The Lushei Kuki Clans 40

The Lushei Kuki Clans 40

"The Rajah is the sole and supreme authority in the village or

villages under him, no one else being competent to give orders or

inflict punishment except through him.

 

"To assist him in carrying on the affairs of government the Rajah

has a minister, and more frequently several, called 'thushois'

or 'muntries,' who have the privilege of being exempt from labour

and taxation at his hands. This office is not, strictly speaking,

hereditary--although in most cases, except when thoroughly incompetent,

the son succeeds the father--but is given to those qualified for it,

as being men of property and influence as well as of ability, and

good spokesmen. The Rajah himself is, on the contrary, invariably

succeeded by his eldest son, for whom, should he be a minor, the

kingdom is managed by a council of muntries. In default of sons, the

Rajah's brother succeeds, and failing him the nearest male relative

takes the guddee, the Salique law being in full force.

 

"Should the Rajah die without any heir to the throne, the chief muntry,

if he be an influential man, takes his place, or some neighbouring

Rajah of the same clan is called upon to take the government or usurps

it. Each of the clans have one great Rajah, supposed to be the main

branch of the original stock, to whom, although those immediately

beyond his own villages owe him no allegiance, great respect is shown

by all, and acknowledgment of the superior title given, although in

power and wealth he may be much poorer than others of the tribe.

 

"No regular courts are held among the Kookis, but complaints are always

heard before the Rajah, assisted by his muntries, whenever they may

be made. Heinous crimes are very infrequent among these people. Theft

is almost unknown, and they chiefly offend in slight quarrels and

disputes among themselves, which are settled by their Rajah, a fine

being exacted from the guilty party, according to his means and the

extent of his guilt, either in wine, fowls, pigs, goats, cows, or

methins. When cases of theft, burglary, or arson occur, the criminal

loses his independence and becomes a bondman to the Rajah for the term

of his life. Cases of murder and manslaughter are of course taken

up by our authorities and punished by our laws. But the punishment

awarded for murder among the Kookis was confiscation of all goods and

property and perpetual bondage for the murderer, his wife, and family,

who thenceforth became slaves of the Rajah and did his work. The

only crime punishable by death among the Kookis was high treason,

or an attempt at violence on the person of the king, and treacherous

commerce with an enemy of the clan: the victim in these cases was

cut to pieces with dhaos, but of course no such extreme measures

can be resorted to by them in the present day. In cases of adultery

and seduction the punishment is left in the hands of the aggrieved

husband or father. In the former case, death might be inflicted on

the adulterer by any means with impunity, but more generally it was,

and now invariably is, the custom to compound with him for a large

sum of money, something over and above the original price of the

wife. The adulteress then becomes the property of her lover.

 

"In cases of seduction every effort is made, and in most cases

successfully, to have the guilty couple married forthwith, a penal

price being put upon the bride. All the women in the village, married

or single, are perfectly at the pleasure of the Rajah, and no voice

would be lifted against him for cohabiting with any of them, the only

prevention being a sense of immorality and an understanding among

the royal families of the whole tribe generally that such conduct

is infra dig.; indeed, there is little temptation, for the Rajah

may have as many wives as he likes or can keep, both polygamy and

concubinage being in common practice, female slaves living generally

in the latter condition with respect to their masters."--Stewart's

"Notes on Northern Cachar," pp. 45-48.

 

This description is still fairly accurate, but the gradual breaking up

of villages, coupled with the increased control by Government and State

officers, has lessened the power of the chiefs and modified custom to

a considerable extent. Lieutenant Stewart gives the following account

of how the people hunted before guns were common among them:--

 

"The Kookis are great hunters, and are passionately fond of the sport,

looking upon it, next to war, as the noblest exercise for man. They

kill tigers, deer, and smaller game by means of poisoned arrows. The

bow is a small one made of bamboo, and very slightly bent, the string

being manufactured of bark. The arrow, the head of which has a barbed

iron point, is about 18 inches long, being drawn to the chest and not

the ear, and therefore delivered with no great force, the destructive

effect lying chiefly in the poison. With such an instrument the

great art in hunting lies in stealthily approaching the animal near

enough to deliver the arrow with effect, and in following it up after

being wounded to the spot where it is found lying dead. In this the

Kookis excel, being able to prowl about the jungle as noiselessly as

tiger-cats, and being equal to North American Indians in distinguishing

tracks. Tigers are also killed by spring bows with poisoned arrows

set in the jungles and by poisoned panjies planted in their paths.

 

"Elephants are slain in great numbers by the Kookis wherever

they are to be had, not only the tusks but the flesh being highly

prized. Parties of 20 and upwards go out in pursuit of them at a

time. When some recent elephant track is discovered in the forest,

two or three of the party ascend some convenient tree, whose branches

overhang the track, the remainder follow it up, and having got on

the other side of the herd scare it towards the ambush by shouting,

beating gongs, and discharging firearms. Here, while passing, the

animals are assailed from above with long spears having huge iron

barbs covered with deadly poison; every wound inflicted results in

the death of the animal at not more than half a mile from the spot

on which he was hit. So wary are the elephants, however, that it is

seldom that more than two out of a herd are killed. At the place

where their game is found dead, they commence cutting him up, and

extract his tusks; laden with these and as much of the flesh as they

can carry, they return home, and other parties go out and encamp in

the neighbourhood of the carcase until they have entirely consumed

it, or are driven away by the effluvia of decomposition. Portions

of the flesh that they cannot immediately eat are dried and smoked

to be kept for future consumption. The Kookis also hunt the methin

or wild cow, which they have likewise succeeded in domesticating,

having introduced the breed to Northern Cachar.

 

"The deadly poison used by the Kookis is, they say, extracted from a

tree which does not grow in these parts, but the article is brought

to them for sale by tribes inhabiting the borders of Manipur. The

substance is of a dark blue or black colour and of about the

consistency of common resin. To make it serviceable it is ground down

with capsicum seeds and tobacco juice, so as to form a pulp, with which

the weapons are smeared, cotton soaked in the mixture being also tied

to the iron under the barb. I had once the cruelty to try the effect

of this poison on two domestic fowls. To one I administered internally

a dose equal to about two common-sized pills, and I punctured one of

the legs of the other, so as merely to draw blood, with the pointed

bamboo about the size of a toothpick which had been dipped into the

mixture. The latter died in twenty minutes without much apparent pain,

and in the former no effects whatever could be perceived, and it may be

crowing to the present day. Another poison, called 'deo-bi,' is used

by the Kookis to kill fish, and has an intoxicating effect upon them

forcing them to the surface, when it is thrown into the water. The

Kookis also spear fish, but have not much idea of catching them by

the hook or net."--Stewart's "Notes on Northern Cachar," pp. 62, 63.

 

When the track of a tiger is found the "thempu" lifts the earth on

which the footprint is and lays it on a leaf of the "ai" plant. He

pours some zu on it and then, muttering charms, he wraps it up in the

leaf and drops it into a pot, which he places to his ear and professes

to be able to hear whether the pursuit of the animal will be crowned

with success. The customs as regards "boi" approximate to those of the

Lushais, and where they differ it is always to the disadvantage of

the boi; thus a criminal seeking refuge in the chief's house has to

pay a mithan before he can be accepted. On a chief's death each boi

has to kill a pig at his funeral. Slavery by purchase is recognised

and is not restricted to the chiefs--another point of resemblance

between the Thados and the Chins.

 

The village organisation is much the same as among the Lushais, but

the minor chiefs, while collecting all dues from the people of their

villages, pay certain dues to the head of their family. The crier is

known as "tlangsam," but he receives no remuneration. The "thirdeng,"

or blacksmith, is known as "thirshu," and receives a day's labour

from every householder in the village as his pay.

 

The thempu only receives zu, and this only from those he cures--a

system tending to increase the skill of the practitioners.

 

As regards marriage the rules are not very clearly defined, but

young men of the families which sacrifice a sow to their Sakhua

will not generally take girls from the families which sacrifice a

mithan. Strange to say, the sow-sacrificers have no objection to

providing brides for the mithan-slayers, the cause probably being

that in certain cases the wife's Sakhua has to be propitiated and

the cautious sons of sow-killing families object to the extra expense

involved by marrying a wife whose Sakhua demands a mithan. Lieutenant

Stewart states that strict rules existed prohibiting the intermarriage

of cousins, however remote, but my enquiries tend to show that at

present the prohibition only extends to paternal cousins to the

third generation.

 

Marriage is by purchase, the sums to be paid being:--

 

"Manpi" (Lushai "manpui")--three to 30 mithan, according to the family

of the bride, to the father of the girl or his representative.

 

"Golha" (Lushai "palal")--Rs. 4/- or 5/-.

 

The bride's elder sister, one cloth of dark blue.

 

The father's younger brother, one mithan, called "mankang," but if

he is living in the same house as the father then the nearest male

relative who is living separately receives this.

 

Although a man has paid the full price for his wife, yet he has, on her

death and the death of each of her sons, to pay a further sum called

"longman" to her nearest male relative. Supposing Pathong marries

Thonghlu's daughter and has by her two sons, one of whom dies, it is

Thonghlu's duty to kill a pig in honour of the deceased and to take

the skull and all the flesh except that of the head and the entrails

to Pathong. The skull is placed over the grave and the flesh eaten

by the family. Pathong now has to pay Thonghlu the price of the pig