Tracing the origin of Tangkhul Nagas through oral tradition/folksongs
- Part 1 -

Dr Ningreishim Kashung Shimray *

Tangkhul Cultural Dance at the Manipur Sangai Tourism Festival 2011 :: Pix - Bullu Raj

In a society where the people are devoid of a written script, oral information becomes/is the only alternative through which they store and pass information regarding that society. The tribal of North-east India including the Tangkhul Nagas are devoid of such script, so information is passed down from one generation to another generation in the form of folksongs, folktale and through various traditional practices of their customs. In such societies, every one becomes the chief repository of oral information about their society. So information about their past can be learned only from the memories of the community oldest living person and other elders.

The Tangkhul Naga society being devoid of written documents, their history and practices can be revealed only through the investigation of their oral tradition. However such oral recollection cannot be accepted unquestioningly, only few individuals can retell the history of their people as a whole. Rather each person's memory may reflect no more than a fraction of what actually occurred.

Their narrative (oral) stories are full of myths and legends, their accounts and explanation may never be historical facts in the scientific sense of verifiable text. Even accurate chronological orders are not maintained and causation has little or no place in their narrative. And besides, the Tangkhul society has undergone tremendous change as a result of the impact of Christianity and modern education in the 20th century. Folksong, folktale, myth, legend, traditional practice and custom of the forefathers tend to be forgotten by educated younger generation as things which are irrelevant.

In spite of these defects, one cannot deny the fact that oral tradition proves to be very useful source for reconstruction of the Tangkhul Naga history. As tribal communities of the north east in general and Tangkhul Naga in particular have no written documents for reconstruction the Tangkhul Naga history, oral tradition being the only form of literature that existed among them, their origin and history can only be reconstructed with the help of oral tradition. Considering the above facts, this paper attempts to trace the origin and migrations of the Tangkhul Naga using their oral tradition as the primary source. While doing so, history of other tribes of Naga will be studied together.

The myths and legends preserved by the different Naga tribes claimed that they originated from the land (present habitat) and have been living here from time immemorial. Most of the Naga tribes have more or less the same story that they came from a "Khur"or 'khol'or hole in the earth. According to this tradition, their ancestors came out from a cave one by one, but a large tiger that was watching them, devoured each of them as soon as they emerged from the cave. Though different Naga tribes regarding their ancestor outwitting the said tiger gave varied interpretations, it was finally killed with an arrow.

After this, all the people came out of the earth hole and spread themselves over the open space of the hill above. A "tiger head" engraved on the stone monolith erected at Makhel (a place considered a point of dispersal by different Naga tribes) is indicative of the fact that –the tiger has some significance to the history of the Nagas. This tradition of cave origin is further corroborated by the folk song of different Naga tribes, which runs thus:

(in Anal dialect)
"Khol-o nahang sanpe
Hnakhal o langdal pathusin nu-o
Hedum patel sinnu-o
Khehlwung –o limsor pathusin nu-o
Hedum patel sinnu-o
Hari—o........Hari—o
(Free English translation)
"Ah the days of old, when we first emerged
from the khol (hole),the broad teak leaves were our
make believe gongs which we playfully tolled, the whole
day long and the grasshopper would be our cattle .you
know, as we prodded and poked them a long time ago.

(in Lamkang dialect )
"Khurpie oh kahan Thonango
kamkei pango sarang kral klinneh
kam keiyo rang katho
sawksaiyo kmin chon
knin chon nango
Jae hajae......jae hajae
Sawksaiyo knin chon"
(Free English translation)
While coming out of the cave
it was found that the tiger had eaten each and every one
who were coming out of the cave when the horrible work
of the tiger was seen heaven and earth will cry"

Regarding the location of this traditional cave, R. Brown (Political Agent of Manipur 1867-1875), said that the cave called Murringphy is located in the hills about four days journey North-east of the Manipur Valley". The location of the traditional cave (now called Khangkhui cave) near Manipur valley has been rejected by W Ibohal on scientific ground".

Though Archaeological exploration carried in this cave revealed the existence of Pleistocene man dating back to Paleolithic period, it is difficult to accept Kangkhui cave as the place of their origin as no materiel culture found in the cave can be related to the Tangkhul, Anal or Lamkang, except the tradition of Angom clan (one of seven clan of the Meitei community) and Singlai clan (of Tangkhul), who claimed Khangkhui cave (located in Ukhrul district) as the place where their ancestors settled before they spread to other areas. Though their traditions tell us about their habitat in the cave no definite conclusion can be arrived at regarding their habitat in Khankhui cave. Thus the location of their traditional cave is still unknown.

The Naga have other traditions which claims their origin from Makhel, a place in Mao subdivision of Manipur. The tribe who traces their origin to Makhel are Mao, Maram, Thangal and Zeiliangrong. Even some section of Tangkhul, have a tradition that they came from Makhel. Y. Roland Shimmi is of the opinion that the Tangkhul inhabiting the Northern side of the present habitat have migrated from Makhel. The following existing relics of Makhel support the tradition of Makhel as a place of their habitat.

(i) A Menhir called Tamaratu, Dispersal stone (Tamara = departure, Tu = stone) with engraving of a man dragging a bull, a cock, a tiger head, a shield and spear.

(ii) A wild Pear tree called Sajaoba, near Makhel planted at the time of their dispersal. It was forbidden to cut a branch of the tree, whenever a branch breaks down, a Genna7 is observed. It is believed that if anybody breaks the branch, he will die.

(iii) A Peepal tree (Marabu), a sacred tree believed to have grown out of the burial place of the first woman who died at Makhel.

(iv) Three stone megaliths called Lino Tu are the stones in memory of the dispersal of the Nagas.

Though Makhel can be accepted as a place of habitat (original homeland) for different Naga tribes, it can never accepted as the place of their origin, unless Makhel is proved to be a birth place of human beings. Beside folktales prevalent among Paomata and Leopaonao tell us that their ancestors were led by Pou who came from some other place and settled at Makhel as Manipur valley was full of water and not suitable for settlement10. Thus the origin of Naga or for that matter Tangkhul cannot be traced back to Makhel but one needs to look beyond Makhel.

To be continued....