MIZO: MYTHS AND LEGENDS

The term Mizo is a generic term that includes different tribes who
inhabit the entire land of Mizoram, whose culture, traditions, dialect etc. are
similar and commonly designated by the term Mizo. They are all closely
related to one another in physical features and in their socio- cultural
practices, forming a distinct ethnic unit. For a number of reasons such as
environment, geographical location, cultural influences, administrative
convenience etc. many of the said Mizo clans lost their identity as Mizo. The
Lusei clan is the dominant clan among the various clans of the Mizo and has
ten commoners clans. The Lusei or Duhlian (now called the Mizo tawng), is
the dialect of the Lusei/Mizo clans and is now the lingua franca understood
throughout the state of Mizoram.
Racially, the Mizo are said to be of Mongoloid origin and are grouped
under the Tibeto-Burman family, speaking a Tibeto-Burman language. The
Mizo are believed to have migrated from the southern part of China,
particularly Sze-Chwan and the northern portion of Yunnan province. It is
suggested that Southern China and the entire fringe of the Eastern perimeter
of the plateau between Kansu and Burma may be considered as the original
home of the tribal people living in northeast India as well as in Chin hills of
Burma including the Mizo. Then the Chin groups including the Mizo gradually
moved southward arriving at the valley of Chindwin in Burma (now Myanmar)
in the 7th century AD. In the next century, they occupied the Kabaw valley of
Myanmar where they lived for a number of centuries. It is here that they
organised themselves into clans assuming distinct identities. Due to the
Shan invasion, the Mizos were gradually pushed from the Kabaw valley to the
Chin Hills of Burma. The Chin Groups (including the Mizo) were the earliest
immigrants that occupied the Chin hills of Burma before the Burmese arrived
and settled in the plains. The Chin groups are said to have arrived in the Chin
hills of Burma during the first half of the 13th century AD.
Chhinlung Myths :
A common theory of origin which the Mizo sub-tribes invariably share is
the Chhinlung legend. But it varies in details fro one tribe to another and
peoples of every group of Mizo language families have the same tradition
that all are originated from Chhinlung.
Lusei version all the peoples and all clans emerged from a cave called
Chhinlung, and that the people were streaming out two Ralte people came
out chattering so noisily that the guard of the entrance shut the gate with
stone shutter thinking too many people had come out.

Old Kuki clans- Aimol, Anal, Chiru, Kolhen, Kom lamjang, Purum, Tikhup and
Vaphei version all assert that they are descended from couples who issued
out of the earth, the Chhinglung of the Lushais being replaced by Khurpui
Thado Kuki replaces Chhinlung by Khul
Hmar Khuo sinlungah kot siel ang ka zuong suok a, mi leh nel lo tam ie,
hriemmi zingah (Like a sial, I hustled out of Chhinlung town, and I beheld a
vast number of people amongsat the human races this ballad is believed by
some , composed just before the coming out of the Chhinlung cave. But
today, many of the scholars argued that it is composed at a later period.
Lai version - Tradition ascribe that the Lais originally came out of
Chhinlung, not a mythical rock as said by some, but a hole in the ground
covered with a stone, in the east of the Shan State, in the Falam Sub-Division
of the Chin Hills District in Burma (Myanmar). It was believed that Lai tribes
originate from somewhere in China. Chindwin Valley and the Chin Hills and
finally came to the present Lairam. The areas inhabited by the Lai are
contiguous to one another although they are at present in different
administrative units. Their concept of Chhinlung is something like a cave
from which all of the Mizo language family came out. The Tradition goes that
the progenitors of the Lai came out of the cave that was believed to be
somewhere in Northern China, or between China and Tibet. The limitation of
this theory is that human came out of the cave is biologically impossible.
Therefore, the Lai and all other Mizo language family were believed to have
come out of the Great Wall of China due to heavy workload that was beyond
their ability to bear.
There arose question whether Chinlung is a place name or a persons
name, but difficult to decide. The significance of the Chhinlung legend
cannot be underestimated despite several difficult questions involved with it.
a) It is the only living oral tradition of the people and thus serves to help
all the Mizo sub-tribes to have a sense of their common origin and to
work towards maintaining their ethnic homogeneity. All the sub-tribes
accepted that they are Chhinlung chhuak (people coming from
Chhinlung)
b) This theory hints at the system of chieftainship in Mizo society from
antiquity
c) It indicates the East as the original home of the Mizo-underlining their
common origin with several peoples in east and southeast Asia
d) This oral tradition coincidentally agrees with the theory lately
established by social anthropologists that the hills and plains peoples
have moved about within the general region of southwest China and
southeast Asia over considerable distances for many centuries until
recent centuries