A Brief Note on the Kukis of Manipur
- Part 1 -

Hareshwar Goshwami *

World Zomi Convention at Lamka Public Ground, Manipur :: 25 to 27 October 2013 :: Pix - Deepak Oinam

The ancient kingdom of Manipur had a vast expanse of territory with numerous ethnic groups shouldering and sharing the administration of the monarchy. Sometimes it touches the boundaries of Nan-Chao kingdom of Yunan on the east, that of Tibet on the north, Kamarup (Assam) on the west, Arracan/Chin kingdoms of Burma and kingdom of Tripura (Tui-Phra) on the south. In between there were no any other known kingdoms except the kingdom of Manipur in the true sense of term.

Because, it was the kingdom of Manipur only that possessed all the seven characters of a kingdom i.e. 'Sapta Anga' as described in the 'Arthashastra' of Kautilaya and on the line of interpretation of boundary as the 'vertical interfaces between state sovereignties intersect the surface of earth'. Later on, with the emergence of the Ahoms and the Burmese in the thirteen century, its territory became smaller. Finally with the arrival of British in the nineteenth century, Manipur's boundary was reduced to the present one. Throughout the ages the kingdom of Manipur had a shared administration under a larger ethnic cluster comprising sub-groups with present Kangla as its socio-economic and political epicenter in this region.

The Arrival of British and Social Misconstruction:

The advent of the British in the nineteenth century in this region not only smashed the sovereignty, boundary and political standing of Manipur but also shattered the socio-economic and cultural symmetry that had existed since time immemorial. The British had ignored the ethnic affinities and identities of the people and gave alien names like Nagas and Kukis mainly for their administrative convenience. Moreover, they were not conversant to use these names which are difficult to pronounce and hard to remember for them.

Thus created a confusion and chaos in the understanding and identifying of a particular sub-ethnic group or community in this region. The impact is so deep and devious that some particular ethnic groups even had hard time to remember who they were in the past and who they are now. It is only the myths, memories, symbols, values, artifacts, cultural practices and shared history that remind and link us to identify who we were and who we are now.

Under these ambiance created by the British, some people even intend to build up their own castles forgetting the past history and relationship of co-existence under a larger ethnic fold. As ethnicity is generally and largely defined as shared myths, symbols, legends, artifacts, values, history etc. there is no point of antagonism among the Meiteis, and the people in the hills now termed as the Kukis, the Nagas and other communities which still intend to identify themselves by their distinct ethnic names. Because, we could still trace the ethnic elements interwoven among us by using our original tribe or clan names.

However, it would be difficult for us to trace our shared past, by referring the newly invented generic names like Nagas and Kukis given by the aliens though I am not at argument to the use, or none use of a name or names by a group or groups of people, as naming is the liberty of the people belonging to that group or community only.

On the other hand there are some people stating that the people with new names given by colonial rulers are new comers to this State (Manipur). This burst of words without proper verification and identification of who are new and who are not new under the new nomenclature recently invented by the British do more harm with no good. What I want to infer is generalization of all tribes under the newly adopted name Kuki and branding them all as new comers may contradict the history of Manipur to some extent. No doubt there could be a number of late comers who have intermingled with the indigenous Kukis.

However, this may not be the case of the Kukis alone. As such, identification and generalization of all Kukis as new comers may not be proper. If we consider the present territory of Manipur to define the origin of people, there may be discrepancies in our assertion that we had a vast territory in the past and especially before the Treaty of Yandaboo (1826). But this view of mine do not have implied meaning that people from outside the boundaries of present Manipur are entitled to claim to be an indigenous resident of Manipur. This piece of writing is an attempt (from my point of view), to understand who the Kukis of Manipur are.

The Term Kuki:

The use of the word Kuki is said to have found in Bengal, in the writings of Rowlin 'Cucis or Mountaineers of Tipra' in Asiatic Researches publication (II, XII) in 1792. Many scholars assumed that the word Kuki could be an Assamese or Bengali word meaning 'Hillman', applied to various hill tribes, such as the Lushais, Rangkhols, the Thadous etc. T.S. Gangte referring Soppit the then Sub-Divisional Officer, North Cachar Hills, writes in his book 'The Kukis of Manipur' as, "The designation of 'Kuki' is never used by the tribes themselves, though many of them answer to it when addressed..."

Dr. Kamkhethang also states that the term Kuki was given by outsiders to a group of Chin in India who migrated more northwardly. G.A. Grierson writes, "Chin is a Burmese word used to denote the various hill tribes living in the country between Burma and the provinces of Assam and Bengal." To many others, the term Kuki is a colonial concept; a generic category for the tribal communities living not only in present Manipur but also in the larger parts of North-eastern India and some parts of present Myanmar.

P.S. Haokip in his book 'Zale'n-Gam The Kuki Nation' states that the Kuki nomenclature is only a recent development and appears to have found its usages only with the advent of the British in the eighteen century. Before that the Kukis were known after the names of their villages, chiefs, clans and even by peculiar names used by others. According to him prior to Pakhangba era the Kukis were also known as Chingburoi or owners of the hills.

After Poireiton's arrival they were known as Hao and thereafter Khongjais. In fact 'Chingburois' and 'Tamburois' were applied to all inhabitants or settlers of the hills and plains respectively, not only to the Kukis or the Khongjais or the Meiteis. Further, the meaning is definitely not the 'owners of the hills and plains' but it is to be the 'settlers of hills and plains'. In view of the above the colonial and speculative writers applied the terms Kuki or Chin or Kuki-Chin to the settlers of Manipur who have their own ethnic names. Later on these names became boon in disguise to carve out separate ethnic identities for some people .

The Old Kuki:

The invention of the terms Old Kuki and New Kuki by colonial writers like Lt. Col. Shakespear and their imitators make the matter perplexing. It seems that the division was mainly based on the migration of certain Kuki clans at some particular places like Cachar and adjoining areas at that point of time. This can be known from the writings of Col. Shakespear himself in his book ' The Lushei Kuki Clans' which reads as, " The term Old Kuki has long been applied to the clans which suddenly appeared in Cachar about 1800..."

Here we have to note that Col. Shakespare stated about the clans that suddenly appeared at Cachar, not in Manipur. As such some groups of the so called Old Kukis, migrated at Cachar via Lushai hills could have been from the territory of Manipur too. Col. Shakespare included Aimol, Anal, Chawte (Chothe), Chiru, Kolhen, Kom, Lamgang, Purum, Tikhup and Vaiphei in the Old Kuki fold. Many among this group have been settling in Manipur since very ancient days. Reference may be made of Manipuri archaic text Poireiton Khunthokpa which mentions name of tribes like Anal, Maring, Moyon etc of the old Kuki fold.

But the writings of Col. Shakepear make us feel that the Old Kukis he mentioned above are also not old enough in Manipur. His mode of classification of Old and New Kuki by their appearance in Cachar and adjoining areas in and around 1800 CE make us confusing rather enlightening.

The New Kuki: Generally the Thadous (Khongjais) are termed as New Kukis. According to Col. Shakespear, the four main clans of the Thadous are the Doungels, Shitlhou, Haokips and the Kipgens with a number of sub-clans. Thadous believe in Khul origin theory with Chongthu as their progenitor. Shakespear opines that the original home of the Thadous is said to have been Kochuk situated very far to the south of Manipur.

The frequent mentioning of Gun River in folklores and legends of the Thadous indicate that they were once lived by the side of the Imphal or Manipur River, as Gun is Thadou name for the river. Others say they were pushed northward from the south by the Kamhaos, Suktes and other more powerful tribes to parts of Manipur, Lushai Hills, Cachar and adjoining areas. Shakspear placed the probable year of Thadou migration to present Manipur as the middle of eighteenth century.

About the New Kukis, F.K. Lehman in his book 'The Structure of Chin Society' states that the so called New Kukis, especially the Thadous are northern Chin who was pushed out of the Chin Hills proper into Manipur and into the Naga Hills of Burma and Assam by the Lushais in the middle of nineteen century (Lehman). This horde of people might have taken about one century to reach Cachar and adjoining areas from Manipur. However except for the time elements relating to their arrival of New Kukis in present Manipur, the classification of the Kukis into Old and New does not have any significance as pointed out by some writers.

Affinities of Meiteis with Hill Tribes:

Regarding the close affinities of the Meiteis with the Kukis and other hill tribes, TC Hodson suggested that tradition brings the Moirang tribe from the south, the direction of the Kookies (Kukis), the Koomul ( Khuman), from the east the direction of the Murrings ( Marings) and so on. Though we have many other plausible theories too, we cannot overlook the some elements of truths in the statement. George Grierson in his book 'Linguistic Survey of India Vol.III Pt.II' also treated Meiteis linguistically as one of the groups of the Kuki-Chin people.

E.T. Dalton in his book 'Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal' also suggested that the linguistic affinities and physical characteristics of the Meiteis are connected with the Nagas and Kukis. From these studies it is certain that Manipuri Meiteis show intermediate characteristics with the people of the hills, inhabiting at all directions of the valley of Manipur.



To be continued ...