Champhai is the third largest town in

Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...

northeast India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...

and is one of the oldest settlements founded by the

Mizo people The Mizo people, historically called the Lushais, are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group primarily from Mizoram in northeastern India. They speak Mizo, one of the state's official languages and its lingua franca. Beyond Mizoram, sizable Mizo commu ...

that initially served as a capital for the Hmar dynasty. Located near the India–Myanmar border, it facilitates

cross-border trade Border trade, in general, refers to the flow of goods and services across the border between different jurisdictions. In this sense, border trade is a part of the normal trade that flows through the ordinary export/import legal and logistical fra ...

and serves as a hub for trade and commerce in the region. Unlike most urban places in Mizoram, Champhai is situated in a valley and on top of a small hill. It is situated at an elevation of approximately 1,678 meters (5,505 feet) above sea level. It had an estimated population of 44,000 in 2023.

History

Champhai was the headquarters of Lalbura Sailo, son of Vanhnuailiana, a Mizo Chief against whom the British Expedition of 1871–72 was directed. It was accorded the status of a fort during the British period. The Champhai Valley was once a lake and was gradually silted to obliterate the lake. The soil of the plain was still uncultivated during the Lushai Expedition of 1872. Irrigated rice cultivation started in Champhai in the year 1898 encouraged by the British Colonial Authorities to supply rice for their soldiers and laborers. As of 1922, there was only 1 shop in Champhai. On 1 March 1966, the

Mizo National Front The Mizo National Front ( MNF) is a regional political party in Mizoram, India. MNF emerged from the Mizo National Famine Front, which was formed by Pu Laldenga to protest against the inaction of the Government of India towards the famine situ ...

declared independence of Mizos unilaterally and attacked the

Assam Rifles The Assam Rifles (AR) is a paramilitary force of India responsible for border security, counter-insurgency, and maintaining law and order in Northeast India and in Jammu & Kashmir in lines of Rashtriya Rifles. Its primary duty involves guard ...

post at Champhai. In March 1988, Champhai hosted the First Zomi Convention, organised by Thenphunga Sailo in conjunction with T. Gougin of the Zomi National Congress in Manipur. The meeting saw the birth of Zo Reunification Organisation (ZORO).

Governance

As with all other districts, general administration of all aspects of polity and economy are headed by the Deputy Commissioner(DC) of the district. All district level Government undertakings including the police are under the purview of the DC. The current (2023) DC of Champhai District is James Lalrinchhana, a senior officer of the Mizoram Civil Services. In law enforcement, the DC is assisted largely by the Superintendent of Police (SP) who is the district head of all policing matters in the district. He/she functions closely with the Deputy Commissioner and reports to the DC on all law enforcement related matters of the district. The current (2023) DC of Champhai District is Lalrinpuia Varte, a senior officer of the Mizoram Police Service.

Economy

The economy of Champhai is mainly agriculture and border trade. Champhai is also the main trading centre of

with goods like clothes, silverware and electronics imported from

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

through the trading post in Zokhawthar.

Media

The Major Media in Champhai are: * Lenrual * Pasaltha * Rihlipui * CCN (Digital TV Operator) * LCN (Digital TV Operator)

Transport

A helicopter service by Pawan Hans has been started which connects the Aizawl with Champhai. The distance between Champhai and

Aizawl Aizawl (, American English, US: , British English, UK: ; Mizo language, Mizo: ), formerly known as Aijal, is the capital city and the most populous city of Mizoram, India. It is also the third largest city in northeast India. It is situated ato ...

is 194 km and is connected with regular service of bus and maxi cab.

References

External links

Champhai.nic.in : The first official district site of Champhai town

Champhai Blog
* {{Urban Areas in Mizoram by Population