Retrospecting Kuki Military Organisation (Warriors) in the Light of Sawm-Inn

By Th Hethang (George) Haokip *

The Kukis, since immemorial have always felt that the territories they inhabited belonged to them, and in that, they claimed to have been a nation of warriors, rule as a nation and protected by their principle hereditary Chief independently in a country supposedly in their ancestral land called, Zalengam or Kukiland. This can be necessitated from the traditional way of Kuki Military Organisation, "Sawm" better known as Zawlbuk by the Mizos (Chitta Ranjan Nag: The Mizo Society in Transition, 1993:12-13) in the erstwhile Zalengam or Kukiland to which according to them were in existence in pre-colonial period.

Sawm-inn in fact is a Bachelor's Dormitory. It was usually constructed at the adjacent of the Chief's house and this purposely served as a military garrison for a Kuki warriors. Therefore, Sawm is an institution where all the lads of a Kuki village live together and trained themselves in various kinds of activities.

To some eminent scholars, 'the member of this Sawm consists of all the able bodied young boys of a puberty aged group, and this peer groups itself constitute the Kuki Warriors. They congregate to sleep together at night after their sundry chores, Lawm-tha Kon (cultivation works) to learn the indispensable art of conventional warfare ranging from fundamental practices of a healthy living to taking up social responsibility'.

The formation of Kuki Warrior (Sawm) or their amalgamation in a uniform military organisation can be attributed to the nature of inter-tribal hostilities and feuds that was prevalent amongst tribal in recent years. And the very intention behind the formation of Kuki Warrior was initially to draw the readily available necessary manpower/fighters for deployment in times of emergency (Gangte, T.S: The Kukis of Manipur, 1993:133) which subsequently surfaced into regular standing army/warriors.

They rendered free and compulsory services to the village with the Chief himself as the supreme Commander of the armed forces. He paid personal and undue attention towards the military forces and led the supreme authority over them either in time of war or during peace (Carey, Bertrams and Tuck, H.N: The Chin Hills…, 1976:3)

The Military Organisation of the Kukis consists of infantry and artillery. Cavalry and Naval force were however never known to them. The arms divisions of infantry, used weapons like Sword, Spears, and Bow & Arrows. Muzzle Guns and bullets (Thihnang) too became popular and was widely used by them in later years, while the artilleries used indigenous made cannon (pum'pi), with various kinds of iron and metallic substance as its bullets which were manufactured by the village Thih-Kheng Pa or the village blacksmith.

He has in him the highest dexterity in black-smithy and his duty was to render free services in manufacturing and repairing of various war weapons for the warriors. They were skilful and could manufacture a good numbers of guns (Thal/Thihnang) and cannon (Pumpi) in a single day (Haokip, P.S. Zalengam, the Kuki Nation 1998:78). The efficiency of the warriors in the combat thus, depends mainly upon the ability of the 'Thih-Kheng' to produce weapons.

History has also proven that, the Kuki Warriors were daring to fight gallantly and ferociously against their enemies that too, till the last breathe of their lives. One inherent typical national character of the Kukis is their sense of stubbornness and refusal. They indeed were hostile to outsiders and were not the one to submit before any alien authority unless forcibly subjugated (see Chisti, S.M.A.W: The Kuki Uprising in Manipur, 1917-1920, 2004). They recognised no other authority but only the Chief. With this temperament the Kuki warrior firmly stood even against the mighty Britishers whose legend goes "the sun never sets in the British Empire".

The Kukis are well known for their outstanding techniques in guerilla warfare. They often carry out sudden attacks and ambushed their enemies by rolling down huge stones in steep area. To, P.S. Haokip, 'Their skilled with regards to stone-traps called Song-khai/Song-thaang is genius. The traps involved the collection of large load of huge stones, which were then placed on wooden planks. These planks were fixed to a rope against a tree, just above the roads, where the enemies were likely to pass through' (Ibid.).

And apart from their vital defensive role, the Kuki warriors in the Sawm also has the privilege to impart technical and practical knowledge especially in the art of handicraft like making of Beng-kong (basket for carrying fire woods), Long-Kai (basket for carrying paddy), Nam (String used for carrying the basket), Guo-dal (winnowing materials), Pheh (mat) etc. These products were instrumental and serve various purposes. Moreover, at times of leisure, they would engage themselves to sports activities like Kibot (wrestling), Lhai chop (Long Jump), Kung-Kal (High Jump) etc. Stories of their fore fathers, legends, folk songs etc are also taught and told. These oral histories were handed down from generation to generations.

A paradigm shift however cropped up in the institution of Sawm after the treacherous attack of the ferocious Pawis in later years. The Sawm which was once the backbone in the arena of the village socio-political scenario took the character of a scattered form due to the ill-fated defensive strategy, but it continues to exist on in a smaller scale at different houses of the village. In this context, T.S. Gangte writes (Op Cit. 1993:135), "The Pawis had been surreptitiously planning to attack the Lhungtin village by surprise. It so happened that one night, when all the able-bodied young-men of Lhungtin village slept in their dormitory, the Pawis stealthily came and butchered them, killing instantaneously as many as 80 able-bodied young men. As a result, the Hangshings were scattered and fled in different directions. Most of them were found to have settled down among the Paites.

The one that gave a serious impact besides all other repercussions was that the institution of Sawm which was centralised took the character of a scattered form due to defensive strategy. Such a different form of Sawm, though it still continues, exists on a small scale at different houses where there are girls".

This was further intensified and escalated with the intervention of the British in their internal affairs which ultimately led to their dispersion and subjugation. The enmity with the British had began since the time of Warren Hasting in 1777 AD to the close of the great Anglo-Kuki War, 1917-19 and then finally, during the course of the World War II.

Thus, in examining the above given analysis, it would be prudent to state that, the conventional atrocities/war owing to tribal feuds and hostilities are of partially limited. It confines to the village level and in that, the respective concerned warriors under the able leadership of their particular village Chief were only responsible for the war. War in good faith was the order of battle in those days. In short, inter-tribal feuds or chaos in the form of Gal-Lu lah (Head Hunting) were of frequent incidence and happenings.

However, in highlighting the episode of the Anglo-Kuki war of 1917-19, the Kukis assimilate and organized themselves basically on the line of their Clan's seniority. For instance, Pu Chengjapao Doungel, Pipa of the Kukis and Pu Lhukhomang Haokip (Pache), Head of the Haokip clan took the overall responsibility in defending their ancestral land, Zalengam or Kukiland (Haokip, P.S. Op Cit. Revised ed. 2008:142).

They (Chiefs) organised and convened political meeting at regular intervals. And it was when the notice for raising the second labour corps in the hill areas of Manipur reaches the knowledge of Kuki warriors, a meeting of all the Kuki Chiefs was held at Jampi immediately and the meeting unanimously passed a resolution pledging to maintain the unity of the Kukis in resisting the government efforts to fulfill their demands by fanning out "Thing-kho le Malcha-pom" (Chilies tight in the fire-wood) to every Kuki village as a mark of an open declaration to fight against their common enemy ie the mighty Britishers. The events became a great historic memory to the Kukis which subsequently came to be known as the great Anglo-Kuki War of 1917-1919 better known as the Kuki Rebellion/Up-rising in the history of India's struggle for freedom.

The Kukis hope for recovering their ancestral land and lost prestige was once again revived during the course of the World War II under the leadership and banner of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army (INA). This however proved to be a failure once again and thereby only subjected them to disperse in the entire Indian sub-continent with the status, "Minority in Ghetto" with no Political Unit among them (ie in India, Burma and Bangladesh).

However, the present Kuki Revolutionary organisations like the KNF (Kuki Natioanl Front) and the KNA (Kuki Natioanl Army) under the banner of UPF and the KNO, formed on 18th May, 1988 and 5th Agust, 1988 respectively, has taken up the initiative to revive and restore the past glories that they once had in the past. The Kukis believed that the formations of Revolutionary Organisation in the late eighties are crystallisation from their "Traditional Military Organisation called Sawm".

To conclude, the continuation of Sawm by the Kukis with much modification in the form of a revolutionary organisation till date has depicted the zeal of their quest for a free nation State. And in relation to this, a number of memorandum and reminders were sent off many a times to the concerned authority for the creation of a Kukiland (Zalengam) within the frame work of the Indian Constitution (Kipgen, Nehkholun: "Why not Kukiland for Kukis," The Shillong Times, dated, 01/10/1993; see Ahsijolneng, Annual Magazine, KSO, Shillong 2007:16-21). They were the first tribe to vigorously rebel and counteract against the British in lieu of their freedom. They indeed are a freedom loving people. Therefore, it needs a vivid retrospection.