The Zeliangrong people are one of the major indigenous
Naga communities living in the tri-junction of
Assam
Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...
,
Manipur
Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...
and
Nagaland
Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...
in India. They are the descendants of
Nguiba. The term "Zeliangrong" refers to the
Zeme,
Liangmai and
Rongmei Kindred tribes combined. Earlier, the term also covered the
Inpui tribe. The descendants of Hoi of Makuilongdi (Makhel) were divided and were made peripheral appendages to three political entities - Nagaland, Manipur and the Dima Hasao (N.C Hill district) of Assam. The Zeliangrong may be classified as an ethno-cultural entity. The Zeliangrong belong to the larger
Southern Mongoloid population and their language belongs to the
Sino-Tibetan
Sino-Tibetan (also referred to as Trans-Himalayan) is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. Around 1.4 billion people speak a Sino-Tibetan language. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 ...
family of languages.
Etymology
The ethnonym 'Zeliangrong' is derived from 3 words ZE-LIANG-RONG. ZE from Zeme, LIANG from Liangmai and Rong from Rongmei. It traced back to the three kindred tribes. The three tribes are the ''Zeme'' (dwellers of the warmer) or ''Mejahme'' (lower region), ''Liangmai'' (men of the North) the original Northerner; on the other hand the term ''Rongmei'' (people settled in the south) and finally Inpui (Puimei).
The word ''Zeliangrong'' was first coined on 15 February 1947 at Keishamthong Imphal. The terminology Zeliangrong was coined in coherence with the solidarity movement after
India's independence
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed.
The first nationalistic movement t ...
.
Distribution
The Zeliangrong have been living in the present location of their land since time immemorial, in a compact and contiguous geographical setting of approximately 12,000 km
2 lying between 93 degrees E and 94 degree E longitude and 94.40 degrees and 24 degrees N latitude in N. C Hills of Assam; Peren district of Nagaland; Tamenglong district, Senapati district, Kangvai subdivision of Churachanpur district, Jiribam subdivision of Imphal district, Imphal valley and Cachar district along with various villages and its adjoining slopes in Manipur.
Earlier, Manipur had only 9 districts but, due to administrative changes, it led to the formation of 7 new districts, namely
Kamjong,
Kakching
Kakching ( Meitei pronunciation:/kək.ciŋ/) is a town in the southeastern part of the Indian state of Manipur. It serves as the headquarters of Kakching district and is a major commercial hub in the state. In 2018, Kakching was declared as the ...
,
Noney,
Kangpokpi,
Tengnoupal,
Pherzawl, and
Jiribam.
* 11 Villages in Myanmar .
Religion
When it comes to religion, majority of Zeliangrong follow Christianity.
At present, the non-Christian Zeliangrongs follow three faiths, namely the Heraka, Poupei Chapriak (in Assam) and Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak (in Manipur), all venerating Tingkao Ragwang (Tingwang in short), the supreme deity of the Zeliangrong pantheon.
See also
*
Zeme Naga
*
Liangmai Naga
*
Rongmei Naga
*
Heraka
References
{{reflist
External links
Zeliangrong History (The Exodus)Introduction to Zeliangrong NagasA brief account of the Zeliangrong People
Ethnic groups in Northeast India
Naga people
Ethnic groups in Manipur
Ethnic groups in Assam
People from Nagaland
Ethnic groups in India