Kuki people
The Kuki people are an ethnic group in the Northeastern Indian states of Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram,[2] as well as the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Myanmar.[3] 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.[4][5] The Chin people of Myanmar and the Mizo people of Mizoram are kindred tribes of the Kukis. Collectively, they are termed the Zo people.
Regions with significant populations
Not stated
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Some fifty tribes of Kuki peoples in India are recognised as scheduled tribes in India,[6] based on the dialect spoken by that particular Kuki community as well as their region of origin.
Name
The term "Kuki" is an exonym: it was used by Bengalis to refer to the tribes inhabiting Patkai–Arakan Yomas, the eastern extension of the Himalayas running north–south between India and Myanmar.[7] The term is witnessed in the chronicles of Tripura from the reign of Dhanya Manikya (r. 1490–1515) and fairly regularly afterwards.[8] The Tibetan Buddhist writer Taranatha (1575–1634) wrote a description of the Kuki (Ko-ki) country, including in it almost the entire northeastern India.[9] The term also occurs in traditional Meitei hymns where the Kuki king is praised along with the Meitei king.[10]
The term came into British usage in 1777, when the chief of Chittagong appealed to the British governor general Warren Hastings for help against Kuki raids from the hills.[11][12]
The same collection of tribes were called "Chins" by the Burmese (spelt "Khyangs" in the original Burmese spelling).[13][14]
The British also used the term "Lushais" to refer to the tribes inhabiting the Lushai Hills region to the south and southwest of Manipur (modern Mizoram as well as Chin State).
Over time, the British came to distinguish the tribes currently called "Kukis" from the remaining "Lushais". An Intelligence Branch report from 1907 listed Ralte, Paite, Thadou, Lakher, Hmar and Poi tribes among Kukis. It stated that each of these tribes had its own language, and these languages were unintelligible to the "Lushais".[15]
The Manipuris used the term "Khongjai"[a] to refer to the tribes to the south and southwest of the Imphal Valley,[16] a usage witnessed from 1508.[17] This appears to have been a geographical term.[b] The "Old Kuki" tribes in Manipur were referred to by their individual names, which were also partly of geographical origin.
Some Kuki and Chin tribes reject both of these terms as being of colonial origin, and use the self-designation "Zo", which is a generic term that has variants in most Kuki-Chin dialects. "Zomi" (meaning "Zo people") is also used.[19][20]
In 2023, a consensus seems to have developed among the Kuki tribes of Manipur to use the compound term Kuki-Zo to refer to themselves.[21][22]
History
Early history
Ethnologist C. A. Soppitt argued that the Kuki tribes must have settled in region west of Irrawaddy river from before the 11th century, based on the fact that they had no traces of Buddhism, which was already prevalent in Burma by that time.[23][24] He grouped the Kuki tribes into two broad classes: Hrangkhol along with the co-tribe Biate in one class, and Changsan along with the co-tribe Thadou in the other class. Each of them was grouped with several subtribes.[25] Soppitt suggested that, by the 16th century, the Hrangkhols and Biate inhabited the Lushai Hills region (currently divided between Mizoram and Chin State). He believed that they were pushed out by Changsan, who moved in from the east along with Thadou, forcing them to move to the North Cachar Hills, Manipur and Tripura. Further, the Changsan–Thadou combine was believed to have been in turn forced out by newer tribes in the 19th century, and then followed the same routes as the earlier tribes. The first two groups were referred to as Old Kukis and New Kukis by the British administrators, which did not receive endorsement from Soppitt.[26] Modern scholars also disapprove the terminology of "Old Kukis" and "New Kukis", but it does appear that the two groups followed different migration routes and thus developed significant cultural differences.[27]
Per the 1881 census, the Kukis are estimated to have numbered 20,000 in the North Cachar Hills (present-day Dima Hasao district), 15,000 in the Naga Hills (present-day Nagaland), 30,000–40,000 in Manipur and 6,000 in Tipperah (Tripura). In addition, the plains of Cachar had 6,000 people.[28] The Gazetteer of Manipur (1886), based on the same census, noted that the Kukis of Manipur wee composed of approximately 8,000 "Old Kukis" and 17,000 "New Kukis".[29] Borders of Manipur were expanded after this date to include the Kuki-inhabited southern parts of the present Churachandpur and Chandel districts, adding further Kuki populations to the state of Manipur.[c] During the Kuki Rebellion of 1917–1919, the Kukis in Manipur were estimated to number 40,000.[31]
Laws and government
Governance
With regard to governance, Semang (cabinet) is the annual assembly of a Kuki village community held at the Chief's residence represents the Inpi (Assembly). In such an assembly, the Chief and his Semang and Pachong (cabinet members and auxiliary of Inpi) and all the household heads of the village congregate to discuss and resolve matters relating to the village and the community.[61]
Religions
Prior to conversion in the early 20th century to Christianity by Welsh Baptist missionaries, the Chin, Kuki, and Mizo peoples were animists; among their practices were ritual headhunting.[62] Christian missionaries entered Manipur in the late 19th century but did not yet make inroads into the tribal areas. The victory of the British in Anglo-Kuki War of 1917–1919 opened up their mind of the Kukis to the Christian God of the British, who was thought of as the victor. This led them to rapidly convert to Christianity. Conversion to Christianity has transformed their ideas, mentality and social practices at the cost of their traditions and customs.[63] The majority of Kukis are now Christians, with most belonging to Protestant denominations, especially Baptist.[64]
Since the late 20th century, some of these peoples have begun following Messianic Judaism. The Bnei Menashe (Hebrew: בני מנשה, "Sons of Menasseh") are a small group within India's North-Eastern border states of Manipur and Mizoram; since the late 20th century, they claim descent from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel and have adopted the practice of Judaism.[65] The Bnei Menashe are made up of Mizo, Kuki and Chin peoples, who all speak Tibeto-Burman languages, and whose ancestors migrated into northeast India from Burma mostly in the 17th and 18th centuries.[66] They are called Chin in Burma. In the late 20th century, an Israeli rabbi investigating their claims named them Bnei Menashe, based on their account of descent from Menasseh. Of the 3.7 million people living in these two northeast states only about 9,000 belong to the Bnei Menashe, several thousands have emigrated to Israel. Some have supported other movements to separate from India.
Due to the close proximity to Muslim-majority Bengal, a Kuki Muslim community has also developed. They are said to be descendants of Kuki men who had married Bengali Muslim women, a relationship requiring the husband to be a Muslim. They are mostly centred around the village of North Chandrapur in the Tripuri city of Udaipur. Notable Kuki Muslims include Khirod Ali Sardar of Chandrapur and Ali Mia of Sonamura.[67] The community has been subject to scorn by other Kukis.[68]