Chin (people)

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The Chin are a Tibetan-Burmese ethnic group in South Asia. They live mainly in western Myanmar , in the Chin State administrative unit . They can also be found in the neighboring Indian states of Nagaland , Mizoram , Manipur and Assam , where they are referred to as kuki , although both terms are synonymous in themselves. There are around 1.5 million Chin / Kuki in total, of which 37 different groups are counted. The people also refer to themselves as Zomi, Yo (in the north), Lai (central) or Shö (in the south).

ethnology

Members of the Chin

The ethnic group known as Chin or Kuki is extremely diverse and is divided into numerous clans, which are essentially differentiated by their dialects. The name Kuki comes from Bengali , Chin is etymologically of Chinese origin, probably from jēn (人 "man").

As the so-called New Kuki u. a. denotes the tribes of the Thādos, Jangshēns and their descendants. These drove the Old Kuki (Rāngkhōls, Bētēs, Hallām, etc.) from the Lushai Hills to the Cachar region . In the 20th century a cultural dominance of the Lushai clans developed.

The Chin traditionally live self-sufficient in the (bamboo) forest in hamlets that are often only 4–5 bamboo huts in size. Their most popular traditional musical instrument is the rasem mouth organ (also called gosem ). They also play the bamboo flute , the natural trumpet pengkul , a large ( daphi ) and a small gong ( dah cha ), the small drum khuongcha and cymbals .

language

The language and its numerous dialects are Tibeto-Burmese with close ties to the group of Kachin languages . There is also a relationship to the Naga language .

Bnei Menashe Synagogue in Mizoram

The Kuki-Chin languages ​​are divided into:

  1. Meitei , has been through an independent development for a long time
  2. the actual Kuki / Chin , with four groups
    1. north: Thādo, Soktē, Siyin, Rāltē, Paitē
    2. central: Tashōn, Lai, Lakher, Lushai, Banjōgi
    3. Old Kuki: Rāngkhōl, Bētē, Hallām, Langrom, Mhār (other smaller ones). Only dialects per se.
    4. south ( closer to Burmese ): Chinmē, Welaung, Chinbōk, Yindu, Chnbō, Khami and the largest tribe: Khyang (or Shö). In colonial Burma the Anu, Kun, Pallaing and Sak.

religion

Today 80–90% of the people are Christians , as American Baptist missionaries have been missionary in the region since 1899 . A minority belongs to Theravada Buddhism , professes the Bnei Menashe variety of Judaism or adheres to traditional tribal religions.

History and politics

In the absence of written records, nothing is known about the early history of the people. The Chin / Kuki probably came to the Chindwin Valley between the 9th and 10th centuries . The oldest known name of a settlement is Chin Nwe (= Ciimnuai). Many of them nomadized for a long time and moved further west until they settled in what is now Chin State between 1300 and 1400.

After Oberbirma was colonized, the first British expedition to the region took place in 1888. In February 1890, the first administrative headquarters were established in Haka , which was moved to Falam in 1892 . In October there was a final uprising of the Soktē and Siyin, who like all southern tribes were disarmed after their defeat in 1893/94. In 1893–96 another 7,000 rifles were seized in the north. The settlement areas came under direct British colonial administration from 1895 , which enacted the Chin Hills Regulation Acts 1896 in the following year .

The Chin National Union (CNU), which demanded an independent Chinland from the colonial rulers , was founded in 1933. The leaders were U Wanthu Maung and Thakhin Aung Min. When Burma was separated from the Indian colonial empire as an independent unit in 1938 , the dividing line ran through the settlement areas of the people.

Burma

Representatives of Burma took part in 1947 with other minority representatives at the Panglong Conference , where they signed the Panglong Agreement on Feb. 12, 1947 , which was supposed to secure minority protection within the Burmese Union to be created. We also worked on drafting the constitution. On Feb. 20, 1948, 5,000 Chin for democracy demonstrated in Falam , which is why this date is celebrated as Chin's national holiday. Various groups united in 1957 to form the Chin National Organization (CNO).

After the coup d'état (1962) of General Ne Win , there were the first arrests of anti-communist politicians, such as Thual Zen, who called for a federal state structure. The Chin National Organization (CNO) took up the armed liberation struggle against military rule in 1963. In 1971 the Chin Democracy Party (CDP) was founded in the “liberated areas” .

Chin National Front

In 1976, under Major Sa Lian Zam, the Chin Liberation Army (CLA, today Chin National Army ) was founded. The Chin National Front (CNF), founded in 1988, wanted, as a member of the National Democratic Front (NDF), to achieve the abolition of one-party rule and the establishment of a federal, democratic state. The new Burmese military government, the SPDC, occupied Chin State in 1988, whereupon thousands of tribesmen fled abroad. At the First Chin Seminar held in Ottawa in 1998 , it was decided to found the Chin Forum .

The CNF / CNA does not control an area per se, but has influence within the population. From 1988 to 1992 she was armed and funded by the Indian Foreign Intelligence Service Research and Analysis Wing . Camp Victoria was established in southern Mizoram to serve as a base. 1992–95 India and Myanmar cooperated in the fight against separatist groups in the difficult border area.

The number of cadres was estimated at 800–1000 in 2005, of which 500 are considered actual fighters. Minor combat operations are reported from Chin State. The exact management structure of the organization is not known; Thomas Thangnou has been chairman since 1997 . It is financed by a low poll tax for tribal members, and it is claimed that the group earns money from the arms and drug trade. The CNF has been a member of the UNPO since 2001 . Ten years of negotiating efforts by the Peace and Tranquility Committee resulted in ceasefire negotiations with the government beginning in 2007.

Northeast India

Flag of the Zomi Re-unification Organization

In India, the culturally dominant Lushai live in the area between the Karnafuli and its largest tributary, the Tuilampai , as the western border. In the east, its area is bounded by the Tiau and Kolodyne , the southern border forms an imaginary east-west line from the confluence of the Kolodyne and the Mat . Individual villages can also be found far outside ( distributed as far as the Chittagong Hill Tracts ). The North Cachar Hills District is mainly inhabited by the Bētē and Khelma Kuki. The Kahrias and Darlungs are the latest groups to be captured by “civilization”.

There are also demands for autonomy among the Kuki, which the Kuki National Front (KNF; founded 1987, probably with the support of the Indian government) expresses. She calls for her own Kukiland in the state of Manipur. Their armed arm was called the Kuki National Army (KNA) and was still active in the Karbi Anglong district in 2003/4 . They worked with the CNF, which made the same request on the Burmese side of the border. The NSCN in particular saw them as a threat to their own claims to "Greater Nagaland" and opposed them.

literature

  • Jyotsna Kanta Bose: The religion of the Aimol Kukis. In: Man in India, Vol. 14 (1934), pp. 1-14.
  • Jyotsna Kanta Bose: Social organization of the Aimol Kukis. In: Journal of the Department of Letters, University of Calcutta, Vol. 25 (1934), pp. 1-24.
  • Bertram Cary, HN Tuck: The Chin Hills: A History of the People. Rangoon 1896
  • OW Chambers: Hand-book of the Lushai Country. Calcutta 1889
  • ER Elles: Military Report on the Chin-Lushai Country. Shimla 1893
  • GE Freyer: On the Kheyeng People of the Sandoway District. In: Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol. XLIV (1875), Pt. I, p. 39ff.
  • Karen Human Rights Group: All Quiet on the Western Front? The situation in the Chin State and Sagaing Division, Burma. Chiang Mai 1998
  • John Shakespeare: The Lushai Kuki Clans. London 1912

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Majumdar, DN; Races and Cultures of India; Bombay et al. a. 1958; P. 114ff.
  2. ↑ Khomdon Singh Lisam: Encyclopaedia of Manipur . Kalpaz Publications, Delhi 2011, Vol. 2, p. 560
  3. ↑ Linguistic Survey of India : Vol. III, Part III: Specimens of the Kuki-Chin and Birma Groups; Calcutta 1904
  4. ↑ cf. Bnei Menashe, Ten Lost Tribes of Israel are returning to Judaism and Israel
  5. ↑ in the English Wikipedia: Bnei Menashe
  6. ↑ ZO CULTURAL-cum-LITERATURE SOCIETY INDIA: Origin of the Kuki People , creation myth
  7. ↑ Full text of the "Chin Hills Regulation Act 1896"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , no longer accessible@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.chinland.org  
  8. ↑ 22 ° 55 "N 93 ° 41" E in the English language Wikipedia: Falam, Burma
  9. ↑ ( estimated refugees to Mizoram: 40,000 ( Memento from January 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive ))
  10. ↑ cf. Chin Forum

Web links

Commons : Chin  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files