Darchawi ( Darlong for "Darchawi khua") is a village in

Kumarghat Kumarghat is a town and subdivision in Unakoti district in Tripura, India. It is a municipal council and the 14th largest town in Tripura by population. Kumarghat railway station is the only railway station in Unakoti district. Demographics As ...

Subdivision under

Unakoti district Unakoti (Bengali: ঊনকোটি) is an administrative district in the state of Tripura in northeastern India. It is the least populated district of Tripura, with fourth highest literacy rate. The district has a total of four sub divisions ...

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east a ...

state in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Mainly inhabited by the

Darlong people Darlong (Dalong) is one of the Kuki-Chin language of India. It is spoken by the Darlong people of Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least ...

of Tripura, it is also the headquarters of Kailashahar Baptist Christian Association. It has a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

medium senior basic school and an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

medium school, "Darchawi Christian High School" established in 1974.

Emergence of the village

Prior to the establishment of Darchawi, the

resided in the western side of Deo river (Nelkang tuipui), ''Ramdingpa's village'' and ''Lalvana's village''. The establishment of Darchawi village can be attributed to evangelist Zatuaha's prayer of establishing a Christian village for the Darlong people who were driven out of ''Saidara Khua'' by their Chief for embracing

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. Evangelist Zatuaha and six other Darlongs from ''Saidara Khua'' wandered to find a suitable place. They finally halted at this location on 23 January 1923, and named it 'Darchawi' (literally meaning 'raise the bells'). Over a period of 90 years, a sea change has taken place as people from different communities such as the Darlong, Tripuri, Garo,

Lushai The Mizo people ( Mizo: ''Mizo hnam'') are an ethnic group native to the Indian state of Mizoram and neighbouring regions of Northeast India. The term covers several related ethnic groups or clans inside the Mizo group. All Mizo tribes and cla ...

, etc. irrespective of caste or creed settled here.'Changing Faith, Changing Livelihoods: Transformation of Darchawi village in North Tripura through Pineapple Cultivation': by SK Darlong. Tui, A Journal of Tribal Life and Culture. Vol 18. Pp.81-86. 2014.

Economic activities and pineapple cultivation in earlier times

Oranges were cultivated until the year 1937 AD. It was said that each tree bore fruits so abundantly that trees could not sustain without support. They were commercially grown for traders mainly from

Kailashahar Kailashahar (or Kôilāśohôr) is the fourth largest urban area in the north eastern state of India, Tripura, located near northwest Bangladesh border. It is a Municipal council and the administrative center of the Unakoti district, this city ...

. The dependency of the villagers on ''

jhum The traditional shifting cultivation farming technique of indigenous communities and Bengalis in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh and nearby regions in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Nagaland in India is known as jhum cultivation. Tec ...

'' cultivation immediately stopped. The cultivation of pineapple started from 1937 AD. The production was around 2 million units per annum during the peak production years between 1955 AD and 1982 AD. There was huge wastage due to insufficient processing technologies during that period. Pineapple cultivation has contributed much to their well being and improved quality of life. In recent years, a majority of the population of the village has switched over to

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

plantations. Education has also brought a major transition in the day to day activities of the village people since a major population are engaged in government and public services for their livelihood and well-being.

References

{{Reflist Villages in Unakoti district