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History of Mizoram
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History of Mizoram
The history of Mizoram, which lies in the southernmost part of northeast India, encompasses several ethnic groups of Chin people who migrated from Chin State of Burma. Information about patterns of westward migration are based on oral history and archaeological inferences. The recorded history started relatively recently, around the mid-19th century when the adjoining regions were occupied by the British monarchy. Following religious, political and cultural revolutions in the mid-20th century, a majority of the people agglomerated into a super tribe, Mizo. Hence the officially recognised settlement of the Mizos became Mizoram.
The earliest documented records of Mizoram were from British military officers in the 1850s, when they encountered a series of raids in their official jurisdiction in Chittagong Hill Tracts from the neighbouring natives. By then they referred to the land as Lushai Hills. As a consequence of relentless tribal encroachment which often resulted in deaths, the British subjugated the tribal chiefdoms. Punitive British military expeditions in 1871 and 1889 forced the annexation of the entire Lushai Hills. After the Indian independence from British Empire in 1947, the land became Lushai Hills district under the Government of Assam. In 1972 the district was declared a union territory and was given the more culturally inclusive name Mizoram. Ultimately Mizoram became a full-fledged federal state of India in 1986.
The ancestors of Mizos were without any form of written language before the advent of British. They were anthropologically identified as members of the Tibeto-Burman ethnicity. Folk legends unanimously claim that there was Chhinlung or Sinlung at the cradle of the Mizos. Oral history provided contrasting accounts on the origin.
Speculated to be in around the 5th century they settled in the Shan State after having overcome the resistance put up by the indigenous people. They thrived in Shan state for about 300 years before they moved on the Kabaw Valley around the 8th century. It was in the Kabaw Valley that Mizos had cultural influence with the local Burmese. It is conceivable that the Mizos learned the technique of cultivation from the Burmese at Kabaw as many of their agricultural implements bore the prefix Kawl, a name given by the Mizos to the Burmese.
Khampat (now in Myanmar) was known to have been the next Mizo settlement. They are said to have planted a banyan tree before they left Khampat as a sign that the town was made by them. In the early 14th century, they moved westward to Indo-Burmese border. They built villages and called them by their clan names such as Seipui, Saihmun and Bochung. The hills and difficult terrains of Chin Hills forced division into several villages and ethnic diaspora arose.
The earliest Mizo people to enter India were known as Kukis, the second batch of Mizo immigrants were called New Kukis. The Lushais were the last of the Mizo tribes to migrate to the Lushai Hills in India. By the time they crossed the Tiau River bordering Myanmar, the descendants of Zahmuaka, who came to be known as the ruling Sailo clan, had proven their mettle as able and assertive chiefs. The traditional system of village administration, too, had been perfected. As the head of the village, the Chief or Lal allocated lands for cultivation, settled all disputes in the villages, fed and cared for the poor and offered shelter to anyone seeking refuge. The Mizo history in the 18th and 19th centuries is marked by many instances of tribal raids and retaliatory expeditions.
By the mid-19th century British Empire had occupied all the surrounding Chittagong and Burma but had little or no interest in the tribes or their hilly land. They were merely mentioned in passing as "irreclaimable savages". The tribals then lived in small and isolated clusters of chiefdoms, sometimes raising warfare against another. Their religious lives were dominated by paganism and they led an animistic world view, with a unique concept of afterlife called Pialral. They practised elaborate rituals including animal sacrifice, and worshipped or feared almost all conceivable inanimate objects, diseases and unusual natural phenomena. The first Lushai (the British misnomer for Lusei) raid recorded in British governed Assam was in 1826. From that year to 1850 the local officers were unable to restrain the fierce attacks of the hillmen on the south. Raids and outrages were of yearly occurrence, and on one occasion the Magistrate of Sylhet reported a series of massacres by "Kookies" in what was alleged to be British territory, in which 150 persons had been killed. The raid was most severe in 1871 when a series of attacks caused several deaths on both sides, with extensive damage on the plantations. A number of workers and soldiers were taken prisoners, and among them a six-year-old Mary Winchester. Mary Winchester was taken as hostage by Bengkhuaia warriors, while other prisoners were executed on the way.
To retaliate the British military organised punitive expedition named Lushai Expedition in 1871–1872. The campaign consisted two columns, the right advancing from Chittagong and the left from Cachar. General Brownlow, C.B., commanded the former, with Captain T.H. Lewin, Superintendent of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, as Civil Officer. The Cachar column was led by General Bourchier, C.B., with Mr. Edgar, Deputy Commissioner, Cachar, as Civil Officer. In addition, a contingent of Manipuris accompanied by Colonel James Nuttall, the Political Agent of Manipur, made a demonstration across the southern border to co-operate with General Bourchier's portion of the expedition. The expedition started on 15 December 1871. The Mizo villages were crushed one by one, and Mary Winchester was rescued. Mizo chiefs made a truce not to make further attacks. Frontier posts were built to protect the border and bazaars were opened to encourage the Lushais to trade. After a decade the truce was broken, and there erupted intermittent raids again. In 1889 British military organised another punitive expedition code named "The Expedition of 1889". It was commanded b Col. F.V.C. Tregear. From their camping site at Chawngte they started on 19 December 1888. They easily penetrated the southern villages with little resistance. They fortified at Lunglei and prepared locations and roads for the next expedition. After their completing their mission, they returned in April 1889. Then the major campaign called The Chin-Lushai Expedition 1889-90 immediately followed. Again divided into two columns, Chittagong column was commanded by Col. Tregear, and Cachar column by W.W. Daly. The Chittagong column occupied most of the southern region including Chin Hills by the end of 1889. The Cachar column camped at Aijal (now Aizawl) on 30 January 1890. They subjugated all the major chiefdoms, captured the chiefs and got permanently fortified in Aizawl and Lunglei, as the administrative centres.
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History of Mizoram
The history of Mizoram, which lies in the southernmost part of northeast India, encompasses several ethnic groups of Chin people who migrated from Chin State of Burma. Information about patterns of westward migration are based on oral history and archaeological inferences. The recorded history started relatively recently, around the mid-19th century when the adjoining regions were occupied by the British monarchy. Following religious, political and cultural revolutions in the mid-20th century, a majority of the people agglomerated into a super tribe, Mizo. Hence the officially recognised settlement of the Mizos became Mizoram.
The earliest documented records of Mizoram were from British military officers in the 1850s, when they encountered a series of raids in their official jurisdiction in Chittagong Hill Tracts from the neighbouring natives. By then they referred to the land as Lushai Hills. As a consequence of relentless tribal encroachment which often resulted in deaths, the British subjugated the tribal chiefdoms. Punitive British military expeditions in 1871 and 1889 forced the annexation of the entire Lushai Hills. After the Indian independence from British Empire in 1947, the land became Lushai Hills district under the Government of Assam. In 1972 the district was declared a union territory and was given the more culturally inclusive name Mizoram. Ultimately Mizoram became a full-fledged federal state of India in 1986.
The ancestors of Mizos were without any form of written language before the advent of British. They were anthropologically identified as members of the Tibeto-Burman ethnicity. Folk legends unanimously claim that there was Chhinlung or Sinlung at the cradle of the Mizos. Oral history provided contrasting accounts on the origin.
Speculated to be in around the 5th century they settled in the Shan State after having overcome the resistance put up by the indigenous people. They thrived in Shan state for about 300 years before they moved on the Kabaw Valley around the 8th century. It was in the Kabaw Valley that Mizos had cultural influence with the local Burmese. It is conceivable that the Mizos learned the technique of cultivation from the Burmese at Kabaw as many of their agricultural implements bore the prefix Kawl, a name given by the Mizos to the Burmese.
Khampat (now in Myanmar) was known to have been the next Mizo settlement. They are said to have planted a banyan tree before they left Khampat as a sign that the town was made by them. In the early 14th century, they moved westward to Indo-Burmese border. They built villages and called them by their clan names such as Seipui, Saihmun and Bochung. The hills and difficult terrains of Chin Hills forced division into several villages and ethnic diaspora arose.
The earliest Mizo people to enter India were known as Kukis, the second batch of Mizo immigrants were called New Kukis. The Lushais were the last of the Mizo tribes to migrate to the Lushai Hills in India. By the time they crossed the Tiau River bordering Myanmar, the descendants of Zahmuaka, who came to be known as the ruling Sailo clan, had proven their mettle as able and assertive chiefs. The traditional system of village administration, too, had been perfected. As the head of the village, the Chief or Lal allocated lands for cultivation, settled all disputes in the villages, fed and cared for the poor and offered shelter to anyone seeking refuge. The Mizo history in the 18th and 19th centuries is marked by many instances of tribal raids and retaliatory expeditions.
By the mid-19th century British Empire had occupied all the surrounding Chittagong and Burma but had little or no interest in the tribes or their hilly land. They were merely mentioned in passing as "irreclaimable savages". The tribals then lived in small and isolated clusters of chiefdoms, sometimes raising warfare against another. Their religious lives were dominated by paganism and they led an animistic world view, with a unique concept of afterlife called Pialral. They practised elaborate rituals including animal sacrifice, and worshipped or feared almost all conceivable inanimate objects, diseases and unusual natural phenomena. The first Lushai (the British misnomer for Lusei) raid recorded in British governed Assam was in 1826. From that year to 1850 the local officers were unable to restrain the fierce attacks of the hillmen on the south. Raids and outrages were of yearly occurrence, and on one occasion the Magistrate of Sylhet reported a series of massacres by "Kookies" in what was alleged to be British territory, in which 150 persons had been killed. The raid was most severe in 1871 when a series of attacks caused several deaths on both sides, with extensive damage on the plantations. A number of workers and soldiers were taken prisoners, and among them a six-year-old Mary Winchester. Mary Winchester was taken as hostage by Bengkhuaia warriors, while other prisoners were executed on the way.
To retaliate the British military organised punitive expedition named Lushai Expedition in 1871–1872. The campaign consisted two columns, the right advancing from Chittagong and the left from Cachar. General Brownlow, C.B., commanded the former, with Captain T.H. Lewin, Superintendent of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, as Civil Officer. The Cachar column was led by General Bourchier, C.B., with Mr. Edgar, Deputy Commissioner, Cachar, as Civil Officer. In addition, a contingent of Manipuris accompanied by Colonel James Nuttall, the Political Agent of Manipur, made a demonstration across the southern border to co-operate with General Bourchier's portion of the expedition. The expedition started on 15 December 1871. The Mizo villages were crushed one by one, and Mary Winchester was rescued. Mizo chiefs made a truce not to make further attacks. Frontier posts were built to protect the border and bazaars were opened to encourage the Lushais to trade. After a decade the truce was broken, and there erupted intermittent raids again. In 1889 British military organised another punitive expedition code named "The Expedition of 1889". It was commanded b Col. F.V.C. Tregear. From their camping site at Chawngte they started on 19 December 1888. They easily penetrated the southern villages with little resistance. They fortified at Lunglei and prepared locations and roads for the next expedition. After their completing their mission, they returned in April 1889. Then the major campaign called The Chin-Lushai Expedition 1889-90 immediately followed. Again divided into two columns, Chittagong column was commanded by Col. Tregear, and Cachar column by W.W. Daly. The Chittagong column occupied most of the southern region including Chin Hills by the end of 1889. The Cachar column camped at Aijal (now Aizawl) on 30 January 1890. They subjugated all the major chiefdoms, captured the chiefs and got permanently fortified in Aizawl and Lunglei, as the administrative centres.
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