CLANS WHICH, THOUGH NOT ABSORBED, HAVE BEEN MUCH INFLUENCED BY
THE LUSHEIS
[Fanai.] A clan which was rising into eminence, when our occupation
of the country put a stop to its further aggrandisement. The chiefs
trace their pedigree back six generations, to a man called Fanai, who
lived among the Zahaos, to the east of the Tyao. His great grandson,
Roreiluova, was a slave, or at least a dependant, of a Zahao chief, and
was sent with 70 households to form a village at Bawlte, near Champhai,
in Lushei territory, with the intention, no doubt, of enlarging the
Zahao borders, but Roreiluova entered into peaceful relations with the
Lushei chiefs, and gradually severed his connection with the Zahaos,
and, moving south-west, occupied successively various sites to the
west and north-west of Lungleh, between the Lushai and Chin villages,
maintaining his position with considerable diplomatic skill, often
acting as intermediary between his more powerful neighbours. He
died at Konglung early in the nineteenth century, having attained
such a position that his sons were at once recognised as chiefs, and
on our occupying the country in 1890 we found eight Fanai villages,
containing about 700 houses, grouped along the west bank of the Tyao
and Koladyne rivers, between Biate on the north and Sangao on the
south. Roreiluova's descendants seem to have inherited his skill
in diplomacy, for they kept on good terms with their neighbours,
and whenever these quarrelled managed to assist the stronger without
entirely alienating the weaker.
The clan is subdivided into six families and one branch.
The Fanai now talk Lushai and dress in the same way, except as regards
the method of dressing the hair, which is parted horizontally across
the back of the head at the level of the ears, and the hair above
this is gathered into a knot over the forehead, while that below is
allowed to hang loose over the shoulders. They generally follow Lushai
customs. In the series of feasts which an aspirant for the title of
Thangchhuah has to perform, the Chong is replaced by the Buh-za-ai
(buh = rice, za = 100), performed as among the Lushais. The She-doi
feast has to be gone through twice, and is followed by a very similar
feast called She-cha-chun (spearing of male mithan), which completes
the series. Wealthy persons perform the Khuangchoi, but it is not
necessary. The Mi-thi-rawp-lam is prohibited. The following account
of the She-doi is taken from my diary of the 14th May, 1890.
"We went up at once to the village, where a peculiar dance was in
progress. Lembu's wife was being carried about on a platform, round
which a wooden railing had been fixed to enable her to maintain her
position. This platform had four long poles passed underneath it, and
a number of men and women, holding these, were moving the platform
about in a manner which must have been most uncomfortable for her
Majesty. They lifted it up and down, then swayed it to one side, then
to the other, then ran in one direction and stopped suddenly, then in
another, and pulled up with a jerk. During all this time the royal
lady maintained a solemn silence, and showed complete indifference
to the whole proceeding. Her head-dress consisted of a band round
which at intervals coloured bands of straw were plaited. From this
chaplet porcupine quills stood up all round, to the ends of which the
yellowish-green feathers of parrots were affixed, each terminating in a
tuft of red wool. At the back, an iron crossbar, about 6 inches long,
was tied horizontally, and from this a number of strings of black
and white seeds depended, at the end of which glistening wing-cases
of green beetles were attached. Except for this startling head-dress,
the Queen was dressed much as usual, except that her waist cloth was
longer and more gorgeous. Having been carried about for some time, her
Majesty showed her appreciation of the attentions of her subjects by
distributing gifts. First she threw a small chicken, which was eagerly
scrambled for and torn to pieces by the young men anxious to obtain
it, next followed a piece of white cotton wool, which no one would
pick up, and then some red thread, which was scrambled for eagerly.
"May 15th.--This morning a mithan was sacrificed. The animal was tied
by the head to one of the sacrificial posts, on which his skull was
to be placed later on. The chief then came out with a spear in one
hand, a gourd of rice beer in the other. The puithiam, or sorcerer,
accompanied him, also carrying a gourd of beer. The pair took up their
stand just behind the mithan, and the puithiam began mumbling what I
was told were prayers for the prosperity of the village. The prayers
were interrupted by the chief and the sorcerer taking mouthfuls
of beer and blowing them over the mithan. When the prayers were
finished, they anointed the animal with the remains of the liquor,
and the chief then gave it a slight stab behind the shoulder, and
disappeared into his house. The mithan was then thrown on its side
and killed by driving a sharp bamboo spear into its heart. The animal
was then cut up. Later on another was killed, without any special
ceremony, and the flesh of both cooked in the street. Later on there
was a dance. Three men arrayed in fine cloths, with smart turbans,
came up the main street, crossing from side to side. With bodies
bent forward and arms extended, they took two steps forward, then
whirled round once, beat time twice with the right foot, two steps,
whirled round again, beat time twice with the left foot, and so on,
keeping time with the royal band, consisting of a gong, a tom-tom,
and a bamboo tube, used as a drum. The dancers, having been well
regaled with beer, proceeded to dance each a pas seul of a decidedly
indecent nature. The chief was prohibited from crossing running water
for a month after this sacrifice had been performed." After this feast
there is five days' "hrilh" for the whole community, and during this
no flesh may be brought into the village. The skull of the mithan is
kept on the post in front of the chief's house for a month, during
which time he may not cross water or converse with strangers. On the
expiry of a month a pig and a fowl are sacrificed and the skull is
then removed to the front verandah.
The only difference in the ceremonies connected with childbirth is
that the Ui-ha-awr sacrifice is only performed if the child's hair
has a reddish tinge and the whites of its eyes turn yellowish.
The Sakhua sacrifices are very elaborate, and consist of a series
commencing with the Vok-rial, which is necessary when a new house
has been completed. A sow is killed at the head of the parents'
sleeping place, and whatever portions of the flesh are not at once
consumed are placed beneath it till the next day. The house during
this time is "sherh." No one may enter it, and the occupants must
not speak to strangers nor enter the forge. Later on a boar is killed
in the front verandah, and the heart, liver, and entrails, known as
"kawrawl," are placed under the parents' sleeping place for five
days, and are eaten by the parents, the father sitting with his
back to the partition wall and the mother facing him. During these
five days a hrilh as above is observed. This sacrifice is called
"Vok-pa"--i.e., "Boar"--and is followed by the "Hnuaipui"--i.e.,
"Great Beneath"--a full-grown sow being killed under the house, and
its head and sherh buried at the foot of one of the main posts. The
flesh is cooked beneath the house, but eaten in it. A three days'
hrilh follows. The series concludes with "Hnuaite"--i.e., "Lesser
Beneath"--which is similar to the former, but a young sow is killed.
These sacrifices are performed as the necessary animals become
available.
A dead Fanai is buried in the usual Lushai way, but no rice is placed
in the grave. An offering of maize, however, is suspended above
it. It may be noted that in the Zahao country rice is not cultivated,
the staple crop being maize. The Fanai do not kill tigers, giving as
the reason that a former ancestor of theirs lost his way, and was
conducted back to his village by a tiger, which kindly allowed him
to hold its tail.
[The Ralte.] This clan is found scattered in the Lushai villages to
the north of Aijal, in which neighbourhood there are also one or two
villages under Ralte chiefs. I have already--in Part I., Chapter V,
para. 1--given the legend regarding the repeopling of the world and
the closing of the exit from the Chhinglung owing to the loquacity
of the pair of Ralte. The names of these mythical ancestors were
Hehua and Leplupi. Their two sons were Kheltea and Siakenga, who
quarrelled over the distribution of their father's goods, which
Kheltea, the younger, had taken, thus conforming to Lushei custom,
and set up separate villages, and from them have sprung the two
eponymous families into which the Ralte clan is divided. The Khelte
have always occupied a predominant position, and all the chiefs
belong to this family. Lutmanga, Kheltea's youngest son, is said to
have made the first cloth from the fibre of the Khawpui creeper. He
collected a community at Khuazim, a hill north of Champhai, and
from him all the Ralte chiefs are descended. In the early years of
the nineteenth century the Ralte villages were near Champhai, and
Mangkhaia, a Ralte chief of importance, was captured by some Chuango,
a family of the Lushei clan, then living at Bualte, above Tuibual
(known to the Chin Hills officers as Dipwell). He was ransomed by
his relatives, but Vanpuia, the Pachuao chief, not receiving a share,
ambushed Mangkhaia on his way home and killed him. According to another
account Mangkhaia filed through his fetters with a file given to him
in a roll of smoked meat, and was killed as he was escaping. His
memorial stone is famous throughout the Hills, and stands at the
southern extremity of Champhai. Mangthawnga, father of Mangkhaia,
joined Khawzahuala the Zadeng, then living at Tualbung, but, being
ill-treated, the Ralte joined Sutmanga, a Thado chief then at Phaileng,
who treated them well. Thawnglura, son of Mangthawnga, showed his
gratitude to Sutmanga by assisting the Sailo chief Lallianvunga,
father of Gnura (Mullah)--whose village Colonel Lister burnt in
1850--to attack him. Sutmanga then fled northwards. It is satisfactory
to know that Thawnglura's treachery was rewarded by the enslavement
of his clan, who till our occupation of the Hills remained vassals
of the Sailos. The Ralte are very quarrelsome, and have to a great
extent resisted absorption into the Lushais. In some Sailo chiefs'
villages there are so many Ralte that the chief himself speaks their
dialect, and though Lushai is understood little else but Ralte is
heard in the village.
The Ralte are linguistically connected with the Thado, and, like the
Thado, they used not to build zawlbuks, but are now following Lushai
custom in this respect.
The Khelte family has ten and the Siakeng family eleven branches. To
the various sums paid to the relatives of the bride among the Lushais,
the Ralte add "dawngbul" and "dawngler"--sums of Rs. 3/- paid to her
male and female paternal first cousins.
The two families have slightly different customs as regard
sacrifices. The Khelte sacrifice to Sakhua is a boar, which is killed
at the head of the parents' sleeping place and then cooked on the
hearth. The skull is hung on the back wall of the house in a basket
with six pieces of the liver and three of the skin. The chant is
as follows:--
Ah--h. You whom our grandmothers worshipped!
Ah--h. You whom our grandfathers worshipped!
Ah--h. You of our birthplace!
Ah--h. You of our place of origin!
Ah--h. You who made the Khelte!
Ah--h. You who made the Tuangphei!
Ah--h. In what we have done wrong!
Ah--h. In what we have sung amiss!
Ah--h. Make it right!
The Siakeng, after killing the boar as the Khelte do, entertain those
of their own branch, but before the flesh is eaten it is divided into
three portions, which are placed for a short time successively on the
floor, on the sleeping-place, and on the shelf over the hearth, being
thus offered to the spirits of the house, the couch, and the hearth.
Of the Naohri sacrifices the Khelte only perform the Hmar-phir, which
they call "Thangsang" and the Ui-ha-awr, while the Siakeng perform
the Vawkte-luilam, called by them "Chhim-hal," and the Ui-ha-awr.
They have adopted most of the Thangchhuah festivals, but not the
Mi-thi-rawp-lam. When a mithan is killed it is not speared as among
the Lushais, but killed by a blow on the forehead. The skull is placed
at the foot of the partition wall for three days, and on the fourth
it is taken out and placed at the foot of the memorial post. Some
ginger, beans, and salt are placed on a dish and an old man takes
the skull, and all dance round the post three times to the beating of
drums and gongs. Then ginger is thrown three times on to the skull,
after which the house-owner's wife pierces the skull with a spear,
but if she be pregnant this must be done by a man. The skull is then
placed on one of the posts of the platform in front of the house till
the Khuangchoi has been performed.
On the occasion of the first death occurring in a new village a spot is
selected beyond the line of houses, and the corpse is buried there,
subsequent interments being made close at hand. It is considered
"thianglo" to bury in a village. A well-to-do Khelte after death
is dressed in his best, and seated with his back to the partition
wall while his relatives and friends drink and dance before him. A
bier is made by elderly persons, and on this the corpse is placed in
a sitting position, with his weapons in his hands, and three times
lifted by old men and women up to the rafters, while drums and gongs
are beaten, after which the body is carried out to the graveyard.
The birth customs generally resemble those of the Lushais.
[The Paihte or Vuite.] This is a clan of some importance still. There
are eleven Vuite villages, numbering 877 houses, in the south-west
corner of the Manipur State and two in the adjoining portions of the
Lushai Hills. When we occupied the Hills we found many of this clan
living in a species of slavery in the villages of important Sailo
chiefs. They have mostly rejoined their clansmen, from whom they had
been carried off as prisoners of war.
The clan is generally known to the Lushais as Paihte, but Vuite is
the term more commonly used by its members and in Manipur. Vuitea and
Paihtea were the sons of Lamleia, who was hatched out of an egg. There
were two eggs, and Aichhana, a Thado, tasted one, and, finding it
bitter, threw it away and put the other among the rice in the bin, and
in due time Lamleia was hatched out, and the present Vuite chiefs claim
to be his direct descendants, enumerating seventeen generations. The
Thado version of this story is that Dongel, Thado's elder brother,
had incestuous intercourse with his elder sister, and on a male child
being born their mother was so ashamed that she hid the child in a
hollow tree, thinking it would die, but when she found it was alive
after several days she brought it into the house and concealed it
in the paddy bin, and produced it a few days later, saying that she
had found two big eggs in a hollow tree and had tasted one and had
found it very bitter. The second she had placed in the paddy, where
it had been hatched by the sun's rays. Hence the child was called
Gwite, from "ni-gwi," the Thado for a ray of sunshine. The Vuite,
of course, do not admit this tale to be true, but my informant tells
me that in his father's time, when the Dongel and Vuite lived near to
each other, the former paid "sathing"--i.e., a portion of each animal
killed--to the latter, in recognition that the Vuite were descended
from the elder sister of their ancestor. The Vuite, however, always
tried to avoid accepting such presents, and when the Dongel moved
away the custom died out. The first Vuite village is said to have
been at Chimnuai, near to Tiddim. The name of this site comes first
in the Vuite Sakhua chant which I obtained in the Lushai Hills. Being
attacked by the Sokte and Falam clans, they joined the Thangur chiefs,
but were ill-treated and fled to the neighbourhood in which they now
live, and waged war with their oppressors till the establishment of
our rule. They at one time approached the Manipur plain and in 1870,
under Sumkam, they raided a Manipuri village, to avenge a charge of
being wizards. They appear to be closely connected with the Malun,
Sokte, and Kamhau clans of the adjoining Chin Hills, and Dr. Grierson
places them linguistically in the same group as these clans and the
Thado. In their dress and habitations they resemble the Lushais, but
the place of the zawlbuk is taken by the front verandah of the houses
of certain persons of importance, in which are long sleeping bunks in
which half a dozen or more young men pass the night. The young fellows
help their host in his house-building and cultivation, and once a year
he gives them a feast of a pig. This custom prevails in most of the
non-Lushei clans, and also among the Kabui Nagas in the Manipur Hills.
The women do not wear the huge ivory earrings of the Lushai but
cornelians or short lead bars.
The general constitution of the clan and the village is very similar
to that of the Lushais. As regards marriage they are monogamists,
in this particular forming a very remarkable exception to all their
cognates. The marriages of paternal first cousins are allowed--in
fact, among chiefs they are the rule. The parents of a young man
who desires to marry a girl go to her house with an offering of zu,
and if this is accepted the girl is at once taken to their house,
but the bridegroom continues for two or three months to sleep with
his bachelor friends. The marriage is not considered final nor is any
payment made till a child is born, and if this does not occur within
three years the couple separate, but on the birth of a child the full
price agreed on must be paid up and divorce is not countenanced. On
my enquiring what would happen in case the lady subsequently proved
fickle, my informant smiled in a superior manner and said that such
behaviour was unknown among his people. The Vuite object to giving
their girls to the Lushais on account of the tendency of Lushai
husbands to discard their wives on the slightest excuse.
Although the Vuite do not maintain that before marriage their girls
are invariably chaste, yet one who errs is looked down on, and in
consequence abortion and infanticide are said to be common. "Sawnman"
at Rs. 23/- is demanded from the seducer.
As among most non-Lushei tribes, the eldest son inherits. The
punishments for offences are similar to those among the Lushais,
but the Vuite assert that the crime of sodomy is unknown among
them. Murder can be atoned for by the payment of seven mithan to
the heir of the murdered man, and accidental homicide by that of one
mithan and a gun. In the days when war was common they used to ambush
their enemies more than was usual among the Lushais, but they never
went head-hunting simply for honour and glory. As regards "boi,"
they follow Lushai customs closely.
Pathian is acknowledged, and in general their religious beliefs
resemble those of the Lushais, but they have no idea of a separate
abode for the spirits of warriors. They believe that departed spirits
have two or more lives in the land beyond the grave.
For their Sakhua sacrifice a boar is killed on the front verandah
and cooked within the house. The skin of the head, the testicles,
heart, snout, and liver are placed on a bamboo over the verandah,
which must be freshly thatched.
Immediately after birth the child is washed, and a fowl is killed, and
its feathers are worn round the necks of the mother and infant. The
mother may go out of the house, but for four days after the birth
both parents abstain from all work. On occasion of the naming two
or three pigs if available should be killed and much zu drunk. The
Khal sacrifices, with the exception of Uihring, are not performed,
but most of the other sacrifices are made.
The custom of paying "lukawng" on the death of a person is unknown, and
the funeral ceremonies generally are very unlike those of the Lushais.
After death the corpse is placed on a platform and fires are lit round
it, and young men and maidens sleep near it. The skin is hardened
and preserved by being rubbed with some greasy preparation. The body
is dressed in the best cloths available, and a chaplet of the tail
feathers of the hornbill is placed on its head. During the daytime
the corpse is kept in the house, but in the evening it is brought out
and seated on the verandah while the villagers dance and sing round
it and drink zu, pouring it also into the mouth of the corpse. This
disgusting performance goes on for a month or more according to the
social position of the deceased. The corpses of those who have attained
Thangchhuah honours are kept for a year, at least, in a special shed
encased in a tree trunk. Before burial the corpse is carried round
the village. In case of a violent death, which does not as among
the Lushais include deaths in childbirth, the corpse is placed in
the forge and the puithiam sacrifices a fowl, after which the usual
ceremonies take place. The Kut festivals are not observed, but after
harvest the owners of houses in which young men lodge kill one or two
pigs. The honour of Thangchhuah is obtained by giving the following
feasts:--(1) Buh ai, one mithan being killed; (2) She-shun, one mithan
being killed; (3) Chawn, three mithan and two pigs being killed. No
other feasts are given and windows may be made by anyone. Most of the
superstitions common among the Lushais are believed, but gibbons are
freely killed. The Vuite are very much afraid of witchcraft, but deny
all knowledge of it. When a new site for a house has to be chosen an
egg is taken and one end is removed. It is then propped up on three
small stones and a fire is lit under it. If the contents boil over
towards the person consulting the omen the site is rejected as unlucky.
[The Rangte.] This is a small clan which, after various vicissitudes,
has settled down in thirteen hamlets, containing 372 houses, under
their own chiefs in the south-western hills of Manipur. They claim
connection with the Thados, but resemble the Lushais in many respects,
which no doubt is due to their sojourn among them. They also claim
relationship with the Vaiphei. They say that their original villages
were on two hills called Phaizang and Koku, whence they were ejected
by the Chins and took refuge with Poiboi, one of the Sailo chiefs who
opposed us in 1871, whence they migrated northwards to their present
place of abode. Their language shows that their claim to being allied
to the Thado is not without foundation. The clan is divided into
eleven eponymous families, named after Thanghlum and his ten sons,
Thanghlum being supposed to be the son of Rangte. The constitution of
the villages is practically the same as that of the Lushais, except
that there are no zawlbuks. The young unmarried men sleep in the house
of the girl they like best. An attractive young lady may have several
admirers sleeping in her house, and they will continue to sleep there
until she expresses a preference for one of them. Marriage is not
very strictly limited, but matches with another member of the clan
or with some member of one of the Thado families are most usual. The
price of a wife--"manpui"--is one blue cloth, one mattress, and three
mithan, which is paid to the nearest male relative to the bride on the
father's side, but besides this the bride's paternal uncle receives
one mithan, which is termed "mankang." If there be three brothers, A,
B, and C, B will take the mankang of A's daughters, C that of B's,
and A that of C's. Should a man have no brothers some near relative
will take his daughter's mankang. The eldest son inherits everything,
and is looked on as the head of the family. He receives the "manpui"
of all the females, and in his verandah are hung all the trophies of
the chase obtained by his brothers and their children, but on the death
of one of these brothers the connection ceases, and the deceased's
eldest son inherits his property and is looked on as the head of the
family by his younger brothers. Like the Vuite, the Rangte claim that
sodomy is unknown among them. In their religious beliefs they employ
the nomenclature of the Thados, though there is a little variation. The
place of Pupawla on the road to Mi-thi-khua is taken by an old woman,
named Kul-lo-nu, who is evidently the same as the Thado Kulsamnu, who
troubles all except the Thangchhuah. Thlan-ropa is known as "Dapa,"
but the legends regarding him are similar to those told by the Lushais.
On the birth of a female child, zu is drunk, but should the child be
a son, a pig and a fowl have to be killed, and three days later the
puithiam comes and sprinkles the mother with water, muttering charms
as he does so, after which ceremony she can go out. Immediately after a
death everyone present seizes the nearest weapon and slashes wildly at
the walls, posts, shelves, and partitions, shouting, "You have killed
him! We will cut you limb from limb, whoever you may be." The young
men then go out in search of wild birds and beasts, the bodies of
which are hung on posts round the grave. The corpse is adorned with
the head-dress of hornbill's feathers, as among the Vuite and most
of the Old Kuki clans. The corpses of ordinary persons are buried
without much ceremony close to the house, but the Thangchhuah are
carried round the village, as among the Khawtlang, and then enclosed
in hollow tree trunks, and kept for periods varying from two months
to a year in special sheds, with fires smouldering beneath them,
after which the bones are buried. In this it will be noticed that
the Rangte custom is a composite of Lushei, Vuite, and Khawtlang.
Lukawng is only paid if the deceased has been a great hunter or
warrior. In their marriage ceremonies the Rangte differ but little
from the Lushais. The "Khal" sacrifices are omitted, but most of the
others are performed.
Thangchhuah honours are attained by giving only two feasts--the
"Chong," at which a hen has to be sacrificed and two pigs and a mithan
killed, and the "Mai-thuk-kai," at which two mithan, three pigs,
and a hen have to be killed. The guests hold hands and form a circle
round the house of the giver of the feast, who has to anoint the head
of each of them with pig's fat. The Buh-Ai is unknown, but the Ai of
wild animals is performed as among the Lushais.