The Lushei Kuki Clans 44

The Lushei Kuki Clans 44

Offences against property and person can generally be settled by

payment of a fine, but the Lakhers have no fixed custom in such

matters, and a person of quality generally takes the law into his

own hands if he considers himself aggrieved.

 

Head-hunting used to be indulged in and is still practised by the

Lakhers in unadministered tracks. In case of a chief's death it was

proper to kill someone of a distant village before drums or gongs

were beaten, but it was thought "thianglo" to bring back the head

on such an occasion. As regards their religious beliefs, the Lakher

equivalent of Pathian is Khazang. Mr. Whalley writes:--"All spirits,

with one doubtful exception to be noted later, whether malignant or

benign, are slaves of the great spirit Khazang or Loitha. Whereas the

attributes and the names of the lesser spirits vary from village to

village and individual to individual, this great spirit has a firmer

outline and permits of some attempt at description. The picture they

draw is primitive, almost touching in its childishness. The Khazang or

Loitha is small and brown and almost hairless. He is capable of sexual

love and has children. He is material in his essence, but superior to

natural laws such as those of time, space, and gravity. He is immortal,

and has an immaterial wife and immaterial children. For his continuance

the world exists with its revenue. In their own phrase he 'eats' the

domains of the lesser spirits through all nature as a chief 'eats'

villages (i.e., receives tribute in supplies from villages). He regards

individual men much as these same men regard individual ants. Nearer

to the heart and farther from the intelligence of the Lakhers is

the mysterious Pi-leh-pu, the all-mother and all-father (strictly

translated 'grandmother' and 'grandfather,' the term is generally

used for ancestors)--a being not anthropomorphised or materialised,

partaking in some shadowy way of the functions both of guardian angel

and of originator of the human race."

 

In the course of my enquiries I did not come across any references

to Pi-leh-pu, but there seems good reason to think that the term

is applied to the mythical ancestor of the clan. In the Lushai

Mi-thi-rawp-lam, it will be remembered that in the centre of the

frame round which the effigies of the ancestors of the celebrants are

fastened there is a white effigy to represent the mythical ancestor

of the whole clan. In some respects Pi-leh-pu seems to resemble the

Lushai Sakhua.

 

The Ram-huai of the Lushais are known as "Hri-pa" and the Lashi as

"Sakhia." After death the spirits pass to Mi-thi-khua, the road to

which is by the village of Lunchoi and passes up a precipice. It is

so narrow that women with child have to widen it as they go, for which

purpose a hoe is buried with them, or at least laid beside the corpse

during the funeral feast. Pial-ral is called "Pe-ra'," and to reach

it all sorts of animals must be killed and the Ai ceremony performed

for each. The Khuangchoi feast is also considered, if not absolutely

necessary, at least very useful. Triumphs in the courts of Venus will

not help the spirit to pass to Pe-ra'. Women can only reach that happy

place if their husbands take them. A series of feasts or sacrifices

closely resembling the Thangchhuah feast of the Lushais is performed,

but I was assured that the performer's state in the next world was

not in any way affected thereby, the feasts being equivalent to the

Lushai Sakhua sacrifice. The series consists of--

 

Vok-rial.--A very small pig which has been brought up in the house

is killed and eaten.

 

Vok-pa.--A boar of five fists' height which has been brought up in the

house is killed, a black hen being also sacrificed at the same time.

 

The "sherh" are kept inside the house for three days, during which time

none of the household may do any work, but the house is not closed and

anyone may share in the feast. The Vok-rial is performed three times

and the Vok-pa twice, and then a mithan is killed and all share in

the feast. The performer of the She-shun may not cross a big stream

or enter another village till he has sacrificed a hen. Subsequently

he again performs Vok-rial, which is said to conclude the sacrifices

to Sakhua. A feast in which two mithan are killed is called "Bawi." It

is followed by Khuangchoi, in which at least five mithan must be slain.

 

The spirits of the dead are supposed to become mist after having

lived two or three lives in the other world.

 

Ten days after the birth of a child the mother goes to the water supply

and washes herself. She then takes the child to her father's house,

where she receives some rice and a fowl, which she takes home and

eats. Sacrifices are not done at this time. Children's heads are shaved

at three months, and the hair is allowed to grow at nine years with

girls and at eleven with boys. The bodies of stillborn children are

buried outside the village without any ceremony, but no purification,

either of the house or village, is considered necessary.

 

[Death.] The usual funeral feast, which in the case of wealthy

persons may last three to five days, precedes the burial. Some time

afterwards a second feast is given and a portion is put aside for

the spirit of the deceased. At the funeral feast the corpse is laid

out with fine cloths and ornaments and a dance is performed by two

women and one man. In other respects the Lakher and Lushai customs

are very much alike. There is an annual feast in honour of those who

have died during the year. It is called "Lachhia." A pig is killed

and the young men and maidens dance attired in their best clothes,

and the usual large quantities of zu are consumed.

 

In cases of unnatural death no one may leave the village till the sixth

day. On the fourth day a hen is sacrificed outside the village. The

corpse is buried beyond the village boundary fence. Deaths in

childbirth are considered unnatural deaths. If the firstborn in

a family dies within a few days of its birth the corpse is buried

anywhere, without ceremony, and the household abstain from work for

one day. Such a death is called "naw-dawng" (Lushai "hlamzuih").

 

Many of the Lushai sacrifices are performed. The Khal takes the

following form:--A fowl is killed at the head of the bed in the name

of the father, a month later one is killed in the name of the mother,

and in successive months one is killed for each child. The flesh of

these fowls can only be eaten by the parents. The Uihring sacrifice

is known as "An-hmu"; a dog is killed outside the house, the hills

inhabited by their ancestors being named. The "sherh" are hung on

a tree or a bamboo. The husbands of women who are enceinte may not

enter the house on such occasions. The following sacrifices of the

Lushais are not performed--Hring-ai-tan, Khuavanghring, Tui-leh-ram,

Bawlpui. In the Thla-ko a cock is killed outside the village and

the spirit is summoned. Khawhring is unknown, and they maintain that

there are no wizards or witches among them.

 

There are three festivals connected with the crops--(1) "Kicheo" or

"Kutsa-zawng," which takes place in January; feasting and drinking

are the main features of this festival, which is preceded by a

general hunt, as the flesh of wild animals, birds, or land crabs

is absolutely necessary. (2) "Paku," which comes just before the

sowing of the rice, closely resembles the Lushai Chap-char-kut. (3)

"Lalia"--this corresponds to the Lushai Mimkut; the children are fed

with maize cakes, and if any member of the family has died within

the previous year some cakes are put aside for his spirit.

 

The superstitions of the Lakhers resemble those of the Lushais. To

kill a python is sure to result in the death of the killer. Even to

see a loris is unlucky and to kill one is fatal. The sight of two

snakes copulating will also be followed by serious illness, if not by

death. The Lushai Chawifa is known as "Thla-shi-pu," and if it falls

in the jungle that is the place to cut your jhum, for then you are

sure of a good crop. It seems that Thla-shi-pu is merely a meteor;

the Lakhers have not surrounded this natural phenomenon with the

myths which the more imaginative Lushais delight in. In choosing the

site for a village a cock is taken, and if it does not crow the site

will not be selected, but if one of the party dream of dead persons

or bad things this is also sufficient cause for rejecting the site.

 

Among the Lakhers there are no priests of any sort; every man is his

own priest. At the marriage ceremony the fowl is killed by the man

who has arranged the match.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER VI

 

LANGUAGE

 

 

The languages of all the clans dealt with in this monograph, except

the Lakher, are very similar, and also bear a strong resemblance to

those of their neighbours.

 

Dr. Grierson, in the "Linguistic Survey of India," uses the term

"Kuki-Chin" to describe all the languages spoken by the clans I have

dealt with and their cognates, but he adds:--"Meithei-Chin would be

a better appellation, as the whole group can be sub-divided into two

sub-groups, the Meitheis (Manipuris) and the various tribes which are

known to us under the names of Kuki and Chin." Dr. Grierson considers

that all the Kuki-Chin languages belong to the Burmese branch of the

Tibeto-Burman family, and he subdivides them as follows:--

 

I. Meithei,* [17] or Manipuri.

 

II. Chin languages--

 

1. Northern group: Thado, Sokte,* Siyin,* Ralte, and Paite

or Vuite.

2. Central group: Tashon,* Lai,* Lakher, Lushai, Banjogi,*

and Pankhu.*

3. Old Kuki group: Rhangkhol, Bete (Biate), Hallam,

Langrong, Aimol, Anal, Chiru, Lamgang, Kolren (Kolhen),

Kom, Purum, Mhar (Hmar or Khawtlang), and Cha.*

4. Southern group: Chinme,* Welaung,* Chinbok,* Yindu,*

Chinbon,* Khyang or Sho,* Khami.*

 

 

With reference to the connection between the different clans,

Dr. Grierson writes:--"The terms Old Kuki and New Kuki are apt to

convey the idea that the tribes so denoted are closely related to

each other. But that is not the case. Not only do their customs and

institutions differ considerably, but their languages are separated