History of Mizoram
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/Assam_in_1950s.png/220px-Assam_in_1950s.png)
The history of Mizoram encompasses the history of
The earliest documented records of Mizoram were from the British military officers in the 1850s, when they encountered a series of raids in their official jurisdiction in
Origin of the inhabitants
The ancestors of Mizos were without any form of written language before the advent of British. They were anthropologically identified as members of the Tibeto-Burman ethnicity. Folk legends unanimously claim that there was Chhinlung or Sinlung at the cradle of the Mizos. Oral history provided contrasting accounts on the origin.
- One popular legend tells that the Mizos emerged from under a large covering rock known as Chhinlung (literally "rock cover").[1]
- Another version says that Chhinlung refers to the Chinese city of Sinlung or Chinlingsang situated close on the Sino-Burmese border. According to Mr. K. S. Latourette,[2] there were political upheavals in China in 210 B.C.E. when the dynastic rule was abolished and the whole empire was brought under one administrative system. The Mizos left China as part of one of those waves of migration. However, this is pure speculation.[3][self-published source]
- According to Vumson's Zo history, the earliest ancestor of the Mizos was Thlapa, the eldest son of Ngaihte, whose son was Lamhlir and grandson was Seipui/Lusei.
- A different story presented by Historians such as Liangkhaia, Hrangṭhiauva and Lal Chungnunga is that in Tibet there was born a three brothers named Mizoa, Mirua and Marua. Leading nomadic life they mostly settled in Chinzua (Chen-Yuan) in China. The descendants of Mizoa migrated to Sakai in Burma. In due course of time they had a great chief called Chhinglunga, and his chiefdom came to be known as Chhinlung.[4]
Speculated to be in around the 5th century they settled in the
Khampat (now in
Mizo Hills
The earliest Mizo people to enter the present Mizoram were known as
British rule
Initial encounters
By the mid-19th century
British military expeditions
To retaliate the British military organised punitive expedition named Lushai Expedition in 1871–1872. The campaign consisted two columns, the right advancing from Chittagong and the left from Cachar. General Brownlow, C.B., commanded the former, with Captain T.H. Lewin, Superintendent of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, as Civil Officer. The Cachar column was led by General Bourchier, C.B., with Mr. Edgar, Deputy Commissioner, Cachar, as Civil Officer. In addition, a contingent of Manipuris accompanied by Colonel James Nuttall, the Political Agent of Manipur, made a demonstration across the southern border to co-operate with General Bourchier's portion of the expedition. The expedition started on 15 December 1871. The Mizo villages were crushed one by one, and Mary Winchester was rescued. Mizo chiefs made a truce not to make further attacks. Frontier posts were built to protect the border and bazaars were opened to encourage the Lushais to trade After a decade the truce was broken, and there erupted intermittent raids again. In 1889 British military organised another punitive expedition code named "The Expedition of 1889". It was commanded b Col. F.V.C. Tregear. From their camping site at Chawngte they started on 19 December 1888. They easily penetrated the southern villages with little resistance. They fortified at Lunglei and prepared locations and roads for the next expedition. After their completing their mission, they returned in April 1889. Then the major campaign called The Chin-Lushai Expedition 1889-90 immediately followed. Again divided into two columns, Chittagong column was commanded by Col. Tregear, and Cachar column by W.W. Daly. The Chittagong column occupied most of the southern region including Chin Hills by the end of 1889. The Cachar column camped at Aijal (now Aizawl) on 30 January 1890. They subjugated all the major chiefdoms, captured the chiefs and got permanently fortified in Aizawl and Lunglei, as the administrative centres.[12][15][17][18]
Lushai Hills
Mizo Hills were formally declared as part of
Christianity and education
The Mizo ancestors had no written language and in terms of religion they worshiped nature and revered natural phenomena. The first missionary who came to Lushai Hills was Rev.
Lushai Hills District
Following the Bordoloi sub-committee's suggestion, a certain amount of autonomy was accepted by the government and enshrined in the Six Schedule of the Indian Constitution. The Lushai Hills Autonomous District Council came into being in 1952 followed by the formation of these bodies led to the abolition of chieftainship in the Mizo society. The autonomy however met the aspirations of the Mizos only partially. Representatives of the District Council and the Mizo Union pleaded with the States Reorganization Commission (SRC) in 1954 for integration of the Mizo-dominated areas of Tripura and Manipur with their District Council in Assam. The tribal leaders in the northeast were laboriously unhappy with the SRC recommendations. They met in Aizawl in 1955 and formed a new political party, Eastern India Tribal Union (EITU) and raised their demand for a separate state comprising all the hill districts of Assam. The Mizo Union split and the breakaway faction joined the EITU. By this time, the UMFO also joined the EITU and then understanding of the Hill problems by the Chuliha Ministry, the demand for a separate Hill state by EITU was kept in abeyance.[29]
Mautam famine
In 1959, Mizo Hills was devastated by a great famine known in Mizo history as '
Insurgency
After recovery from the disaster the Mizo National Famine Front was changed to a new political organisation, the
Birth of Mizoram state
Election of
See also
References
- ^ Zama, Margaret. "Mizo Folklore". .indianfolklore.org. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ISBN 9788170999973. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ Vumson (1987). Zo History (PDF). Aizawl, India: Vumson. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ Awmtea Leo Khiangte (26 April 2012). "Mizo Hnam Ṭobul". mi(sual).com. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
- ISBN 9788178353562.
- ISBN 9780700717644.
- ^ C Nunthara (1996). Mizoram: Society and Polity. Indus Publishing Company.
- ISBN 9788185880723.
- ISBN 978-81-8205-178-2.
- S2CID 145307476.
- S2CID 133021703.
- ^ a b Bertram Sausmarez Carey; Henry Newman Tuck (1896). The Chin Hills: a history of our people. Superintendent, government printing, Burma.
- ^ Hluna, J.V. (2003). Mizoram Hmar Bial Missionary-te Chanchin. Aizawl, India: The Synod Literature & Publication Board.
- ^ J. Meirion Lloyd (1991). History of the Church in Mizoram: Harvest in the Hills. Synod Publication Board.
- ^ a b "Chapter 1. The terrifying tribesmen of the Mizo Hills". www.mizostory.org. Mizo Story. Archived from the original on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
- ^ Champhai (25 September 2009). "ZOLUTI (MARY WINCHESTER) CHANCHIN – Ama Ziak" [ZOLUTI (MARY WINCHESTER) CHANCHIN - Her Autobiography] (in Mizo). Kan Lungkham Champhai. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ^ A. Thanglura (1988). Mihrang leh Sahrang. Aizawl, India: Self. pp. 81–85, 93–96.
- ^ Lewin TH Col. (2007) [1912]. A Fly on the Wheel: Or, How I Helped to Govern India. UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 2656–290.
- ^ Chaterjee, Suhas (1985). Mizoram under the British rule. Mittal Publication. p. 225.
- ^ "Page 2: William Williams visits the Mizo Hills". Mizo Story. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ^ PimPom (13 February 2012). "Rev. William Williams leh Mizoram a a sulhnu hmasa" [Rev. William Williams and his initial works in Mizoram] (in Mizo). mi(sual).com. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
- ISBN 9788183240864.
- ^ Lorrain and Savidge 1898. The World Atlas of Language Structures Online. 1898. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
- ^ BMS. "Mizoram". BMS World Mission. Archived from the original on 15 January 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
- ISBN 9788180695148.
- ^ "GENERAL BACKGROUND OF THE MARA EVANGELICAL CHURCH". Mara Evangelical Church. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
- ^ "Mara Evangelical Church". World Council of Churches. January 2001. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
- ^ "A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH OF MARALAND". Evangelical Church Of Maraland. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
- ^ J Zorema (2007). Indirect Rule In Mizoram 1890-1954. Mitta Publications.
- ^ "Mautam, the flowers of famine". Indian Express. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ISBN 9788180695148.
- ^ Sanjeev Miglani (19 April 2010). "Bombing your own people: the use of air power in South Asia". Reuters. Archived from the original on 22 April 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
- ^ Lalchungnunga (1994). Mizoram politics of regionalism and national integration. Reliance Publishing House.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Baruah, Sanjib (2007). Durable Disorder: Understanding the Politics of Northeast India. Oxford University Press.
- ^ Chaterjee, Suhas. Making of Mizoram: Role of Laldenga, Volume 2. MD Publication.
- ISBN 978-81-7387-059-0.
- ISBN 978-81-85880-38-9.