Zo Nationalism - English Version
Nationalism, by definition, ‘is a state or a condition of mind characteristic of certain peoples with a homogeneous culture, living together in a close association in a given territory, and sharing a belief in a distinctive existence and a common destiny'. It ‘implies the identification of the state or nation with the people or at least the desirability of determining the extent of the state according to the ethnographic principles’.
This concept is particularly true for the Zo’s who now live in many different countries around the world. The ethnological unit and the relationship of the Zo’s of India, Burma and Bangladesh have been conspicuously transmitted through their history, culture, social life, traditions, language, customs, folktales, poetry and songs.
Before elaborating on the ethnic homogeneity of Zo’s, it will be interesting to present here some important studies on the Zo’s conducted by British who unanimously concluded that the Zo’s in India and Burma are ‘of one and the same stock’ (Carey and Tuck,1896,p2).
On the Indian side, Lt. Col. John Shakespeare, the first Superintendent of the amalgamated Lushai Hills District, wrote his monograph, “The Lushai-Kuki Clans”, which covers all the Zo’s clans living in Lushai Hills and Manipur Hills. The Monograph was written during a period of more than twenty years of service among the Zo’s, and he was, perhaps, the best informed of the early administrators concerning Zo’s ethnicity. Shakespeare came to a definite conclusion on the homogeneity question and wrote,
“There is no doubt that the Kukis, Chins, and Lushais are all of the same race”.
In his monograph, Shakespeare used ‘Clan’, not ‘tribe’, consistently for the different Zo’s groups because of the high degree of identity which he found existing among the people in language, culture and history. Another monograph, “Notes on the Thadou Kukis”, written by William Shaw was published in 1919. On the question of ethnic homogeneity Shaw was equally emphatic:
“The Koms, Aimols, Khothang, Thadous, Chins, Lushai, Pois, Soktes (Sukte), Paites, Gangtes, etc. are undoubtedly connected. The language alone has many similarities and the syntax is not dissimilar. Again these are their customs which have a common principle running through them all”.
Commenting on the above statement, J.H. Hutton, one of the greatest authorities of his time on the Tribes of North East, gives unqualified support: “The affinity of the Thado with the other branches of the Kuki race mentioned by Mr. Shaw is unquestionable” Col. E. B. Elly on his “Military Report on the Chin-Lushai Country” also makes this comments:
“All these were people of the same race, speaking dialects of the same language, wearing the same dress, and having the same customs, form of politics, and religious belief.”
On the Burmese side, Betram S. Carey, the political officer of Chin Hills, and H. N. Tuck his Assistant, were engaged in preparing a substantial book, “The Chin Hills: A History of the People, our dealing with them, and their customs and manners, and a Gazetteer of their Country,” which was published in two volumes by the Government of Burma in 1896. At the initial stage of their study they have the feeling that ‘the Chins have nothing in common with the Lushais of Assam’. However, after a thorough investigation they modified their position and concluded that:
“Without pretending to speak with authority on the subject, we think we may reasonably accept the theory that the Kukis of Manipur the Lushai of Bengal and Assam and the Chins originally lived in what we know as Tibet, and are of one and the same stock : their form of government, method of cultivation, manners, and customs, beliefs and traditions all point to one origin”.
They also summarize the common traits of all the Zo’s throughout the Chin-Lushai Hills.
Another monumental work which supports the homogeneity of the Zo’s (Chin-Kuki-Lushai people) is the well known linguist, G. A. Grierson’s “Linguistic Survey of India, Vol. III, Part III, published in 1904". Through careful and elaborate comparisons of the various languages spoken in India and Burma he demonstrated clearly the dialects spoken by the Zo’s are a distinct language group under the Assam-Burmese branch of the Tibeto-Burman family of languages.
Apart from the above scholars, every writer of note dealing with one or more sections of the Zo’s has noted the homogeneity of the tribe. These include Stephen Fuchs, F. K. Lehman, B. C. Chakraborty, S. K. Chaube, B. B. Goswami, H. K. Barpujari, etc among outsiders writing in English, and among Zo’s writers Pastor Liangkhaia, R. Vanlawma, Lalthangliana, T. Gougin, Dr. Tualchin Neihsial, Mangkhosat Kipgen, Vum Kho Hau etc. all speaks of the cultural, historical and traditional homogeneity of Zo’s Tribes.
The nationality of Zo’s as a distinct racial stock can be elaborated on the following points:-
Common Race
Common Religion
Common language
Common History
Common Political Aspiration
Geographical Contiguity and
Common Culture
People are easily tied to each other by the factor of common race or kinship. The Zo’s are distinctly different from the Aryans of India and Burmans of Burma. All the Zo’s tribes and sub-tribes resemble each other very closely in appearance, and their characteristics, behavior and colour identify them as being of the Mongolian race. A unique Mongolian characteristic which is found among the Zo’s is the ‘blue Mongolian spot”, which can be seen on the back and buttock of every new-born child, male or female. Being the Mongoloid stock, their skin colour varies between dark yellow-brown, dark olive copper and yellow olive. The face is nearly as broad as it is long and is generally round or square, the cheek bone high, broad and prominent, eyes small and almond-shaped, the nose short and flat, thick hair and usually straight and jet black. ‘The Zo’s are well-built with strong limbs and good figures; the average height of the man is about 5 feet and 6 inches . Other common characteristics of the Zo’s, as observed by Carey and Tuck are worth mentioning:
“………the main Kuki characteristics can be universally traced as – The slow speech, the serious manner, the respect for birth and the knowledge of pedigrees, the duty of revenge, the taste for and the treacherous method of warfare, the curse of drink, the virtue of hospitality, the clannish feeling, the vice of avarice, the filthy state of the body, mutual distrust, impatience under control, the want of power of combination and continued effort, arrogance in victory, speedy discouragement and panic in defeat are common traits throughout the hills".
These traits were quite applicable to the Zo’s in the past during the period of British rule. There are some traits which still hold good today, e.g. clannish feeling, knowledge of pedigree, impatience under control, virtue of hospitality and mutual distrust. The other traits are on the wane as a result of the influence of Christianity and exposure to outside world.
Religion has played a very important part in uniting the Zo’s. The Zo’s were not proselytized into Buddhism of Burma or Islam of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) nor Hinduism of India. They maintained their traditional belief, viz. animism up till the coming of the British who, not only conquered but also introduced Christianity in Zo country. The efforts of the Christian Missionaries of various denominations were nowhere more successful than in Zo country, and it was estimated that by 1947, about 80% of Zo’s were converted into Christianity.
Common Language
Well known linguist, G. A. Grierson in his book, “Linguistics Survey of India, Vol. III, Part III” demonstrated clearly that Zo’s language is a branch of the Tibeto-Burman family of languages. The Zo’s speaks numerous dialects, but linguistic affinities prevail among them, and verbal or non-verbal communication has never been too great a problem. Much less in the olden days Vum Kho Hau writes:
“But in traditional songs and poetry, they still retain its original uniformity and the meaning is generally understood by the hearer regardless of whether he comes from Teddim, Tuikhiang, Assam, Manipur.”
Thus, not only do the old songs preserved among different clans but even the folk songs being composed at present, reveal the extent of the uniformity of language that existed in the not-so-distant past. The small dialectical differences that are there stem from the words that are borrowed from Burmese, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Manipuri or Arakanese, so that they sound mutually unintelligible to an unaccustomed ear. They remain basically the same, nevertheless.
On the basis of slight differences, the Zo’s language may be divided into two: R-Group and Non-R-Group. The non-R-Group (like the Thadou, Paite, Simte, Vaiphei, Zote, etc) has no R-sound and is devoid of some consonant clusters like Tl, Hm,….. in their dialects. The R-Group includes Lushai, Hmar, Lakher, Pawi and all the so-called Old Kukis like Kom, Anal, Chiru which have R-sound and are closer to the Lushai or Hmar dialects.
Professor Gordon Luce analyzed 700 words of Zo’s Language common to at least three Zo dialects. From these 700 words 230 words are common in all dialects of Zo’s. Pu Lalthangliana also estimated that the Zo dialects share about 60% of the words in common. About 40% are peculiar to the locality in which they are spoken. An illustration of these linguistic affinities are provided by Lamka Town in Manipur, where people belonging to various Zo groups live together and are able to communicate with ease, each using their own dialect.
William Shaw also wrote:
“The Koms, Aimols, Khothlangs, Thadous, Lushei, Chirus, Pois, Suktes, Paites, Gangtes, etc are undoubtedly all connected. The language also has many similarities and the syntax is not dissimilar”.
Common History
The Zo's have undoubtedly passed through the same historical experiences, not-with-standing slight differences in its presentation, dates and figures due to the absence of written records for a greater period of their history.
Common Political Aspiration
In the pre-colonial period, the Zo people were independent. They were never subjugated by the Ahom of Assam; by the Kingdoms of Tripura and Bengal; nor by the Meithei or Burman (Ava). It was only the might of a modern state (British) that subjugated them completely for the first time. The British, however, soon realized their mistakes in fragmenting unified Zo country and tried to amalgamate the Zo people in Burma, Bangladesh and India into a single administrative unit in the 1890s. However, around that time there was no political consciousness/awareness among the Zo people who could envisage the fruits of such unification. Only on the eve of Indian independence did a few Zo’s leaders become aware of the implications of being scattered under three different political units. Since then the Zo people has been fighting for integration in various forms and intensity. Their just demand for uniting all the members of the Zo people nationality under the same government of their own choice and creation has not been fulfilled till today!
The fact that the Zo people live in a geographically contiguous area in the Indo-Burma-Bangladesh borderlands needs no further elaboration. This is their ancestor homeland where no other nationality lived except the Zo.
Common Cultures:
The existence of common cultural traits among the Zo's is another indication of their being a nation. A few examples may be cited , click the below links to read more:
Common Culture : Clan Songs
Possession of clan songs by the clans forming the tribes is a very unique feature of the Zo people. Members of the same clan in each tribe possess clan songs which were revered and sang at the time of mourning dead only.
Common Culture : Agamous Marriage
The majority of the tribes follow agamous marriage in which a man can marry any woman within and outside his clan. All the major tribes like Zo/Zou, Gangte, Hmar, Lakher, Lushai, Paite, Tedim, Thadou, Vaiphei, etc follow agamy. The only exception to this rule are the so-called Old-Kukis (Anal, Kom, Mongsangs, etc) where there are definite wife-takers and wife-giver.
Common Culture : Common Folktales
There are many folktales common and current among the Zo people. They have such tales as “Khupcing (Cingkhup) and Ngambawm”, “Thanghou and Liandou”, “Galngam , “Temtatpu (Tingtinpa- the Dao sharpener)”, “A Wild Cat and a Domestic Hen,” etc. These stories are found among the Zo people in Manipur, Assam, Burma etc. in a more or less similar forms.
‘Possession of the same folktales means nothing but the people are of the same folk having similar social ritual norms and similar philosophy of life'.
Common Culture : Hair Dress / Styles
The Zo people in general, with some exceptions, do not cut their hair. They keep their hair long and have two coiffure:
(I) The top knot on the top of the head, as in the case of Fanai, Marings, Pois (Haka), and Tashons
(II) The chingnon on the nape of the neck as in the case of Anal, Gangte, Hmar, Lushai, Paite, Simte, Siyins, Suktes, Thado, Vaipheis, Zo/Zou, etc.
Common Culture : Belief in Common Origin
The different Zo people tribes hold the common belief that they originally emerged out of a cave or hole. This mythological cave is known by various names like Khuul, Khur, Khurpui, Khurtu-bijur, Sinlung, Chinlung, etc by various tribes like Thadou (Shaw 1929:24-26), Lushai (Shakespear: 1912), Lakher (Parry 1976:4), Tedim/Paite-Chin (Kamkhenthang 1967:1-2) and Moyon-Monsang, etc.
Common Culture :
Common System of Naming a Child
In naming a child, the Zo people have a strong emphasis on taking the names of their ancestors. In a society that is patrilineal and patria local the eldest son of the eldest male member is compulsorily named after the last syllable of the paternal grandfather. This rule serves as a yardstick for tracing the family lineage in
successive generations. Today, the Falam, Hmars, Lushai and a few other Zo'sTribes no longer practice this customs.
From the above common cultural traits everything suggest that the Zo's are one nation, inhabiting contiguous area, sharing common customs, languages, culture, folktales and history. It may be concluded with a common folk song sang by the Zo's ever since they live as one nation around Chiimnuai area in the early 18th century:
Eiteng khawlkhawm a tuam omlou,
Vannuai chiteng KHUUL a pieng;
Tuunsung khat a pieng hi ngeingei,
Tuunsung khat a pieng hi ngeingei,
Suahpii sanggam khat hi bo ei;
Laizom khat hi ngeingei bo ea.
Free translation:
We, people who are in aggregation are of one stock,
Every body under the heaven is born of a cave (Khuul)
And born of the same mother,
Being born of the same mother,
We are all born together as siblings,
We are really descendants of the same siblings.
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