Abnormal population growth of Chin-Kuki-Zo in Manipur since 1881

THE GOVERNMENT of India, Ministry of Tribal Affairs vide their letter F. No. 12026/02/2023-C&LM (E:25198) dated 26.12.2023, addressed to the Adl. Chief Secretary, Government of Manipur, Secretariat Tribal Affairs & Hills Development have expressed their keenness to process the deletion of the nomadic Chin Kuki from the list of Scheduled Tribes of Manipur and accordingly, have asked the Government of Manipur to submit a recommendation in this regard to process the case further. It is hopeful that the present article may be relevant for understanding who the Chin-Kuki-Zo tribes of Manipur are.    

1. Who are Kukis?

The term ‘Kuki’ is a Bengali word meaning ‘hill-men’ or ‘highlanders’ (Reid, 1893, pp.5) and it denotes “the various tribes who had successively been driven out from the Lushai and Chin Hills into the neighbouring country to the north and west” (Grierson, 1904, pp. 2). The earliest British record referring to ‘Kuki’ was mentioned in a letter dated 10^th April 1777 written by the chief of Chittagong to Warren Hasting, the Governor General in which the chief made a complaint against a ‘large bodies of Kooki men’ who attacked the British subjects (Lewin, 1870, pp. 56). 

Opinion | Miscalculations on India-Myanmar Border Fencing will result in a self-inflicted wound against national interests

According to Grierson, “the words Kuki and Chin are synonymous”; “Kuki is an Assamese or Bengali term, applied to various hill tribes, such as the Lusheis,  Rangkhols, Thados,  etc.”; “Chin is a Burmese word”;  “The name (Chin) is not used by the tribes themselves, who use titles such as Zo or Yo and Sho.”  (Grierson, 1904, pp.1-2). Accordingly, the words ‘Chin’, ‘Kuki’, ‘Zo’ are synonymous.

Further, according to Carey & Tuck, the words Kukis, Chins and Lushais (now called Mizos) are synonymous as they said: “Without pretending to speak with authority on the subject, we think we may reasonably accept the theory that the Kukis of Manipur, the Lushais of Bengal and Assam, and the Chins originally lived in what we now as Thibet and are of one and the same stock” (Carey & Tuck, 1896, pp.2). This fact is now confirmed by the definition of ‘Kuki People’ provided by Wikipedia, the world Encyclopedia available at the weblink, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuki_people,  which categorically states that the “Chin people of Myanmar and the Mizo people of Mizoram are kindred tribes of the Kukis”.

•  Who are nomadic Chin-Kuki-Zo tribes in the context of Manipur?

The first Nomadic Chin-Kuki-Zo tribes who had entered and taken settlement in Manipur were Thadou and their co-tribes (called Khongzais in Manipur) on being driven them out from the Chin Hills by the Soktes during the reign of Maharaja Nar Singh i.e., during 1844-1850 (Johnstone, 1896, pp.45; Grierson, 1904, pp.59; Risley & Gait, 1903, pp. 271-272). According to “The Court Chronicle of the Kings of Manipur: The Cheitharon Kumpapa”,  the first recorded village of Khongzais  came up in 1847 at Takhen as a border defence: “Two hundred Khongzai Haos from Mutung Khunlen, the main village in the southern region, arrived at the court. A royal order was given to settle them in Takhen as a border defence to guard from any possible attacks from the Haos in the northern region” (Parrat, 2009, pp.19).  Likewise, the same Royal Chronicle reports that in 1848 one hundred Khongzais from the southern region were allowed to settle in Wairi, Thamnong, Sanahal Lokchao and another one hundred Khongzais from Khutingkai to establish a new village in Takhen Chirang (Parrat, 2009, pp.25).

As per the Census 1881 the Khongzais in Manipur had population of 17,204 and their best-known clans were: Thado, Vunson, Changsen, Shingsol, Mangvung, Khlangam, Chungloe, Changput, Haukib, Simmte and Kamhau (Dun, 1886, pp.32-33). Historical records of authority and the census data depicted that many other Nomadic Chin-Kuki-Zo tribes from the Chin and the Lushai Hills such as Mhar, Vaiphei, Ralte, Sukte, Paite, Gangte, Simte, Zou etc. entered Manipur at different times in the past taking advantage of weak administration of the State at relevant points of time and the prolonged open borders between Manipur and the Chin and Lushai Hills.

Opinion | I am a Meitei Manipuri, and here are my thoughts on the present Manipur

• Enumerated Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes List of Manipur State, 1949

With reference to a letter dated 28^th April 1949 received from the Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of States, New Delhi addressed to the Advisor to His Excellency, the Governor of Assam on the subject “Enumeration of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes”,  the Dewan, Manipur State vide his letter bearing No. 2/AG/49/0695-96 dated 6^th June, 1949 furnished to the Government of India, Ministry of States  a list of twenty four Scheduled Tribes and two Scheduled Castes by their  particular names, in respect of Manipur State, as follows:

“Scheduled Tribes:- 1. Kuki, 2. Kabui, 3. Kacha Naga, 4. Tangkhul, 5. Mao or (Angami), 6. Maring, 7. Kom, 8. Chiru, 9. Koireng, 10. Maram, 11. Lamgang, 12. Anal, 13. Chothe, 14. Purum, 15. Khoiroo, 16. Tarao, 17. Noyon, 18. Khoibu, 19. Monsang, 20. Aimol, 21. Kharam, 22. Thang-gan, 23. Wainem, 24. Kwatha” and 

“Scheduled Tribes:- 1. Yaithibis, 2. Lois”.

Notably, the tribe name ‘Kwatha’ at entry 24 in the above Scheduled Tribes list of Manipur, 1949 is the ‘Meetei/Meitei’ community resided in Kwatha Village, Tengnoupal, 20 km from Moreh and 129 km from Imphal (Bharat, 2014, pp.127). The tribe name ‘Kuki’ is synonymous  with Khongzai and it comprised of Thadou and their co-tribes. Further, the ST list of Manipur, 1949 enlisted 22 other tribes including those categorized under Old Kuki by the British Administrators viz. Kom, Chiru, Koireng, Lamgang, Anal, Chothe, Purum, Aimol.

Also read | Choosing to be Humble; episode in Motbung