THE ORIGIN OF THE CHIN-KUKI-MIZO TRIBE?- A comparative study with some Biate legends.

Who were the Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribes?

      According to Col. J Shakespear, the Kukis, Chin, and Lushais are of all the same race [1]. The Kuki-Chin-Mizo, or who emerged from Khurpui or Sinlung are ethnologically descendent of one ancestor, bonded together by common tradition, customs, culture, language and social life. They live in India, Myanmar, and Bangladesh[2].

The Chin:

       Enough evidence is not available to trace the origin of the name ‘Chin’. It is perhaps a Burmese term, as people inhabiting the Chin Hills in Burma (Myanmar) are termed as Chin. Chin is a Burmese word used to denote the various hill tribes living in the country between Burma and the Provinces of Assam and Bengal[3].

The Kuki: 

       The term ‘Kuki’ is a generic name. William Shaw in his book “Notes on the Thadou Kukis” wrote “the term Kuki first appears in Bengal”[4]. According to G.A. Grierson the words Kuki and Chin are synonymous and are both used for many of the hills tribes in question. The word Kuki is especially used to denote the various tribes that were successively been driven from the Lushai and Chin Hills into the surrounding country to the north and west. Kuki is also an Assamese or Bengali term, applied to various hill tribes[3]. Some proposed that the term Kuki is coined from the sound ku..ki..ku..ki! It is the sound produced from a traditional bamboo flute. Often, villagers play this flute in the jhum sitting around a campfire or by hunters while returning to their village after successful hunting.

The Mizo:

       A combine words of ‘Mizo’ literally, means ‘man of the hills’, the term ‘mi’ means ‘man’ or people and ‘zo’ means a cold place at a high altitude. The words 'Zo' is believed to have appeared from the words Zhou, the kingdom of Zhou (1066-ca. 221 BCE)[5] where the Chin-Kuki-Mizo people had been under the rule of Zhou king until the rise of Qin dunasty. Undoubtedly, the term Mizo refers to a particular group of ethnic people[6]. In India, Mizo or sometimes referred to as Zomi are a group of tribes belonging to the Kuki-Lushei stock of race most of whom inhabit the higher altitude region of North East India today.


       G. A. Grierson, has divided Chin-Kuki-Mizo or the Chin-Kuki-Lushei tribes into four sub-groups[3] as follows; 

Old Kuki Sub-Group:

1. Bete (Biate)
2. Rangkhol (Hrangkhol)
3. Hallam (Halam)
4. Langrong (Ranglong)
5. Aimol
6. Chiru
7. Kolren or Koireng
8. Kom
9. Kyan or Chaw
10. Mhar (Hmar)
11. Chote, Muntuk and Karum
12. Purum
13. Anal
14. Hiroi-Lamgang (Lamkang).

Northern Chin Sub-Group:

1. Thado
2. Sokte
3. Siyin
4. Ralte
5. Paite.

Central Chin Sub-Group:

1. Shunkla or Tashon
2. Zahao or Yahow
3. Lai
4. Lakher
5. Lushei
6. Ngente
7. Bangjogi
8. Pankhu (Pangkhu).

Southern Chin Sub-Group:

1. Sho or Khyang
2. Khami.
3. Chinme
4. Welaung
5. Chinbok
6. Yindu
7. Chinbon

Manmasi - The ancestor of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribes:

       According to tradition, Manmasi is the ancestor of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribes. The tribes have so far claimed as belonging to one of the lost tribes of Israel¬ Manasseh, one of the two sons of Joseph, whose father was Jacob in the Bible[2]. The claim appeared after a Pentecostalist dreamt in 1951 that his people's pre-Christian religion was Judaism and that their original homeland was Israel. Linguistically, Bnei Manasseh (Children of Manasseh) are Tibeto-Burman and belong to the Mizo, Kuki and Chin peoples (the terms are virtually interchangeable)[7].

       The children of Jacob had lived in the land of Egypt since the governorship of Joseph. When Joseph died there arose a new king over Egypt who was not acquainted with him. The Pharaoh who ruled during the second millennium B.C. ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves (in, The Bible; Exodus 1: 13)[8]. The Lord God sent Moses, a Levite, brought up by the daughter of the Pharaoh to deliver the people of Israel from their oppression and enslavement. Moses led his people out of Egypt. A pillar of cloud and fire guided their way by day and night. With the Lord by their side, Moses performed many miracles. They crossed the Red Sea and brought forth a spring of water from a rock (in, The Bible, Exodus 13:21 and 14:21). A similar tale is passed down from generations to generations among the Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribe. The song goes on like this;

“Sikpui inthang kan ur laia,

Changtuipui aw sen mah rili kangintan; 

Ke ralawna ka leido aw,

Suna sum ang, zanah mei lawn invak e.

An tuk an sa tlua ruol aw,

In phawsiel le in ralfeite zuong  thaw ro. 

Sun razula ka leido aw,

Ke ralawna mei sum invak e,

Sun razuala ka leido aw,

Laimi sa ang changtuipuiin lem zova e.

 A va ruol aw la ta che,

Suonglung chunga tui zuong put kha la ta che.” 

“While we are preparing for the Sikpui Feast,

The big red sea becomes divided;

As we march along fighting our foes,

We are being led by pillar of cloud by day,

And pillar of fire by night.

Our enemies, O ye folks, are thick with fury,

Come out with your shields and arrows.

Fighting our enemies all day long,

We march forward as cloud-fire goes before us.

The enemies we fought all day long;

The big sea swallowed them like wild beast collect the quails,

And draw the water that springs out of the rock”[9].

        In 722 B.C., some of the ten lost tribes of Israel were taken as captives by the king of Assyria, and some of them lived in Persia following their exile there in 457 B.C. during the reign of Darius and Ahashveresh[9]. They migrated toward Afghanistan from Assyria. During the time of Alexander's invasion, they moved along Kashmir area and Tibet plateau to escape to Mongolia and to Chhinlung in China. They at one time settled in Laos, Vietnam and Burma then migrated to Mizoram (The New Jerusalem by T Bhattacharya)[2]. The breakaway Judaic group was named Bnei Menashe by Eliyahu Avichail because they believed that the legendary Kuki-Mizo ancestor Manmasi was Manasseh, son of Joseph[7]. Folksong and folklore among the Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribes i.e. Lushai, Thado, Hmar, Biate, Vaiphei etc, had mentioned the ancestral homeland, as supposedly to be the land of Egypt. From generations, fables and stories were told among the Chin-Kuki-Mizo that strikingly resembles with that of the Israel tribes written in the Bible. Such a likeness of the old stories with that of the fables told of the Israel tribes compels an assumption that there may perhaps have been a relation of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribes with that of the Israelites in the past.

       The location of Sinlung (believed to be the place of origin of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribe) is still vague due to unavailability of proper evidence. Nevertheless, if we look closely into their fables, Egypt is much more probable as their place of origin than that of the kingdom Qin Shi-Huang. The Rabbi from Israel who traveled to India several times during the 1980s to investigate the claims was convinced that the Bnei Manasseh were indeed descendants of Israelites[7]. 

       The following sub-headings presents the folktales and legends of the Biate tribe to compare the similarities with those of the incidents that took place thousands of years ago in western part of Asia and Egypt which some believes to be the place of origin of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribes.

The Sinlung Theory According to BIETE, (Biate, Bete, Baite) Legends:

       According to the Biate legends, their origin have been the ‘Khurpui’ meaning Great Cave, sometime their origin is also known as Tuisua-riat (the river that divided and exist into eight different places). In pre-historic period human dwelled in the caves. As the tribes were of cave origin, the Khurpui tradition goes on like this;

“Tiana tiana ken siangna,
Khurpui Thlabunga;
Ţhek ar ang ken vâina
Korpui phaia chu e Roliandanga.”[10]


“In ancient time I was originated,
From Thlabung, a great hole;
I wandered helplessly as a chick
Roiliandanga in the valley of Korpui.” 

Kurpui Thlabung: A great hole that look like a banyan tree, sometime they also believed that the dark spots on the moon that looks the same as a banyan tree is the place of their existence by the Chin-Kuki-mizo tribes. ‘Korpui’, ‘Rong’ or ‘Ruak’ means empty or desolate.


      These fables are an age-old oral tradition, which have passed down through generations even before the advent of Christianity among the Biate tribes. Some of the English writers have recorded many of the accounts of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribes just before they converted into Christianity. Mentioning the ‘Tuisua-riat,’ some are of the opinion that the homeland was the delta of river Nile. Tracing back to the earliest inhabitants especially of the Biates (Old Kuki) ancestors in present district of Dima Hasao (N.C. Hills) and Jaintia Hills, the stone altar (Lungmaicham) a sacrificial place and the stone vessels (Lungzubel) rice beer container offers similarities with those of the Israelites practiced in the olden days.  Lungzubel is believed to be a vessel for fermenting grapes to make grape wine (Vomtheirui zu). Many of them still lies scattered in Biate inhabited areas of Dima Hasao district. Also, there are wild grapes growing abundantly in and around that area. The practice of making grape wine was however discontinued after the demise of Lamlira the Biate legendary Hero. It is therefore, believed that the grapes now grows wild in the jungle in those areas. The Practice of fermenting grapes and the habit of taking wine in the past was believed to have been derived from the west of Asia or Egypt believing that the tribes are one of the descendents of Israel. Noah, a man of the soil was the first to plant a vineyard[8].

       The history of the Biate tribes is based on oral tradition and much has been buried along with those who had already taken their journey to abode of the death (Mithikhua). However, the Biate tribes still have stories to tell and songs to sing which narrates their migration and place of origin. The Great Flood ‘Tuisanglian’ and ‘Sorlaii’ the legends of the Westerner (Biate), which J. Shakespeare had mentioned as ‘Ringchonghoi’ in his book ‘The Lushei Kuki Clans.’ Part-II[1] etc are few examples. 

The Great Flood:

       In the book of Genesis (the Bible) there is mention of 'The great flood,' during the time of Noah very much similar to a Biate fable. According to R. Lalsim, in no time, the hills and mountain became flooded; hence, human being and every description of wild and domestic animals ran for their life helter-skelter in search of higher range. Finally, they all ended up gathering on the range of Inzumsip, which was the only safe place, the highest and largest mountain in the country, while all the hills and country were under the water that lasted for many weeks[11]. One verse of the song Tuisanglian or Great Flood goes on like this;

“Hi ro o kumpui van ten a,
Sangtui zuang lian mual adil,
Sinlunga’n choi khua rel lai a;
Sang an rual a lungdai.”[11]

“Oh! Thy awful year and sky of yours,
Thy great flood covered the mountain,
While we made Sinlung our home;
Ye have frozen thousands hearts.”

Construction of Tower towards Heaven:

       Another tale of the Biate goes on like this; there were seven brothers. They had a sister named Sorlaii who was a young maiden of exquisite beauty. All seven of them caringly loved her and they adorned her with all the precious and valuables of the earth except the sun and moon which they believed would make an ideal gift for their lovely sister. The seven brothers therefore started building a tower towards heaven to enable them to pluck the sun and the moon for their dear sister Sorlaii. They then left their beloved sister inside a strong building with seven-folded metal doors[11]. To prevent their sister from the beast (Pharvomtepu), the seven brothers kept a secret code to enter the seven-folded metal doors. Tlumtea, the youngest of the seven brothers used to sing the code in order to enter the building. The song goes like this;

“Ki u ki u Sorlaii ve,
Ei thir inkhar thua sari kha,
Ne ong ro.”

“Dear sister dear sister Sorlaii,
Our seven-folded metal door,”
Open it for me.”

       However, Pharvomtepu secretly learned their code exactly and while the seven brothers were busy constructing the tower, Pharvomtepu carried their sister Sorlaii away. They were thus unable to continue their work as Sorlaii, the reason for whom they laboured was no longer with them. The story had somewhat similarity with that of the kingdom of Nimrod who built the tower of Babel between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers[12].

       The acceptance as one of the Israel descendents and the conjecture of Sinlung in comparing with that of the Biates folksong, folklore, and folktales, Sinlung could be knitted with the sites of Raamses located at Qantir in the Eastern Nile Delta about 12 miles (19 km) south of Tanis of Egypt. Excavations have confirmed this identification[8]. It was discovered that during the second millennium B.C., a massive settlement of Asiatic foreigners lived here. Therefore, it can be assumed that Sinlung or Chhinlung mentioned from generations might be the Pyramids of Egypt that look like a lid. From which the words Sin or Chhin comes to mean ‘close’, and lung as a ‘stone’. They are therefore believed to have name Egypt for their own signification as Sinlung or Chhinlung. The claimed that Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribe as one of the Israel tribes the river Nile (Tuisua-riat) as their ancestral homeland is still an issue debated amongst writers. Is it possible that the descendents of Manmasi could be one of the lost tribe of Israel and their ancestral homeland as Egypt? We may never know. Over a thousand of years there has been much cultural exchange through marriage and migration among the different tribes. Appearance and lifestyle would surely change with that of the tribes they lived in which we could no longer gives empirical study. If the theory of Israel origin is to be true then the tribe is believed to have settled in China for a long time. Could the descendent of Manmasi have been moving along with one of the successive waves of humanity from the western part of Asia or from China to the south as mentioned by R. Puidaite? [14]

References:
1. Shakespeare, J. (1975). The Lushei Kuki Clan, Part I & II. Mizoram, India: Tribal Research Institute, Aizawl. pp. 8-181.
2. Haokip, George T. (2010). Kuki-Chin-Mizo. The Lost Tribe of Israel.
http://www.chhinlungisrael.com/articles/kuki-chin-mizothelosttribeofisrael
3. Grierson, G. A. (1904). Linguistic Survey of India. Vol-III. Tibeto-Burman Family Part-III. Specimens of the Kuki-Chin and Burma Groups. Culcutta, India: Office of the Superintendent Government Printing. pp. viii- 3.
4. Shaw William, (1929). Notes on the Thadou Kukis. Edited by Hutton, J. H. Published on behalf of the Government of Assam. p. 11.
5. Anonymous. History of China. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_China
6. Changsan, Chawnglienthang. The Chin-Kuki-Mizo Ethnic Dilemma. http://www.scribd.com/doc/20703318/The-Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Ethnic-Dilemma
7. Anonymous. (2010). Bnei Maneshe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bnei_Menashe
8. Bibles Crossway, (2008). E. S. V. Study Bible English Standard Version. Weaton. Illinois. www.crosswaybibles.org. pp. 66-145.
9. Annonomus, Official website of Chhinlung Israel Peoples’ Convention. http://www.chhinlungisrael.com/mizo-israel
10. Lalsim, Roilianthanga. (1999). The Interaction of Christianity with the Customary Laws of the Biate Tribe. (unpublished Thesis) Bishop’s College Calcutta. p. 7.
11. Lalsim, Ramdina.  (2010). Folk Tales of the Biates. Cultural Centre Haflong, Assam. pp. 71-74.
12. Young, G.D. (1989). Young’s Compact Bible Dictionary. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Wheaton, Illinois. pp. 82-508.
13. Anonymous (2010). Biate Tribe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biate_(tribe).
14. Pudaite, R. (1963). The Education of the Hmar People with Historical Sketch of the People. Sielmat, Manipur. p. 22.