Khangchiu institution of the Zeliangrongs

Budha Kamei *

A Scene from 'The Zeliangrongs' :: Pix - Ronel Haobam

Khangchiu is one common and very important socio-cultural and political institution of the Zeliangrong. It provides as communal sleeping hall for the boys and other members of the dormitory. In the dormitory all kinds of traditional practices and activities, such as warfare and art of fighting by the use of weapons, dance, music, and song are taught to its young members. They also receive training in the art of handicraft like basket making, wooden craft, carpentry, bamboo, cane and other embroidery works. [R. Huchamjinang Gonmei: 1980]

They act as a guard house for the defense of the village and such warriors are known as Riphen. [Gangmumei Kamei: 2004] They also guard the village during emergency of war, accidents, incidents, in times of natural calamities like earthquakes, floods, draught, sickness, epidemic, etc. [G. Makunga: 1994] Other social services extended by dormitory involve constructing paths, and clean ponds in and around the village.

The dormitory also acts as a centre of cultural activities. The festivals and ceremonies for the village or individual are organized by the Khangchiu. It renders services for the individual's households or village council during the time of marriage and other social occasions. The youths of the dormitory take part in fishing, house building, hunting, and in the fields at the time of sowing seeds and harvesting. [V.V. Rao: 1976].The boys use to spend their time in the dormitory for doing different types of activities. They return to their houses only for taking foods or whenever they fall seriously ill. [Ursula G. Bower: 1986]

A person, who becomes the member of the Khangchiu, refines his culture; rectifies his demeanour; changes his attitude; polishes his code of conduct; develops his conscience; nurtures his thought and action; realizes his duties and responsibilities and later becomes a successful man in the society. A product of this institute becomes a worthy husband, leads a happy and prosperous life; brings up his children in the discipline of his institute and his generation will continue to shine in the same trend he follows.

The institution of Khangchiu is what the proverb says, "Strike the iron, while it is hot". A boy goes to the Khangchiu while he is still young, where he moulds all that is necessary that a man is required during his life time. It indicates, Khangchiu takes the place of his parents to bring him up in the discipline of the civic society. It is indeed shouldered the burdens of his father, lessen the stress of his mother and together it builds the healthy society.

V.K. Anand writes, "The Morung plays vital role in preparing younger generations for posts in the village council. The Morung is the club, the public school, the military training centre, the hostel for boys and meeting place for village elders. It is as well the centre for social, religious and political activities. In short, it is the fulcrum of the village democracies." [1967]

However, in spite of such a healthy institution, Morung could not survive when the Christianity penetrated in North east India and invaded the very core of the Naga social institutions. The extinction of the Morung institution began with the advent of Christianity into the hills. The Christian missionaries directly attacked the institution by forbidding the Baptist boys to sleep in the Morung, and they further advocated that the Morung is a heathen institution. [J.P. Mills: 1980]

The conservative Zeliangrongs blamed the Christian missionaries for the impairment of the Morung but the Mission denied the fact that there are many unconverted villages; however those villages also have given up the institution of dormitory. The Christian missionaries alone were not held responsible for the disintegration of the Morung but the introduction of formal education and its impact led to the fall of Morung in the non-Christian villages. [A. Nshoga: 2009]

Of the forces, this was the most powerful one because parents were prepared to send their children to school where the children would gain more. They felt they could control their children better at home than what the Morung could provide. All these factors lead to the disintegration of Morung institution. D. N Majumdar and T.N Madan opine that the decay of the dormitory institution, either of the missionaries' attitude towards it, or because of the growing effects of culture contacts has brought many others, which occupied a dominant and central place in many tribal cultures. [1987]

About the decay of Morung, J. P. Mills writes: "Decaying morungs mean a decaying village and well-used, well-kept morungs a vigorous community. It is in the morung that the old men tell of the great deeds of the past, and the coming generation is taught to carry on the old traditions in future. When the past is no longer gloried in and the future seems dark and uncertain, the morungs fall into decay." [1980]

The decline of the Morung institution began when the Christian missionaries entered into the Zeliangrong country. Probably, the early Christian missionaries were confused regarding the religion and cultural values. Therefore, they considered the institution of the Morung, which is a cultural centre, as heathen institution and the use of this institution was against the doctrine and rules of the Christianity.

Hence, they uprooted the Morung institution with the conversion of the traditional faith into Christianity; for fear that this institution would play against their religion. [A. Nshoga: 2009] Furer-Haimendorf regrets about the decay of the Morung and says, "Gone are the days, perhaps never to return". The Khangchiu institution still exists among the traditional Zeliangrongs, but it functions only during festivals. [Satinder Kumar (ed.): 2000]

Concluded