Thangchhuah Puan : The Highest Status Mantle among theMizo People of Northeastern India

The Mizo are a group of the Chin (also known as the Zo, Lai or Kuki), a loosely related collection of some two million people living in the rugged hills of western Myanmar (Burma), northeastern India, and southeastern Bangladesh. The Mizo probably moved into the central Chin Hills of Myanmar from the Kale valley to the east between the 14 and 16 century CE whence they were forced in the 18 century CE by stronger Chin neighbors to migrate west where they settled in the Mizo Hills of what is now Mizoram State in India. (Figure 1.) The 19 century brought the British who annexed the Mizo Hills in 1892 following several skirmishes with the Mizo. Among the most bellicose of the Mizo were the Sailo, who had become the clan that spawned Mizo chiefs by defeating other Mizo in war and by developing the ability to govern. British and American missionaries arrived in the area in the mid-19 century. After initially slow progress in converting the then-animist Mizo to Christianity, the missionaries enjoyed considerable success. Today most Mizo are Christian. With over 500,000 members, the Mizo are the largest Chin group.