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Mizoram is a landlocked state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometre (449 mi) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar to the east and south, with domestic borders with the Indian states of Assam, Manipur, and Tripura. It covers an area of 21,087 square kilometres which 91% of the area is covered by forests, making it the most heavily forested state in India. With an estimated population of 1.25 million in 2023, it is the second least populated state in India. With an urbanisation rate of 51.5% it is the most urbanised state in northeast India, ranking fifth in urbanisation nationwide. One of the two official languages and most widely spoken tongue is Mizo, which serves as a lingua franca among various ethnic communities who speak a variety of other Tibeto-Burman or Indo-Aryan languages. Mizoram is home to the highest percentage of scheduled tribes in India, with the Mizo people forming the majority.
United Mizo Freedom Organisation (UMFO), was a political party in the Lushai Hills. UMFO was founded on 20 July 1947, as a split from the Mizo Union. At the time of Indian independence, UMFO was the second largest political force in the area.
The Mizo people, historically known as the Lushais, are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group native to the state of Mizoram in India and neighbouring states of Northeast India. They speak the Tibeto-Burman language of Mizo, the official language and lingua franca of Mizoram. The state is the second most literate state in India, at more than a rate of 90%.
The history of Mizoram encompasses the history of Mizoram which lies in the southernmost part of northeast India. It is a conglomerate history of several ethnic groups of Chin people who migrated from Chin State of Burma. But information of their patterns of westward migration are based on oral history and archaeological inferences, hence nothing definite can be said. The recorded history started relatively recently around the mid-19th century when the adjoining regions were occupied by the British monarchy. Following religious, political and cultural revolutions in the mid-20th century majority of the people agglomerated into a super tribe, Mizo. Hence the officially recognised settlement of the Mizos became Mizoram.
The Kuki people, or Kuki-Zo people, are an ethnic group in the Northeastern Indian states of Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, as well as the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Myanmar. The Kukis form one of the largest hill tribe communities in this region. In Northeast India, they are present in all states except Arunachal Pradesh. The Chin people of Myanmar and the Mizo people of Mizoram are kindred tribes of the Kukis. Collectively, they are termed the Zo people.
Laldenga was a Mizo separatist and politician from Mizoram in northeast India. He was the founder of the Mizo National Front, a social organisation turned political party. He was the first Chief Minister of Mizoram as a federated state, the office of which he held from 1986 to 1988.
Lunglei district is one of the eleven districts of Mizoram state in India. As of 2011 it is the second most populous district in the state, after Aizawl.
Ranglong is an ethnic people belonging to the Kuki people. The majority of the Ranglong people live in a small and densely-packed area in the northeastern part of India, mainly in the border areas of Tripura, Assam and Mizoram.
Mary Winchester, or Zolûti to Mizos later Mary Innes Howie, (1865–1955) was a Scottish girl who was captured and held hostage by the Mizo tribes of Mizoram, India, in 1871, and rescued by the British expedition in 1872. This historic event marked the beginning of British rule in Mizoram that lasted until the Indian Independence in 1947. Indirectly, it also paved the way for Christian missionaries to introduce Christianity among the Mizos.
Rani Kalindi was the 46th and last independent ruler of the Chakma Circle. She was only female ruler of the Chakma people.
Laltluangliana Khiangte is a Mizo academic, playwright and poet of Mizo literature. He was the principal of the Serampore College and a former professor at Pachhunga University College and the North Eastern Hill University. He is presently serving as the senior most professor at the Department of Mizo at Mizoram University. He is a recipient of the Pu Buanga Award, the highest literary award of the Mizo Academy of Letters. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2006, for his contributions to Indian literature.
The culture of the Mizo people has been heavily influenced by Christianity during the colonial era of the British Raj and the rise of Mizo nationalism with the Mizo Insurgency of 1966-1986. Mizo culture is rooted in the arts and ways of life of Mizos in India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Mizo culture has developed in plurality with historical settlements and migrations starting from Southern China to the Shan states of Burma, the Kabaw valley and the state of Mizoram under the British and Indian administrations.
British rule in the Lushai Hills, spanning from the late 1889 to the 1947, commenced with the Chin-Lushai Expedition of 1889-90 leading to the formal establishment of the two administrative districts in 1889 and continued through the integration of the regions into the province of Assam with both districts being merged as the Lushai Hills until India gained independence in 1947.
The Mizo District, formerly called Lushai Hills District, was an autonomous district of the Indian state of Assam from 1947 till 1972 until it was granted the status of a Union Territory. This region was a significant part of Mizo history as it formally abolished the Mizo chieftainship system in 1952. It also encountered the 1959 Mautam famine, which led to the Mizo National Front uprising and the subsequent 20-year insurgency.
Mizo chieftainship refers to the system of chieftainship used by the Mizo people, which historically operated as a gerontocracy. The chieftain system persisted among the various clans and tribes from the precolonial era through to the British colonial period and Indian independence briefly. The Mizo Union advocated for abolishing chieftainship in Mizoram. The chieftainships of Mizoram were eventually disbanded with the Assam-Lushai District Act in 1954.
Suakpuilala, known by the British as Sukpilal, was a Lushai chieftain from the Sailo clan who held considerable influence over the western Lushai Hills. Sukpilal conducted a series of raids in British tea plantations and entered a diplomatic relationship with the British soon after. He was also a patron of bazaars and riverines established in the Lushai Hills as the first official trade channels. A defender of his sovereignty, Sukpilal's influence in the Lushai Hills was used by the British for mutual benefits.
Lalchhuaklala, known by the British as Lalchukla was a Lushai chieftain of the Paite clan. He is known for being one of the earliest chiefs to interact with the British through raiding. Lalchukla was a close associate of Hill Tipperah in following the diplomacy of his father Laroo. Lalchukla's raid of Kachu Bari saw British retaliation which led to him being caught. His trial was under English common law, and he was sentenced to life in captivity with deportation.
Khalkam was a Lushai chief of the 19th century. He is known for being the son of Sukpilal and for being an enemy of the British, which led to the Chin-Lushai Expedition. Khalkam was deported to Hazaribagh jail after British capture, where he committed suicide with his brother Lengpunga.
Vanhnuailiana also known as Vonolel was the chief of the Eastern Lushai Hills. Vonolel expanded his influence over the Sukte and Poi tribes in the east and attempted incursions into Naga territories in Manipur. He was considered the most powerful chief in the Eastern Lushai Hills until his death in 1871. He presided over several conflicts during his period of chieftainship.
Lalburha also known as Lalbura was a Lushai chief in the Eastern Lushai Hills. Lalbura is recognised for being the third son of Vonolel and resisting the British after the annexation of the Lushai Hills in the Chin-Lushai Expedition.
References
- ↑ Chatterjee 1990, p. 102.
- 1 2 Chatterjee 1995, p. 81.
- 1 2 3 Chatterjee 1995, p. 82.
- 1 2 Chatterjee 1995, p. 83.
- ↑ Chatterjee 1985, p. 94.
- 1 2 Chatterjee 1990, p. 103.
- ↑ Chatterjee 1994, p. 10.
- ↑ Chatterjee 1994, p. 46.