Mizoram History

Mizoramis a state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from “Mizo”, the self-described name of the native inhabitants, and “Ram”, which in the Mizo language means “land.” Thus “Mizo-ram” means “land of the Mizos”. Within India’s northeast region, it is the southernmost landlocked state, sharing borders with three of the Seven Sister States, namely Tripura, Assam and Manipur. The state also shares a 722-kilometre (449 mi) border with the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Myanmar.It is located in the northeastern part of the India and is bounded by Myanmar (Burma) to the east and south and Bangladesh to the west and by the states of Tripura to the northwest, Assam to the north, and Manipur to the northeast. The capital is Aizawl, in the north-central part of the state.Mizoram (“Land of the Mizos”) was known as the Lushai Hills District of Assam before it was renamed the Mizo Hills District in 1954. In 1972 it became a centrally administered union territory under the name of Mizoram, and in 1987 it achieved statehood. Area 8,139 square miles (21,081 square km).

The origin of the Mizos, like those of many other tribes in the northeastern India, is shrouded in mystery. The people living in the Mizo Hills were generally referred to as the Cucis or Kukis by their neighbouring ethnic groups which was also a term adopted by the British writers. The claim that ‘The Kukis are the earliest known residents of the Mizo hills area,’ must be read in this light. The majority of the tribes classified as “Mizo” today most likely migrated to their present territories from the neighbouring countries in several waves, starting around 1500 CE.Before the British Raj, the various Mizo clans lived in autonomous villages. The tribal chiefs enjoyed an eminent position in the gerontocratic Mizo society. The various clans and subclanspracticed slash-and-burn, locally called jhum cultivation – a form of subsistence agriculture.The chiefs were the absolute rulers of their respective clans’ territories (ram), although they remained under the nominal political jurisdictions of the Rajas of Manipur, Tripura and Burma. Prior to 1895, the year that the British Raj gained political control over Mizoram, there were many reports of head-hunting in the Mizoram area via tribal raids led by the village chieftains. Head-hunting was a practice which often involved the ambushing of a rival tribe, the taking of slaves and the cutting off of the heads of the defenders. These heads would sometimes be displayed at the entrances to the tribal village of the victors