Mizo people in Tripura

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Mizo people in Tripura
Tuikukrama awm Mizote
Cheraw jampui.jpg
Traditional cheraw dance performed in the Jampui Hills
Total population
5,639 (2011 census) [1]
Regions with significant populations
Languages
Mizo
Kokborok, Bengali
Religion
Related ethnic groups

The Mizo people in Tripura are an ethnic minority in the northeast Indian state. They have established settlements in areas like the Jampui Hills and integrated into Tripura's socio-cultural landscape.

Contents

History

The Mizo population in the Jampui Hills grew steadily until the mid-19th century when the monkeypox disease caused widespread fatalities, forcing many to vacate the area. The last major wave of Mizo migration to the Jampui Hills occurred in the early 20th century under the leadership of Chief Dokhuma Sailo in 1910 and Chief Hrangvunga Sailo in 1912. [2]

In 1930, Dokhuma Sailo and Hrangvunga Sailo were honored by the Maharaja of Tippera with the titles Raja Bahadur and Raja, respectively. Vungsakeia, a close associate of Dokhuma Sailo, was also conferred the title of Montri for his wisdom and bravery. Since the early 20th century, the Mizo people have continued to inhabit the Jampui Hills peacefully. [3]

Vanghmun

One of the most significant Mizo settlements in Tripura is Vanghmun, established on February 5, 1919, by Raja Bahadur Dokhuma Sailo. The village started with 20 houses and has grown into a community that preserves Mizo culture and history. It is notable for being the cleanest village in Tripura. [4] [5] It is also known for contributions to local agriculture and its involvement in significant historical events, such as:

Culture and economy

The Mizo people of Tripura retain their traditional culture while integrating with the region's broader society. Agriculture remains a primary occupation, with pineapple and citrus fruit cultivation being significant contributors to their economy. The Jampui Hills, known for their scenic beauty, is a hub for orange cultivation, often referred to as the "Orange Bowl of Tripura," and introduced Tripura the Orange Festival. [7] [8] [9]

Christianity is the predominant religion among the Mizo, introduced through missionary activities. However, some Mizo people, particularly the early settlers, adopted Hinduism and worshipped deities such as Kali. [9]

Influential Tripuri Mizos

The Mizos of Tripura have made significant contributions to contemporary culture, particularly in music and politics. Prominent figures include:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tripura</span> State in northeastern India

Tripura is a state in northeastern India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers 10,491 km2 (4,051 sq mi); and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 3.67 million. It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east and by Bangladesh to the north, south and west. Tripura is divided into 8 districts and 23 sub-divisions, where Agartala is the capital and the largest city in the state. Tripura has 19 different tribal communities with a majority Bengali population. Bengali, English and Kokborok are the state's official languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agartala</span> Capital city of Tripura, India

Agartala is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Tripura, situated on the banks of Haora/Saidra River, about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) east of the border with Bangladesh and about 2,499 km (1,552 mi) from the national capital, New Delhi. According to 2022 AMC data, Agartala is the second most populous city after Guwahati in Northeast India. It is India's third international internet gateway and being developed under the Smart Cities Mission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mizoram</span> State in northeastern India

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeast India</span> Group of Northeastern Indian states

Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political administrative division of the country. It comprises eight states—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, and the "brother" state of Sikkim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra</span> Indian political party

The Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra was a political party in the Indian state of Tripura. Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl was the president of the party. It merged with the Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Alliance (TIPRA) party on 11 June 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chakma people</span> Ethnic group from the Indian subcontinent

The Chakma people or Changhma people, are an ethnic group from the eastern-most regions of the Indian subcontinent and Western Myanmar. They are the second largest ethnic group of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of southeastern Bangladesh, and the largest in the Chakma Autonomous District Council of Mizoram, India. Significant Chakma populations are found in the northeast Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Assam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mizo people</span> Ethnic group native to northeastern India

The Mizo people, historically called the Lushais, are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group primarily from Mizoram in northeastern India. They speak Mizo, one of the state's official languages and its lingua franca. Beyond Mizoram, sizable Mizo communities live in neighboring northeast Indian states like Manipur, Assam, Meghalaya, and Tripura, with minority populations also found in Myanmar and the United States. Mizoram is the second most literate state in India, at more than a rate of 90%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tripura Baptist Christian Union</span> Christian denomination in India

The Tripura Baptist Christian Union (TBCU) is a Baptist Christian denomination in Tripura, India. It has its head office in Agartala, the state capital. The TBCU is affiliated to the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation (APBF) and the Baptist World Alliance (BWA). It is also a member church in the North East India Christian Council (NEICC), a regional church body of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Mizoram</span>

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.

Tripura National Volunteers was a Tripuri nationalist militant group in the Tripura region of India that launched an armed struggle in the early 1980s to separate Tripura from India. TNV was led by Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jampui Hills</span>

Jampui Hills is a part of the Mizo hills range located in the North Tripura district in the north eastern part of the Indian state of Tripura. The average altitude of the hill range is approximately 1000 metres above sea level.

The Hrangkhawls are the subtribe of the Hmars and they speak the Hrangkhawl dialect of Tibeto-Burmese origin. Though the majority of the Hmars speak the lingua-franca of the Hmar i.e Khawsak țawng/Literary Hmar, many of the 20+ Hmar subtribes(such as Faihriem țawng, Leiri țawng,Țhiek țawng, Zote țawng, Darngawn țawng, etc)also speak their own dialect just like the Hrangkhawls.In the history of the Hmars specifically around the 15th century AD, the Hmar subtribes were united by Rêngpui(Great king/great ruler;title) Chawnhmang Buhril who placed 6 Rêngtes(Lesser/smaller rulers;title) who were effectively regional rulers and also had village chiefs and so under them. Here, in this era the northern regional ruler was Demlukim Hrangkhawl who ruled from Mawmrang village in present day Saitual district of Mizoram, and by the late stages of Rêngpui Chawnhmang's reign, it was recorded that he gave all his Rêngtes royal gifts before he departed for Tripura.For Rêngte Demlukim Hrangkhawl, the Rêngpui gave him a pinto/spotted horse and after that, taking many of his Hrangkhawl and Darlawng subjects, he migrated to Tripura. This is also the reason why Tripura is known to the Hmars(Mizos) as "Rêngram"(Land of the Rêng/Ruler). They are listed as one of the 21 scheduled tribes of Indian state Tripura. Archived 2018-12-07 at the Wayback Machine They are mainly dwelling in the Teliamura sub-division of West Tripura and the Ambassa sub-division of Dhalai Archived 2023-10-03 at the Wayback Machine districts. The Hrangkhawls are also found in the North Cachar Hills of Dima Hasao district, Assam, Mizoram, Manipur and Myanmar.

The Halam community are various tribes native to the state of Tripura in India. The name Halam was coined by the Tipra Maharaja. As per their oral tradition they called themselves "Riam", which literally means "Human being". And lyrically they also call themselves "Riamrai, Chepvon, Reivon, Longvon etc.". The Halam are further divided into 12 sub-tribes, namely Sakachep, Chorei, Molsom, Hrangkhol, Kaipeng, Kalai, Ranglong, Thangachep, Bongcher, Korbwng, Dab and Rupini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Tripura</span>

The culture of Tripura is distinct and a bit similar to other people of Northeast India. However like Assam, Manipur, Burma and Southeast Asia culture of Tripura is characterized in small portion where people live in plain and hill areas. Tripura is a state in North East India. In the 2001 census of India, Bengalis represented almost 70% of the population and the Tripuri population comprised 30% of Tripura's population. The Tripuri population comprises some clans and ethnic groups with diverse languages and cultures. The largest native group was the Tripuri who had a population of 543,848 in 2001 census, representing 16.99% of the state population and 54.7% of the scheduled tribe population. The other group of people in order of decreasing population were Chakma (6.5%), Halam (4.8%), Mog (3.1%), Munda, Kuki tribes and Garo Hajong. Bengali is the most spoken language, due to the dominance of Bengali people in the state. Kokborok (Tripuri/Tiprakok) is a common language among Tripuris and lingua franca in Tripura. Several other languages belonging to Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan families are spoken by the different tribe

Kailashahar is the fourth largest urban area in the north eastern state of India, Tripura, located near northwest Bangladesh border. It is a Municipal council and the administrative center of the Unakoti district, this city is surrounded by unakoti hills and flows through Tripura's longest river, Manu.

Lalthangfala Sailo is an Indian educationist, short story writer, playwright and a former president of the Mizo Academy of Letters. He is a former deputy registrar at the Mizoram campus of the North Eastern Hill University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sabual</span> Village in Tripura, Northeast India

Sabual is a village in the northeastern part of Tripura state in Northeast India. It is one of the ten Mizo-Reang villages which compose the Jampui Hills range under Kanchanpur Sub-Division. The District headquarter, Dharmanagar is approximately 85 kilometers from Sabual. It sits at about 1000 meters above sea level. Summer is cool and winter season is cold. The economy of the village depend on shifting cultivation and Gardening.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mizo culture</span> Culture of the Mizo people of India

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hill tribes of Northeast India</span> Indian ethnic group

The hill tribes of Northeast India are hill people, mostly classified as Scheduled Tribes (STs), who live in the Northeast India region. This region has the largest proportion of scheduled tribes in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanghmun</span> Village in Tripura

Vanghmun is a remote village at the highest peak of Jampui Hills in North Tripura district of the Tripura state in North East India. It is notable for its cleanliness and also known as the cleanest village of Tripura.

References

  1. "India - Census of India 2011 - LANGUAGE ATLAS - INDIA". censusindia.gov.in.
  2. "Vanghmun". anvayins.com.
  3. "Vanghum, the 'clean and green village' of Tripura sets example for the whole nation! - South Asia Views". 26 May 2021.
  4. "Tripura Tourism". tripuratourism.gov.in.
  5. "Vanghmun Village – the Cleanest village of Tripura". 25 July 2019.
  6. 1 2 "Vanghmun locals vie for India's cleanest village tag".
  7. "Jampui Hills | District North Tripura, Government of Tripura | India".
  8. "Orange Festival of Tripura, Importance of Orange Festival in Tripura".
  9. 1 2 "Tripura Tourism". tripuratourism.gov.in.