Chapter IV: Part II: , but space did not allow of my extracting all that I

should have liked to reproduce. It would be well worth while to
reprint this book, with notes bringing it up to date.

Stewart, Lieutenant R. "Notes on Northern Cachar. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal," Vol. XXIV, 1855.

Another most valuable book, as regard Thados and Old Kukis,
which would well repay reprinting. Both these books contain
comparative vocabularies.

Lewin, Captain Thomas Herbert. "Progressive Colloquial Exercises in the Lushai Dialect of the 'Dzo' or Kuki Language, with vocabularies and popular tales. (Notated.)" Calcutta, 1874.

One of these tales is reproduced in Part II. The tales are well
translated, but the Lushai is transliterated in a manner now out
of date. The notes are as excellent as one would expect from a
writer who certainly knew more of the Lushai than anyone else at
that time, and who was more admired by them than any other white
man has ever been.

By the same Author. "The Hill Tracts of Chittagong and the Dwellers therein." Calcutta, 1869.

A most fascinating book, full of information, expressed in
good English. Pages 98 to 118 deal with Lushais and Shendus,
i.e. Lakhers.

By the same Author. "A fly on the wheel: or how I helped to govern India."

The portion concerning the Author's life among the Lushais is full
of interest, and his word pictures of the scenery and life among
the people, for "Thangliana" as he was called really did live among
the people, sharing their food even, are accurate and graphic. To
few Europeans is the power given to mix thus with such savages
and yet retain their respect. I once heard a Lushai's comment on
a young officer who with the best of intentions tried to imitate
the great "Thangliana." A friend asked him what he thought of
So-and-So, the reply being: "I don't know what sort of man he is,
all I know is, that he cannot be a sahib to live as he does."

Carey, Bertram S. and H. N. Tuck. "The Chin hills: A History of the People, their Customs and Manners, and our Dealings with them, and a Gazetteer of their Country." Rangoon, 1896.

A model of what such a book should be. The illustrations are
particularly good. The Lushais and Thados are only touched. Much
of the matter referring to the Haka and Klang-Klang Chins is
applicable to the Lakhers.

Lorrain, Herbert J., and Fred W. Savidge. "Grammar and Dictionary of the Lushai Language." Shillong, 1898.

A very complete and accurate work. Unfortunately the standard
system of transliteration has not been entirely adhered to.

Soppitt, C. A. "A short account of the Kuki-Lushai tribes on the North-East Frontier Districts: Cachar, Sylhet, Naga Hills, &c., and the North Cachar Hills." Shillong, 1887.

I believe this is a useful accurate work, but have not been able
to obtain it.

Sneyd-Hutchinson, R. "Gazetteer of the Chittagong Hill Tracts."

As regards Lushais there is not much of value, as they are beyond
the scope of the work, but few being found in the Hill Tracts.

Besides the above there are notes in the Census Reports of 1891 and 1901, various military publications and gazetteers by Mr. A. W. Davis, I.C.S., and Mr. B. C. Allen, I.C.S., all of which contain a certain amount of useful information, but do not pretend to be more than notes giving succinctly the knowledge then obtained of what was then practically new ground. Colonel Woodthorpe's account of the Silchar columns' march to Champhai, though not professing to be an account of the people, is interesting reading. Round Champhai I met several men who had been there when the column arrived, and they all remember the little sahib who drew pictures; and would sit long looking at the pictures in his book and chatting to each other of the good old days.

[Note.--On p. 6 of the present work the Author refers to a passage in Lewin's Hill Tracts of Chittagong and the Dwellers therein, in which is cited an account of "the Cucis or inhabitants of the Tipperah Mountains written by J. Rennel, Chief Engineer of Bengal in 1800." In reading through the proofs of the present work, it occurred to me that it would be important to discover whether the "J. Rennel" referred to by Lewin was or was not the famous Major James Rennell, Surveyer-General of Bengal, who is so often described as "the Father of Modern Geography." Major Rennell with his wife (née Jane Thackeray--a great aunt of the novelist W. M. Thackeray) left Bengal in March, 1777, and reached England in February 1778. He died on March 29, 1830. It seemed to me possible that the great Rennell might have obtained the information about the Kukis during his period of service in East Bengal, and that he might have published a memoir on the subject in 1800. Mr. W. Foster of the Record Department of the India Office very kindly informed me that no such a memoir could be traced at Whitehall, and drew my attention to Lewin's heading of the memoir, "From the French of M. Bouchesiche, who translated the original from the English of J. Rennel, Chief Engineer of Bengal.... Published at Leipsic in 1800." Mr. Edward Heawood, Librarian of the Royal Geographical Society, to whom I am indebted for much trouble taken in satisfying my curiosity, informed me that Bouchesiche gave what purported to be an extract, translated into French, from Rennell's well-known work on India, and that the Frenchman's book was printed in Paris in 1800, although there may perhaps have been a Leipzig issue also. The account of the Kukis given in Bouchesiche's work, however, is not taken from any known work by James Rennell. Dalton in his Ethnology of Bengal refers to what has been supposed to be the earliest account of the Kukis--a memoir by Surgeon McCrea, which appeared in 1799 in Volume vii of Asiatic Researches. Mr. Heawood most kindly hunted up McCrea's memoir, and found in it a reference to a memoir which appeared in Volume ii of Asiatic Researches, 1790. The title of the memoir of 1790 runs "On the Manners, Religion, and Laws of the Cucis, or Mountaineers of Tipra.... Communicated in Persian by John Rawlins, Esq." On investigation, Mr. Heawood found that the Memoir of 1790 is undoubtedly the original from which Bouchesiche drew his account in French, and of this the account, attributed to "J. Rennel" by Colonel Lewin, is a rough paraphrase. Note by the Rev. Walter K. Firminger.]

GLOSSARY

Only the terms which occur often are given.

Ai.--A ceremony performed to propitiate the spirit of an animal killed in the chase, or of a human being killed in war. The performer's spirit will own the spirit of person or animal killed in the next world. The term is also used for a ceremony performed to celebrate a particularly good crop--Buh-Ai, or Buh-za-ai.

Boi.--Persons who have taken refuge in the chief's house.

Dai-bawl.--A series of sacrifices to the demons of the hills, &c.

Hlam-zuih.--Lushai. A first-born child that dies within a year of its birth and is buried without any ceremony.

Hrilh.--A period during which no work must be done, after a sacrifice, closely resembling the Naga genna.

Huai.--Lushai. Demons who cause sickness.

Jhum.--A piece of land on which the jungle has been felled and burnt for cultivation.

Kawhring.--A person whose spirit takes possession of another's body, the spirit of such a person.

Khal.--A series of sacrifices to the demons of the village site, only performed by Lushais.

Khuavang.--Lushai. A powerful spirit, sometimes used for "luck."

Kum-ai.--Children's sleeping platform.

Kum-pui.--Parent's sleeping platform.

Kut.--Lushai. Festivals connected with the crops.

Lal.--Lushai. Chief.

Lashi.--Lushai. Mythical beings who control wild animals. Known also to Aimol and Vaiphei.

Mi-thi-khua.--"Dead men's village." Expression used by all clans for the place of departed souls.

Mi-thi-rawp-lam.--A feast in honour of the dead.

Palal.--A man who receives part of the bride-price, and acts as trustee to the bride.

Pathian.--Lushai. The Creator. Very similar names are used by all the clans dealt with.

Pial-ral.--Lushai. The land beyond the Pial river, in the abode of the dead, to which the spirits of those who have acquired merit pass.

Pu.--A word used in most dialects, meaning grandfather, maternal uncle, and other relations on mother's or wife's side. It is also used for a person specially chosen as a protector or guardian.

Pui-thiam.--Lushai. Sorcerer, priest and medicine man.

Ramhual.--Lushai. Chief's adviser as to distribution of jhums.

Rem-Ar.--The cock killed on occasion of a marriage.

Rotchem.--Mouth organ made of a gourd and reeds.

Sakhua.--Lushai. The guardian spirit of the household and the sacrifice performed to him.

Sawn-man.--Compensation payable to a father for seduction of an unmarried girl.

Sherh.--Lushai. The portions of the sacrificed animal which are offered to the demon. Also the state of a house for a period after the performing of certain sacrifices, during which the entrance of outsiders is prohibited.

Thangchhuah.--Lushai. A man who has given a series of feasts to his village. The expression is also used for the series of feasts. Honour in this world and comfort in the next are the reward of the Thangchhuah.

Thian.--A woman who receives part of the bride-price, and acts as friend or trustee to the bride.

Thir-deng.--Lushai. Blacksmith.

Tlangau.--Lushai. Chief's crier.

Upa.--Lushai. Chief's minister.

Zawlbuk.--Bachelor's hall and guest house.

THE LUSHEI KUKI CLANS

THE LUSHEI CLANS