Strictly speaking, Lai are the people belonging to the
Lai Autonomous District Council
The Lai Autonomous District Council (LADC) is one of the three Autonomous District Councils in Mizoram state in north-east India. It covers the Lawngtlai and Sangau subdivisions of the Lawngtlai district. It is an autonomous district council for ...
of
Mizoram
Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...
. Outside this area they are scattered in Mizoram and many Lai people in Mizoram more than LADC area Lai people outside LADC area some Lai people prefer the name Pawi. Some state they are same as Lusei,
North-East India
, native_name_lang = mni
, settlement_type =
, image_skyline =
, image_alt =
, image_caption =
, motto =
, image_map = Northeast india.png
, ...
,
Hakha
Hakha (, ; formerly rendered Haka) is the capital of Chin State in Myanmar.
Hakha is located in the northeast of Chin State, with a total area of about . The city of Hakha is more than above sea level, founded on a small highland plateau. Althou ...
,
Thantlang
Thantlang (, ; also Thlantlang or Htantlang in Burmese transliteration) is a town and the administrative center of Thantlang Township in Chin State, western Myanmar (formerly Burma).
Names
Thantlang was formerly known as Thlan Tlang ("Cemeter ...
, and
Falam
Falam (, ) is a town in north-western Burma (Myanmar) near Burma's western border with the Indian state of Mizoram. The town was founded by Taisun tribe. The British arrived to Falam in 1892, and became an important base for British rule of the ...
of
Chin State
Chin State (, ) is a state in western Myanmar. The Chin State is bordered by Sagaing Division and Magway Division to the east, Rakhine State to the south, Bangladesh to the south-west, and the Indian states of Mizoram to the west and Manipur t ...
,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
. Lai people can also be found outside their main dominant area. From a historical point of view, Lai is one of a dominant tribe of the so-called Chin-Kuki-Mizo, the community is scattered in different parts of the world, mainly concentrating in Mizoram (Khuafo and Thlantlang/Tuichhak Pawih),
Chin Hills
The Chin Hills are a range of mountains in Chin State, northwestern Burma, Burma (Myanmar), that extends northward into India's Manipur state.
Geography
The highest peak in the Chin Hills is Khonu Msung, or Mount Victoria, in southern Chin State ...
(Hakha, Thantlang, Webulah, Zokhua, Keiphaw, Falam) of
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, South
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
(identified as
Bawm {Bawmzo, Bawmlai, Panghawi, Ramthar, and Sunthla)
.
Demography
The total
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
of the group was around 1,700,000 in 1991.
[Lalthangliana, B.: ''History and Culture of Mizo in India, Burma and Bangladesh'', 2001. RTM Press. Aizawl. pp. 101–102.] The name Laimi often refers to Chin people who live in the Chin Hills or Central Chin which are
Hakha
Hakha (, ; formerly rendered Haka) is the capital of Chin State in Myanmar.
Hakha is located in the northeast of Chin State, with a total area of about . The city of Hakha is more than above sea level, founded on a small highland plateau. Althou ...
,
Thantlang
Thantlang (, ; also Thlantlang or Htantlang in Burmese transliteration) is a town and the administrative center of Thantlang Township in Chin State, western Myanmar (formerly Burma).
Names
Thantlang was formerly known as Thlan Tlang ("Cemeter ...
,
Falam
Falam (, ) is a town in north-western Burma (Myanmar) near Burma's western border with the Indian state of Mizoram. The town was founded by Taisun tribe. The British arrived to Falam in 1892, and became an important base for British rule of the ...
, etc.
Chin States
Chin state
Chin State (, ) is a state in western Myanmar. The Chin State is bordered by Sagaing Division and Magway Division to the east, Rakhine State to the south, Bangladesh to the south-west, and the Indian states of Mizoram to the west and Manipur t ...
is 13,907 square miles. Border by
Sagaing Division
Sagaing Region ( my, စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Sagaing Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar, located in the north-western part of the country between latitude 21° 30' north and lon ...
to the east,
Magway Division
Magway Region ( my, မကွေးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Magway Division) is an administrative divisions of Myanmar, administrative division in central Myanmar. It is the second largest of Myanmar's seven divisions, ...
to the south-east,
Rakhine State
Rakhine State (; , , ; formerly known as Arakan State) is a Administrative divisions of Myanmar, state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady R ...
to the south, and
Mizoram
Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...
to the west.
According to the 2014 Myanmar population and housing census the population of Chin state is about 478,801, 47.95% male, and 52.05% female.
Hakha
Hakha (, ; formerly rendered Haka) is the capital of Chin State in Myanmar.
Hakha is located in the northeast of Chin State, with a total area of about . The city of Hakha is more than above sea level, founded on a small highland plateau. Althou ...
is the capital city of Chin state and there are nine townships:
Hakha
Hakha (, ; formerly rendered Haka) is the capital of Chin State in Myanmar.
Hakha is located in the northeast of Chin State, with a total area of about . The city of Hakha is more than above sea level, founded on a small highland plateau. Althou ...
,
Htantlang,
Falam
Falam (, ) is a town in north-western Burma (Myanmar) near Burma's western border with the Indian state of Mizoram. The town was founded by Taisun tribe. The British arrived to Falam in 1892, and became an important base for British rule of the ...
,
Tiddim
Tedim (, , ( Zo: ''Tedim Khawpi'', pronounced ; is a town in and the administrative seat of Tedim Township, Chin State, in the north-western part of Burma. It is the second largest town in Chin State. The town's four major boroughs (''vengte'') ...
,
Tonzang
Tonzang(တွန်းဇန်) is a town, located in northern Chin State, western side of Myanmar.
Tonzang is at about 37 miles north-eastern of Tedim town.
The people who live in Tonzang are called Zo and Zomi.
They speak Zo, Zomi and Burmese ...
,
Matupi,
Mindat Mindat may refer to:
Places in Burma/Myanmar
*Mindat, Chin State, in Burma
*Mindat Township, in Burma
*Mindat District in Chin State, Burma
Other uses
*Mindat Min
Kanaung Mintha ( my, ကနောင်မင်းသား; 31 January 1820 ...
,
Kanpalet, and
Paletwa
Paletwa (, ) is one of the westernmost towns of Myanmar, in Chin State 18 kilometres from the border with Bangladesh. Its population in 2014 was about 97,000.
Demographics
Rakhine is the Lingua Franca of the region, while Kuki-Chin languages a ...
. Each township have their own subtribe and there are about 53 subtribes. There are about 45 dialect of the Chin language.
Of these, the most widely spoken dialects are estimated and they are:
#
Zomi
The Zomi are an ethnic group which can be found in India, Myanmar and in Chittagong hill tracks of Bangladesh. The word Zomi is used to describe an ethnic group, which is also known as the Chin people, Chin, the Mizo people, Mizo, the Kuki peop ...
344,000 speakers
#
Falam Chin
Falam Chin, or Lai (Falam Chin), is a Kuki-Chin language in Falam township, Chin State, Myanmar, and also in Mizoram, India.
Falam Chin is closely related to most Central Chin languages, especially Hakha Chin.
The Falam people are primarily ...
an estimated 107,300 speakers
#
Hakha Chin 125,000 speakers
# Matu Chin 100,000 speakers
"Each dialect is so distinct that people who speak different dialects will not likely understand each other".
Ethnic origin
The Lai who are living in the
Lai Autonomous District of
Mizoram
Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...
are a segmented community of the much larger Lai population of
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
and elsewhere to whom whatever name may be given. They share common ancestry with many other tribes in
Northeast India
, native_name_lang = mni
, settlement_type =
, image_skyline =
, image_alt =
, image_caption =
, motto =
, image_map = Northeast india.png
, ...
. Further back, a historic tradition has it that Lai people had once lived in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. They migrated through the
Tibetan mountains moving further towards the East to become a major tribal group in the
Chin Hills
The Chin Hills are a range of mountains in Chin State, northwestern Burma, Burma (Myanmar), that extends northward into India's Manipur state.
Geography
The highest peak in the Chin Hills is Khonu Msung, or Mount Victoria, in southern Chin State ...
of Burma from where same few came to the present habitat (
Mizoram
Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...
) in the beginning of the 18th century or earlier. They are also considered black, because of there origin and some believe lai were also part black in the early 18 century. Which they are to be considered "Half-Lai and Half-black".
The Lai are also believed to be from the main tree of the
Qin Dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin (state), ...
. It is also said that the word Shendoo or
Shendu
The Republic of India has two principal short names, each of which is historically significant, "India" and "Bharata". A third name, "Hindustān", is sometimes an alternative name for the region comprising most of the modern Indian states o ...
, which was frequently used to denote the Lakher (
Mara) in the Britisher's record, were said to be the offspring of Lai. F. Chhawnmanga, a retired District Adult Education Officer, under the
State Government of Mizoram, who has conducted an extensive personal interview with some chiefs of
Lakher
The Mara are the native inhabitants of Mizoram in India, native to Northeast India, northeastern India, primarily in the Mara Autonomous District Council of the state of Mizoram, where they form the majority of the population. The Maras are rel ...
, tells.
The Lakher chief Mr. Kilkhara of Saiha and Tawngliana of Serkawr Villages were the descendants of Lianchi and Alkheng respectively of Hlawnchhing family of
Hakha
Hakha (, ; formerly rendered Haka) is the capital of Chin State in Myanmar.
Hakha is located in the northeast of Chin State, with a total area of about . The city of Hakha is more than above sea level, founded on a small highland plateau. Althou ...
. They spoke
Lai language. However, after coming down to
Mizoram
Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...
, their names were translated into Lakher dialect and themselves Kikhaw and Thylai.
The above arguments seem to be supported by the statement of Vumson, thus:
They are the same people as Shendoo to whom Col. Lewin made constant reference in his various works and are still called Shendoo by the
Arakanis.
There are many common clan names like Hlawnchhing, Chinzah, Khenglawt, Thianhlun, etc. which are found between the Lai and Maras. This is an indication of the fact that Lai and Mara were the same people.
Apart from the above-mentioned groups, there are other linguistic groups that were found to have the same culture and customs, speak a similar language with the Lai. These groups do qualify for Lai in terms of social, cultural and linguistic. Those groups are
Bawm and Tlanglau living in the western part of
Mizoram
Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...
and
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
.
Tribes
There are many tribes among the Chin people which includes Laimi, Matu, Asho, Cho (Sho), Khuami (M'ro), lusei (Lushai), Kuki (Thadou) and Zomi . In each of these tribe group there are many sub-tribes groups. The sub-tribes of Laimi are: Laizo, Khuangli, Khualsim, Zahau, Zanngiat, Lente, Ngawn, Tlanglau, Dawn, Thlanrawn, Tlaisun, Hauhulh, Zokhua, Simhrin, Mi-E, Thawr (Torr), Bawmzo, and Pawih.
Culture
Chin National Day
Chin National day is celebrated each year on 20 February to commemorate the "General Assembly of Chinland" held in 1948.
The first Chin National day was held on 20 February 1951 in
Mindat Town and was attended by
U Nu
Nu ( my, ဦးနု; ; 25 May 1907 – 14 February 1995), commonly known as U Nu also known by the honorific name Thakin Nu, was a leading Burmese statesman and nationalist politician. He was the first Prime Minister of Burma under the pr ...
, the first Prime Minister.
During the holiday, people from different ethic group display Rua Khua Tlak (bamboo dance), Khuang Cawi (lifting of decorative bamboo lifter), Sarlam (dance of the conquest), Rallu lam (Mizo dance) and many other dances and events. Some of the big events are fashion show, Miss competition and Laipaih (wrestling). The strongest laipaih or Chin wrestler from this generation is Rung Lian Ceu, he was from Chuncung town, and he is currently living in the United States.
Clothing
There are many different traditional clothing such as
Matu
The Matu District is a district in Mukah Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. Before Mukah Division was established, Matu was within Sibu Division. There are more than 20 villages in the district, with Melanau
Melanau or ''A-Likou'' (meaning River ...
,
Hakha
Hakha (, ; formerly rendered Haka) is the capital of Chin State in Myanmar.
Hakha is located in the northeast of Chin State, with a total area of about . The city of Hakha is more than above sea level, founded on a small highland plateau. Althou ...
,
Htantlang,
Falam
Falam (, ) is a town in north-western Burma (Myanmar) near Burma's western border with the Indian state of Mizoram. The town was founded by Taisun tribe. The British arrived to Falam in 1892, and became an important base for British rule of the ...
,
Zophei,
Zotung,
Zo,
Mindat Mindat may refer to:
Places in Burma/Myanmar
*Mindat, Chin State, in Burma
*Mindat Township, in Burma
*Mindat District in Chin State, Burma
Other uses
*Mindat Min
Kanaung Mintha ( my, ကနောင်မင်းသား; 31 January 1820 ...
etc. Every kind is uniquely colorful and different. Most traditional dresses’ colors are black and red. There are also accessories that are usually worn with the clothing such as necklaces, bracelets and hairpins. Chin people or Laimi do not wear them on a daily basis. They wear these traditional clothing on special occasions such as Chin National Day, Sundays, Christmas and wedding.
Greeting
The normal handshake is a common greeting in Chin cultures
Sports
The most common sports for the Laimi are soccer (football), volleyball, and wrestling.
Religion
The first Christian missionaries were Arthur Carson and his wife Laura arrived Hakha on 15 March 1899. Today, the majority of Chin are Christian.
{, class="wikitable"
, +
!Religion in Chin (2014)
, %
, -
, Christian
, 85.4%
, -
, Buddhist
, 13.0%
, -
, Animist
, 0.4%
, -
, Islam
, 1.1%
, -
, Other religion
, 1.1%
References
{{Hill tribes of Northeast India
Kuki tribes
Ethnic groups in Northeast India
Scheduled Tribes of Manipur
Ethnic groups in South Asia