By: Priyadarshni M Gangte *
Conclusion :
That historically the Mizos are a Mongoloid race of the Tibeto-Burman group of tribes and that the mountainous region of Southern China the original home of these people is unquestionable because their tradition, myths, legends and the historical facts based on research all point to it.
But it is extremely difficult, perhaps impossible, to definitely give the correct date of their settlement and beginning of their migration from them. Therefore, to this aspect of the Mizo history, no conclusive research can presently be made.
Having found their new homes in Burma the Mizos are believed to have been there for a number of centuries. Unlike other Kiratas who reached Assam following the course of the Brahmaputra river and still others who reached the other hill areas through mountain passes, the Mizos arrived in their present habitats.
The evidence is that Mizos arrived here from the Chin Hills of Burma through the present Chawnchhim popularly known as Champhai. In Chin Hills of Burma till now there are so many Mizo villages and the main route appears to be the land route via what is popularly known as Rihdil, the Rih lake. It is certain that when they moved westward they moved in small number. One group under the command of one Chief moved from one place to another.
Among the Mongoloid tribes whom the classical writers and modern authors refer to as Kiratas as having found their ancient settlements in the plains and the hills of Assam with whom the Ahoms had contacts with, the Mizos had no part to play because they were distinctly different from them.
Culture of the Kukis
Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities acquired by man as a member of society, says Tylor, so said Malinawski that culture is the handiwork of man and the medium through which he achieves his end, and, in like manner Mazumdar propounds culture as the sum total of human achievements, material as well as non-material, capable of transmission, by tradition and communication, vertically as well as horizontally.
Thus, we can surmise that there are certain characteristics of culture that may briefly be given as follows:
that culture is an acquired quality, learned through socialization, habits and thoughts;
that it is social and not individual heritage, a social product which is shared by most members of the group;
that culture is idealistic, embodying the ideas and norms of a group, a sum-total of the ideal patterns and norms of behaviour of a group;
that it is the total social heritage that links with the past which endures because it lives in culture passing from one generation to another through traditions and customs;
that it fulfils those ethical and social needs of the groups which are ends in themselves;
that it is an integrated system, its various parts being integrated with each other and any new element introduced is also integrated; and
that language being the chief vehicle of culture, living not only in the present but also in the past and future, it transmits what was learnt in the past and enables further to transmit the accumulated wisdom.
Now, as has been sufficiently made clear in the preceding paragraphs, the Mizos are of Tibeto-Burman Family group of people. They arrived the Chin Hills of Burma from Southern China as a result of population movements.
Chieftainship was instituted as a single source of authority in society. They also developed their economic system adopting the method of cultivation called “Slash and burn”, the oldest method of cultivation and the most dreaded system the world over today.
They cannot do away with it till this day among the Mizos wherever they might settle, either in the Chin Hill, Burma (Myanmar), or Manipur, or Nagaland, or Tripura, or Mizoram, or North-Cachar Hills in Assam or Arakan and Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh.
The reason is not far to seek. It is due to non-availability of better alternatives. Their religious life also improved considerably with innovative rites, rituals, methods of propitiations, etc., to the then existing ones.
The cultural life of the people showed all round marked development from their rudimentary stage of social institutions which are components of culture.
==============================
# Historical and cultural background of the Mizos - Part I
# Historical and cultural background of the Mizos - Part II
# Historical and cultural background of the Mizos - Part IIII
# Historical and cultural background of the Mizos - Part IV
# Historical and cultural background of the Mizos - Part V
# Historical and cultural background of the Mizos - Part VI
# Historical and cultural background of the Mizos - Part VII
==============================
Priyadarshni M Gangte wrote this article for The Sangai Express . This article was webcasted on November 18 , 2007
Conclusion :
That historically the Mizos are a Mongoloid race of the Tibeto-Burman group of tribes and that the mountainous region of Southern China the original home of these people is unquestionable because their tradition, myths, legends and the historical facts based on research all point to it.
But it is extremely difficult, perhaps impossible, to definitely give the correct date of their settlement and beginning of their migration from them. Therefore, to this aspect of the Mizo history, no conclusive research can presently be made.
Having found their new homes in Burma the Mizos are believed to have been there for a number of centuries. Unlike other Kiratas who reached Assam following the course of the Brahmaputra river and still others who reached the other hill areas through mountain passes, the Mizos arrived in their present habitats.
The evidence is that Mizos arrived here from the Chin Hills of Burma through the present Chawnchhim popularly known as Champhai. In Chin Hills of Burma till now there are so many Mizo villages and the main route appears to be the land route via what is popularly known as Rihdil, the Rih lake. It is certain that when they moved westward they moved in small number. One group under the command of one Chief moved from one place to another.
Among the Mongoloid tribes whom the classical writers and modern authors refer to as Kiratas as having found their ancient settlements in the plains and the hills of Assam with whom the Ahoms had contacts with, the Mizos had no part to play because they were distinctly different from them.
Culture of the Kukis
Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities acquired by man as a member of society, says Tylor, so said Malinawski that culture is the handiwork of man and the medium through which he achieves his end, and, in like manner Mazumdar propounds culture as the sum total of human achievements, material as well as non-material, capable of transmission, by tradition and communication, vertically as well as horizontally.
Thus, we can surmise that there are certain characteristics of culture that may briefly be given as follows:
that culture is an acquired quality, learned through socialization, habits and thoughts;
that it is social and not individual heritage, a social product which is shared by most members of the group;
that culture is idealistic, embodying the ideas and norms of a group, a sum-total of the ideal patterns and norms of behaviour of a group;
that it is the total social heritage that links with the past which endures because it lives in culture passing from one generation to another through traditions and customs;
that it fulfils those ethical and social needs of the groups which are ends in themselves;
that it is an integrated system, its various parts being integrated with each other and any new element introduced is also integrated; and
that language being the chief vehicle of culture, living not only in the present but also in the past and future, it transmits what was learnt in the past and enables further to transmit the accumulated wisdom.
Now, as has been sufficiently made clear in the preceding paragraphs, the Mizos are of Tibeto-Burman Family group of people. They arrived the Chin Hills of Burma from Southern China as a result of population movements.
Chieftainship was instituted as a single source of authority in society. They also developed their economic system adopting the method of cultivation called “Slash and burn”, the oldest method of cultivation and the most dreaded system the world over today.
They cannot do away with it till this day among the Mizos wherever they might settle, either in the Chin Hill, Burma (Myanmar), or Manipur, or Nagaland, or Tripura, or Mizoram, or North-Cachar Hills in Assam or Arakan and Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh.
The reason is not far to seek. It is due to non-availability of better alternatives. Their religious life also improved considerably with innovative rites, rituals, methods of propitiations, etc., to the then existing ones.
The cultural life of the people showed all round marked development from their rudimentary stage of social institutions which are components of culture.
==============================
# Historical and cultural background of the Mizos - Part I
# Historical and cultural background of the Mizos - Part II
# Historical and cultural background of the Mizos - Part IIII
# Historical and cultural background of the Mizos - Part IV
# Historical and cultural background of the Mizos - Part V
# Historical and cultural background of the Mizos - Part VI
# Historical and cultural background of the Mizos - Part VII
==============================
Priyadarshni M Gangte wrote this article for The Sangai Express . This article was webcasted on November 18 , 2007
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