THE LUSHEI KUKI CLANS

KHĀMLIANA, SAILO CHIEF

THE LUSHEI KUKI CLANS

BY
Lt.-COLONEL J. SHAKESPEAR

Published under the orders of the Government of Eastern Bengal and Assam
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAP
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON
1912

Copyright.

Richard Clay and Sons, Limited
BRUNSWICK STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E., AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.

I DEDICATE THIS BOOK

TO

“THĀNGLIANA”

Lieut.-Colonel T. H. Lewin

THE FRUITS OF WHOSE LABOURS I WAS PRIVILEGED
TO REAP, AND WHO, AFTER AN ABSENCE OF
NEARLY FORTY YEARS, IS STILL AFFECTIONATELY
REMEMBERED BY THE
LUSHAIS.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

[Introduction] xiii

[Bibliography] xvii

[Glossary] xix

PART I

[THE LUSHEI CLANS]

CHAPTER I PAGE

[General] 1

1. [Habitat]. 2. [Appearance and physical characteristics]. 3. [History]. 4. [Affinities]. 5. [Dress]. 6. [Tattooing]. 7. [Ornaments]. 8. [Weapons].

CHAPTER II

[Domestic Life] 17

1. [Occupation]. 2. [Weights and Measures]. 3. [Villages]. 4. [Houses]. 5. [Furniture]. 6. [Implements]—Agricultural, Musical, Household. 7. [Manufactures]—Basket work, Pottery, Brass work, Iron work, Cloth manufacture, Dyeing, Ornamentation. 8. [Domestic animals]. 9. [Agriculture]. 10. [Hunting and fishing]. 11. [Food and drink]. 12. [Amusements]—Dances, Athletics, Games.

CHAPTER III

[Laws and Customs] 41

1. [Internal structure]—Formation and constitution of the Clan, Sub-division into Families and Branches. 2. [Tribal organisation]—The Chief, Village officials, Rights of chief, Boi, Sāl, &c. 3. [Marriage]—Bride-price, Divorce, Widow remarriage. 4. [Female chastity]. 5. [Inheritance]—Adoption. 6. [Offences regarding property]. 7. [Offences connected with the body]. 8. [Decisions of disputes]. 9. [War and head-hunting]—Ambushing, Raiding, First use of guns, Head-hunting.

CHAPTER IV

[Religion] 61

1. [General form of religious beliefs]—Pathian the Creator, Other spirits, The world beyond the grave, Re-incarnation. 2. [Ancestor worship]—Offerings to the dead, Possession by spirit of the dead. 3. [Worship of natural forces and deities]—Spirits of hill, vale, and stream, The Lāshi. 4. [Religious rites and ceremonies]—Definitions of terms used, Sacrifices, Epidemics, “Ai” sacrifice. 5. [Priesthood]. 6. [Ceremonies connected with childbirth]. 7. [Marriage ceremonies]. 8. [Funerals]—Description, Disposal of corpse of infants, Lukawng, Unnatural deaths. 9. [Festivals]—Connected with crops, “Thāngchhuah feasts,” “Buh-ai.”

CHAPTER V

[Folk-lore] 92

1. [Legends]—Creation and natural phenomena, Nomenclature of hills, &c., Animal tales, Mythical heroes. 2. [Superstitions]—Connected with cultivation, with animals, house building, miscellaneous. 3. [Snake worship]—“Rulpui,” “The great snake,” Other superstitions regarding snakes. 4. [Omens]. 5. [Witchcraft]—“Khuavang zawl,” “Khawhring,” Origin of.

CHAPTER VI.

[Language] 113

Lushai or Dulien, Grammar, Word for word translation.

APPENDIX

[Families and Branches of Lushei Clan] 125

PART II

[THE NON-LUSHEI CLANS]

INTRODUCTORY

[Division of Clans into Five Groups] 129

CHAPTER I

[Clans included in the term Lushai] 130

Chawte, Chongthu, Hnāmte, Kawlni, Kawlhring, Kiangte, Ngente, Paotu, Rentlei, Vāngchhia, Zawngte.

CHAPTER II

[Clans which, though not absorbed, have been much influenced by the Lushais] 136

Fanai, Ralte, Paihte or Vuite, Rangte.

CHAPTER III

[The old Kuki Clans] 148

The old Kuki Clans of Manipur, Aimol, Anal, Chawte, Chiru, Kolhen, Kom, Lamgang, Purum, Tikhup, Vaiphei. Other old Kuki Clans, Khawtlang and Khawchhak.

CHAPTER IV

[The Thado Clan] 189

CHAPTER V

[The Lakher or Mara Clan] 213

CHAPTER VI

[Language] 225

Resemblances between languages of clans, Change of certain letters, Comparative vocabulary.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

INTRODUCTION

This monograph was originally intended to deal only with the inhabitants of the Lushai Hills, but on my transfer to Manipur, I found so many clans living in the hill tracts of that curious little state that I suggested that the scope of the monograph might be enlarged to include all clans of the Kuki race as well.

This term Kuki, like Naga, Chin, Shendu, and many others, is not recognised by the people to whom we apply it, and I will not attempt to give its derivation, but it has come to have a fairly definite meaning, and we now understand by it certain closely allied clans, with well marked characteristics, belonging to the Tibeto-Burman stock. On the Chittagong border the term is loosely applied to most of the inhabitants of the interior hills beyond the Chittagong Hill tracts; in Cachar it generally means some family of the Thado or Khawtlang clan, locally distinguished as New and Old Kukis. In the Lushai Hills nowadays the term is hardly ever employed, having been superseded by Lushai. In the Chin Hills and generally on the Burma border all these clans are called Chins.

The term Lushai, as we now understand it, covers a great many clans; it is the result of incorrect transliteration of the word Lushei, which is the name of the clan, which, under various chiefs of the Thangur family, came into prominence in the eighteenth century and was responsible for the eruption into Cachar of Old Kukis at the end of that century and of the New Kukis half a century later.

The Lusheis, however, did not eject all the clans they came in contact with, many of them they absorbed, and these now form the bulk of the subjects of the Thangur chiefs. In this monograph Lushai is used in this wider sense, Lushei being used only for the clan of that name. Among the people themselves the Lusheis are sometimes spoken of as Dulian, at the derivation of which I will hazard no guess, and the general population of the hills is spoken of as Mi-zo. Among inhabitants of the Lushai Hills are found a very considerable number of immigrants, or descendants of immigrants from the Chin Hills, who are found living among the Lushais under the Thangur Chiefs or in villages under their own chiefs. I have made no attempt to deal with these, as their proper place is the Chin Hills monograph, and Messrs. Carey and Tuck have already described them very fully in their Chin Hills Gazetteer.

I am conscious that there are many omissions in this book; the subject is a very wide one and the difficulty of getting at the facts from so many different clans, each speaking a different dialect and scattered over an area of about 25,000 square miles is extremely great. I trust therefore that my readers will excuse all shortcomings.

I have purposely avoided enunciating any theories and making deductions, considering it wiser to limit myself to as accurate a description as possible of the people, their habits, customs and beliefs. Regarding the affinities between the clans dealt with in this monograph and those described in the other books of the series, I venture to express a hope that the subject may be dealt with by some competent authority when the whole series has been published; until this is done no finality will be reached. It would be easy to fill several pages with points of resemblance between the different clans. Major Playfair, in his account of the Garos, has pointed out many ways in which the subjects of his monograph resemble the inhabitants of the Naga Hills, but reading his book I find many more in which they are like the clans I am dealing with. Sir Charles Lyall has drawn attention to the evident connection between the Mikirs and the Kuki-Chin group; I venture to think that a study of the following pages will confirm his theory. I may mention here that the main incidents of the “Tale of a Frog” given by Sir Charles are found not only in the folk-lore of the Aimol, as he has pointed out, but also among the Lushais, a very similar story having been recorded by Colonel Lewin in Demagri, 250 miles in an air line from the Mikir hills, and published in his Progressive Colloquial exercises in the Lushai dialect in 1874.

My best thanks are due to Lt.-Colonel Cole, Major Playfair, and Mr. Little, P.W.D., for many of the photographs, and especially to my wife, my companion for many years in these hills, for the four coloured illustrations.

I am also indebted to Rev. W. K. Firminger for correcting the second proofs and making the index. I must also acknowledge the assistance I received from many Lushais and others, notably Hrāngzora Chuprasie of Aigal and Pāthong, interpreter of Manipur.

J. SHAKESPEAR.

Imphal, Manipur State.

September 12th, 1910.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

McCulloch, Major W. “Account of the Valley of Manipore and the Hill tribes; with a comparative vocabulary of the Manipore and other languages.” Calcutta, 1859. Selections from the Records of the Government of India (For. Dept.) XXVII

This is a most valuable book, full of useful information as regards all the Hill tribes of Manipur. I have made use of it freely in Part II., but space did not allow of my extracting all that I should have liked to reproduce. It would be well worth while to reprint this book, with notes bringing it up to date.

Stewart, Lieutenant R. “Notes on Northern Cachar. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,” Vol. XXIV, 1855.

Another most valuable book, as regard Thados and Old Kukis, which would well repay reprinting. Both these books contain comparative vocabularies.

Lewin, Captain Thomas Herbert. “Progressive Colloquial Exercises in the Lushai Dialect of the ‘Dzo’ or Kuki Language, with vocabularies and popular tales. (Notated.)” Calcutta, 1874.

One of these tales is reproduced in Part II. The tales are well translated, but the Lushai is transliterated in a manner now out of date. The notes are as excellent as one would expect from a writer who certainly knew more of the Lushai than anyone else at that time, and who was more admired by them than any other white man has ever been.

By the same Author. “The Hill Tracts of Chittagong and the Dwellers therein.” Calcutta, 1869.

A most fascinating book, full of information, expressed in good English. Pages 98 to 118 deal with Lushais and Shendus, i.e. Lakhers.

By the same Author. “A fly on the wheel: or how I helped to govern India.”

The portion concerning the Author’s life among the Lushais is full of interest, and his word pictures of the scenery and life among the people, for “Thangliana” as he was called really did live among the people, sharing their food even, are accurate and graphic. To few Europeans is the power given to mix thus with such savages and yet retain their respect. I once heard a Lushai’s comment on a young officer who with the best of intentions tried to imitate the great “Thangliana.” A friend asked him what he thought of So-and-So, the reply being: “I don’t know what sort of man he is, all I know is, that he cannot be a sahib to live as he does.”

Carey, Bertram S. and H. N. Tuck. “The Chin hills: A History of the People, their Customs and Manners, and our Dealings with them, and a Gazetteer of their Country.” Rangoon, 1896.

A model of what such a book should be. The illustrations are particularly good. The Lushais and Thados are only touched. Much of the matter referring to the Haka and Klang-Klang Chins is applicable to the Lakhers.

Lorrain, Herbert J., and Fred W. Savidge. “Grammar and Dictionary of the Lushai Language.” Shillong, 1898.

A very complete and accurate work. Unfortunately the standard system of transliteration has not been entirely adhered to.

Soppitt, C. A. “A short account of the Kuki-Lushai tribes on the North-East Frontier Districts: Cachar, Sylhet, Naga Hills, &c., and the North Cachar Hills.” Shillong, 1887.

I believe this is a useful accurate work, but have not been able to obtain it.

Sneyd-Hutchinson, R. “Gazetteer of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.”

As regards Lushais there is not much of value, as they are beyond the scope of the work, but few being found in the Hill Tracts.

Besides the above there are notes in the Census Reports of 1891 and 1901, various military publications and gazetteers by Mr. A. W. Davis, I.C.S., and Mr. B. C. Allen, I.C.S., all of which contain a certain amount of useful information, but do not pretend to be more than notes giving succinctly the knowledge then obtained of what was then practically new ground. Colonel Woodthorpe’s account of the Silchar columns’ march to Champhai, though not professing to be an account of the people, is interesting reading. Round Champhai I met several men who had been there when the column arrived, and they all remember the little sahib who drew pictures; and would sit long looking at the pictures in his book and chatting to each other of the good old days.

[Note.—On p. 6 of the present work the Author refers to a passage in Lewin’s Hill Tracts of Chittagong and the Dwellers therein, in which is cited an account of “the Cucis or inhabitants of the Tipperah Mountains written by J. Rennel, Chief Engineer of Bengal in 1800.” In reading through the proofs of the present work, it occurred to me that it would be important to discover whether the “J. Rennel” referred to by Lewin was or was not the famous Major James Rennell, Surveyer-General of Bengal, who is so often described as “the Father of Modern Geography.” Major Rennell with his wife (née Jane Thackeray—a great aunt of the novelist W. M. Thackeray) left Bengal in March, 1777, and reached England in February 1778. He died on March 29, 1830. It seemed to me possible that the great Rennell might have obtained the information about the Kukis during his period of service in East Bengal, and that he might have published a memoir on the subject in 1800. Mr. W. Foster of the Record Department of the India Office very kindly informed me that no such a memoir could be traced at Whitehall, and drew my attention to Lewin’s heading of the memoir, “From the French of M. Bouchesiche, who translated the original from the English of J. Rennel, Chief Engineer of Bengal.... Published at Leipsic in 1800.” Mr. Edward Heawood, Librarian of the Royal Geographical Society, to whom I am indebted for much trouble taken in satisfying my curiosity, informed me that Bouchesiche gave what purported to be an extract, translated into French, from Rennell’s well-known work on India, and that the Frenchman’s book was printed in Paris in 1800, although there may perhaps have been a Leipzig issue also. The account of the Kukis given in Bouchesiche’s work, however, is not taken from any known work by James Rennell. Dalton in his Ethnology of Bengal refers to what has been supposed to be the earliest account of the Kukis—a memoir by Surgeon McCrea, which appeared in 1799 in Volume vii of Asiatic Researches. Mr. Heawood most kindly hunted up McCrea’s memoir, and found in it a reference to a memoir which appeared in Volume ii of Asiatic Researches, 1790. The title of the memoir of 1790 runs “On the Manners, Religion, and Laws of the Cucis, or Mountaineers of Tipra.... Communicated in Persian by John Rawlins, Esq.” On investigation, Mr. Heawood found that the Memoir of 1790 is undoubtedly the original from which Bouchesiche drew his account in French, and of this the account, attributed to “J. Rennel” by Colonel Lewin, is a rough paraphrase. Note by the Rev. Walter K. Firminger.]

GLOSSARY

Only the terms which occur often are given.

Ai.—A ceremony performed to propitiate the spirit of an animal killed in the chase, or of a human being killed in war. The performer’s spirit will own the spirit of person or animal killed in the next world. The term is also used for a ceremony performed to celebrate a particularly good crop—Buh-Ai, or Buh-za-ai.

Boi.—Persons who have taken refuge in the chief’s house.

Dai-bawl.—A series of sacrifices to the demons of the hills, &c.

Hlam-zuih.—Lushai. A first-born child that dies within a year of its birth and is buried without any ceremony.

Hrilh.—A period during which no work must be done, after a sacrifice, closely resembling the Naga genna.

Huai.—Lushai. Demons who cause sickness.

Jhum.—A piece of land on which the jungle has been felled and burnt for cultivation.

Kawhring.—A person whose spirit takes possession of another’s body, the spirit of such a person.

Khāl.—A series of sacrifices to the demons of the village site, only performed by Lushais.

Khuavang.—Lushai. A powerful spirit, sometimes used for “luck.”

Kum-ai.—Children’s sleeping platform.

Kum-pui.—Parent’s sleeping platform.

Kut.—Lushai. Festivals connected with the crops.

Lal.—Lushai. Chief.

Lashi.—Lushai. Mythical beings who control wild animals. Known also to Aimol and Vaiphei.

Mi-thi-khua.—“Dead men’s village.” Expression used by all clans for the place of departed souls.

Mi-thi-rawp-lam.—A feast in honour of the dead.

Palal.—A man who receives part of the bride-price, and acts as trustee to the bride.

Pathian.—Lushai. The Creator. Very similar names are used by all the clans dealt with.

Pial-ral.—Lushai. The land beyond the Pial river, in the abode of the dead, to which the spirits of those who have acquired merit pass.

Pu.—A word used in most dialects, meaning grandfather, maternal uncle, and other relations on mother’s or wife’s side. It is also used for a person specially chosen as a protector or guardian.

Pui-thiam.—Lushai. Sorcerer, priest and medicine man.

Rāmhual.—Lushai. Chief’s adviser as to distribution of jhums.

Rem-Ar.—The cock killed on occasion of a marriage.

Rotchem.—Mouth organ made of a gourd and reeds.

Sakhua.—Lushai. The guardian spirit of the household and the sacrifice performed to him.

Sawn-man.—Compensation payable to a father for seduction of an unmarried girl.

Sherh.—Lushai. The portions of the sacrificed animal which are offered to the demon. Also the state of a house for a period after the performing of certain sacrifices, during which the entrance of outsiders is prohibited.

Thangchhuah.—Lushai. A man who has given a series of feasts to his village. The expression is also used for the series of feasts. Honour in this world and comfort in the next are the reward of the Thangchhuah.

Thian.—A woman who receives part of the bride-price, and acts as friend or trustee to the bride.

Thir-deng.—Lushai. Blacksmith.

Tlangau.—Lushai. Chief’s crier.

Upa.—Lushai. Chief’s minister.

Zawlbuk.—Bachelor’s hall and guest house.

THE LUSHEI KUKI CLANS

THE LUSHEI CLANS

PART I

CHAPTER I

GENERAL

1. Habitat. The Lushei chiefs now rule over the country between the Kurnaphuli river and its main tributary, the Tuilianpui on the west, and the Tyao and Koladyne river on the east, while their southern boundary is roughly a line drawn east and west through the junction of the Mat and Koladyne rivers and their most northerly villages are found on the borders of the Silchar district. Within this area, roughly 7,500 square miles, there are only a few villages ruled over by chiefs of other clans, and outside it there are but few true Lushei villages, though I am told that there are villages of people very closely connected with the Lusheis, on the southern borders of Sylhet, in Tipperah and in the North Cachar Hills, and there are a few in the Chittagong Hill tracts.

2. Appearance and physical characteristics. All the Lushai Kuki clans resemble each other very closely in appearance and the Mongolian type of countenance prevails. One meets, however, many exceptions, which may be due to the foreign blood introduced by the many captives taken from the plains and from neighbouring tribes; but these are not worth considering, and the description of the Kuki written by Lt. Stewart close on 80 years ago cannot be improved on. “The Kukis are a short, sturdy race of men with a goodly development of muscle. Their legs are, generally speaking, short in comparison with the length of their bodies, and their arms long. The face is nearly as broad as it is long and is generally round or square, the cheek bones high, broad and prominent, eyes small and almond-shaped, the nose short and flat, with wide nostrils. The women appear more squat than the men even, but are strong and lusty.” In Lushai clans both sexes are as a rule rather slighter made than among the Thado and cognate clans, whom Lt. Stewart was describing. Adopting the scale given in the handbook of the Anthropological Institute, the colour of the skin varies between dark yellow-brown, dark olive, copper-coloured and yellow olive. Beards and whiskers are almost unknown, and a Lushai, even when able to grow a moustache, which is not often, pulls out all the hairs except those at the corners of his mouth. The few persons with hairy faces may, I think, be safely said to be of impure blood.

The hair is worn, by both sexes, in a knot over the nape of the neck, and carefully parted in the middle. The young folk of about the marrying age devote much care to their hair, dressing it daily with much pigs’ fat. Later in life they grow careless, and widows allow their hair to hang as it chooses. Children’s hair is left to grow as it likes till it is long enough to tie up. Curly hair or hair with a pronounced wave in it is uncommon, and is much objected to.

The women are prolific, five to seven children being about the average, but the mortality among the children is so great that few parents can boast of more than two or three grown up children.

Both men and women are good walkers and hill-climbers, which is only natural, but for a race which lives exclusively on the hilltops the number of good swimmers is very large. Most men are not afraid of the water, and manage rafts very skilfully, making long journeys on them in the rains.

Abortion is not infrequently resorted to when a widow who is living in her late husband’s house, and therefore, as described later, expected to remain chaste, finds herself enceinte. Suicide is also rather common, poison being the usual means chosen. The cause is generally some painful and incurable disease, but very old persons with no one to support them sometimes prefer the unknown future to the miserable present.

3. History. The existing Lushei Chiefs all claim descent from a certain Thang-ura, who is sometimes said to have sprung from the union of a Burman with a Paihte woman, but, according to the Paihtes, the Lusheis are descended from Boklua, an illegitimate son of the Paihte Chief Ngehguka. The Thados say that some hunters tracking a serao noticed the foot-marks of a child following those of the animal, and on surrounding the doe serao they found it suckling a child, who became the great Chief Thang-ura, or, as they call him, “Thangul.” From Thang-ura the pedigree of all the living chiefs is fairly accurately established. The Lusheis, in common with the Thados and other Kuki tribes, attach great importance to their genealogies; and pedigrees, given at an interval of many years, and by persons living far apart, have been found to agree in a wonderful manner. From comparison of these genealogies and from careful enquiries lasting over many years, I estimate that Thang-ura must have lived early in the eighteenth century. His first village is said to have been at Tlangkua, north of Falam. It is probable that he personally ruled over only a small area. From him sprang six lines of Thang-ur chiefs:—(1) Rokum, (2) Zādeng, (3) Thangluah, (4) Pallian, (5) Rivung, and (6) Sailo. To the north the country was occupied by the Sukte, Paihte, and Thado clans. These appear to have been firmly established under regular chiefs; but to the west the hills appear to have been inhabited by small communities formed largely of blood relations and probably each at feud with its neighbours. Therefore when want of good jhuming land and the aggressions of the eastern clans made it necessary for the Thang-ur to move, they naturally went westward. The Rokum, the eldest branch, are said to have passed through the hills now occupied by the Lushais, and some of their descendants are said to be found on the Tipperah-Sylhet border. The Zādeng followed the Rokum, and, passing through Champhai, moved westwards and about 1830 ruled some 1,000 houses divided into four villages situated near the banks of the Tlong or Dallesari river, round the Darlung peak. In alliance with Sailo chiefs of Lalul’s family, they attacked and defeated successively the Hualgno (a Lushei family settled between Tyao and Manipur rivers) and the Pallian, who were their allies against the Hualgno. Subsequently the Zādeng quarrelled with Mangpura, then the most powerful Sailo chief, who, dying about that time, bequeathed the feud to his relatives, one of whom, Vutaia, prosecuted it with such vigour that the Zādeng, in spite of an alliance with the Manipur Rajah—who, however, proved but a broken reed—had to flee southwards, and their last independent village, numbering only 100 houses, broke up on the death of the chief, which occurred at Chengpui, near Lungleh, about 1857. The Zādeng chiefs are reputed to have been cruel and arbitrary rulers, whose defeat was not regretted even by their own followers. Their descendants have retained these qualities, and, in spite of much assistance, have failed to regain their position in the world.

The Thangluah and Rivung took a more southerly course. The latter penetrated into what is now the Chittagong Hill tracts, and a chief named Vanhnuai-Thanga had a very large village on the Longteroi hill, between the Chengri and Kassalong rivers. He died about 1850, and shortly after his death the village was destroyed by Vutaia. The remnant of the Rivungs fled to Hill Tipperah, where Liantlura, a great-grandson of Vanhnuai-Thanga, had a village up till a few years ago, and there is one small hamlet under a Rivung chief in the Aijal sub-division of the Lushai Hills.

The Thangluah penetrated as far as Demagri and Barkhul, where Rothangpuia (Ruttonpoia) became known to us, first as a foe, and then as a faithful ally. Rothangpuia’s son Lalchheva, fretting at our control, moved his village across our boundary, in spite of a warning that Government could on no account protect him if he did so. Very shortly after this move he was attacked by Hausāta, a Chin chief, and his village totally destroyed, many persons being killed and more taken captive. All the mithan (tame bison) were driven off and the chief escaped with little more than the one cloth he was wearing, and now the once prosperous Thangluah clan is represented by only a few poverty-stricken hamlets round Demagri.

The Pallian followed the same route as the Zādeng. The best known chiefs of this clan are Sibuta (Sheeboot) and Lalsuktla (Lalchokla). Sibuta is said in Mackenzie’s “Eastern Frontier” to have thrown off the Tipperah yoke with 25,000 houses. He died close to Aijal, and his memorial stone is at the first stage on the Aijal-Lungleh road. It is extremely doubtful whether he ever was really subject to Tipperah, though it is certain that all these Lushai clans had dealings with the Tipperah Rajahs and feared them greatly. Among the tales in [Chapter V]. will be found one which exemplifies this.

Lalsuktla (Lal chokla), captured by Captain Blackwood in 1841, was a great-grandson of Sibuta’s. Purbura is said to have been a very powerful Pallian chief and at one time to have received tribute from almost all his contemporary Thangur chiefs. He had a large village, said to contain 3,000 houses, on the Dungtlang, whence he moved as far westwards as Pukzing, where his village was destroyed by a combined force of Zādeng, Sailo, and Chuckmahs. This attack took place somewhere about 1830. Purbura rebuilt his village, but died soon after, and his descendants were attacked frequently by the chiefs of the Rolura branch of the Sailo family, and now only two small hamlets, close to Aijal, remain to remind us of this once powerful clan.

The Sailo.—These chiefs are descended from Sailova, a great-grandson of Thang-ura’s. They came into prominence last, but have crushed all their rivals, and have developed such a talent for governing that they hold undisputed sway over representatives of all sorts of clans, over nearly the whole of the area now known as the Lushai Hills.

This great family has often come in contact with the British Government, but from the fact that our dealings with them have generally been through illiterate interpreters, they appear in our records under various names. The Howlongs, who caused much anxiety on the Chittagong frontier from 1860 to 1890, Lalul’s descendants, whose doings fill the records of Silchar for nearly a century, Vonolel, Savunga, and Sangvunga, against whom the two columns of the Lushai Expedition of 1871–72 were directed—all these were Sailos.

As above remarked, it seems most probable that the country into which the various Thangur chiefs moved, under pressure from the Chins, was almost entirely occupied by small communities having no power of cohesion. The greater part of these were absorbed, and now form the majority of the subjects of the Thangur chiefs; but some fled north and west into Manipur, Silchar, Sylhet and Tipperah, where they are known as Kukis and where their appearance caused much trouble, as, from the very nature of the cause of their migration, much ill-feeling existed between them and the triumphant Lushais. In Stewart’s notes on Northern Cachar, it is stated that the Old Kukis made their appearance in Cachar about the end of the eighteenth century. These Old Kukis include the Biate (Beteh) and Hrangchul (Rhangkol) and other cognate clans who are now known to us as Khawtlang. They claim the hills round Champhai as their place of origin, and the sites are still known by their names. We have seen that the Lusheis claim to have sprung from a village south-east of Champhai, and that the Zādeng passed through Champhai on their westward move, which ended so disastrously for them. The advance of such tribes would be slow, and would be largely regulated by the rate at which they exhausted the cultivable land near their village sites; therefore the appearance of the Biate and Hrangchul in Cachar at the beginning of the nineteenth or end of the eighteenth century fits in well with the date I had assigned for Thang-ura, the first Lushei chief, before I had read Lieutenant Stewart’s book. These Khawtlang clans to this day have little power of cohesion, and they naturally gave way at once before the well-organised Lushais, and fled north and north-west into Cachar and Manipur, passing through the territory of the Thado clans and suffering considerably at their hands. When the Thangur had firmly established themselves, and the capable Sailo chiefs had come to the front, they felt equal to fighting the Thado clans, which were as highly organised as themselves. The Sailo chiefs triumphed, and hence the eruption of the New Kukis, alias Thados, and cognate clans, into Silchar about 1848.

In Colonel Lewin’s “The Hill Tracts of Chittagong and the Dwellers Therein,” page 109, is given an account of the “Cucis or inhabitants of the Tipperah mountains,” written by J. Rennel, Chief Engineer of Bengal in 1800. With very slight alterations, this account is applicable to the Lushais of to-day, and I have no doubt that the Cucis therein described were the Rivung, the advance-guard of the great Lushai invasion.

On the Chittagong side, we find, as early as 1777, records of frontier disturbances ascribed to “Kookies, men who live far in the interior parts of the hills, who have not the use of firearms, and whose bodies go unclothed” (Lewin’s “The Hill Tracts of Chittagong and the Dwellers Therein,” page 21). These Kukis were allies of the Chuckmahs, and we have seen that about fifty years later the Chuckmahs joined with the Zādeng and the Sailos in an attack on Purbura.

The various branches of the Sailo family were frequently at war, the cause almost invariably being a dispute as to land. About 1856 a war, known as “The War of the North and the South,” broke out and lasted about three years. The Northern combatants were the descendants of Lallula, their opponents being Cherra’s family. The bone of contention was the Piler hill, and this quarrel was on the point of breaking out again in 1892, when Mr. McCabe and I, appearing on the scene from Aijal and Lungleh respectively, “frightened both the heroes so they quite forgot their quarrel.” The war ended in a victory for the North, who surprised Konglung, a village on the top of a very precipitous rock, and captured the young chief and his mother, who later were ransomed for many necklaces.

In 1874 the Southern Lushais fell out with the Thlantlang (Klangklang) chiefs. Vandula, head of the Lushais, had raided Vaki, a village on the Arracan border, and brought away as part of the loot a brass bowl and a big earthenware vase, which the Thlantlang chief claimed as being part of the promised price of his daughter, who had recently been married to the son of the Vaki chief. As Vandula refused to give up the articles, the Thlantlangs attacked a Lushai piquet on the Koladyne, killing some men. To revenge this insult, the Lushais attacked Bunkhua, with disastrous results, as is described in [Chapter III, Para. 5], and had to make an ignominious peace.

Later the Northern chiefs quarrelled among themselves, and the war of the East and West broke out and lasted several years. The cause is said to have been a girl called Tuali, for whose affections Liankhama and Khalkhama were rivals. It is unnecessary to go into the history of our dealings with the Lushais, which have ended in the whole of the Hills being annexed, and a stop put to all such wars, but when we occupied Lungleh in 1889 we found the Fānai clan coming into prominence, and there is little doubt that, but for our intervention, that clan would shortly have attempted to eject the Southern Lushai chiefs.

4. Affinities. The Lushais are more or less closely allied to all the tribes now living in their vicinity, but some who show this most strongly, such as the Chiru, Kom, Aimol, are now settled in the Manipur State, while the intervening country is occupied by clans belonging to the Thado, Paihte, and Khawtlang families, which, though no doubt of the same stock, are more distantly connected. It seems certain that the former clans lived near the Lusheis when the Thangur commenced their victorious career, and it may well be that it was fear of absorption by their more powerful neighbour that drove these clans northwards, while the Lusheis took a westerly direction.

The connection between the Lusheis and their eastern neighbours is apparent both in their language and in their customs, but the eastern tribes, known to us generally as Chins, are of finer physique and, owing to their having permanent villages, the differences between clans have become more marked than among the semi-nomadic Lushais and Kukis. The feuds between different clans, which are always found where permanent villages exist, tend to widen the breach between communities and to accentuate every accidental variation of custom, so that the common origin is soon lost sight of. Nevertheless there is no doubt that the Kukis, Chins, and Lushais are all of the same race.

Less apparent but still quite traceable is the relationship between the Lushais and the Kabuis and Manipuris, though the latter nowadays try in every way to disown all connection with their poor relations.

5. Dress. The men’s dress could not well be simpler, consisting as it does of a single cloth about 7 feet long and 5 wide. It is worn as follows:—One corner is grasped in the left hand, and the cloth is passed over the left shoulder, behind the back, under the right arm across the chest and the end thrown over the left shoulder. Although it would appear probable that clothing so loosely worn would be continually falling off, yet, as a matter of fact, accidents of that sort seldom occur. In cold weather, one or more cloths are worn, one over the other, and also a white coat, reaching well down the thigh but only fastened at the throat. These coats are ornamented on the sleeves with bands of red and white of various patterns. When at work, in hot weather, the Lushai wraps his cloth round his waist, letting the ends hang down in front, and should he find the sun warm and if he is wearing two cloths, he will wear one as a puggri. Puggris are sometimes worn when out in the sun for long, and some affect rather a quaint style, twisting the cloth round the head so as to make an end stand up straight over each ear.

All these garments are of cotton, grown locally and manufactured by the women of the household. The cloths in general use are white, but every man likes to have two or three blue cloths ornamented with stripes of various colours.

The Lushais have a very strong objection to getting their heads wet, and therefore in the rain wear hats made of strips of bamboo or cane plaited and lined with smoked leaves. The original hats were almost flat and circular, but nowadays these have been discarded in favour of very clever imitations of helmets and solar topis. In the southern portion of the district the people use, as a protection from the wet, a large shallow basket-work tray, shaped like an oyster shell, and made waterproof by being lined with smoked leaves; the narrow end rests on the wearer’s head, while the broad end reaches down well below the waist, so that, while bending down weeding in the jhum, the head and body are kept dry. This form of waterproof is not much used in the northern portion of the Lushai Hills, but is common among the Chiru and other allied clans in Manipur. As the Lushai has no pockets, he carries, wherever he goes, a haversack made of some pretty coloured cotton cloth slung over his shoulder by a strap of the same material. In this he carries his flint and steel and his tobacco, in neatly made boxes carved out of solid pieces of wood and fitted with lids of the same material, or of leather moulded into shape by being stretched over a block. His pipe is generally in his mouth; it consists of a bowl made out of a particularly hard kind of bamboo which is only found in the Chin hills—whence the Lushais claim to have sprung—with a long stem made of a reed-like variety of the same plant. When not in his mouth, this also reposes in his haversack along with his “tuibur,” a small gourd to hold the water which has been impregnated with nicotine in the pipe of his wife or sweetheart. A little of this evil-smelling concoction he takes into his mouth from time to time and, having kept it there a few minutes, he spits it out and declares that it has a stimulating effect. In his haversack you will also find his knife, the wooden sheath tied to one of the shoulder straps so that the handle is always convenient to his hand. The blade is about four or five inches long and nearly an inch wide at the handle, but comes to a sharp point; the edge is straight and ground like a chisel.

LUSHAI, WEAPONS, ORNAMENTS ETC.

The dress of the chiefs is the same as that of the common people, except on occasions of ceremony, when they wear dark blue cloths, with red lines of a particular pattern, and plumes, made of the tail feathers of the king-crow, in their hair knots. These plumes are very much prized and are kept most carefully in bamboo tubes with leather caps. The cloth referred to above can also be worn by anyone who has given certain feasts, as described later on.

Dress in War-time.—When the Lushais were fighting us in 1892 I was much struck by the whiteness of their garments. The men who ran away from the stockades as we rushed them were always dressed in nice clean coats and cloths, and crowds of similarly attired warriors used to assemble every morning just out of range and challenge us to come and fight. I was told that it was considered the correct thing to come properly dressed when there was fighting on hand, but a raiding party I once came across was dressed far more suitably. A single cloth wrapped tightly round the waist, a haversack protected by a bear or tiger skin guard over one shoulder, and a fighting dao or dah over the other, and a gun in his hand completed each warrior’s equipment. It will be seen from the above description that the Lushais are not fond of dress, and this is another point in which all Kuki clans differ from those of Naga stock.

Special Attire.—A man who has earned the title of “Thangchhuah” (v. Chap. IV, 9) is allowed to wear a cloth of a certain pattern and those who have killed men in war have special head-dresses, known as “chhawndawl” and “arke-ziak.”

The Women’s Dress.—The women are no more addicted to fine clothes than their men-folk. All women wear the same costume; a dark-blue cotton cloth, just long enough to go round the wearer’s waist with a slight over-lap, and held up by a girdle of brass wire or string, serves as a petticoat which only reaches to the knee, the only other garments being a short white jacket and a cloth which is worn in the same manner as the men. On gala days the only addition to the costume is a picturesque head-dress worn by girls while dancing. This consists of a chaplet made of brass and coloured cane, into which are inserted porcupine quills, and to the upper ends of these are fixed the green wing-feathers of the common parrot, tipped with tufts of red wool. At the back is affixed a horizontal bar from which hang strings of glistening wing covers of green beetles. The women smoke as much as the men and have a special form of pipe, a miniature hookah about 9 inches high with a clay bowl, the water container being of bamboo much ornamented with patterns roughly scratched. The water when thoroughly impregnated is transferred to the “tuibur” gourd of some male relative or admirer. Children of both sexes begin smoking very young. I have seen a woman take her pipe from her mouth and put it into that of the baby on her back.

6. Tattooing. This is not much practised. The only patterns employed are circles on the forearm and breast, which are said to be mementoes of love affairs in happy bachelor days, and rude representations of a metna’s head, which is said to have no particular meaning.

7. Ornaments worn by men. The Lushai wears a variety of articles in his hair knot. The commonest is a brass two-pronged pin with a head shaped like a G. The prongs are drawn out to sharp points and vary in length from three to eight or nine inches. These very long pins are a recent innovation, and their use seems to be restricted to the young dandies of the hamlets round Aijal. Skewers of ivory, bone, and metal about six or eight inches long are also worn. Of the two former there are two patterns, one four-sided, about a quarter of an inch thick at two thirds of its length, tapering to a point at each end, the other being flat, pointed at one end and about half an inch broad at the other. Both are ornamented with engraved circles and lines. The metal skewers are quite plain and more for use in scratching the head than for ornament; a piece of the rib of a broken umbrella is now often used. The hair comb is also an ornamental article; it consists of a piece of ivory or wood about three inches long, half an inch thick and an inch or so wide, into which are inserted, very close together, teeth of strips of bamboo about two inches long. If the back is of wood it is generally crescent-shaped and lacquered red and inlaid.

Lushai Men’s Hair Ornaments.

Photo by Lt. Colonel H. G. M. Cole, I.A.

With reference to the comb I may quote from Colonel McCulloch’s descriptions of the Thados in his “Account of the Valley of Manipur”:—“Their attention to genealogy, the distinction of clans, and the respect paid to seniors, I have already noticed. Out of this may have sprung the only exclusiveness shown by the Khonjai (Thado), namely, in the point of who would be entitled to use his comb and whose comb he might use. This, though amongst them a very important matter, I cannot find to have any religious importance attached to it, but there is an indication of the superior rank in respect of descent or by connection, or of estimation in which an individual is held or holds himself to be found to whom he would refuse his comb, or amongst whom his comb is common.” My Lushai informant says that the use of the comb is restricted, as headaches are communicated by the comb. He also adds, “A higher clan man is contaminated by a lower clan man using his comb. Thus a Renthlei may not use a Sailo’s hair comb, and a Chawngthu may not use that of a Pallian.”

Earrings.—Most men have their ears pierced, and wear either small wooden studs, with flat heads about half an inch in diameter, and coloured red, or cornelians suspended by a piece of string. The stones are barrel-shaped and unpolished, the surface being pitted with minute holes and circular marks. These are valued very highly, and are passed on from father to son, or given as a daughter’s dowry. Some of them have names connecting them with some story of bygone days. These naturally fetch higher prices. I know of stones valued at Rs. 400/-.

Necklaces.—Both sexes are fond of necklaces: those of amber are most valued, and any that have histories attached to them fetch prices which to us seem absurd. I remember a chief, who was offered Rs. 60/- for his necklace, replying that if the Sahib wanted the necklace he would give it him, but that he would not sell it for Rs. 1000/- as it had been the property of his ancestors. The old necklaces are made of very dark amber, beautifully clear, and the beads are sometimes two to three inches long and over an inch in diameter. There is some doubt as to where these beads came from, but it is probable that they came through the Chin hills from Burmah. Besides amber, agate, cornelian, and various sorts of bead necklaces are worn, or, failing all these, white shirt buttons are acceptable.

A tiger’s tooth is often hung round the neck as an ornament and is also thought to have magical properties. The young dandies are fond of hanging round their necks tufts of white goat’s hair bound together with red thread; these are now worn as ornaments, but undoubtedly the custom arose from the idea that cures are effected by hanging round the affected part a piece of the skin or feathers of the animal or bird sacrificed to the demon, who is thought to be responsible for the illness.

Bracelets are not much worn and are generally plain brass rings.

Ornaments Worn by Women.—With the exception of their earrings, the Lushai women affect the same ornaments as the men. The earrings, however, are quite distinct, and, in order to be able to wear them, much preparation is necessary. When quite a child the girl has her ears pierced, and small wooden plugs are inserted. These are replaced by larger ones, which in turn give place to still larger ones of clay, the size of which is gradually increased till the real earring, which is an ivory disc some inch or inch and a half in diameter, with a hole in its centre, can be inserted. Widows remove their earrings, and slit the lobes of their ears when they abandon all thought of re-marrying.

8. Weapons. The Lushais have been in possession of firearms for the last sixty or seventy years. These weapons are flint-locks bearing the names of many European makers; many are Tower muskets, and guns bearing the marks of the French Customs Department are not at all rare. These guns came into the country in the first instance chiefly through Burmah, though no doubt some came through Chittagong, and much money must have been made, for the demand was large. When the weapons first began to appear, the Lushais and other western tribes used to obtain them from the tribes on the Burmah border, giving slaves in exchange, a strong male slave being equivalent to two guns. The other weapons in use are spears and dahs. The former are inferior weapons with iron laurel-leaf shaped blades about a foot or fifteen inches long, very insecurely attached to the shaft, which is of hard wood, often a piece of sago palm; at the other end of the shaft is a long iron spike which is stuck into the ground when the user halts. A special spear is used for sacrificial purposes, the blade of which is much longer and diamond-shaped. The spike at the other end is also much elongated, so that sometimes the wooden shaft is only six or seven inches long. The dah is a more serviceable weapon, being copied, as its name “kawlnam” denotes, from the Burmese weapon, but the blade is shorter, the handle is of wood lacquered black and red, and ornamented with brass bands and a brass knob at the end. In former days oblong shields of bison-hide eighteen inches wide and about two feet long, adorned at the two upper corners with tassels of goat’s hair dyed red, were carried. The upper half of the shield was sometimes covered with discs of brass, while from a string crossing the centre of the shield hung a row of brass cones about two inches long, from each of which depended a tassel of red goat’s hair, reaching to the base of the shield. Bows and arrows have entirely gone out of use, but were formerly used, especially in the chase, when the arrows were poisoned. The bows were small and made of bamboo, the string being of bark. The arrows were furnished with barbed iron points, and were carried in a bamboo quiver with a leather cap to it. Among weapons we must class the bamboo spikes with which a retreating foe or villagers expecting an attack rendered the ground almost impassable to a bare-footed enemy. These spikes were of two kinds, one used round the village or block house, and the other, carried in a neat little cane-work quiver, and stuck in the path when returning from a raid to delay pursuit. The former were simple bamboo spikes of various lengths, while the latter were carefully smoothed bamboo spikes about six inches long, and no thicker than a knitting needle; each sort was nicked so that it might break off after entering the flesh. To a bare-footed foe these spikes form a very serious obstacle, and even our troops have suffered from them, the spikes being sometimes long enough to reach to a man’s knee.

CHAPTER II

DOMESTIC LIFE

1. Occupation. The entire population may be classed as agriculturists, as only a few people, as will be afterwards described, live on contributions of rice given them in exchange for services rendered to the community. There are no shop-keepers, and, except the blacksmith, no craftsmen, each household being capable of existing on its own labours. The men build the house and cut the jhum, they help in the weeding and harvesting, and procure fresh meat by their skill in setting snares and hunting. Periodically they visit the nearest bazar, often a journey of several days, to purchase salt and the few requisites that their own industry cannot produce, consisting chiefly of brass cooking pots, iron to be made into daos or finished daos. Nowadays, it is true, the wants of the people are slowly increasing, and looking-glasses, umbrellas, needles, and Manchester goods are finding their way into the most remote villages. The women folk fetch the wood and water, cook the food and do the greatest part of the weeding and harvesting; they also make all the clothing for the whole household from cotton grown in the jhums, which they themselves gather, clean, spin, and weave into strong cloth.

A Lushai woman has to rise early, fill her basket with empty bamboo tubes, and trudge off before daylight down to the spring, which is generally some way down the hill, and the supply of water is frequently so scanty that it takes her some time to fill her bamboos. Having conveyed her basketful to the house, she has to set to work cleaning the rice for the day. The necessary amount of unhusked rice has been dried the previous day on the shelf over the hearth, and this she now proceeds to pound in a mortar in the front verandah, and winnow on an oval bamboo tray till it is clean enough for use. The breakfast of rice has then to be cooked, and by the time it is ready her husband is awake. After the meal the real work of the day begins. In the cold weather the women settle themselves to some of the operations connected with clothmaking, while the men prepare to pass a day of complete enjoyment, lying in the sun and smoking, the younger ones combining this with courting any of the pretty clothmakers; while the children play around entirely uncontrolled, save when a shrill-voiced mother calls one of them to assist her in some domestic operation. About noon there is a meal of rice and herbs, after which work is resumed and continued till the evening, when the housewife has to make another journey to the spring, and on her return the pigs must be fed with a mixture composed of rice husks and a species of edible arum bulb, mashed and boiled together, the fowls enticed into their baskets, and finally the family collected for the evening meal, which varies little from the two previous ones, but some garnish, a little meat, dried fish, or some savoury vegetable is generally added. As soon as it is dark, all the female members of the family gather round the hearth, and carry on such work as can be carried on by what light they can get from the fire; though in villages near fir forests some pine splinters are generally kept handy for use when an extra bright light is required for a few minutes. The men either gather in the “zawlbuk” or in some house where there is drink going, but the young bucks sneak off to court their lady loves, which the girls’ parents give them every facility for doing. In the other seasons of the year, that is from March to December, the people are engaged in their jhums from the morning to the evening meal, as is described later on.

Lushai parents are very fond of their children, and fathers are often seen carrying their infants about. In times of scarcity, what rice can be got is reserved for the young children, the rest of the people living on yams, jungle vegetables, and the pith of the sago palm. The children assist their parents as much as they can, tiny girls accompanying their mothers to the spring, and bringing up one or two bamboos of water, while the lads help their fathers in cutting the jhum. No one, however, takes any care of children, and they are allowed to run about the village as they like, in all weathers, which no doubt accounts largely for the heavy mortality among them, as their clothing is of the scantiest.

Teknonymy is very common. The parents of a child called Thanga will generally be known as Thanga-Pa and Thanga-Nu, and I have come across old widows whose real names were unknown. There is a strong and general dislike among all Lushais to saying their own names. When we first occupied the hills, a man would not tell you his name; if asked he would refer to someone else and say, “You tell him.” The following explanation, given me by a Lushai, seems to me scarcely satisfactory:—“Lushais are shy of saying the name of their father and mother and their own names. Because it is their own name they are shy of saying it. Some people are shy because their names are bad. Their parents’ names—because they are their parents they never call them by their names, therefore they are shy of saying them. Their own names also they never say; just for that reason they are shy of saying them. The names of their brothers and friends they are always saying, therefore they are not shy of saying them.” Long ago another explanation was given me. When a man kills another, he calls out his own name: “I, Lalmanga, have killed you!” so that the spirit of the dying man may know whose slave he will be in Mithi-Khua, the dead man’s village; it was suggested that it was unlucky to say one’s name on less important occasions.

2. Weights and Measures. In every village there is a small flat basket, the size of which is fixed by the chief, which is used for all retail dealings in rice and such goods, but large quantities are measured by the number of loads, a load being about 50 lbs. After the harvest the unhusked rice is piled in a conical heap. A Lushai will tell you that his crop is “chhip-zawn,” that is, the heap is level with the top of his head; “silai-zawn,” that is, level with the end of his gun held up perpendicularly over his head. This is about a record crop; lesser quantities are denoted by the height of his hand or hoe or axe held up. Time he measures by the time a pot of rice takes to cook—i.e., about an hour—or by the time he can hold a sip of nicotine in his mouth; he has terms for each period of the day, denoting the usual occupation; he also divides the year according to the agricultural occupation proper to it. Terms expressing measures of length are very numerous. Short lengths are expressed by reference to the human body, as we speak of a span; but the Lushai has sixteen or seventeen of these, extending from “chang-khat”—i.e., from the tip to the first joint of the first finger—to “hlam,” which is the distance a man can stretch with both arms extended. Longer distances he expresses by terms such as the distance of the nearest jhum, the distance of the furthest jhum, the distance a mithan will wander during the day, the distance a man can travel before his mid-day meal, &c.—terms which, though well understood by the people, are a little perplexing to strangers. Measures of weight are scanty; a curious one is “chuai”—i.e., as much as can be supported if suspended from the tip of the first finger palm downwards. Many of the stars and constellations have received names; most of them have some story attached to them. The months are lunar months, and some have names, but these are but little known or used.

3. Villages. The Lushai likes to perch his village on the top of a ridge or spur, partly because, hillsides being steep, it is difficult to find sites elsewhere, partly for the sake of the climate, but chiefly, I think, in order to get a good defensive position. His migratory habits disinclining him to make the elaborate defences over which the Chins, Nagas, and other dwellers in permanent villages took so much pains, he therefore sought for a site which was difficult of approach. When we first occupied the country, every village was surrounded by one or more lines of stockade made of timber, with several rows of bamboo spikes outside it. At each gateway was a block house, and others were built at suitable places on the roads along which enemies were expected to come, and were occupied whenever an attack was apprehended. Tradition speaks of villages of 3,000 houses, and, though this is probably an exaggeration, still from an examination of the sites it is evident that they must have been very large, and even when we occupied the country villages of 400 and 500 houses were not uncommon, and there were two or three of 800 houses.

Now that all fear of being raided has gone for ever, people no longer feel the need of living together in large communities, and the size of villages is steadily decreasing. The peculiar vagabond strain in the blood of the Kuki-Lushai race, if not controlled, leads to villages splitting into hamlets and hamlets sub-dividing, till in the Manipur Hills we find single houses in the midst of dense jungle, several miles from the next habitation. This could never happen among tribes belonging to the Naga group, with whom intense love for the ancestral village site is a leading characteristic. A short distance outside the village by the roadside there generally are several platforms of logs with posts round them adorned with skulls of animals, gourds, rags, and old pots. These are memorials of deceased heroes, and will be more fully dealt with later on.

The gate itself was composed either of two large slabs of timber, or of a number of stout saplings suspended from a cross bar by holes cut through their upper ends; during the day these were drawn aside, but at night they hung perpendicularly in the gateways and were firmly secured between two cross bars. Passing through the gate, one finds oneself in a sort of irregular street leading up to the highest point of the village, where there is generally an open space, from which other streets branch off. On one side of this space will be the chiefs house, with the “zawlbuk,” or bachelors’ hall, opposite it. The villages of powerful chiefs are beautifully laid out in regular streets which follow the natural features of the ground. When Colonel Lister in 1850 captured the village of Shentlang he was so impressed with the regularity with which the villages within sight were laid out that he was easily led to believe these were cantonments inhabited solely by warriors. If the village is a large one and contains a mixed population, it is divided into several quarters, or “veng,” which are generally inhabited by people of the same clan, and each will have its zawlbuk, a large building constructed by the united labour of the men of the veng or the village. As the mithan or gyal (tame bison) belonging to the village pass the night under the zawlbuk, it is generally built on rather a steep hillside, so that the natural fall of the ground may allow ample room for the animals under the raised floor and ensure good drainage. It is built, as are all other buildings in the village, of timber and bamboos, tied together with cane and thatched with either cane leaves or grass—if the former, then the ridge of the roof is straight and gable-ended; if the latter, it is far higher in the centre, whence it curves down somewhat abruptly to each gable. Access to the building is obtained by a platform of rough logs at the uphill end, where the front wall commences some 3½ feet above the platform. Having stooped under this wall you are confronted by a low matting partition, surmounted by a huge log, the whole some 3 feet high, over which you scramble and find yourself in a large bare room varying from 15 to 50 feet long and 15 to 30 feet wide, according to the size of the village, with a square earthen hearth in the centre on which a few logs are always smouldering, and at the far end is a raised sleeping platform extending the whole width of the building. The young boys of the village have to keep up the supply of firewood for the zawlbuk, this duty continuing till they reach the age of puberty, when they cease sleeping in their parents’ houses and join the young men in the zawlbuk. Until that time they are under the orders of the eldest or most influential boy, who is their “hotu,” or superintendent. The zawlbuk is the particular property of the unmarried men of the village, who gather there in the evening to sing songs, tell stories, and make jokes till it is time to visit their sweethearts, after which they return there for the rest of the night. Travellers not having any friends in the village use the zawlbuk as a rest-house, but eating and drinking are seldom, if ever, carried on there. The zawlbuk is an institution common to many tribes, but among the clans I am dealing with it is confined to the Lushei and the clans most nearly allied to them. Its appearance among the Chiru and Vaiphei emphasises the close connection between these clans and the Lusheis.

Zawlbuk, or Young Men’s House.

The houses all abut on the street, but small gardens are often found at the back, in which sugar cane, beans, cucumbers, &c., are grown. The houses of the chief’s advisers and wealthy men are generally grouped near his, but should the chief have more than one wife, or should he have some less fortunate relations dependent on him, their houses will be found scattered through the village, each forming a centre of a quarter or a veng, from the inhabitants of which the chief allows them to collect the dues, which are his by right.

The steepness of the hillside is no obstacle to house building, and frequently the roof of one house will be lower than the floor of the one immediately above it. The Lushais have been nomadic ever since their ancestors started on their western trek some 200 years ago. The method of cultivation which they follow is very wasteful, and a large village soon uses up all the land within reach, and then a move becomes imperative. Their custom of burying their dead within the village tends to make a site unhealthy, especially as the water supply is usually so situated as to receive the drainage of the village, and when the rate of mortality rises unduly high, a move is at once made. In old times these moves were often of considerable length—sometimes as much as two or three days’ journey—and sometimes a halt for a whole season would be made at some temporary site, the people living in huts alongside their cultivation. The selection of a new site is a matter of much thought, and before a final decision is arrived at, a deputation of elders is sent to sleep at the proposed site, taking with them a cock. If the bird crows lustily an hour before daybreak, as all good cocks should, the site is approved of. Sites of villages which have been burnt by enemies are eschewed as unlucky, and a chief when re-occupying a site of some other chief’s village generally tries to establish himself slightly to one side or other, in hopes that the new site will bear his name for many years.

As soon as the move has been decided on, arrangements are made for cutting the jhums near the new site, and during the rains all the workers live either in the jhum houses, or in temporary shelters built near the new site, to which, after the harvest, they laboriously carry all their belongings on their own backs, as they own no beasts of burden. These constant moves have had a great share in moulding the Lushai character, for when you have to carry all your worldly goods from your old to your new house every four or five years, it is not strange if you are disinclined to amass more than is absolutely necessary, and gradually become content with very little, and prefer ease and idleness to toiling in the hopes of being able to add to your worldly possessions. This I believe to be the explanation of the difference between the Lushai and the Chins, the latter being eager to earn money by work or trade, while the former far prefer to lie smoking in the sun.

4. Houses. The house of a commoner consists of three parts, the front verandah, approached by a rough platform of logs, the main room, and a small closet partitioned off at the far end, beyond which there will sometimes be a small bamboo platform. The verandah is termed “sum-hmun,” from the “sum,” or mortar in which the paddy is cleaned, which has its place here. On one side the careful housewife stacks her firewood, and the front wall of the house is the place on which the householder, if he is a sportsman, displays the skulls of the animals and birds he has slain; among them hang baskets in which the fowls lay, and even sit on their eggs, hatching out as numerous and as healthy broods as do the most pampered inhabitants of model poultry farms. The fowls spend the night in long tubular bamboo baskets, hung under the eaves, access to which is gained by climbing up an inclined stick from the front verandah. Hens with broods are shut up each night in special baskets with sliding doors.

From the verandah a small door, about 2½ feet by 4, with a very high sill, opens into the house. This door is placed at the side furthest from the hill, and consists of a panel of split bamboo work attached to a long bamboo which slides to and fro, resting in the groove between two other bamboos lashed on to the top of the sill, in which there is generally a small opening, with a swinging door, for use of the dogs and fowls when the big door is closed. Immediately inside the door, in one corner, are collected the hollow bamboo tubes which take the place of water pots; opposite will often be a large circular bamboo bin containing the household’s supply of paddy. Next to this is a sleeping platform, known as “kum-ai,” beyond which is the hearth of earth, in the centre of which three stones or pieces of iron are fixed, on which the cooking pot rests. The earth is kept in its place by three pieces of wood, that in front being a wide plank with the top carefully smoothed, which forms a favourite seat during cold weather. The earth is put in wet and well kneaded, and eventually becomes as hard as brick. Along the wall an earthen shelf serves the double purpose of keeping the fire from the wall and affording a resting place for the pots. Over the hearth are hung two bamboo shelves, one above the other, on which to-morrow’s supply of paddy is dried, and various odds and ends are stored. These shelves also serve to keep the sparks from reaching the roof. Beyond the fireplace is another sleeping place, called the “kum-pui”—i.e., big bed—which is reserved for the parents, while the young children and unmarried girls use the kum-ai; the bigger boys and young men, as has already been stated, sleeping in the zawlbuk. Beyond the kum-pui comes the partition dividing off the small recess used as a lumber room, and often as a closet. The beds and hearth are always on the side of the house nearest to the hillside, and do not usually extend quite to the centre, the rest of the floor being vacant, and, in order to avoid obstructing this, the posts which support the ridge are placed slanting, passing through the floor in line with the edge of the hearth. Along the wall opposite to the hearth are lashed two or more bamboos, forming convenient shelves, while a platform of the same useful plant is constructed from one cross beam to another. Forked sticks tied to the wall or to the uprights form hooks, and the large bamboos, wherever used, have openings cut in them which convert each joint into a tiny cupboard. At the far end of the house, opposite the front door, is a similar door opening on to a small platform, whence a notched log serves as a means of descending to the garden or the street. Many houses have bamboo platforms adjoining the front verandah, on which the women folk sit and do their weaving, while the young men lie at their ease and flirt with any girls who are good looking.

Komchak, or up-hill side.

Kawt, or street.

Komtlang, or down-hill side.

  • 1. Pawn-sut, Upright post.
  • 2. Sum-hmun sut, Upright post.
  • 3. Tap sut, Upright post.
  • 4. Banglai sut, Upright post.
  • 5. In-chār sut, Upright post.
  • a, Thingai, or Thing-kawm, Woodstack.
  • b, Sum-hmun, Mortar place. Verandah in which is the “sum” or mortar for cleaning rice.
  • c, Kum-ai, Sleeping platform for children.
  • d, Tap, Hearth.
  • e, Kum-pui, Big bed. Parents’ sleeping platform.
  • f, In-chār, Closet and lumber room.
  • g, Kum-pui lu, Head of big bed. The portion of the floor is known by this name.
  • h, Chhuar, A shelf level with the wall plate.
  • i, Chhuat. This portion of the floor is called by this name.
  • j, Tui-um huang, Water tube enclosure. A portion of the floor, unmatted, on which the bamboo tubes full of water are stood.
  • k, Kong-khar, Front door.
  • l, In-chār kong-khar, Back door.
  • m, Luka-pui, Big “luka,” The raised platform, for weaving, sitting, and drying things on.
  • n, Luka, Platform of logs approached by “kai-ten” or “kai-lawn,” a log ladder.

The houses of the chiefs are very similar to those of their subjects, only a good deal larger. Entering from the front verandah, the visitor finds himself in a passage running along one side of the house, off which open several small rooms inhabited by the married retainers; the other end of the passage opens into a large room with several sleeping platforms and sometimes two or more hearths, but otherwise similar to that above described. Beyond this is the usual closet, while beyond that is a wide verandah partially closed in, which is especially reserved for the chief’s family. These verandahs, called “bāzāh,” are forbidden to all except chiefs or wealthy persons who have given certain feasts. A similar prohibition exists regarding windows, which are one of the prerogatives of the “Thangchhuah,” as will be described in [Chapter IV, para 1]. Openings in the side of the house are viewed with suspicion, as likely to bring misfortune, and a most progressive chief told me he had refrained from making any but the authorised ones, in deference to the strong public feeling that the whole village would suffer for such an innovation.

The materials of which all the buildings are constructed are the same—viz., timber for uprights and cross beams, bamboos for the framework of the floor, walls, and roof, split bamboos for the floor, walls, and if cane leaves are used to cover the thatch; the whole being tied together with cane. The uprights consist of sections of hard wood trees, which are split longitudinally and left to season for as long as possible. The cross beams which rest on the wall plates appear to us unduly heavy, while the wall plates seem very weak. The Lushais claim that the weight of the cross beams gives the house stability in high winds. The broad bands of split bamboo laid on top of the cane leaf thatch from eave to eave, secured at intervals by longitudinal bamboos tied down with cane, give the roof a semi-circular appearance from the outside. When cane leaves cannot be obtained, thatching grass is used, but its extreme inflammability makes it unpopular. When cane leaves are used, holes for the passage of cane ties cannot be avoided, and beneath each of these a bamboo split in half is secured as a drain pipe to convey the drippings beyond the walls.

5. Furniture. Owing to their nomadic habits the Lushais have not much furniture. Even in the houses of powerful chiefs but little will be found but a few rough and low wooden stools, some wooden platters, some earthenware beer pots, strengthened by plaited cane coverings, some brass pots, and many baskets in which valuable or perishable articles are preserved. Property which can be safely buried is often concealed in this way, a custom which is fast dying out now that raids are things of the past.

6. Implements. Agricultural.—The Lushai’s cultivation being confined to cutting down the jungle, burning it, and dibbling in the seed among the ashes, he does not require many or elaborate implements and is content with a dao, an axe, and a hoe. The dao is a knife with a triangular blade, about 3 inches wide at the end and 1 inch or so at the handle. It is ground with a chisel edge, the broad end being also sharpened. This is used for clearing the jungle, and the broad end is used for grubbing the holes in which the seeds are placed. The axe heads are of iron only about 1½ inches wide at the edge, and taper almost to a point; the handles are simply pieces of bamboo, the heads being thrust through the tough root portion. The hoes very closely resemble the axes, the heads being a little lighter and broader.

Musical Instruments.—The commonest are gongs and drums, but a kind of mouth-organ known as “rotchem” and a fiddle made out of a piece of bamboo are sometimes used. The gongs are mostly imported from Burma, as much as Rs. 150/- being paid for large ones, but the most prized are sets of three small gongs, each with a separate note, on which three skilled performers can produce something resembling a tune. The drums are sections of trees hollowed out, the ends being covered with metna hide caps laced together. The rotchem, which is found in all Lushai-Kuki clans, consists of a gourd into which nine hollow reeds are inserted, one to serve as a mouthpiece; the others, which are of various lengths, have small holes cut in them. The performer blows into the mouthpiece, and, by closing and opening the holes with his fingers, he can produce various notes, but the music is dull and monotonous. The fiddle is a very rough affair, produced in a few minutes by loosening a strip of the outer skin of a bamboo, without detaching it at its ends, and raising it up and inserting a piece of stick to act as a bridge; the bow is made out of another piece of bamboo. The sound of a bugle is very cleverly imitated by blowing through several lengths of bamboo inserted one into the other.

Household Utensils.—Besides the articles enumerated under furniture, earthenware cooking pots and bamboo spoons complete the utensils used inside the house.

7. Manufactures. Basket Work.—This is chiefly carried on by men. The patterns are very numerous, each being adapted to some particular use. The material is generally bamboo. The “thul” is a basket with four short legs, about twelve inches square at the bottom, widening till the mouth is a circle with a diameter of about thirty inches; this basket is supplied with a conical lid and is chiefly used to keep valuables in. The outer layer is of finely split bamboo closely woven, and this is lined with broad leaves well dried, which are held in their place by an inner layer of bamboo more loosely woven. These baskets are quite waterproof.

For carrying goods there are the “deron,” a truncated cone 30 to 36 inches long with a diameter at its mouth of about 24 inches, holding about 50 lbs. of paddy; the “em,” similar to the deron, but about half the size. The “bomrang,” an open-work basket with an oval mouth, 15 inches by 12, is used for carrying goods on long journeys. The “paikawng” similar in shape to the em, but with open-work sides, is for conveyance of wood, water tubes, &c. There are also several sorts of flat baskets for holding grain, each with its particular name. The containing power of these is approximately constant, and they are used as measures of quantity.

Pottery.—The women make clay pots, moulding them by hand. There are only two kinds in use—a small circular pot with a mouth some 6 to 8 inches in diameter, used for cooking, and a large jar, about 24 inches high and 15 inches in diameter, tapering to about 9 inches at the mouth, which is used for brewing beer in.

Brass Work.—Occasionally one comes across rough specimens of moulding in this metal, which show considerable if untrained talent, but they are very rare, and I attribute them to captives taken from the plains of India or Burma, or to persons who have learnt from them. The method followed is to make a model in wax and cover it with successive washes of clay till a sufficient thickness is obtained, the whole then being baked till the clay is hard, and the wax has all run out through a hole left for this purpose. Into this mould the molten brass is then poured. The commonest use of this work is for the semi-circular tube required to connect the two arms of the syphons used in drawing off the rice beer. These tubes are sometimes surmounted by quite elaborate designs, a hunter approaching his quarry, a tree with many hornbills perched among the boughs, and on one which I bought are represented Vutaia and his “kawnbawl,” or minister, with leg irons on. The latter carries on his shoulder an elephant’s tusk, which formed part of the ransom of his master, who, in the ups and downs of the troublous times in which he lived, had been captured by the Kamhaus.

Iron Work.—The blacksmith is one of the village officials described in [Chapter III, para. 2]. The forge is placed in the middle of the widest street to lessen the risk of fire; it is only a rough shed with a log platform in front, which is as favourite a resort for loafers as is the forge door in England. The bellows consist of two hollow wooden cylinders in which pistons fringed with feathers are worked up and down. The lower ends of the cylinders are buried in the ground, side by side, and from them two bamboo tubes converge, meeting just behind a stone through which there is a hole; the charcoal fire is placed in front of this stone, and when the pistons are worked smartly a very strong draught is obtained. The blacksmith does little more than make and repair the simple agricultural implements of the village, but I have heard rumours of some who are capable of making gun locks. I think the form of bellows and the art of working iron have been introduced by captives, as the same type of bellows is found in the adjoining plains.

Cloth Manufacture.—Cotton is grown in the jhums. It is cleaned in a home-made gin, consisting of a frame holding two wooden rollers, one end of each being carved for a few inches of its length into a screw, grooved in the opposite way to the other, so that on the handle being turned the rollers revolve in opposite directions, and the cotton is drawn between them, the seeds being left behind. The cotton is then worked by hand into rolls a few inches long, whence it is spun into the spindle of a rough spinning wheel, or occasionally a bobbin is used, which, being given a sharp twist, draws the cotton into a thread by its own weight. This method admits of diligent ones spinning as they go to and from their jhums. The thread having been spun, it is thoroughly wetted and then hung in loops some three or four feet long over a horizontal bar, and stretched by several heavy bars being suspended in these loops.

Weaving.—The warp is prepared by passing the thread round two smooth pieces of wood, one of which is fastened to two uprights, while the ends of the other are attached to the ends of a broad leather band, which passes behind the back of the weaver as she sits on the ground and, by leaning back, stretches the threads to the requisite degree of tightness. The woof is formed by passing to and fro bamboos round which are wound different coloured threads, which are beaten home with a well polished batten made of the sago palm.

A very serviceable form of quilt called “puanpui” is made by passing round every fourth or fifth thread of the warp a small roll of raw cotton and drawing both ends up. A row of these cotton rolls is put in after every fourth or fifth thread of the woof, so that on one side the quilt is composed of closely placed tufts of cotton.

Dyeing.—The commonest dye is obtained by boiling the leaves of the Assam indigo (Strobilanthes flaccidifolia). Many immersions are required to render the colour permanent, and as the plant, which is cultivated near the villages or in the gardens, does not grow luxuriantly, it is seldom possible to obtain enough leaves in any one year for more than two immersions, so that the whole process may take two or three years.

Several red and yellow dyes are known, but they are little used, and most of the thread, excepting the blue and white, is obtained from the bazars.

Ornamentation.—Cloths are ornamented almost entirely by lines of different colours. White cloths have blue and red stripes down the centre and sometimes one transversely about a foot from either end. Coloured cloths are mainly blue, with stripes of red, yellow, and green. Zigzags are not uncommon, and short lengths of this pattern are placed haphazard on cloths and coats. The stems of women’s pipes are ornamented with spirals and coils.

8. Domestic animals. The most valued animal is the mithan; these tame bison wander all day at will in the jungle round the village and towards dusk return spontaneously, each animal going to its owner’s house, round which it loiters till it receives a little salt, after which it joins the rest of the herd under the zawlbuk. The animals are only used for slaughter. They interbreed freely with the wild mithan, and the hybrids are, I believe, not sterile. The other domestic animals are pigs, goats, fowls, and dogs. The pigs are the scavengers of the village, but are generously fed on a species of arum and rice husks boiled together. The fowls are of a small breed; pure white, brown, and black are the commonest colours, but there is also a handsome spangled breed. The dogs have bushy tails, which curl tightly. Dogs are eaten freely, but their chief value is derived from the demand for sacrificial purposes. The goats are splendid animals with long silky hair and very large horns.

9. Agriculture. The only form of agriculture practised is that known to us generally as jhuming, and it consists in felling a piece of jungle and when it has completely dried setting fire to it. The ground is thus cleared and manured by the ashes at the same time. Timber which is not entirely burnt is dragged to the side of the plot and made into a rough fence to keep deer out. The surface of the jhum is lightly hoed over and then there is nothing more to be done till the gathering clouds warn the cultivator that the rains are about to break, then everyone sallies out, each with a small basket of seeds slung over one shoulder and the square-ended dao in hand. Line is formed at the lower end of the clearing, and the whole family proceeds slowly upwards, dibbling shallow holes with their daos and dropping into each a few seeds. It is considered very lucky to get well soaked while sowing. The chief crop is rice, but the maize, ripening as it does in August, is eagerly looked for by the improvident Lushais who have probably used up more rice than was prudent in the manufacture of beer. The rice does not ripen till November or December, though a little early rice is grown which ripens in September. Between the sowing and the end of the rains in October the crop requires constant weeding, a duty which falls on the women folk if the family contains enough of them. In each clearing a small house is built, well raised off the ground, in which the cultivators stay during the time the work is heaviest. The other crops grown are millet, Job’s tears, peas, and beans. Tobacco and cotton are also grown for home consumption. The rice is cut very high as the straw has no value. It is threshed on a piece of ground specially levelled near the jhum house. Threshing is done in two or three ways. The ears are thrown on to the threshing floor and trodden out by persons dancing on them, or are beaten with sticks till the grains have all fallen out. Both these methods are rather wasteful, and a better one, which is much used in the northern part of the hills, is to construct a platform about 7 or 8 feet from the ground on which a circular bamboo bin is fixed, into which the ears of rice are thrown and a young man with a girl as a companion dance merrily among them, singing all the while, the split end of the bamboos of which the platform is made keeping up a cheerful clatter. The grain is quickly separated from the ear and falls in a golden cone on to the threshing floor, whence it can be easily collected and stored in large round bins in the jhum houses or in specially built granaries in some sheltered nook at a convenient distance from the village.

A Rest by the Way—on the Way to the Jhums. Lushais and Pois.

Photo by Lt.-Colonel H. G. M. Cole, I. A.

LUSHAIS THRESHING RICE

Jhuming is certainly a very wasteful method of cultivation, as seldom more than two crops are taken off the same piece of land, which is then allowed to lie fallow till it has again become covered with jungle, which will take three or four years in the case of bamboo, and seven to ten if the jungle be trees. Tree land is said to give better crops, but the labour of felling is greater than in the case of bamboo and more weeding is required, and if the land is jhumed too frequently the trees give place to coarse grass, which the Lushais refuse to jhum, whereas bamboos only grow thicker for cutting.

10. Hunting and fishing. All the hill men are very fond of fresh meat, and are clever at trapping game. Long lines of rough fencing are run through the jungle, with small openings at intervals, in which snares are set. Pheasants, jungle fowl, &c., coming to one of these fences will always run along it till an opening is found, and thus get snared. Porcupines are killed by a bamboo spear fastened to a sapling bent back like a spring alongside a run and so arranged that it shall be released just as the animal is opposite the spear point. Tigers are caught under a platform of heavy logs, which is supported in an inclined position by a strong cane passed over a cross piece held up by two uprights. In a hole under this platform is placed a pig in a basket; on the tiger pulling at the basket the heavy platform falls and squashes him, while the pig, being in a hole, escapes. Deer, wild cats, &c., are caught in snares, a noose being arranged so that on the animal’s stepping in it a sapling to which the noose is attached, and which is held down in a bent position, is released, thus hoisting the animal up into the air. The method of releasing the bent sapling or causing the platform to fall is in all cases the same. Two uprights are driven into the ground and a bar securely tied across near their tops. The string or rope which supports the platform or keeps the sapling in a bent position has a wooden toggle tied to it. The string is drawn between the uprights and one end of the toggle is hitched under the bar and the other end drawn down between the uprights until it is perpendicular, in which position it is held by a movable piece of wood being slipped across the uprights, just behind its lower end. In this position the pull of the string is on the upper cross bar, and a very slight touch will remove the lower one and set the toggle free; then up goes the string and down comes the platform or the noose is tightened. The removal of the lower bar is achieved in several ways. The bait or one end of a string stretched across the run may be tied to it, or it may be made to support one end of a tiny platform, on which the unwary quarry treads as it passes.

Pitfalls constructed in former times for the capture of elephants are found all over the hills, generally on a narrow ridge between precipices. To catch monkeys some rice is placed on a small platform at the end of a partially severed bamboo standing at a right angle to the hillside. The monkey, attracted by the rice, springs on to the platform and is precipitated on to a number of bamboo spikes which have been stuck in the ground beneath it. The same device with suitable alterations is sometimes employed to destroy tigers and bears.

The Lushai is also very fond of shooting, and with his old flintlock accounts each year for a good number of bears and tigers. If a village is much troubled by a tiger systematically waylaying its livestock, a general hunt is ordered, guns are borrowed from the neighbours, and the tiger, having been tracked into a piece of jungle, is approached by a shouting mob, from which he flies. Every effort of his to turn from the path selected for him is defeated by well posted crowds, who turn him back with shouts and beating of drums, till, wearied out, he comes to bay and falls a victim to a volley from all the guns present, but before he dies he has often severely mauled several of his tormentors.

Large hunting parties make lengthy expeditions into the uninhabited parts in search of elephants and wild mithan. To kill an elephant with their flintlocks is not an easy task. A volley is fired at the selected animal, which is then followed for days, being fired at when an opportunity occurs, till it falls from sheer exhaustion. The following graphic account of an unsuccessful hunt was written for me by a Lushai. The Kongpuishiam and funeral ceremonies will be described in the proper place further on.

“When Hmongphunga’s village was at Kanghmun, they intended to go out shooting. They performed the Kongpuishiam ceremony; they placed the ashes in the middle of the road. Early next day they went and looked at them, and in the ashes they saw the footmarks of a tiger, an elephant, and a man. They started on the hunting expedition, carrying plenty of rice with them. They certainly found the elephants and fired a volley at one of them. One of the party was called Hrangkunga. The elephant ran away. They found it in a narrow ravine. Hrangkunga was about to shoot at it from above when the earth gave way and he rolled down close to the elephant, which picked him up and carried him to a level place close by, and threw him down and trampled on him and broke up his gun and powder horn. His friends fired at the animal, and it went off; they could not kill it. When the elephant had gone they took up Hrankunga and buried him close by in the jungle, and set out for their village, near which they shot a tiger. When the people in the village heard of their approach they came out to meet them with ‘zu.’ The hunters wrapped up grass and leaves in a cloth to represent the corpse of their friend. Outside the village they fired guns and put down the effigy, which was buried by the elders of the village. Shortly after this they went out shooting again, and after going some way they saw Hrangkunga’s ghost on the branch of a tree and were very frightened, and went home.”

Fishing is carried on with the ordinary casting net, and fish are sometimes killed with spears or daos by torchlight, but most reliance is placed on the “ngoi.” This is a weir built of timber and bamboos reinforced with stones, which stretches from side to side of the river. At one side an opening is left through which the water rushes with great force into a long bamboo shoot, which curves slightly upwards and ends in a deep receptacle, also of bamboo. The fish are carried into this by the force of the water which escapes between the bamboos, and are unable to leap out. Close by is placed a hut, well raised off the ground, in which the fishermen live for several days at a time and smoke the catch. Any chance openings in the weir are closed with conical baskets which detain small fish, prawns, &c. These weirs are constructed by the united labour of the whole village, and any villager can make use of them, but he has to pay a toll in kind to the chief. Certain spots are peculiarly adapted for these weirs, and each is by prescriptive right the property of the village occupying a certain site in the vicinity, any infringement of which will lead to a serious quarrel.

Deep pools in the smaller streams are sometimes poisoned by having a decoction of a certain herb called “kokur” or of a bark called “ru” poured into them. This stupefies the fish, which float to the surface and are easily captured. The mixture is said to be harmless to human beings or cattle.

11. Food and drink. The Lushai when speaking of food always means rice. Though he is fond of meat and likes vegetables and seasonings, he only considers them as a garnish to his rice. When a mithan is killed to feast the village, the flesh is boiled in earthen pots in the street and the contents emptied out on to plantain leaves, whence the feasters help themselves with their fingers, washing down the savoury morsels with the water in which they have been boiled, but this banquet in no way takes the place of the regular meal of rice.

Flesh of all animals is eaten, and is not objected to even when considerably decomposed. The flesh of leopards and tigers is only eaten by children, but in spite of many enquiries I have been unable to ascertain why adults abstain from this article of diet. Rats of the white-bellied variety are considered a luxury. Dogs, especially puppies, are a favourite dish. Next to rice, maize may be considered the most important staple. It is eaten boiled, never being ground into flour. Besides the grains and herbs which he grows in his jhums, the Lushai finds many edible roots and herbs in the jungle. The young shoots of the bamboo are by no means unpleasant eating, and a salad of those of the sago palm is quite a luxury, while the pith of the latter is much eaten in times of scarcity. When a large animal has been killed at any distance from the village the flesh is cut into strips and dried over a slow fire, after which it remains edible, according to Lushai ideas, for a very long time. Boiling is the only culinary art known.

As regards his drink, the Lushai has very simple tastes. With his meals he drinks nothing but the water in which the food has been boiled, which he sips sparingly, washing the meal down with a draught of cold water. Intoxicating drinks he only takes when he has full leisure to enjoy them and in company with a party of friends.

There are two kinds of such drinks, both home-made, from rice. The commonest is known as “zu,” and is a simple partially fermented drink; the other, called “rakzu” or “zuthak,” is distilled. This is very seldom used, being only made on special occasions. The still is a very simple contrivance, generally consisting of an earthenware pot on the top of which a gourd is fixed securely, the joint being made airtight with rags and clay; through the top of the gourd is passed a bamboo which is swathed in rags which are kept wet so as to condense the vapour from the pot. Zu is a very important article with these people. It is required for the due observance of every ceremony; a child’s birth is an occasion for entertaining its relations, no marriage can be celebrated without the consumption of zu, while after his death a Lushai’s friends and relatives drown their sorrow in all the zu they can obtain.

Has a demon to be propitiated, the return of a raiding or hunting party to be celebrated or a friend to be welcomed, in every case zu is indispensable.

Good zu takes some time to prepare. After being well bruised, paddy is damped and packed away in several layers of leaves and kept for some months—the longer the better. When the zu has to be brewed the bundles are opened and the contents placed in a large earthen jar and well pressed down, with a layer of leaves on top, and the jar filled up with water. After standing a few minutes the liquor is drawn off by a syphon into a brass or wooden bowl, out of which it is handed round to the guests in horns or small bamboos. The principal guest is served first, and as he tosses off the cup he names the one in whose honour he drinks, who in duty bound must drink next, naming another to follow him. While the important personages are thus ceremoniously entertaining each other the rank and file sitting round in a circle are each in turn receiving a brimming horn full. As the supply in the jar gets low, more water is added, so that the quality of the liquor steadily deteriorates. Occasionally, instead of drawing off the zu, a tube is inserted and each toper in turn sucks up his allowance, the appearance of the top of a peg, inserted in the layer of leaves, giving him a hint when to leave off.

Should the zu not have been kept long enough, a cake of yeast prepared from rice may be required to start fermentation. Well prepared zu is by no means an unpalatable drink. It contains much nourishment, and Savunga, one of our opponents in the 1871–72 expedition, whom I found still living in 1898, was said to have taken little else during the last two years of his life. The drink naturally varies much in strength, but even at its strongest it is not very intoxicating, and it has not the exciting effect which the drink brewed from maize and millet seems to have on the eastern tribes, among whom violent crimes, committed during drinking bouts, are very common.

12. Amusements. The songs which the folk seem never tired of singing are slow, solemn dirges sung by the whole party to the accompaniment of a drum or gong, and are generally in praise of some former home of the tribe or some departed hero.

The dances also are very slow and monotonous. A single male performer enters the circle of drinkers and postures slowly, keeping time to the drum or gong. There are one or two exceptions, such as the dances in which the performer imitates a monkey or a bird, but generally speaking they are most uninteresting.

The men are fond of putting the weight; the stone used is a light one weighing 10 to 12 lbs. and the thrower is allowed to follow on as much as he likes. Jumping and running races are never indulged in, and, though I have often prevailed on the young men to try, the results were always very poor.

The Lushais are very badly off for games. Girls play a game with a large, flat bean, called “koi.” The players divide into two parties, each in turn placing their kois in a row on the ground to serve as a target for those of the other party, which are held between the thumb and first finger of the left hand and propelled by the middle finger of the right. Should the target not be struck the first time, each firer goes to where her koi lies and again aims at the target, but this time the missile has to be propelled in another manner. Sometimes it is placed between the knees and jerked forward by a sharp jump, or it is balanced on the cheek or forehead and then projected by a jerk of the head, or it may be balanced on the instep and kicked towards the mark. This game is played among the Manipuris, who call it “Kang sanaba.” The koi bean of the Lushai is called “kang” by the Manipuris, but the latter now usually use round discs of ivory instead of the natural bean.

A game played by both sexes is “Vai lung thlān.”[1]

The players sit on the ground on opposite sides of two parallel rows of shallow holes. In each row there are six holes and in each hole five small stones are placed. Each player in turn picks up all the stones in any hole in the row nearest him and, commencing from the hole next on the left, drops one in each hole along his row and then back along that of his opponent. If at the end of a turn one or more of the holes last dropped into is found to contain only one stone, the player removes these single stones and places them aside. The game continues till all the stones have been thus removed, and the winner is he who has taken most. Counting the stones in the hole before removing them is not allowed, and considerable skill is required to judge accurately the number of stones, so as to select a hole containing the number of stones which when distributed will leave the maximum number of holes with single stones in them. This game, under the name of “Mancala Bao” and “Warri,” is played by the Negroes in many parts of Africa, but on elaborately carved boards.

Boys and young men are very proficient with the pellet bow, and many a bird and squirrel falls victim to the sun-dried pellets shot from their bamboo bows, with strings of cane. The other amusements of the children consist chiefly in imitating their elders, the building of model houses forming a favourite pastime. Swinging is also popular, the swing consisting of a creeper suspended from the branch of a tree or from two poles stuck in the ground and tied together at the top. The swinger holds on to the end of the creeper, or places one leg through a loop, or sits astride a big knot tied at the end of it.

[1] Lung = stone; thlān = grave; “vai” may mean “foreign” or be short for “vai phei,” the name of an old Kuki clan. [↑]

CHAPTER III

LAWS AND CUSTOMS

1. Internal structure. The population of a village ruled by a Thangur chief at the present time is composed of representatives of many tribes and clans, which have all more or less adopted the language and customs of their rulers. I have already described the rise of the Thangurs and the process by which they either ejected or absorbed into their communities the other inhabitants of the country.

Our arrival in the country put a stop in certain cases to this process of absorption. For instance, many chiefs held considerable numbers of Paihte or Vuite and Khawtlang in a species of semi-slavery. These were captives or descendants of captives made in war, and nearly all have availed themselves of the Pax Britannica to return to their own people. Again, we found certain villages ruled over by non-Lushei chiefs, who were living under the protection of powerful Lushei chiefs. In the process of pacification these non-Lushei chiefs regained their independence and have gathered round them many of their clansmen, who formerly were scattered among the Lushei villages, and who, if we may judge by what has undoubtedly happened in other cases, would in a short time have become completely absorbed. Inquiries lasting over many years have convinced me that these clans are little more than enlarged families. In most cases the dialects of the minor clans have been entirely forgotten, and the only differences remaining are the manner of performing the “sakhua” or domestic sacrifice, the position occupied by the corpse at the funeral feast, and such other minor points.

A stranger might live for a long time in a Lushai village without knowing that such divisions existed. Every clan is further subdivided into families and branches. Thus the Lushei clan has several families. One of these is the Thangur, and the Thangur family has six branches—Rokum, Zādeng, Rivung, Thangluah, Pallian, and Sailo—but none of these branches has any further sub-division, though the descendants of certain powerful chiefs are sometimes collectively spoken of by their ancestor’s name, showing how these clan, family, and branch names have arisen.

During the census of 1901 an unsuccessful attempt was made to get a complete list of the clan families and branches. The causes of the failure were the ignorance of the people themselves as to what clan or family they belonged to and the tendency to claim to be true Lushais.

Everyone knew the name of the branch to which he belonged, and as a rule the family name would be correctly given, but in many cases the clan name was altogether omitted, or Lushei was entered against families which had no real claim to that distinction.

An old Lushai once asked me why I was troubling myself about family and branch names, and on my explaining that I hoped to make a complete list of them he muttered, “Can you count the grains in that basket of rice?” and turned from me to the zu-pot.

As a sample of the constitution of a clan I give in the Appendix a list of all the families and branches of the Lushei clan.

My enquiries lead me to believe that practically all the clan and a great many of the family and branch names are eponyms. In some cases the name of a village site has been given to its inhabitants, first probably by outsiders and eventually adopted by the people themselves, but even in these cases as often as not enquiry will show that the village site was first named after some famous chief who lived there.

Before the Thangur chiefs had risen to their present predominant position there were many consanguineous communities scattered over the hills, living under headmen of their own and each using a dialect of its own. Some of these communities appear to have had separate corporate existence for long periods and in consequence to have been sub-divided into many families and branches, while others were quickly absorbed by the Thangur and consequently have few sub-divisions.

I have been accused of deriving “Lushei” from “lu,” head, and “shei,” long. If in the salad days of my sojourn among these folks I was ever guilty of this folly, I hereby publicly repudiate it. There is no doubt that Lushei, in common with the other clan names, is an eponym.

A versatile and imaginative writer has recently derived “Sailo,” the name of the branch of the Lushai clan to which the present chiefs belong, from “sai” elephant, and “lo,” a jhum, alleging that because the elephant is the biggest animal, therefore “Sailo” means the biggest jhum and that the name refers to the excellence of the jhum land between Burkhal and the source of the Kornaphuli river, where he says the Sailos formerly lived. There are some objections to this theory; to begin with, the Lushais never use “sai” as a prefix meaning greatness, and secondly half the area mentioned was never inhabited by Sailo chiefs, and thirdly only a small and little considered branch of the great Sailo family ever entered this land of fatness and not till long after the family name had been generally accepted; further the name of the common ancestor of all the Sailo chiefs is known to have been Sailova, which is a common name still in the family.

2. Tribal organisation of the Lushais. Among the Lushais, each village is a separate State, ruled over by its own “lāl” or chief. Each son of a chief, as he attained a marriageable age, was provided with a wife at his father’s expense, and given a certain number of households from his father’s village and sent forth to a village of his own. Henceforth he ruled as an independent chief, and his success or failure depended on his own talents for ruling. He paid no tribute to his father, but was expected to help him in his quarrels with neighbouring chiefs; but when fathers lived long it was not unusual to find their sons disowning even this amount of subordination. The youngest son remained in his father’s village and succeeded not only to the village, but also to all the property.

Our rule has tended to increase the independence of the young chiefs; for in former days, when might was right, it behoved a son to follow the advice of his father, or the latter’s help might not be forthcoming when danger threatened.

The chief was, in theory at least, a despot; but the nomadic instinct of the people is so strong that any chief whose rule was unduly harsh soon found his subjects leaving him, and he was therefore constrained to govern according to custom.

To assist him each chief appoints one or more elderly men, known as “upa.” These form a sort of council which discusses all matters connected with the village, and decides all disputes between people of the village, for which they receive fees termed “salām” from the party who loses the case. These fees are their only remuneration. The chief presides over this council, which is generally held of an evening in the chief’s house, while the zu horn circulates briskly. The chief receives a portion of each fine levied, a practice found to prevent undue leniency.

Besides the upas the chief appoints the following village officials—“rāmhual” and “tlangau.” The former, of whom there may be several, are advisers as to where the jhums shall be cut, and are allowed first choice of land for the purpose, but have to give the chief five to seven baskets of paddy instead of two, which is the portion due from other subjects.

The tlangau is the crier, whose high-pitched voice is heard after dark, when every good householder is at home, proclaiming the chief’s orders.

He also arranges how the work of the village is to be divided, who are to go and make a road, who are to repair the zawlbuk, &c.

In return for his labours he receives a small basket of rice from each house in the village.

Besides the rāmhual and the tlangau, no village is complete without at least one “thirdeng,” or blacksmith, and a “puithiam,” or sorcerer. The former receives one basket of rice from each householder whose tools he repairs; the latter receives the same amount from each householder for whom he performs the sacrifices connected with his cultivation.

ZATAIA, SAILO CHIEF AND FAMILY

The chief receives one hind leg of every wild animal shot by any of his men, and when the killing of elephants was allowed he took one of the tusks if his villagers were lucky enough to slay one of those animals.

The villagers build the house of their ruler, and formerly they also cut his jhum, but I regret to say that nowadays they have ceased doing so, and this is an unsatisfactory sign of how, without any desire on our part to do so, our rule has weakened the authority of the chiefs.

The chief held rather an anomalous position. Nominally he was a despot—I am speaking now of the state of things which existed prior to our occupation of the Hills—but in reality his power was very much circumscribed, and his subjects could so easily transfer their allegiance to some rival chief, who would probably be willing, for a consideration, to champion the cause of his last recruit, that every ruler had to use tact as well as force. In fact the amount of power he wielded depended almost entirely on the personal influence of the chief. A strong ruler, who governed mainly according to custom, could do almost anything he liked without losing his followers, but a weak man who tried petty tyrannies soon found himself a king without any subjects.

The chiefs naturally tried their best to stop people leaving their villages, and it was customary to confiscate the paddy of any person who left the village without permission, but leave was seldom refused if the emigrant intended moving to the village of a friendly chief; and if the fugitive took refuge with a more powerful ruler it was extremely likely that a demand for the prompt surrender of all his property would be made with such a show of force that it could not be ignored.

I add here two extracts from Colonel Lewin’s book, “The Hill Tracts of Chittagong and the Dwellers Therein,” page 100.

“The village system among the Kookis, i.e. (Lushais) is best described as a series of petty states, each under a Dictator or President. To illustrate the position of the chief or President I may mention that in 1866, when on a visit to the village of one of the leading chiefs among the Looshai, I was standing talking with him in the path that ran through the village. While we were thus standing a drunken Looshai came stumbling along, and finding us somewhat in the way, he seized the chief by the neck and shoved him off the path, asking why he stopped the road. On my asking the chief for an explanation of such disrespect being permitted, he replied, ‘On the war-path or in the council I am chief, and my words are obeyed; behaviour like that would be punished by death. Here, in the village, that drunkard is my fellow and equal.’ In like manner any presents given to the chief are common property. His people walk off with them, saying: ‘He is a big man, and will get lots more given to him. Who will give to us if he does not?’ On the other hand, all that is in his village belongs to the chief; he can and does call upon people to furnish him with everything that he requires.

“To collect his people, or in fact to authenticate any order, the chief’s spear, which is usually carved and ornamented, is sent by a messenger from village to village. Should the message be a hostile one, the messenger carries a fighting dao, to which a piece of red cloth is attached. Another method is by the ‘phuroi,’ which is a species of wand made out of strips of peeled bamboo, about eight inches long, in this shape (†). If the tips of the cross pieces be broken, a demand for blackmail is indicated, a rupee to be levied for each break. If the end of one of the cross pieces is charred, it implies urgency, and that the people are to come even by torch light. If a capsicum be fixed on to the ‘phuroi,’ it signifies that disobedience to the order will meet with punishment as severe as the capsicum is hot. If the cross piece is of cane, it means that disobedience will entail corporal punishment.”

The “Boi” Custom.—Among the Thados and Chins real slavery used to exist, and men and women were sold like cattle. Among the Lushais this has never been the case, but there is a class known as “boi” who have been miscalled slaves by those ignorant of their real condition.

Among the Lushais no one but a chief can have boi, who are divided into the following classes:—