Zo (people)

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, the Mizo, the Kuki, or a number of other names based on geographic distribution, that is a member of a large group of related Tibeto-Burman peoples spread throughout the northeastern states of India, northwestern Myanmar (Burma) and the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. In northeastern India, they are present in Chin State, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur and Assam.

The dispersal across international borders resulted from a British colonial policy that drew borders on political, rather than ethnic, grounds. They speak more than fifty dialects.

Names

Various names have been used for the Zomi peoples, but the individual groups generally acknowledge descent from ancestral Chin-Kuki. Among the more prominent names given to this group are "Chin" and "Zomi" generally in Myanmar, and "Mizo","Chin", "Kuki" and "Zomi", generally in India.

In the literature, the term ''Kuki'' first appeared in the writings of Rawlins when he wrote about the tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. It referred to a "wild tribe" comprising numerous clans. These clans shared a common past, culture, customs and tradition. They spoke in dialects that had a common root language belonging to the Tibeto-Burman group.

The origin of the name "Chin" is unknown . Later the British used the compound term "Chin-Kuki-Mizo" to group the Chin Kuki language speaking people, and the Government of India inherited this. Missionaries chose to employ the term Chin to christen those on the Burmese side and the term Zomi on the Indian side of the border. Chin nationalist leaders in Burma's Chin State popularized the term "Chin" following Burma's independence from Britain.

Beginning in the 1990s, the generic names Chin and Zomi have been rejected by some for "Zomi", a name used by a group speaking Northern Zomish languages, including the Zomi. The speakers of the Northern Chin-Kuki languages are sometimes lumped together as the Zomi's.Some Zomi nationalists have stated that the use of the label Chin would mean subtle domination by Burmese groups.

The term "Mizo" (poetic version of "Zomi"), was incorporated in the name of the Indian state Mizoram.

Geography

They are spread out in the contiguous regions of Northeast India, Northwest Burma (Myanmar), and the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. In India, they are most prominent in Manipur, Nagaland, Assam and Mizoram. Some fifty Zo peoples are recognised as scheduled tribes.

Popular culture

The first Zomi-language movie to receive a full-length theatrical debut was a 2021 English-Zomi bilingual film, written and directed by Burmese refugee Thang Mung, called ''Thorn in the Center of the Heart''. The film first premiered in Michigan, where Mung was resettled by U.S. refugee services as a teenager.

Notable Chin people

(note*, the word Zomi is the name of a community and a region under Chin. Chin is the name of a state in Burma/Myanmar. There are many communities under Chin. Each community speaks a different language (not accent, as in a whole new language).)
* Mary Kom
* Henry Van Thio
* Zoramthanga
* Lalthlamuong Keivom
* Khai Kam
* Pau Cin Hau
* Chin Sian Thang

See also

* Kuki–Paite ethnic clash of 1997–1998
* Leen Nupa
* Kennedy Peak (Myanmar)
* Rih Dil
* Zomi Nationalism

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zomi people
Ethnic groups in Bangladesh
Ethnic groups in Manipur
Ethnic groups in Myanmar
Tribes of Assam
Ethnic groups in Northeast India
Ethnic groups in South Asia
Hill people