Zou people
Encyclopedia
The Zou people is an indigenous community living along the frontier of India
and Burma. In India, they live with and are similar in language and habits to the Paite
and the Simte
peoples, all of which are called Zomi
. In Burma, Zou are counted among the Chin people
. They are a hill people ("Zou" being translated as "lofty hill ranges").
In India, Zous are officially recognized as one of the 29 indigenous peoples
within the state of Manipur
, and are one of the Scheduled tribes. According to the 2001 Census
, the Zou population in Manipur is around 20,000, less than 3% of the population. The community is concentrated in Churachandpur
and Chandel
districts of Manipur in North-East India
.
The early history of the Zou people is lost in myths and legends; they claim an origin somewhere in the north, and some claim that they are originally the same as the Paite and were only separated at the end of the British Raj
. Linguistic and racial evidence suggest the Indo-Chinese origin of the people. Linguists classified the Zou language as Tibeto-Burman, with only small differences between Zou and Paite.
Perhaps one of the earliest recorded references to Zou as a people is found in the travel account of an Italian missionary, Father Sangermano, who resided at Ava
and Rangoon from 1783 to 1806. In his memoir, Sangermano recorded his observation of the Zomis at the beginning of the nineteenth century A.D., writing: "To the east of the Chin
mountains, ... is a petty nation called Jo [Yaw]. They are supposed to have been Chien … These Jò generally pass for necromancers and sorcerers, and are for this reason feared by the Burmese, who dare not ill-treat them for fear of their revenging themselves by some enchantment."
Since it was recognisable to the Italian
observer that the Zou (Zo) ‘are supposed to have been Chien [Chin]’, the context suggests that Sangermano was referring to the same group of people later known as Chin-Kuki-Lushais, of whom the Zou tribe is a historical component today.
In South-east Asia, there had been dynasties (with no king), places and people that bear the label, Zou - with spelling variations. However, no definite connection can be established between such terms.
The American Baptist
missionary J.H. Cope made an attempt to trace the pre-colonial history of the Chin Hills
in a church journal, Tedim Thu Kizakna Lai. The journal (edited by Cope) provides a glimpse of the Zomis in Chin Hills before the arrival of British imperialism. Under the Manlun chiefs, the Zous had a bitter struggle with the Kamhau-Suktes over the control of the hill tracts between Manipur (India) and Chin hills (Burma). Inter-village raids were frequent but they never resulted in decisive victory. The fortification of Tedim village by Kamhau finally gave him the upper hand over his Zou rivals. British records about the Zou tribe became available towards the end of the nineteenth century.
Upper Burma
(including the Chin hills) was officially annexed by the British at the end of the Third Anglo-Burmese War
(1885–1887). On 28 September 1892, the Political Officer
of Chin Hills submitted ‘a scheme in detail for the future administration of the Chin Hills’. The Yoe (Zo) - this being the colonial spelling for the Zou tribe - was enumerated as one of the five tribes inhabiting the Northern Chin Hills. The others were Nwite (Guite), Thado and Kamhow (Kamhau), and Siyin (Sihzang). The Zou tribe was placed under the jurisdiction of the Tedim post; but the new scheme of boundary
demarcation proposed to ‘award’ majority of the Zou population to Manipur
in India. British interest in revenue collection in the Chin Hills produced statistical information for Zou villages. Official statistics for the year 1893 showed that the Zou tribe consisted of nineteen villages and 630 households, inhabiting a tract lying between 60 and 90 miles north and north-west of Fort White. The tribe had the second largest number of villages in Northern Chin Hills, next only to the Thado tribe.
, there are 20,600 speakers in India (based on the 2001 Indian census) and 30,000 speakers in Burma (no source given).
maintains that the Zomis hailed from the first three Zomi brothers - Songthu alias Chongthu, Songza and Zahong. Zomi origin myth accounts their first home in a Cave variously known as "Khul" or "Chhinlung", "Sinlung" or Khur. This site is near a village called Saizang in the Chin State
in North Western part of Burma, where the descendants of Songthu became Thawmte tribe. This site can be verified by evidence to support such a claim. In fact, Thawmte Tribe has a story of how their ancestors from Songthu lived there for at least nine generations until one of his offsprings Mang Sum.
Vum Kho Hau says that all the Zomi clans of this particular Tibeto-Burman group descended from a common ancestor. The same opinion was held by Capt. Pu Khupzathang, a Zomi genealogist who authored Zo Khang Suutna Laibu (Genealogy of the Zomis). He constructs an elaborate genealogical tree to substantiate his case. Current ethnonationalist sentiments too in favour of such geanological interpretation.
At another level, Zo (literally meaning "highland") has a geographical as well as genealogical connotations. In fact, local poets get inspiration from the hilly landscape of the Zo habitat; they are never tired of praising the beauty of their vales, dales and hills. Even after centuries of shifting cultivation devastated the land of the Zomis, the romantic tradition of praising their "beautiful" hills still continues.
The term Zo is an indigenous usage that dates back to antiquity, or (at least) pre-modern history. Before the Zomi society evolved from clan-based lineages to tribe-based identity, historical records referred them as Yaw, Jo, Chou, and Zhou. Such references are found in the Shan (Pong) Chronicles from AD 80 —1604.
Today the term Zo is used in a rather confusing way in Manipur (India) and the Chin Hills of Burma. While colonial records referred to the Zo tribe variously as ‘Yo’ or ‘Yaw’, the Zomi community living in Manipur inscribed their name as ‘Jou’. The first Christian church established by the Zomi tribe in Manipur was called Jou Christian Association (JCA) on 20 February 1954 . But the Government of India officially recognised the name of this tribe as ‘Zou’ in 1956. Sometimes, the term Zomi is also used interchangeably with the word Zou so that the apex political organisation of the Zo is called United Zomi Organisation (UZO). To add to this confusion of terms, the Zous in Burma called themselves ‘Zo’ , which is actually a generic term used to replace the hyphenated term Chin-Kuki-Lushai in current academic and political discourse
. The term ‘Zomi’ is a collective name by which the Tedim
s of Burma, the Paite
and Vaiphei
of Manipur generally identified themselves. Noting at the very outset, the variations in spelling and usage of the terms Zo, Zou, and Zomi to mean the same people in certain geographical contexts on the one hand, and also as a generic term to refer to the larger Chin-Kuki-Lushai ethnic group on the other, will save us unnecessary confusion later. This conflicting usage of the same term (signifier) for different meanings (significance) has been highlighted by a Zo scholar, Sing Khaw Khai: "While all clans and families belonging to the tribe who call their chief Topa designated themselves with ‘Yo’ or ‘Zo’, they in turn apply their common name to a particular clan. The Yos [Zous] are most unique in the sense of the name they bear and the culture they practice in reflection of the ancient Zo tradition … No proper study has yet been made as to why the generic Yo as spelt in former literature was applied to them."
In the year 862 AD, a Chinese historian, Fan Ch’o Hao in his book already used the word Zo to call a peculiar ethnic group of people. Another scholar, a Catholic Father Vincent, in his book published in 1783 mentioned a group of people known as Zo. Sir Henry Yule’s narrative of the Mission to the court of Ava in 1885 showed the Chindwin plains and the area west of Chindwin River as Zo district. FK Lehman, a renowned Social Anthropologist in this book ‘Structure of the Chin Society’ reiterated the fact that the so called Kuki-Chin linguistic groups have a special term for themselves variously spelt as Zo, Yo etc.
Dr. Vumkhohau, a Zo scholar and diplomat from Burma, in his profile of the ‘Burmese Frontier Man’ has affirmed that "we called ourselves Zomi from time immemorial". There are different theories regarding the etymology of the root word Zo. The Zomi ethnic community is known by others as Kuki in Manipur, Nagaland and Assam; Chin in Burma and Lushai in Mizoram, Tripura and other Zomi occupied areas. B.S. Carey and Tuck says that there can be no doubt that the Chins and the Kukis, are one and the same race; for their appearance, manners, customs and languages point to this conclusion. One of the pivot conception in the minds of Zo people which can never lost remains till today is an almost fading story of "Pu Zo" simply means "Father or Grand Pa Zo" which has been handed down over the centuries by words father to son. It cannot be said Legend or Myth because Zo people strongly Confirms when they were argued and it's from their blood they said. And from "Pu Zo" (Father or Grand Pa Zo)came out all the Zomis tribes and Zo was the First born son and his descendants are today's Zo people. Thus Zo people strongly claimed that they are the real Zo or the First born.
The words Kuki, Chin and Lushai have neither any bearing on the culture of these peoples. In the absence of a centralized state formation, the Zo people or Zomis were vulnerable to their formidable neighbours, the Shan, the Burmese, and finally British imperialism subjugated them during the late 19th century.
The Zou/Zo language is one of the prescribed MIL (Major Indian Languages) in the high schools and higher secondary schools of Manipur state. The Zou/Zo community has a script of its own known as "Zolai". Zou youngsters learn their script as a piece of curiosity; but the Roman script is the official script used by the Zous of Burma and India. Bible translations
in the Zou language too adopted the Roman script and it served their purpose very well. In Manipur, the literacy rate of the Zous/Zos stand at 61.6% (Census of India 2001). Unfortunately this is below the Manipur state average of 68.8% literacy rate in 2001. The bulk of Zou(Zo) people lived in the Chin Hills
and Sagaing division
of Upper Burma
. With a slight variation in spelling convention, the Burmese Zous called themselves "Zo". The Indian Zou and Burmese Zo belong to the same dialectal community. The Zou/Zo dialectal group is only a branch of the larger Chin-Kuki
-Lushai ethnic group
. More over, bulk of Zo people in Burma live together with other tribes such as the Tedim-Chin, Sihzang, Thados, etc. and got assimilated with them in dialects, cultures and traditions.
Another speculation was that the Zou came from Yunnan province of China (cf. "Yao" people of Yunnan) before they were harassed and driven south by the Mongol invasion into Upper Burma along the Chindwin River. They reached Yaw valley-upper Chindwin extending up to Kabaw Valley
sometime in the eight century AD. In this Yaw valley, they practiced wet-rice cultivation and gave up their nomadic life. When they approached from south west China up to Kabaw valley, they faced no warlords, except some skirmishes with the expeditions of the Shan States, who then begin their infiltration in the Upper Burma following the Irrawaddy river towards the end of the 13th century.
In due course of time, they settled around Khampat, and established their kingdom which survived from the 13th to the 15th century AD. At the beginning of the 15th century AD, they confronted a threat from the Shans who aimed at expanding their suzerainty. The Zomis were the second people to face the onslaught of the Thai imperialist who moved upward with their mighty Tai (Thai) force marauding the Burmese and Zomis on their way to Assam.
Then, they moved about further south up to the present Chin Hills and started settling in the hill regions, which was then No Man’s Land. After leaving Khampat kingdom, it appears that there was none to trumpet their conscience. From there they scattered all along the hill ranges in different directions, divided into clan-based leadership. Some Zomis settled in the Chin Hills and made Tonzang as their headquarters under the leadership of Pu Khanthuam.
against the British
from 1917 to 1919. Hiengtam and Gotengkot Forts were two main centres of resistance among the Zous. Pu Do Ngul Taithul was the chief of Gotengkot, which was a fairly big and fortified Zou village. Captain Steadman was the man responsible for suppressing Gotengkot with considerable casualties on both sides. The Zou tribe was a non-Thado tribe to have participated in this abortive, yet bold attempt to oust the white imperialist from Manipur
, even as a local folk song composed on the occasion of the revolt runs in the Zou dialect
as follows:
Tuizum Mangkang kîl bang hing khang/
Zota kuolsung zil bang lîng e/
Pienna ka gamlei hie! phal si'ng e!/
Ka nâmtem hiem a, i Zogam lei lâl ka naw/
Sansi’n zîl e!/
Ngalliem vontawi ka lâulou lâi e.
Free translation:
The seafaring White Imperialist springs up like the fast growing cactus plant,
The Zo land shakes like the earthquake,
'Tis the land of my birth: I shall not part with it!
My sharp sword is stained with blood, I faced enemies,
Being brave son of my father i shall not fear
and its colonial culture, including Christian conversion. The Maharajah of Manipur too did not permit Christian missionaries to work in the Imphal valley. However, a missionary called Watkin Roberts arrived at Senvawn village in the southern hills of Manipur in 1910. The Zou community did not come directly in contact with any Western missionary
. While their neighbouring communities converted to Christianity
, the Zous clung on to their traditional religion called Sakhua. (In the Chin hills of Burma, the Sakhua was also called Lawki religion). This indigenous
form of worship is broadly and not so accurately labelled as "animism
" in the ethnographic literature. The old Sakhua used to be self-sufficient; but the Zou colonial encounter resulted in cracks in the old system. The experience of many young Zomis as a labour corps in World War I made them more open to Western education. The NEIG Mission Compound at Old Churachand (Suangpi) became the centre of literate culture in southern Manipur since 1930. By the time of India's independence, many neo-literates among the Zous were convinced about the power of Western education and medicine: the native mind somehow perceived such objects as synonymous with Christianity itself.
. By the 1950s, there were a handful of Christian converts among the Zous too. But the Zou converts were disorganised and scattered. The new Zou Christian converts joined different dialectal groups, especially the Paite and Thado Christian groups. Among the intelligent sections of the Zou, there was a strong desire to stem the tide of this social crisis
. Their solution was to embrace the Church Movement
by preserving the unity of the Zou community ironically through mass conversion.
village on the occasion of ‘Haitha’ (First Fruit) festival in which the villages of Daizang
, Boh Lui and Khiang Lam were scheduled to participate; but the last two did not turned up. The outcome of all those untiring discussions and persuasions was the staging of a partially successful joint meeting between Daizang
and Tuaitengphai
in 1953. That, in turn, provided a solid foundation for a more spectacular success. It actually became a prelude to the historic JCA meeting at Daizang
on 20 February 1954 (see JCA Minute Book.
deliberated on issues related to the social and religious life of the community. The JCA agenda was not exclusively religious. Besides Pu Kamzakhup, the pillars of the JCA in its initial days were the three educated figures of Pu Thawng Hang, Pu Sem Kho Pau, and Pu Kai Za Kham. The triple leaders were still students at Imphal at that point of time, and they were entrusted with the task of drafting a ‘Constitution’ for JCA, which was finally adopted at the Daizang assembly
. This historic conference accelerated mass conversion to Christian faith into an irreversible social movement
within the Zou community. Ironically, such collective conversion did not necessarily led to de-tribilization. This strategy rather ensured the viability of "tribal identity" under changing conditions.
(khuang made of wood and animal skin) is an integral part of church music
. The Bible translations
and hymnals preserved the best part of their traditional vacabulary harnessed to a different purpose.According to K.S. Singh, "The introduction of a new religion [Christianity] has not made any impact on their folk songs, the institution of indongta, and customs related to marriage, bride price and the dissolution of marriage. However, ancestor worship is being abandoned."
Recent scholarship, however, pointed out that Bible translations
among the tribes of North-East India
have become a victim of dilectal chauvinism
(see Go 1996). Multiplying Bible translations in closely related but slightly different dialects have "canonize" and harden ethnic divisions within the tribal groups of Manipur. For instance, the Zou language itself constitutes dialectal variants like Haidawi, Khuangnung, Thangkhal, Khodai and Tungkua. All these dialects contribute to Zou language in a process of give and take. Nevertheless, Haidawi is usually promoted as the standard literary language in the vernacular Bible and hymnals. Meanwhile, Khuangnung is popular among urban Zou speakers and Thangkhal heavily influences traditional Zou folk songs. Tungkua and Khodai still remains confined to remote villages. The inclusion of Zou as a Major Indian Language (till Standard XII) by the Govt. of Manipur also contributed to the evolution of Zou as a standard literary language
.
The Zous (also spelt as "Zo") in Burma constitute a distinct Zou dialect influenced primarily by Tedim Chin. Though the Zous in India and Burma had been using a common Bible for decades, the Zous in Burma recently came up with their own Bible translation. At present, it is difficult to assess the social impact of such translation projects.
in the 1980s. There is limited space for women theologians within the formal church structure which is jealously guarded as a privileged male enclave. The church hierarchy
still excludes women from any position of authority and "ordained" offices like that of ministers or elders
. Despite the advances made by women in the secular world, a recent study suggests that the status of women has been degraded (not upgraded) within the patriarchal world of the tribal church (cf. Downs 1996: 80-81).
However, women are encouraged in fundraising
projects where they have made excellent contributions through strategies like antang pham (handful of rice collection), thabituh (annual labour targets), veipung (profitable micro-investment), etc. Antang pham remains the main source of fund raising by ladies. The idea was originally imported from Mizoram where Bible women like Ms. Chhingtei of Durtlang and Ms. Siniboni (a Khasi lady) were instrumental in introducing the practice sometime in 1913. The money collected by ladies are seldom invested in projects that benefit women as a specific group. Given the inequality of opportunities for men and women, this way of resource allocation is questionable. Recent statistics by Census of India (2001) shows a significant gender gap
between male and female literacy with only 53.0% for female Zou and 70.2% for male Zou. Likewise, the sex ratio of the Zous in Manipur at 944 is lower than the state average of 978 (according to 2001 census). This compares poorly, for instance, with the sex ratio
for Simte
at 1030 and for Vaiphei
at 1001 during the same period.
(jhum) ever since the beginning of their recorded history in the 19th century. They traversed several hill tracts between North-East India
and Upper Burma
in search of suitable jhum land. They used iron
tools (e.g. iron axe
, hoe
and dao
) to cultivate a variety of sturdy Asia
n rice
through a rather primitive
method - sometimes described as "slash and burn
" technique. They procured their iron tools through barter
trade
from Manipur
and Burma. In the absence of cash economy, mithun or gayal
(bos frontalis) and rice
grain
served as the chief forms of wealth.
The jhum method was ecologically sustainable as long as population increase was minimal and cultivable land was plentiful. But even favourable population-land ratio did not guarantee against periodic famines called mautam
. Such famines are associated with the flowering of bamboo
s whose seeds led to the multiplication of rats and other pests. In this sense, bamboo was both a curse and a blessing. In the traditional Zou economy, bamboo
was a source of food (bamboo shoots
), building material, household utensils, fencing and handicrafts. In fact, bamboo was the backbone and the backbreaker of their subsistence economy
.
The Zou community
in Manipur was exposed to independent India's developmental state
. Since the 1950s, they began to participate in the democratic process, especially electoral politics. Political pioneers like T.Gougin and M.Thangkhanlal emerged out of this new political climate in the early decades of postcolonial India
. Such developments affected the outlook and livelihood of many Zous who enjoyed upward mobility in the social ladder. The expansion of the so-called Licence Raj
partly helped the growth of an administrative town, Churachandpur
, in southern Manipur. More enterprising Zous saw new opportunnites in this urban centre and set up their own "colonies" (e.g. Zomi Colony, Zoveng, Kamdou Veng, Hiangzou
, and New Zoveng) to settle in and around Churachandpur
town. Better access to education enables these urban
settlers to enter the Government
service
sector that grew fat in the 1970s and 80s. Within the Zou community, the Church (e.g. Zou Synod and Lutheran MELC) and other NGOs are also significant employers of theological graduates.
In remote Zou villages, the dead habit of jhuming continues despite its abysmal productivity
. According to the 2001 Census of India, around 60% of the Zou population were engaged in agricultural labour
. Wet rice cultivation came into vogue around the time of India's independence. Shifting cultivators typically dwell within interior ridgetop hamlets. But permanent plow peasants among the Zous prefer settlement sites near river banks like the Tuitha and the Tuivai. Availability of cultivable land for paddy is severely limited in Manipur hill areas. Increased food production through paddy fields supported a growing population in many Zou villages. Yet food production lags behind population increase. The challenge is to escape this "Malthusian trap
" where population prevents prosperity. As an absolute figure the Zou population is not big, but its rapid rate of growth resulted in deforestation
and desertification
during the post-Independence era. It only intensify the rural crisis. Unlike the fertile Imphal
valley
, the "carrying capacity
" of land in the hills is very limited. The social spill over effect of this ecological degradation was demonstrated by the ethnic conflict of 1997-98. The conflict reduced many educated and semi-skilled Zous into economic migrants to other parts of booming urban India. Today socially mobile pockets of Zou communities live across big and small Indian cities like Imphal
, Aizawl
, Shillong
, Guwahati
, Calcutta, Delhi
and Bangalore
. The Indian army
and paramilitary
services
also employ a good number of Zous generally with low level of skills set. But the new economy could not absorb unskilled and illiterate Zou villagers.
The benefits of India's economic reform are yet to reach rural Manipur
. At present, militants pose a challenging law and order problem. But the spread of modern technologies like satellite TV and mobile phones to the villages gradually expose them to changes in other parts of India since the economic reforms of 1991. Such exposure might not alter their immediate circumstances, but it provides new aspirational values needed to create an "enabling environment" in a democratic setup. Therefore, there are good reasons for guarded optimism about the future of Zou people in modern India.
(EPW) made the following observation about Pu T. Gougin:
"At a time when tribal leaders were vying for state recognition of their dialectal communities as “Scheduled Tribes,” Gougin began to conceive the idea of Zomi, i.e., “Zo people” in 1955 while serving as a clerk of the Tribal Development Office, Imphal. This prompted him to resign from his clerical job in 1958, and then pursued BA (honours) at St. Edmund’s College, Shillong. As a final year student, he founded the United Zomi Organisation (UZO) at Singtom village (Manipur) in 1961 to unite “all ethnic Zomi groups” (Gougin 1988: 3). When UZO was reduced to mere vote bank politics to the complete neglect of wider Zo solidarity, T. Gougin launched on 28 January 1972 a new organisation, Zomi National Congress (ZNC) at Daizang village (Manipur). He owned a printing press which helped him to propagate his nationalist vision through pamphlets, booklets and ephemeral literature. The Discovery of Zoland (1980) is perhaps Gougin’s most enduring political writing" (p. 61).
II. Semi-Urban Area
III. Rural Area
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Burma. In India, they live with and are similar in language and habits to the Paite
Paite
The Paites are one of the constituting tribes of the Zomi who inhabit Burma, India and Bangladesh. The word paite means " a group of people marching " or 'Walkers' in a word,. The Paites are a recognised scheduled tribe in Manipur as well as in Mizoram. The Paites concentrated in Manipur, a...
and the Simte
Simte
The Simte are one of the ethnic groups in India. They are mainly concentrated in the southern parts of the state of Manipur. A significant number also are settled in neighbouring areas of Mizoram and Assam...
peoples, all of which are called Zomi
Zomi
Zomi is the name of a major tribe found in various parts of South and South East Asia. The term Zomi meaning, 'Zo People' is derived from the generic name 'Zo', the progenitor of the Zomi. They are found in northwestern Myanmar, northeastern India and Bangladesh. Anthropologists classify them as...
. In Burma, Zou are counted among the Chin people
Chin people
The Chin , known as the Kuki in Assam, are one of the ethnic groups in Burma. The Chins are found mainly in western part of Burma and numbered circa 1.5 million. They also live in nearby Indian states of Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur and Assam. Owing to Mizo influence and Baptist missionaries'...
. They are a hill people ("Zou" being translated as "lofty hill ranges").
In India, Zous are officially recognized as one of the 29 indigenous peoples
Adivasi
Adivasi is an umbrella term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups claimed to be the aboriginal population of India. They comprise a substantial indigenous minority of the population of India...
within the state of Manipur
Manipur
Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...
, and are one of the Scheduled tribes. According to the 2001 Census
Demographics of India
The demographics of India are inclusive of the second most populous country in the world, with over 1.21 billion people , more than a sixth of the world's population. Already containing 17.5% of the world's population, India is projected to be the world's most populous country by 2025, surpassing...
, the Zou population in Manipur is around 20,000, less than 3% of the population. The community is concentrated in Churachandpur
Churachandpur
Churachandpur is the largest district in the Indian state of Manipur.- Origin of Churachandpur on the bank of Khuga :Located southwest of Manipur, Churachandpur District covers an area of 4570 km² and is the largest district within the state of Manipur. The terrain of the district is mainly...
and Chandel
Chandel
Chandela may refer to* Chandela, a Rajput clan in India* Chandel district, a district in Manipur, India* Suresh Chandel, Indian politician...
districts of Manipur in North-East India
North-East India
Northeast India refers to the easternmost region of India consisting of the contiguous Seven Sister States, Sikkim, and parts of North Bengal...
.
Historical background
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
. Linguistic and racial evidence suggest the Indo-Chinese origin of the people. Linguists classified the Zou language as Tibeto-Burman, with only small differences between Zou and Paite.
Perhaps one of the earliest recorded references to Zou as a people is found in the travel account of an Italian missionary, Father Sangermano, who resided at Ava
Ava
Innwa is a city in the Mandalay Division of Burma , situated just to the south of Amarapura on the Ayeyarwady River. Its formal title is Ratanapura , which means City of Gems in Pali. The name Innwa means mouth of the lake, which comes from in , meaning lake, and wa , which means mouth...
and Rangoon from 1783 to 1806. In his memoir, Sangermano recorded his observation of the Zomis at the beginning of the nineteenth century A.D., writing: "To the east of the Chin
Chin
In the human anatomy, the chin is the lowermost part of the face.It is formed by the lower front of the mandible.People show a wide variety of chin structures. See Cleft chin....
mountains, ... is a petty nation called Jo [Yaw]. They are supposed to have been Chien … These Jò generally pass for necromancers and sorcerers, and are for this reason feared by the Burmese, who dare not ill-treat them for fear of their revenging themselves by some enchantment."
Since it was recognisable to the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
observer that the Zou (Zo) ‘are supposed to have been Chien [Chin]’, the context suggests that Sangermano was referring to the same group of people later known as Chin-Kuki-Lushais, of whom the Zou tribe is a historical component today.
In South-east Asia, there had been dynasties (with no king), places and people that bear the label, Zou - with spelling variations. However, no definite connection can be established between such terms.
The American Baptist
American Baptist
American Baptist may refer to:* American Baptist Association* American Baptist Churches USA* Baptist who is an American...
missionary J.H. Cope made an attempt to trace the pre-colonial history of the Chin Hills
Chin Hills
The Chin Hills are a range of mountains in Chin State, northwestern Burma , that extends northward into India's Manipur state. They are part of the Arakan Mountain Range . The highest peak in the Chin Hills is Nat Ma Taung, or Khonumthung , in southern Chin State, which reaches 3,053 meters...
in a church journal, Tedim Thu Kizakna Lai. The journal (edited by Cope) provides a glimpse of the Zomis in Chin Hills before the arrival of British imperialism. Under the Manlun chiefs, the Zous had a bitter struggle with the Kamhau-Suktes over the control of the hill tracts between Manipur (India) and Chin hills (Burma). Inter-village raids were frequent but they never resulted in decisive victory. The fortification of Tedim village by Kamhau finally gave him the upper hand over his Zou rivals. British records about the Zou tribe became available towards the end of the nineteenth century.
Upper Burma
Upper Burma
Upper Burma refers to a geographic region of Burma , traditionally encompassing Mandalay and its periphery , or more broadly speaking, Kachin and Shan States....
(including the Chin hills) was officially annexed by the British at the end of the Third Anglo-Burmese War
Third Anglo-Burmese War
The Third Anglo-Burmese War was a conflict that took place during 7–29 November 1885, with sporadic resistance and insurgency continuing into 1887. It was the final of three wars fought in the 19th century between the Burmese and the British...
(1885–1887). On 28 September 1892, the Political Officer
Political officer
Political officer may refer to:*Political officer , Occasionally, a synonym for political commissar*Political officer , in the context of the British Empire, for a pseudo-ambassadorial role in areas bordering imperial territories...
of Chin Hills submitted ‘a scheme in detail for the future administration of the Chin Hills’. The Yoe (Zo) - this being the colonial spelling for the Zou tribe - was enumerated as one of the five tribes inhabiting the Northern Chin Hills. The others were Nwite (Guite), Thado and Kamhow (Kamhau), and Siyin (Sihzang). The Zou tribe was placed under the jurisdiction of the Tedim post; but the new scheme of boundary
Border
Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states, federated states and other subnational entities. Some borders—such as a state's internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and...
demarcation proposed to ‘award’ majority of the Zou population to Manipur
Manipur
Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...
in India. British interest in revenue collection in the Chin Hills produced statistical information for Zou villages. Official statistics for the year 1893 showed that the Zou tribe consisted of nineteen villages and 630 households, inhabiting a tract lying between 60 and 90 miles north and north-west of Fort White. The tribe had the second largest number of villages in Northern Chin Hills, next only to the Thado tribe.
Zou language
Zou is similar to Paite. It is classified as northern Tibeto-Burman. According to EthnologueEthnologue
Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...
, there are 20,600 speakers in India (based on the 2001 Indian census) and 30,000 speakers in Burma (no source given).
The Etymology of Zou
Oral traditionOral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
maintains that the Zomis hailed from the first three Zomi brothers - Songthu alias Chongthu, Songza and Zahong. Zomi origin myth accounts their first home in a Cave variously known as "Khul" or "Chhinlung", "Sinlung" or Khur. This site is near a village called Saizang in the Chin State
Chin State
Chin State is a state located in western Burma . The Chin State is bordered by Rakhine State in the south, Bangladesh in south-west, Sagaing Division and Magway Division in the east, Indian state of Manipur in the north and Indian state of Mizoram in the west. The Chin ethnic group make up the...
in North Western part of Burma, where the descendants of Songthu became Thawmte tribe. This site can be verified by evidence to support such a claim. In fact, Thawmte Tribe has a story of how their ancestors from Songthu lived there for at least nine generations until one of his offsprings Mang Sum.
Vum Kho Hau says that all the Zomi clans of this particular Tibeto-Burman group descended from a common ancestor. The same opinion was held by Capt. Pu Khupzathang, a Zomi genealogist who authored Zo Khang Suutna Laibu (Genealogy of the Zomis). He constructs an elaborate genealogical tree to substantiate his case. Current ethnonationalist sentiments too in favour of such geanological interpretation.
At another level, Zo (literally meaning "highland") has a geographical as well as genealogical connotations. In fact, local poets get inspiration from the hilly landscape of the Zo habitat; they are never tired of praising the beauty of their vales, dales and hills. Even after centuries of shifting cultivation devastated the land of the Zomis, the romantic tradition of praising their "beautiful" hills still continues.
The term Zo is an indigenous usage that dates back to antiquity, or (at least) pre-modern history. Before the Zomi society evolved from clan-based lineages to tribe-based identity, historical records referred them as Yaw, Jo, Chou, and Zhou. Such references are found in the Shan (Pong) Chronicles from AD 80 —1604.
Today the term Zo is used in a rather confusing way in Manipur (India) and the Chin Hills of Burma. While colonial records referred to the Zo tribe variously as ‘Yo’ or ‘Yaw’, the Zomi community living in Manipur inscribed their name as ‘Jou’. The first Christian church established by the Zomi tribe in Manipur was called Jou Christian Association (JCA) on 20 February 1954 . But the Government of India officially recognised the name of this tribe as ‘Zou’ in 1956. Sometimes, the term Zomi is also used interchangeably with the word Zou so that the apex political organisation of the Zo is called United Zomi Organisation (UZO). To add to this confusion of terms, the Zous in Burma called themselves ‘Zo’ , which is actually a generic term used to replace the hyphenated term Chin-Kuki-Lushai in current academic and political discourse
Discourse
Discourse generally refers to "written or spoken communication". The following are three more specific definitions:...
. The term ‘Zomi’ is a collective name by which the Tedim
Tedim
Tedim is a town in Chin State in the northwestern part of Myanmar. The name "Tedim" was derived from a pool on the top of the hills that used to be twinkling under sun's light, therefore, called "te " and "dim " in local Paite dialect.-Early history:As a result of lack of a formal writing system...
s of Burma, the Paite
Paite
The Paites are one of the constituting tribes of the Zomi who inhabit Burma, India and Bangladesh. The word paite means " a group of people marching " or 'Walkers' in a word,. The Paites are a recognised scheduled tribe in Manipur as well as in Mizoram. The Paites concentrated in Manipur, a...
and Vaiphei
Vaiphei
The Vaiphei are an ethnic group who inhabit the North-East part of India, Bangladesh and Burma. They are one of the old Kuki clans of Manipur and recognized as part of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribe by the state government of Manipur. The group is originally from the Tan valley located in the province of...
of Manipur generally identified themselves. Noting at the very outset, the variations in spelling and usage of the terms Zo, Zou, and Zomi to mean the same people in certain geographical contexts on the one hand, and also as a generic term to refer to the larger Chin-Kuki-Lushai ethnic group on the other, will save us unnecessary confusion later. This conflicting usage of the same term (signifier) for different meanings (significance) has been highlighted by a Zo scholar, Sing Khaw Khai: "While all clans and families belonging to the tribe who call their chief Topa designated themselves with ‘Yo’ or ‘Zo’, they in turn apply their common name to a particular clan. The Yos [Zous] are most unique in the sense of the name they bear and the culture they practice in reflection of the ancient Zo tradition … No proper study has yet been made as to why the generic Yo as spelt in former literature was applied to them."
Speculations on Zou Origin
According to a Burmese scholar Thantun, Tibeto-Burmans probably once inhabited the T’ao valley of Kansu province in north-west China. Because of frequent Chinese incursions, the Zomis might have moved to the north east of Tibet around 200 BC. In order to avoid them, the Zomis traveled across ridges and forests and move further south. The journey probably took hundreds of years and eventually landed in Upper Burma. But it is difficult to substantiate such claims with hard evidence.In the year 862 AD, a Chinese historian, Fan Ch’o Hao in his book already used the word Zo to call a peculiar ethnic group of people. Another scholar, a Catholic Father Vincent, in his book published in 1783 mentioned a group of people known as Zo. Sir Henry Yule’s narrative of the Mission to the court of Ava in 1885 showed the Chindwin plains and the area west of Chindwin River as Zo district. FK Lehman, a renowned Social Anthropologist in this book ‘Structure of the Chin Society’ reiterated the fact that the so called Kuki-Chin linguistic groups have a special term for themselves variously spelt as Zo, Yo etc.
Dr. Vumkhohau, a Zo scholar and diplomat from Burma, in his profile of the ‘Burmese Frontier Man’ has affirmed that "we called ourselves Zomi from time immemorial". There are different theories regarding the etymology of the root word Zo. The Zomi ethnic community is known by others as Kuki in Manipur, Nagaland and Assam; Chin in Burma and Lushai in Mizoram, Tripura and other Zomi occupied areas. B.S. Carey and Tuck says that there can be no doubt that the Chins and the Kukis, are one and the same race; for their appearance, manners, customs and languages point to this conclusion. One of the pivot conception in the minds of Zo people which can never lost remains till today is an almost fading story of "Pu Zo" simply means "Father or Grand Pa Zo" which has been handed down over the centuries by words father to son. It cannot be said Legend or Myth because Zo people strongly Confirms when they were argued and it's from their blood they said. And from "Pu Zo" (Father or Grand Pa Zo)came out all the Zomis tribes and Zo was the First born son and his descendants are today's Zo people. Thus Zo people strongly claimed that they are the real Zo or the First born.
The words Kuki, Chin and Lushai have neither any bearing on the culture of these peoples. In the absence of a centralized state formation, the Zo people or Zomis were vulnerable to their formidable neighbours, the Shan, the Burmese, and finally British imperialism subjugated them during the late 19th century.
The Zou/Zo language is one of the prescribed MIL (Major Indian Languages) in the high schools and higher secondary schools of Manipur state. The Zou/Zo community has a script of its own known as "Zolai". Zou youngsters learn their script as a piece of curiosity; but the Roman script is the official script used by the Zous of Burma and India. Bible translations
Bible translations
The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Indeed, the full Bible has been translated into over 450 languages, although sections of the Bible have been translated into over 2,000 languages....
in the Zou language too adopted the Roman script and it served their purpose very well. In Manipur, the literacy rate of the Zous/Zos stand at 61.6% (Census of India 2001). Unfortunately this is below the Manipur state average of 68.8% literacy rate in 2001. The bulk of Zou(Zo) people lived in the Chin Hills
Chin Hills
The Chin Hills are a range of mountains in Chin State, northwestern Burma , that extends northward into India's Manipur state. They are part of the Arakan Mountain Range . The highest peak in the Chin Hills is Nat Ma Taung, or Khonumthung , in southern Chin State, which reaches 3,053 meters...
and Sagaing division
Sagaing
Sagaing is the capital of Sagaing Region in Myanmar. Located on the Ayeyarwady River, 20 km to the southwest of Mandalay on the opposite bank of the river, Sagaing with numerous Buddhist monasteries is an important religious and monastic center. The pagodas and monasteries crowd the numerous...
of Upper Burma
Upper Burma
Upper Burma refers to a geographic region of Burma , traditionally encompassing Mandalay and its periphery , or more broadly speaking, Kachin and Shan States....
. With a slight variation in spelling convention, the Burmese Zous called themselves "Zo". The Indian Zou and Burmese Zo belong to the same dialectal community. The Zou/Zo dialectal group is only a branch of the larger Chin-Kuki
Kuki people
The Kukis are an ethnic group that spread throughout the Northeastern region of India, Northwest Burma and Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. In Northeast India they are present in all the states except Arunachal Pradesh. This dispersal across international borders is mainly attributed to the...
-Lushai ethnic group
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
. More over, bulk of Zo people in Burma live together with other tribes such as the Tedim-Chin, Sihzang, Thados, etc. and got assimilated with them in dialects, cultures and traditions.
The South-East Asian Connection
The Zhou in ancient China are thought to have originated from the areas west to the Shang strongholds, possibly Shangxi and Gansu provinces. However, there is not enough evidence at present to establish the link between the Zhou dynasty and the Indo-Burmese Zou.Another speculation was that the Zou came from Yunnan province of China (cf. "Yao" people of Yunnan) before they were harassed and driven south by the Mongol invasion into Upper Burma along the Chindwin River. They reached Yaw valley-upper Chindwin extending up to Kabaw Valley
Kabaw Valley
The Kabaw Valley is a highland valley in northern Burma , western Sagaing division. It is drained by the Mu River. The valley is the home of a number of ethnic minorities including the Zo, the Mizo, the Kadu and the Kanan.-History:...
sometime in the eight century AD. In this Yaw valley, they practiced wet-rice cultivation and gave up their nomadic life. When they approached from south west China up to Kabaw valley, they faced no warlords, except some skirmishes with the expeditions of the Shan States, who then begin their infiltration in the Upper Burma following the Irrawaddy river towards the end of the 13th century.
In due course of time, they settled around Khampat, and established their kingdom which survived from the 13th to the 15th century AD. At the beginning of the 15th century AD, they confronted a threat from the Shans who aimed at expanding their suzerainty. The Zomis were the second people to face the onslaught of the Thai imperialist who moved upward with their mighty Tai (Thai) force marauding the Burmese and Zomis on their way to Assam.
Then, they moved about further south up to the present Chin Hills and started settling in the hill regions, which was then No Man’s Land. After leaving Khampat kingdom, it appears that there was none to trumpet their conscience. From there they scattered all along the hill ranges in different directions, divided into clan-based leadership. Some Zomis settled in the Chin Hills and made Tonzang as their headquarters under the leadership of Pu Khanthuam.
Legacy of Anti-colonial Resistance: Zou Gal (1917-19)
The Zou tribe joined the so-called ‘Kuki Rising’ in ManipurManipur
Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...
against the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
from 1917 to 1919. Hiengtam and Gotengkot Forts were two main centres of resistance among the Zous. Pu Do Ngul Taithul was the chief of Gotengkot, which was a fairly big and fortified Zou village. Captain Steadman was the man responsible for suppressing Gotengkot with considerable casualties on both sides. The Zou tribe was a non-Thado tribe to have participated in this abortive, yet bold attempt to oust the white imperialist from Manipur
Manipur
Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...
, even as a local folk song composed on the occasion of the revolt runs in the Zou dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
as follows:
Tuizum Mangkang kîl bang hing khang/
Zota kuolsung zil bang lîng e/
Pienna ka gamlei hie! phal si'ng e!/
Ka nâmtem hiem a, i Zogam lei lâl ka naw/
Sansi’n zîl e!/
Ngalliem vontawi ka lâulou lâi e.
Free translation:
The seafaring White Imperialist springs up like the fast growing cactus plant,
The Zo land shakes like the earthquake,
'Tis the land of my birth: I shall not part with it!
My sharp sword is stained with blood, I faced enemies,
Being brave son of my father i shall not fear
Crisis of pagan Sakhua religion
The Zou people resisted the British RajBritish Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
and its colonial culture, including Christian conversion. The Maharajah of Manipur too did not permit Christian missionaries to work in the Imphal valley. However, a missionary called Watkin Roberts arrived at Senvawn village in the southern hills of Manipur in 1910. The Zou community did not come directly in contact with any Western missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
. While their neighbouring communities converted to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, the Zous clung on to their traditional religion called Sakhua. (In the Chin hills of Burma, the Sakhua was also called Lawki religion). This indigenous
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
form of worship is broadly and not so accurately labelled as "animism
Animism
Animism refers to the belief that non-human entities are spiritual beings, or at least embody some kind of life-principle....
" in the ethnographic literature. The old Sakhua used to be self-sufficient; but the Zou colonial encounter resulted in cracks in the old system. The experience of many young Zomis as a labour corps in World War I made them more open to Western education. The NEIG Mission Compound at Old Churachand (Suangpi) became the centre of literate culture in southern Manipur since 1930. By the time of India's independence, many neo-literates among the Zous were convinced about the power of Western education and medicine: the native mind somehow perceived such objects as synonymous with Christianity itself.
Local Church Movement under JCA
Twentieth century developments
The pagan Sakhua religion was under direct assault in Southern Manipur with the establishment of NEIG Mission at Old Churachand (Mission Compound) in 1930. The Paite, Hmar and Thadou tribes were among the earliest advocates of the Christian conversion. Along with the Simte, the Zou tribe was slow in responding to new ideas ushered in by the Christian mission. Perhaps due to their anti-colonial legacy, the Zous became the last bastion of pagan "Sakhua" in the area. Though cultural rootedness has its own merits, it was a setback for modernizationModernization
In the social sciences, modernization or modernisation refers to a model of an evolutionary transition from a 'pre-modern' or 'traditional' to a 'modern' society. The teleology of modernization is described in social evolutionism theories, existing as a template that has been generally followed by...
. By the 1950s, there were a handful of Christian converts among the Zous too. But the Zou converts were disorganised and scattered. The new Zou Christian converts joined different dialectal groups, especially the Paite and Thado Christian groups. Among the intelligent sections of the Zou, there was a strong desire to stem the tide of this social crisis
Crisis
A crisis is any event that is, or expected to lead to, an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, community or whole society...
. Their solution was to embrace the Church Movement
Church Movement
Movements in the Catholic Church are groups of church members following a specific spirituality given to them by the founder of their movement. In the case of officially recognized movements, this specificity never finds expression in rejection or overemphasis of certain teachings of the...
by preserving the unity of the Zou community ironically through mass conversion.
The preliminary Tuaitengphai Meet 1953
There seemed to be a lot of spade work before the historic JCA Conference could be convened on 20 February 1954. A preliminary meeting was held at TuaitengphaiTuaitengphai
Tuaitengphai is a Zou village within Churachandpur district of Manipur, India....
village on the occasion of ‘Haitha’ (First Fruit) festival in which the villages of Daizang
Daizang
Daizang is a Zou village within Churachandpur district of Manipur, India. This place is best known for hosting the first JCA Conference on 20 February 1954. This historic meet was a watershed in the social history of the Zou people in India. It marked the mass conversion of the Zou community from...
, Boh Lui and Khiang Lam were scheduled to participate; but the last two did not turned up. The outcome of all those untiring discussions and persuasions was the staging of a partially successful joint meeting between Daizang
Daizang
Daizang is a Zou village within Churachandpur district of Manipur, India. This place is best known for hosting the first JCA Conference on 20 February 1954. This historic meet was a watershed in the social history of the Zou people in India. It marked the mass conversion of the Zou community from...
and Tuaitengphai
Tuaitengphai
Tuaitengphai is a Zou village within Churachandpur district of Manipur, India....
in 1953. That, in turn, provided a solid foundation for a more spectacular success. It actually became a prelude to the historic JCA meeting at Daizang
Daizang
Daizang is a Zou village within Churachandpur district of Manipur, India. This place is best known for hosting the first JCA Conference on 20 February 1954. This historic meet was a watershed in the social history of the Zou people in India. It marked the mass conversion of the Zou community from...
on 20 February 1954 (see JCA Minute Book.
The historic Daizang JCA Conference 1954
On 20 February 1954, the first Zou Conference was held at Daizang village. The JCA (Jou Christian Association) conferenceAcademic conference
An academic conference or symposium is a conference for researchers to present and discuss their work. Together with academic or scientific journals, conferences provide an important channel for exchange of information between researchers.-Overview:Conferences are usually composed of various...
deliberated on issues related to the social and religious life of the community. The JCA agenda was not exclusively religious. Besides Pu Kamzakhup, the pillars of the JCA in its initial days were the three educated figures of Pu Thawng Hang, Pu Sem Kho Pau, and Pu Kai Za Kham. The triple leaders were still students at Imphal at that point of time, and they were entrusted with the task of drafting a ‘Constitution’ for JCA, which was finally adopted at the Daizang assembly
Deliberative assembly
A deliberative assembly is an organization comprising members who use parliamentary procedure to make decisions. In a speech to the electorate at Bristol in 1774, Edmund Burke described the English Parliament as a "deliberative assembly," and the expression became the basic term for a body of...
. This historic conference accelerated mass conversion to Christian faith into an irreversible social movement
Social movement
Social movements are a type of group action. They are large informal groupings of individuals or organizations focused on specific political or social issues, in other words, on carrying out, resisting or undoing a social change....
within the Zou community. Ironically, such collective conversion did not necessarily led to de-tribilization. This strategy rather ensured the viability of "tribal identity" under changing conditions.
Social impact of Christian conversion
Zous today preserve the best part of their traditional culture through their indigenous local church. Their customary laws related to marriage practices have been institutionalized by the church. Their tribal musical instrumentMusical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
(khuang made of wood and animal skin) is an integral part of church music
Church music
Church music may be defined as music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclestiacal liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. This article covers music in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. For sacred music outside this...
. The Bible translations
Bible translations
The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Indeed, the full Bible has been translated into over 450 languages, although sections of the Bible have been translated into over 2,000 languages....
and hymnals preserved the best part of their traditional vacabulary harnessed to a different purpose.According to K.S. Singh, "The introduction of a new religion [Christianity] has not made any impact on their folk songs, the institution of indongta, and customs related to marriage, bride price and the dissolution of marriage. However, ancestor worship is being abandoned."
Recent scholarship, however, pointed out that Bible translations
Bible translations
The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Indeed, the full Bible has been translated into over 450 languages, although sections of the Bible have been translated into over 2,000 languages....
among the tribes of North-East India
North-East India
Northeast India refers to the easternmost region of India consisting of the contiguous Seven Sister States, Sikkim, and parts of North Bengal...
have become a victim of dilectal chauvinism
Chauvinism
Chauvinism, in its original and primary meaning, is an exaggerated, bellicose patriotism and a belief in national superiority and glory. It is an eponym of a possibly fictional French soldier Nicolas Chauvin who was credited with many superhuman feats in the Napoleonic wars.By extension it has come...
(see Go 1996). Multiplying Bible translations in closely related but slightly different dialects have "canonize" and harden ethnic divisions within the tribal groups of Manipur. For instance, the Zou language itself constitutes dialectal variants like Haidawi, Khuangnung, Thangkhal, Khodai and Tungkua. All these dialects contribute to Zou language in a process of give and take. Nevertheless, Haidawi is usually promoted as the standard literary language in the vernacular Bible and hymnals. Meanwhile, Khuangnung is popular among urban Zou speakers and Thangkhal heavily influences traditional Zou folk songs. Tungkua and Khodai still remains confined to remote villages. The inclusion of Zou as a Major Indian Language (till Standard XII) by the Govt. of Manipur also contributed to the evolution of Zou as a standard literary language
Literary language
A literary language is a register of a language that is used in literary writing. This may also include liturgical writing. The difference between literary and non-literary forms is more marked in some languages than in others...
.
The Zous (also spelt as "Zo") in Burma constitute a distinct Zou dialect influenced primarily by Tedim Chin. Though the Zous in India and Burma had been using a common Bible for decades, the Zous in Burma recently came up with their own Bible translation. At present, it is difficult to assess the social impact of such translation projects.
Patriarchy and tribal Christianity
Access to modern education since the 1950s and 60s empowered some Zou women in the "secular" sphere and the job market. But ironically women are still discriminated in the "secred" sphere of the church on gender basis. The Zou society, despite Christian conversion, still staunchly maintains its old patriarchal structure. The first generation of educated Zomi women like Ms. Khan Niang and Ms. Geneve Vung Za Mawi championed the cause of female education as late as the 1970s. A handful of Zou women (e.g. Ms. Dim Kho Chin, Ms. Ning Hoih Kim, Ms. Ngai Vung, etc.) graduated in theologyTheology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
in the 1980s. There is limited space for women theologians within the formal church structure which is jealously guarded as a privileged male enclave. The church hierarchy
Hierarchy
A hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another...
still excludes women from any position of authority and "ordained" offices like that of ministers or elders
Elder (Christianity)
An elder in Christianity is a person valued for his wisdom who accordingly holds a particular position of responsibility in a Christian group. In some Christian traditions an elder is a clergy person who usually serves a local church or churches and who has been ordained to a ministry of Word,...
. Despite the advances made by women in the secular world, a recent study suggests that the status of women has been degraded (not upgraded) within the patriarchal world of the tribal church (cf. Downs 1996: 80-81).
However, women are encouraged in fundraising
Fundraising
Fundraising or fund raising is the process of soliciting and gathering voluntary contributions as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies...
projects where they have made excellent contributions through strategies like antang pham (handful of rice collection), thabituh (annual labour targets), veipung (profitable micro-investment), etc. Antang pham remains the main source of fund raising by ladies. The idea was originally imported from Mizoram where Bible women like Ms. Chhingtei of Durtlang and Ms. Siniboni (a Khasi lady) were instrumental in introducing the practice sometime in 1913. The money collected by ladies are seldom invested in projects that benefit women as a specific group. Given the inequality of opportunities for men and women, this way of resource allocation is questionable. Recent statistics by Census of India (2001) shows a significant gender gap
Gender gap
Gender gap may refer to:*Gender differences in a general psycho-social context*Gender pay gap*Income disparity by gender in a purely economic context*The Global Gender Gap Report*Father's rights in child custody determinations of family courts...
between male and female literacy with only 53.0% for female Zou and 70.2% for male Zou. Likewise, the sex ratio of the Zous in Manipur at 944 is lower than the state average of 978 (according to 2001 census). This compares poorly, for instance, with the sex ratio
Sex ratio
Sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. The primary sex ratio is the ratio at the time of conception, secondary sex ratio is the ratio at time of birth, and tertiary sex ratio is the ratio of mature organisms....
for Simte
Simte
The Simte are one of the ethnic groups in India. They are mainly concentrated in the southern parts of the state of Manipur. A significant number also are settled in neighbouring areas of Mizoram and Assam...
at 1030 and for Vaiphei
Vaiphei
The Vaiphei are an ethnic group who inhabit the North-East part of India, Bangladesh and Burma. They are one of the old Kuki clans of Manipur and recognized as part of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribe by the state government of Manipur. The group is originally from the Tan valley located in the province of...
at 1001 during the same period.
Economic and ecological survival skills
Like their Chin-Kuki cousins, the Zous had taken to shifting cultivationShifting cultivation
Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned. This system often involves clearing of a piece of land followed by several years of wood harvesting or farming, until the soil loses fertility...
(jhum) ever since the beginning of their recorded history in the 19th century. They traversed several hill tracts between North-East India
North-East India
Northeast India refers to the easternmost region of India consisting of the contiguous Seven Sister States, Sikkim, and parts of North Bengal...
and Upper Burma
Upper Burma
Upper Burma refers to a geographic region of Burma , traditionally encompassing Mandalay and its periphery , or more broadly speaking, Kachin and Shan States....
in search of suitable jhum land. They used iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
tools (e.g. iron axe
Axe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
, hoe
Hoe (tool)
A hoe is an ancient and versatile agricultural tool used to move small amounts of soil. Common goals include weed control by agitating the surface of the soil around plants, piling soil around the base of plants , creating narrow furrows and shallow trenches for planting seeds and bulbs, to chop...
and dao
Dao (sword)
Daois a category of single-edge Chinese swords primarily used for slashing and chopping , often called a broadsword in English translation because some varieties have wide blades. In China, the dao is known as one of the four major weapons, along with the gun , qiang , and the jian , and referred...
) to cultivate a variety of sturdy Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
through a rather primitive
Primitive
Primitive may refer to:* Anarcho-primitivism, an anarchist critique of the origins and progress of civilization* Primitive culture, one that lacks major signs of economic development or modernity...
method - sometimes described as "slash and burn
Slash and burn
Slash-and-burn is an agricultural technique which involves cutting and burning of forests or woodlands to create fields. It is subsistence agriculture that typically uses little technology or other tools. It is typically part of shifting cultivation agriculture, and of transhumance livestock...
" technique. They procured their iron tools through barter
Barter
Barter is a method of exchange by which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. It is usually bilateral, but may be multilateral, and usually exists parallel to monetary systems in most developed countries, though to a...
trade
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
from Manipur
Manipur
Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...
and Burma. In the absence of cash economy, mithun or gayal
Gayal
Gayal or mithun is the domestic gaur, probably a gaur-cattle hybrid breed.-Taxonomy:In his first description of 1804, Aylmer Bourke Lambert applied the binomial Bos frontalis to a domestic specimen probably from Chittagong....
(bos frontalis) and rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
grain
GRAIN
GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...
served as the chief forms of wealth.
The jhum method was ecologically sustainable as long as population increase was minimal and cultivable land was plentiful. But even favourable population-land ratio did not guarantee against periodic famines called mautam
Mautam
Mautam is a cyclic ecological phenomenon that occurs every 48 years in the northeastern Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, which are thirty percent covered by wild bamboo forests, as well as Chin State in Burma, particularly Hakha, Thantlang, Falam, Paletwa and Matupi Townships, creating a...
. Such famines are associated with the flowering of bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
s whose seeds led to the multiplication of rats and other pests. In this sense, bamboo was both a curse and a blessing. In the traditional Zou economy, bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
was a source of food (bamboo shoots
Bamboo Shoots
Bamboo Shoots is an American four-piece musical group based out of Brooklyn, New York and suburban New Jersey. They are known for their dueling, two-person rhythm section and their South Asian identity and influence...
), building material, household utensils, fencing and handicrafts. In fact, bamboo was the backbone and the backbreaker of their subsistence economy
Subsistence economy
A subsistence economy is an economy which refers simply to the gathering or amassment of objects of value; the increase in wealth; or the creation of wealth. Capital can be generally defined as assets invested with the expectation that their value will increase, usually because there is the...
.
The Zou community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
in Manipur was exposed to independent India's developmental state
Developmental state
Developmental state, or hard state, is a term used by international political economy scholars to refer to the phenomenon of state-led macroeconomic planning in East Asia in the late twentieth century...
. Since the 1950s, they began to participate in the democratic process, especially electoral politics. Political pioneers like T.Gougin and M.Thangkhanlal emerged out of this new political climate in the early decades of postcolonial India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Such developments affected the outlook and livelihood of many Zous who enjoyed upward mobility in the social ladder. The expansion of the so-called Licence Raj
Licence Raj
Licence Raj, the Permit Raj, refers to the elaborate licenses, regulations and accompanying red tape that were required to set up and run businesses in India between 1947 and 1990....
partly helped the growth of an administrative town, Churachandpur
Churachandpur
Churachandpur is the largest district in the Indian state of Manipur.- Origin of Churachandpur on the bank of Khuga :Located southwest of Manipur, Churachandpur District covers an area of 4570 km² and is the largest district within the state of Manipur. The terrain of the district is mainly...
, in southern Manipur. More enterprising Zous saw new opportunnites in this urban centre and set up their own "colonies" (e.g. Zomi Colony, Zoveng, Kamdou Veng, Hiangzou
Hiangzou
Hiangzou is a ward within Churachandpur town of Manipur, India. Situated on the bank of the Khuga river, this residential settlement developed from paddy fields. Its first settler, Upa P. Tuahchinhau, moved to Hiangzou on 31 January 1999...
, and New Zoveng) to settle in and around Churachandpur
Churachandpur
Churachandpur is the largest district in the Indian state of Manipur.- Origin of Churachandpur on the bank of Khuga :Located southwest of Manipur, Churachandpur District covers an area of 4570 km² and is the largest district within the state of Manipur. The terrain of the district is mainly...
town. Better access to education enables these urban
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
settlers to enter the Government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
sector that grew fat in the 1970s and 80s. Within the Zou community, the Church (e.g. Zou Synod and Lutheran MELC) and other NGOs are also significant employers of theological graduates.
In remote Zou villages, the dead habit of jhuming continues despite its abysmal productivity
Productivity
Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of production. Productivity is a ratio of what is produced to what is required to produce it. Usually this ratio is in the form of an average, expressing the total output divided by the total input...
. According to the 2001 Census of India, around 60% of the Zou population were engaged in agricultural labour
Manual labour
Manual labour , manual or manual work is physical work done by people, most especially in contrast to that done by machines, and also to that done by working animals...
. Wet rice cultivation came into vogue around the time of India's independence. Shifting cultivators typically dwell within interior ridgetop hamlets. But permanent plow peasants among the Zous prefer settlement sites near river banks like the Tuitha and the Tuivai. Availability of cultivable land for paddy is severely limited in Manipur hill areas. Increased food production through paddy fields supported a growing population in many Zou villages. Yet food production lags behind population increase. The challenge is to escape this "Malthusian trap
Malthusian trap
The Malthusian trap, named after political economist Thomas Robert Malthus, suggests that for most of human history, income was largely stagnant because technological advances and discoveries only resulted in more people, rather than improvements in the standard of living...
" where population prevents prosperity. As an absolute figure the Zou population is not big, but its rapid rate of growth resulted in deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
and desertification
Desertification
Desertification is the degradation of land in drylands. Caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and human activities, desertification is one of the most significant global environmental problems.-Definitions:...
during the post-Independence era. It only intensify the rural crisis. Unlike the fertile Imphal
Imphal
Imphal is the capital of the Indian state of Manipur.In the heart of the town and surrounded by a moat, are ruins of the old Palace of Kangla. Kangla Fort used to be the home of the Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force and on November 2004 it was handed over to state of Manipur by Prime minister Dr....
valley
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
, the "carrying capacity
Carrying capacity
The carrying capacity of a biological species in an environment is the maximum population size of the species that the environment can sustain indefinitely, given the food, habitat, water and other necessities available in the environment...
" of land in the hills is very limited. The social spill over effect of this ecological degradation was demonstrated by the ethnic conflict of 1997-98. The conflict reduced many educated and semi-skilled Zous into economic migrants to other parts of booming urban India. Today socially mobile pockets of Zou communities live across big and small Indian cities like Imphal
Imphal
Imphal is the capital of the Indian state of Manipur.In the heart of the town and surrounded by a moat, are ruins of the old Palace of Kangla. Kangla Fort used to be the home of the Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force and on November 2004 it was handed over to state of Manipur by Prime minister Dr....
, Aizawl
Aizawl
Aizawl is the capital of the state of Mizoram in India. With a resident population 228,280 , it is the largest city within the state. It is also the center of all important government offices, state assembly house and civil secretariat...
, Shillong
Shillong
-Connectivity:Although well connected by road, Shillong has no rail connection and a proper air connection. Umroi Airport exists but has only limited flights.-Roadways:Shillong is well connected by roads with all major north eastern states...
, Guwahati
Guwahati
Guwahati, Pragjyotishpura in ancient Assam formerly known as Gauhati is a metropolis,the largest city of Assam in India and ancient urban area in North East India, with a population of 963,429. It is also the largest metropolitan area in north-eastern India...
, Calcutta, Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
and Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
. The Indian army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
and paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
services
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
also employ a good number of Zous generally with low level of skills set. But the new economy could not absorb unskilled and illiterate Zou villagers.
The benefits of India's economic reform are yet to reach rural Manipur
Manipur
Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...
. At present, militants pose a challenging law and order problem. But the spread of modern technologies like satellite TV and mobile phones to the villages gradually expose them to changes in other parts of India since the economic reforms of 1991. Such exposure might not alter their immediate circumstances, but it provides new aspirational values needed to create an "enabling environment" in a democratic setup. Therefore, there are good reasons for guarded optimism about the future of Zou people in modern India.
Political Consciousness
Pu T. Gougin was the best known political leader who hailed form the Zou community. But this political entrepreneur soon transcended the narrow interests of his own 'tribe' to launched a pan-Zo or pan-Zomi solidarity movement to mobilise his co-ethnic members in Manipur, Mizoram and Myanmar. A recent piece published from Mumbai by the Economic and Political WeeklyEconomic and Political Weekly
The Economic and Political Weekly is a left-leaning Indian magazine published from Mumbai by the Sameeksha Trust, a charitable trust. The magazine was first published in 1949 as the Economic Weekly and since 1966 was re-christened the Economic and Political Weekly. It was edited by Krishna Raj...
(EPW) made the following observation about Pu T. Gougin:
"At a time when tribal leaders were vying for state recognition of their dialectal communities as “Scheduled Tribes,” Gougin began to conceive the idea of Zomi, i.e., “Zo people” in 1955 while serving as a clerk of the Tribal Development Office, Imphal. This prompted him to resign from his clerical job in 1958, and then pursued BA (honours) at St. Edmund’s College, Shillong. As a final year student, he founded the United Zomi Organisation (UZO) at Singtom village (Manipur) in 1961 to unite “all ethnic Zomi groups” (Gougin 1988: 3). When UZO was reduced to mere vote bank politics to the complete neglect of wider Zo solidarity, T. Gougin launched on 28 January 1972 a new organisation, Zomi National Congress (ZNC) at Daizang village (Manipur). He owned a printing press which helped him to propagate his nationalist vision through pamphlets, booklets and ephemeral literature. The Discovery of Zoland (1980) is perhaps Gougin’s most enduring political writing" (p. 61).
Journals in Zou language
- Zogam Thusuo - Estd. 1954 - Daily newspaper in Zou vernacular published from Churachandpur, Manipur (India)
- Zopatong - A monthly news magazine published at Zomi Colony, Churachandpur, Manipur (India)
- Gospel Tangkou - A Christian journal published by the Manipur Evangelical Lutheran Church, Churachandpur, Manipur.
- Khristian Tangkou - A Christian journal published by the Zou Presbyterian Synod, Churachandpur, Manipur.
- Gospel Tangkou - A Christian journal published by the Manipur Evangelical Lutheran Church
- ZOKUOMTHAWN (A monthly news bulletin and online news journal of the Zou Sangnaupang Pawlpi, Delhi Branch)
- Zoheisa - A monthly news bulletin and journal published by the Zou Sangnaupang Pawlpi, Shillong Branch.
- Zogam Today - A multi-lingual monthly magazine, published by Mr. Nengkhanlun Zou from Churachandpur, Manipur.
Select Zou settlements in Manipur
I. Urban Area- Zomi ColonyZomi ColonyFounded by Pu M. Chinkham, Zomi Colony is a town ward within Churachandpur district or Lamka town in the Indian state of Manipur. It has a very high concentration of ethnic Zou community. Both the headquarters of the Zou Synod Presbyterian Church and the Manipur Evangelical Lutheran Church are...
, Manniang VengManniang VengManniang Veng is a town within Churachandpur of Manipur, India. Manniang Veng, named after the first setller's wife, is a western extension of Zomi Colony. Like Zomi Colony, the new settlement is predominantly inhabited by the Zou community. But unlike Zomi Colony, Manniang Veng is built on an...
, ZovengZovengZoveng is one of the oldest town ward within Lamka or Churachandpur district of Indian state of Manipur. This residential area is mostly located along S. Chinzagin Road that branches off from Tedim road. The ward has a high concentration of ethnic Zou and Meitei communities.The Zogal Memorial Hall...
, HiangzouHiangzouHiangzou is a ward within Churachandpur town of Manipur, India. Situated on the bank of the Khuga river, this residential settlement developed from paddy fields. Its first settler, Upa P. Tuahchinhau, moved to Hiangzou on 31 January 1999...
, New ZovengNew ZovengNew Zoveng is a new town ward of Churachandpur, Manipur . Geographically, it is an extension of Zoveng and Hiangzou wards. Its inhabitants are mainly from the Zou community. Mr.Nengkhai is the present chief of New Zoveng....
, Kamdou vengKamdou vengKamdou veng is a town ward within Churachandpur or Lamka in the Indian state of Manipur. Kamdou veng is sometimes referred to as Phiamphu veng. The locality has a high concentration of ethnic Zou and Thado communities. The location of Kamdo veng is in close proximity to other Zou settlement sites...
(TuibuongTuibuongTuibuang is the northern sector of Lamka or Churachandpur town of the India state of Manipur. It has a high concentration of the ethnic Thado-Kuki community. Tuibuang is one of the largest town wards in Lamka, and it houses some of the most important Government offices of Churachandpur district,...
), Zoumunnuan, SimvengSimvengSimveng is a town ward within Lamka or Churachandpur town of the Indian state of Manipur. It has a high concentration of ethnic Zou and Simte communities. The New Testament Baptist Church, the Manipur Evangelical Lutheran Church and Assembly of God Church are located in the locality. Simveng also...
and Beulahlane within ChurachandpurChurachandpurChurachandpur is the largest district in the Indian state of Manipur.- Origin of Churachandpur on the bank of Khuga :Located southwest of Manipur, Churachandpur District covers an area of 4570 km² and is the largest district within the state of Manipur. The terrain of the district is mainly...
township - Zomi Villa, Langgol and Tribal Colony within ImphalImphalImphal is the capital of the Indian state of Manipur.In the heart of the town and surrounded by a moat, are ruins of the old Palace of Kangla. Kangla Fort used to be the home of the Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force and on November 2004 it was handed over to state of Manipur by Prime minister Dr....
district.
II. Semi-Urban Area
- SingngatSingngatSingngat is one of the sub-divisional headquarters of Churachandpur district in the Indian state of Manipur and is a key administrative centre in the southwestern border of the state...
, SugnuSugnuSugnu is a town in Thoubal district in the Indian state of Manipur.- Demographics :Sugnu Lamhang village which falls under the Chakpikarong sub-division of Chandel district in Manipur. It is located about 12 km from the Subdivisional Headquarters and it is about 30 km from the district...
Zoveng and Moreh (These towns are mixed settlements with significant concentration of Zou population)
III. Rural Area
- Villages along the Khuga (Tuitha) river: TuaitengphaiTuaitengphaiTuaitengphai is a Zou village within Churachandpur district of Manipur, India....
, MuallumMuallumMuallum is a Zou village within Churachandpur district of Manipur, India. It is located along the Tedim road that connects the Indian city of Imphal with the Burmese town of Tedim.The word "Muallum is also used to describe an Christian Indian....
, DaizangDaizangDaizang is a Zou village within Churachandpur district of Manipur, India. This place is best known for hosting the first JCA Conference on 20 February 1954. This historic meet was a watershed in the social history of the Zou people in India. It marked the mass conversion of the Zou community from...
, Khianglam, T. Khazang, Belpuan, Sumchinvum, Teikot, Suangkuang, Zoukhonuam, Hiangtam (K), Belbing, S. Geltui, S. Munhoi, Panglian, M. Tanglian, Hiangdung, Lummual, Kullian, Phaibem, Zoumun, Khianglam, Bohlui, Tuibul, Benazou, Buangmun, Suangnal, Zahong, Sialnah, Suangkuang and Khuangmun
- Villages along the Tuivai river: BehiangBehiangBehiang is a border village on the boundary of India and Burma. With roughly 1000 size population, this village snakes for about 2 km. along the Tedim road. Majority of the local population belongs to the Zou community...
, HiangtamHiangtam- Historical Significance :Hiangtam is a small, but historic village on the Indo-Myanmar border. It is one of the oldest settlement of the Zou community in Manipur, India. It is located within Churachandpur district of Manipur. Hiangtam is best known for its association with the Kuki Rising during...
, TonzangTonzangTonzang is an Indo-Myanmar village within the Churachandpur district of Manipur, India. Along with Hiangtam, it is one of the oldest Zou settlements in Manipur.- "Sim" & "Mal" Tonzang :...
, L. Kanaan, Zangnuam, Lunzang, Suangphu, Sialsi, Bualkot, Likhai, Tangpizawl (Tangko Camp), Sehngalzang and Sehken - Villages along the Tuivel river: Mawngken, Maukot, Tuimanzang, and Mualzin
- Villages along the Tuila river: Hiangmual, Munpi, Zabellei, Allusingtam, Sabual, T. Hangnuam, and Buhsau
- Villages along the Imphal riverImphal RiverThe Imphal River is a major river of Manipur state, northeastern India. It is a tributary of the Manipur River, joining it in Thoubal district.It flows past Loktak Lake and the city of Imphal and joins the Lilong River, some 10 kilometres to the south....
: Khuainuai, Paldai, Sachiktampak, Singtom, Phaisan, Singheu, Telsalzang, M. Khaukual, Khuangkhai, Paldai, Sachih, and Kathuang - Villages in Tuining area: TuiningTuiningTuining is a Zou village within Churachandpur district of Manipur, India. It is connected with Churachandpur town through Sugnu road. Though the road is in poor condition, it often handles heavy vehicles besides a number of light vehicles....
, Tuinuphai, N.Khovung, Zomi Zion, T.Vazang, Khaimunmuam, Sangaikot, Kuvan, Saiboh, Zobethel, Gangpimual, and Khuangkhai