitiuated near Farkawn village in Aizawl (Champhai) district, the cave as a silent testimony to a battle between two neighboring villages in which many lost their lives. The bodies of the fighters from village Lamsial are said to have been kept in the cave.

Kungawrhi Puk

Another cave in Aizawl district, it is situated on a hill between Farkawn and Vaphai Villages. According to the folktales, a beautiful young girl by the name of Kungawrhi was abducted and kept confined in the forlorn cave by some evil spirits when she was on her way to her husband's village. Kungawrhi, however, was later rescued by her husband from the prison of the spirits.

Sibuta Lung

Erected around AD 1700 by a tribal chief, this memorial stone is named after him. The memorial offer a story of jilted love and lust for revenge. Having been rejected by a girl he fell headlong in love with, Sibuta went mad for revenge and decided to raise a memorial to himself in a manner which displayed an insane mind. A huge rock awash with the blood of three people sacrificed by Sibuta was carried over a distance of 10 km from the Tlawng river. Darlalpuii, a beautiful young girl, was crushed alive in a pit dug to erect the mausoleum. The memorial was raised over Darlai who lost her life under weight of the stone.

Phulpui Grave

A tale of love and tragedy also hangs by this grave located at Phulpui village in Aizawl District. Tualvungi, a raging beauty in her time, was married to Zawlpala, the Phulpui chief. She was later forced by circumstances to marry Phuntia, chief of another village. But Tualvungi could not forget her first love. She came to Phulpui years after Zawlpala's death, hah a pit dug by the side of his grave and persuaded an old woman to kill and bury there.

Chhingpuii Memorial

Raised to the memory of a young woman called Chhingpuii who was exceedingly beautiful, it is situated between Baktawng and Chhingchhip villages on the Aizawl - Lunglei Road. Chhingpuii, born to an aristocratic family, selected Kaptluanga as her husband from among her many suitors. But her happiness was short-lived, as a war broke out afterwards. Chhingpuii was abducted and killed. A grief-stricken Kaptluanga took his own life. The stone memorial reminds one of the legendary love story of Chhingpuii and Kaptluanga.

Mangkhai Lung

A large memorial stone, it was erected around AD 1700 at Champhai to the memory of a well-known Ralte chief, Mangkhaia.

Budha's Image

An engraved image of Lord Buddha, with those of dancing girls on either side, was found at a site near Mualcheng Village about 50 km from Lunglei town. The site also has another stone slab on which some human footmarks and a few implements like spearhead and Dao are engraved. The area is close to the Chittagong Hill Tracts which was under which the Buddhist influence a few centuries ago. It is assumed that some visiting Buddhists from the Hill Tracts were responsible for the Buddha engraving.

Suangpuilawn Inscriptions

A stone slab lie by a stream at Suangpuilawn village in Aizawl district with strange words inscribed on it. The inscription remain to be deciphered till date. However, it is believed that the inscription were done by some people who inhabited the area in ancient times.

The British Raj: 1895-1947

Thangliana Lung

Captian T.H.Lewin was one of the first Englishmen to come to Mizoram. The District Commissioner of the Chittagong Hills Tracts, who entered Mizoram by way of Demagiri (Tlabung) in 1865, became so popular with the local tribesmen that as a mark of respect, he was called Thangliana which meant 'greatly famous'. He lived with the Mizos for nine years and authored the first Lushai book. His memorial stone at Demagiri remains as evidence of the extent of his popularity with the Mizos.

Mizo Hills were formally declared as part of the British-India by a proclamation in 1895. North and south hills were united into Lushai Hills district in 1898 with Aizawl as its headquarters.

The process of the consolidated of the British administration in tribal dominated area in Assam stated in 1919 when Lushai Hills along with some other hill districts was declared a Backward Tract under government of India Act. The tribal districts of Assam including Lushai Hills were declared Excluded Area in 1935.

It was during the British regime that a political awakening among the Mizos in Lushai Hills started taking shape the first political party, the Mizo Common People's Union was formed on 9th April 1946. The Party was later renamed as Mizo Union.

The division of the Lushai hills between North and South Lushai

[1] MizoStory; [2] MizoStory

Originally the north was called the North Lushai Hills and was administered as a division of Assam. It had a Political Officer in Aizawl answering to the Chief Commissioner for Assam in Shillong. It was the Political Officer in Aizawl who gave permission for the Arthington Mission to enter in 1893.

The South Lushai Hills, centred on Lunglei, were administered from Bengal, through Chittagong and Rangamati, where there were government stations under the Bengal jurisdiction. In 1893 that changed and the South Lushai Hills became part of Assam and put under one Superintendent in Aizawl. An Assistant Superintendent was then stationed in Lunglei.

The distance between Aizawl and Lunglei is 104 miles and eventually a bridlepath was cut through the rough intervening country between the two capitals which linked Lunglei to the rest of Assam.

Communications between North and South

[3] MizoStory; [4] MizoStory

For many years those who went to Calcutta from the B.M.S. Centre at Lunglei travelled west along the Karnaphuli River to Chittagong, a comparatively easy journey, and there was no inducement to go via Aizawl. Similarly the Aizawl people found their best way to Shillong and Calcutta was north via Silchar, never via Lunglei. This was the case until 1950.

The Mautam disaster

[5] MizoStory; [6] MizoStory

Mautams and Thingtams since 1739

Mizoram, and the Indian and Myanmar states surrounding it, suffer a predictable natural disaster every 48 years called ‘Mautam’, and a less serious disaster some 30 years later called ‘Thingtam’,

Mizoram suffers periodic famines, some light and some severe. The flowering of the common bamboo or ‘proper bamboo’, as Mizos call it, causes the greatest famine. This particular species of bamboo only flowers every 48 years.

The bamboo flowers, produces its fruit, and withers away. The fruit or seed seem to contain some vitamin which makes the rats which feed on them unusually big and fertile. When the seeds are all consumed the rat population reaches pestilential proportions. They devour everything edible in sight and loose all fear of man. The standing crops are devoured just before harvest. The slender bamboo walls of the traditional Mizo house offers no protection from their voracious appetite. They boldly invade houses, run across the rafters, steal and defile the rice in the rice bin in the corner of the house, and even sink their teeth into the flesh of the unwary as they sleep in bed. The rats also carry infection.

The first Thingtam famine is known to have occurred in 1739 and was followed by a Mautam famine in 1769.

Mautam in 1862

Thingtam in 1881

Mautam in 1911

Thingtam in 1929

Mautam in 1959

Thingtam in 1959

Mautam in 2007

Thingtam in 2025

[Mautam] occurred during 1911, 1961 [and in 2007].

The Mautam of 1911/12

In the years 1911/12 the villagers planted their rice and saw the bamboo blossoming. Most had never seen bamboo flowers before but they sighed and noted the omen. “We are planting what we shall never eat”, they told each other. So it proved

While the famine raged many people moved away from their native villages, going as far as to settle over the border in Tripura, Manipur, or Western Burma, thus causing further changes to the social pattern. Considerable numbers died of malnutrition and starvation. It is said that the children were always the last to suffer, and that pagan parents as well as Christian often collapsed in their efforts to find food for their little ones.

Gifts of money came from the Welsh churches in Britain to be distributed by Jones ‘Zosaphluia’ and Fraser. Silchar and Karimganj were able to give considerable support to the Mizos.

The Government of India set up two relief centres for the distribution of rice.Already weakened by famine they could only cope with light loads. They also found, to their dismay, they also had to pay for the rice. This involved them in heavy debts which took years to repay. Some felt this to be hard and unjust and vowed they would rather starve than incur such debts again.

Christians share food

During every famine certain villages, by circumstances, manage to escape the plague of rats better than others, and consequently had more food in reserve. A loop in a nearby river sometimes accounted for this. The lucky villages used to erect stockades to keep out their famine-stricken neighbours as though they were enemies. Some of the hungry in desperation would storm the ramparts and were usually killed in the attempt.

Lorrain ‘Pu Buanga’ in South Mizoram asserts that a notable difference between this and previous famines lay in the willingness of Christians to share whatever food they had with their less prosperous brethren, both Christian and non-Christian.

the non-Christians admitted that this was due to the influence of the Gospel. It made a great impression on them.

As a consequence of the famine cholera proved a scourge, and terrified the villagers.

See also

Mizoram: From ancient times to 1946

Mizoram: A brief chronology (1946-1997)

Mizo religion, culture, beliefs, songs, oral literature

Mizoram: cinema

Miss Mizoram