Facts About Chin State And Its People

Facts About Chin Stat And Its People
Pu Lian Uk (MP)/ CW

Area: . Chin State is not less than 14,000 square miles.

Geographical position:- It is located on the western part of Union of Burma, Chin State borders North East India and Bangladesh on the west, i.e. Manipur in the north, Mizoram  on the west in India, and Chittagong Hill Tract in Bangladesh on the south west, Arakan State to the south, Sagaing and Magwe division on the east in the Union of Burma.

Administrative Head Quarters: Chin State is administered in nine townships from south to north: Paletwa, Kanpet-let, Mindat, Matupi, Thantlang, Hakha, Falam, Tiddim, and Tonzang.

Capital:- Hakha, in the heart of the Chin State, is on the Rung range. It is a gradual slope between 4000 feet and 6000 feet above sea level. Population is estimated to be one and half millions in the whole Union as the Chin settlement spread out from Naga Hills in the North to Cape of Negraise in the South of the eastern part of Irrawady and Chindwin rivers especially in Sagaing, Magwe, Irrawady Divisions and Arakan State in addition to the mainland Chin State and half of the population is estimated to be in the

State.

Interesting Places 

Rih lake, - A heart-shaped lake, two and a half miles long and one mile wide. Legend goes that anyone who takes bath with its water will be healed from any disease. It is in Falam township and jeep able from Falam, a distance of sixty four miles.

Khua-nu M’tung (Mount  Victoria)

Standing  1018 feet above sea level in Kanpet-let township, Khua-nu M’tung has a very scenic view looking over all the hills and mountains around and below it. Bay of Bengal  could be seen very dimly in the distance using binoculars. It is to climb up 7 miles on foot to the top before noon from Kanpet-let town. No view could be seen in the afternoon. There usually is a small Bungalow camp about two miles from its top where you can find a stream to get water. Rih Lake, Falam Township, Chin State, Burma.

Kimoe (Kyauk Pantaung) Hill:- Surrounded by cliffs in horseshoe shape, Kyauk Pantaung has some areas in the top part where flat rock space lays naturally as if tar has been laid out on it. The fountain spring water flows deep about one foot and its course appears so beautiful that it is as if it was carved artificially by hand. A magnificent view of the surrounding country can also be obtained from it. The wider part of the hill range is a wild life reserved forest where elephants, bison and even rhinos thrive together with various kinds of birds including hornbills, the Chin national birds. From Paletwa to Sami, it takes approximately half a day by boat along Michaung river, a tributary of

Kaladan river. From Sami to Kimoe, there is another three miles to climb up to the top of the hill along the jungle on foot.

Siallum Fort:– A historic battle ground during the invasion of Chinland by the British force 1888. The fierce fighting between the resisting Chin patriotic force and the invading British force was led by Major General White. The Chin resistant battle there was so fierceful that a British warrior, Surgeon Major Lequensne was awarded Victoria Cross(VC), the highest gallantry medal of bravery in the British empire. The battle ground has been marked in memory of those patriotic, brave Chin warriors by the Chin Affairs council from Hakha engraving with the complimentary of their bravery as “… …”.

Siallum Fort, could be reached from a very beautiful village of Zongkong camp where one could camp in the village comfortably on the motor road between Kalemyo and Falam within Tidim area.

Festivals:- The native, official festivals such as Chin National Day, Khuado/Tho/Fang-er/Dongpi, and Kumci are observed under Negotiable Instrument Act of the Law of the Union of Burma. In addition, Christmas, Easter Sunday and New Year in Christian calendar are adopted as festivals through Christian Missionaries. In some areas, Thanksgiving festival from America also is observed as a festival since it falls in the same calendar as the native new year. Independence Day, Union Day of the Union of Burma, and other Union  holidays that are observed officially in Burma are also well observed as the rest of the Union provinces.

There are several other Chin traditional local festivals which for sometimes have no longer been observed due to earlier Christian concept  that they did not belong to Christian faith. However, current Chin theologians hold different opinion from the earlier believers. They claim that these local festivals are the infrastructure of the Chin national culture, which if not observed, would mean the abolition of the Chin national identity. Therefore,  they support on  reviving these festivals to be adoptable in a  Christian way.

These local festivals despite their different local names, were once celebrated in the same season with the same meaning  mainly on harvest and stages of crops growing. Since nothing could be done secularly at this time, Christians, especially Zomi (Chin) Baptist Convention and member associations, are attempting to coordinate all the various native local traditional festivals so that they could be celebrated in Christian way  praying to God as wished by our forefathers.

Cultural aspect:- Overall population in the Chin State is overwhelmingly made up of the Chin natives. Consequently, lifestyle or way of living  is  very different from the Burmese or Burmans. Chin people, therefore, are even seen strange or eccentric  by the Burmese people inthe rural areas and city.

Presently, Chin state has been deprived of modern living and civilization. Without proper transportation and electricity, the development of the Chin people is at a halt. Lack of the mentioned infrastructure  contributes to the remoteness of the Chin State. The backwardness of the state is no fault of the Chin people who in fact are very ambitious to make their land as developed as other parts of the world. In spite of their distinct nationality in their definite territory, the Chin people are not permitted not only to form their own state legislative organ and their own State government, the only way by which the Chin state could be developed by the Chin people themselves, they are not also allowed to take part or share the Chin State administration as a people and thus the state is a nonself governing territory  in the sense of the United Nations Charter.

History:-Chin people are a part of, what usually is termed as, Mongoloid race. The Chin language is comprised of several dialects, all originally from Tibeto-Burman Language. There is no traceable history suggesting that they replace any other people in their present inhabited land. They are the founder of those territories and defended them for centuries until they were annexed to British colonialism. The Chin State today is a constituent unit of the Union of Burma. It joined the Union in 1948 under the agreement known as Panglong Agreement signed by Chin, Kachin, Shan, and Burmese representatives in 1947 to gain independence together from the British colonialism. It was under British colonialism from 1890 to 1948. Many people also call it Chinland.

Topography: Chin State is formed of six ranges of mountains, running from north to south: Thang Range in Tiddim, Inbuk Range in Falam, Rung Range in Haka, Bawipa Range in Thantlang, Ataraw Range in Matupi, and Victoria Khawnu M’tung Range in Mindat and Kanpetlet townships. Kimoe (Kyaukpantaung), a small range surrounded by cliffs in horseshoe shape, also is in Paletwa township. Chin State, therefore, is  a beautiful hilly country.

The highest peak is Khonu M’tung or Victoria Mount 1018 feet above sea level which is only second to its main range at Sarameti peak. The lowest part of the state is  in Paletwa, 176 feet above sea level reached by high tide coming from the Bay of Bengal  along the Kaladan river from its mouth at Akyab, the sea port. Inbuk, Rung, Ataraw, and Khonu M’tung actually are  continuous ranges cut of each range by saddle passes in between them. Khonum’tung Range is separated by Mung river from the range that becomes Arakan Yoma between Mung river and Lemro. This range between Mung and Lemro river is not known yet though it is a long range that becomes Arakan Yoma. It was the Chin women between Mung river and the Lemro river who once traditionally

practise face tattooing. Face tattooing was intended to identify those women in the event that they may be kidnapped by other people. It was a form of national identity prior to  better or modern means.

Climate:- With three main Monsoon seasons, summer, winter and rainy seasons, Chin State can have sixty  to one hundred inches of rainfall on average annually and thirty to ninety degrees Fahrenheit. It has evergreen forests of temperate zone. Being between  the sea level where high tide could reach and the level over 10,000 ft above sea level, it has a very rich verities of flora and fauna of forest products.

Occupation and Agriculture:- Shifting cultivation is still widely practiced in rural areas for growing corn, hill rice, millet, Soya beans, many other  kinds of beans, sweet potatoes, and other roots of all kinds form domestic consumption, Rice is also grown in wet in all the flat valleys along the rivers and their tributaries especially in Paletwa, Kanpetlet, Mindat, Matupi, Thantlang, Haka, and Tonzang for home consumption as other crops.

Oranges, apples, coffee, tea, potatoes, cabbages, onions, cottons, sesame, tobacco are minimally grown commercially. Trading between India and Burma of all commodities of foreign products are widely practiced.

Fauna and flora:-  Kimoe Range in Paletwa township is a reserved forest where rhinoceros, elephants, bison, tigers, leopards, cheetah, all kinds of monkeys, and birds including the Chin National bird Hornbill are found. Others wild animals such as  bears, boars, barking deer, deer, birds  which were once  hunted as games thrive all over the Chin State. The Chin natives keep the mythuns for meat, the most  valued among the Chin society, the buffalo, the cows and ox for  ploughing and producing milk and pigs, dogs, fowls, ducks as domestic animals. Fishes of all kinds are prevalent in the rivers and streams of the Chin State.

Pine forests from which resin is extracted  exist from north to south of the Chin state on all the mountain ranges. High quality pinetrees could be found abundantly. There are also teaks, Pinkados, and other hardwood and softwood timbers that could be exploited commercially. Bamboo jungle is densely found in Paletwa and Matupi areas and in some parts of Thantlang and Tonzang townships. Various kinds of flowers bloom and flourish every where. There is a concern that the flowers will become rare or extinct since flowers roots have been sold commercially for no proper care is taken by the  authority concern.

Minerals:- Chromites and nickels have been discovered by geological survey teams a long time ago in a place known as Mwetaung  within the Chin state. Slates, marble stones, and talc stones are also found abundantly. However, no natural products have been explored or studied further due to poor communications.

Rivers:- Water in the Chin State is drained out by six rivers namely Runva (Manipur river), Bawinuva(Kaladan), Tiova, Letsa (Mittha), Mung, and Lemro Rivers.

Kaladan/Bawinu/Tipi/Yapang River:- Navigable by steamer from Akyab Sittway, the seaport, to Paletwa regularly, Kaladan originated from a small lake known as Lai-tili in Falam township. It flows south between Rung and Bawipa Ranges, turns north around the boundary between Hakha-Thantlang and Matupi Townships, and becomes the international boundary line between Mizoram of India  and the Chin State the Union of Burma. Tio river, originating from the same source as Kaladan,  flows from north to south, joins Kaladan near Bungtlang Village in the Chin State, flows south again as Tipi in Mizoram, enters again into the Chin State in Paletwa where it is navigable of steamer and finally enters into the Bay of Bengal in Akyab.

Lemro River:- The source of Lemro River is almost the same with Mung River which originates within Matupi Township. As a matter of fact, the sources of Lemro, Mung, and Letsa(Myit-tha) Rivers are all from a place on the Ataraw Range. Mung  flows to the southeast and Letsa (Myit-tha) flows to the northeast. Lemro flows to the southwest, through Matupi and Paletwa Townships to Arakan State entering into  the Bay of Bengal together in the same estuary with Kaladan in Akyab. It is, therefore, navigable in Arakan State till Minbia Township, the hilly part of which and the whole of Arakan Yoma solely  inhabited by the Chin people despite the low population.

Letsa or Myit-tha River:- From Matupi, Letsa flows almost from the same place with Lemro south to north and enters  into the Chindwin River at Kalewa. ManipurRiver or Runva:- From Imphal Lake in Manipur, Manipur River joins Myittha between Kalay and Gangaw.

Mung River:- Originating from the same place as Lemro and Myit-tha Rivers, Mung River flows south through Matupi, Mindat, and Kanpetlet Townships to Setauktaya Township in Magwe Division. The Chin settlement there is thick enough and joins Irrawaddy at Yenanchaung in Magwe Division.

Language:- Chin language, comprising of four main dialects, is spoken in the Chin State. Linguistic research shows that any dialect of the Chin language actually is the mixture of several other dialects of the language. It is therefore much easier for a Chin person speaking one dialect to understand and pick up another Chin dialect than other people who do not speak any Chin dialect at all. At the same time it is our experience that it is easier to understand mutually and pick up any dialects of the Chin language for persons who understand and  or speak several Chin dialects.

1. Chin Dialect in Paletwa:- Paletwa Township of the southern western most township people mainly speak what is called Khumi dialect of the Chin language. This Chin dialect is widely understood and spoken also by the Chins along the Kaladan river in Arakan State.

2. Chin Dialect spoken in Mindat/Kanpetlet is known as Cho or Muin dialect. Another Chin dialect known as Roungtu or Toungtha is spoken in Kyunnam, Kyanam, Lesih and Bawisih areas of Mindat Township. It is also widely spoken among the Chins in the Htilin Gangaw, Saw area of Magwe Division. The Chin dialect known as Kyindwe or Yindu, mutually intelligible with Asho Chin dialect spoken in Kyindwe area of Kanpetlet township, is also widely understood and spoken by the Chin people in Arakan State, Thayet(Mye-hte-pinlay), and other townships of Magwe, Mandalay Divisions and several other parts of Burma.

3. Chin Dialect in Falam/Haka:- Falam, Haka, Thantlang and Matupi Townships mainly used Falam/Haka dialects which are mutually intelligible as their four township common dialects. Since all government service men and women from all parts of the Chin State and their children who work in Matupi, Thantlang, Haka and Falam could learn this  Falam/Haka dialect, it is widely understood and spoken .

4. Chin Dialect in Tiddim/Tonzang:- Tiddim and Tonzang Townships also used Tedim dialect. However, Tedim is also easily understandable by those who use Falam/Haka dialects as they are very similar to each other. Widely understood and spoken in Manipur and Mizoram Sates in India, Tedim dialect  is very close to what is called Khuangsai-Thado dialect which this dialect speaking Chin people rather accept Kuki for the Chin nomenclature.

5. Chin dialect in Duhlian: Spoken in some parts of Falam and Tedim Townships, this dialect is used as the official language of Mizoram State in India and is widely understood and spoken along the Indian border such as Paletwa, Matupi, Thantlang, Falam, Tiddim, Tonzang, by the Chins in Kalaymyo and Tamu Townships. All dialects of the Chin language are written in Roman alphabet. Therefore, they could be adoptable and readable by all the Chin and by those who read international phonetics as they are written in the same phonetics very closed to international phonetics.

Transportation and Communications: There are five routes through which the Chin State is connected with the rest of Burma. These  five  routes on land all  pass through the mountain passes of Pungtaung Pungnya range which naturally demarcate the Chinland and Burma. The range is a long one but not very high. The first and the most southern route is from Rangoon  through Akyab by plane or ocean liner ship  to Paletwa by streamer 120 miles along the Kaladan river from the mouth of Kaladan, Akyab Seaport.

linement from Paletwa to Matupi which will be the only earliest available motor road from Paletwa to the Central part of the Chin State is three day walk on foot. On the other hand, it is 130 miles by motor road linement. The construction of this motor road, although started in 1960s, has not been continued up to now by the authority and no one can explain why it was discontinued. Thus the rest of the Chin State is now isolated from Paletwa which can be reached regularly by steamers from Akyab.

The second route is across Pungtaungpunya Range through Yenanchaung and Seikpyu to Saw and Kanpet-let, 120 miles from Seikpyu. Once again, the motor road is not accessible in all weathers by  trucks. The third route is from Pakokku through Pauk. It is a 102 miles motor road from Pakkoku to Mindat and not accessible in all weathers.

The fourth route is from Pakkoku and Monyua through Pale-Gangaw to Hakha motor road all weather road but not tar road. Hakha is  eighty miles from Gangaw. Bus line is running along this very dusty route between Mandalay and Hakha taking one and a half days.

The fifth route is from Monyua through Kalewa to Kalemyo road. The route is  not all weather road. The route is from Rangoon (Yangon) or Mandalay to Kalemyo by plane and to Falam/Haka and to Tiddim. Kalemyo is seventy miles from Falam and fifty miles from Tiddim by dusty motor road not tar road, and bus line is running now along this all weather road .

Another possible sixth route could be from  Mawlaik through Chindwin River and Yuchaung to Tamu and Tonzang. However, it is not commonly used except by smugglers.

Chin State is accessible from Manipur through Churachanpur (Lamka) to Cikha and Tiddim by jeep-able road. Similarly, there are two other jeep-able routes to Mizoram, North East India  from Falam and Tiddim through Rih Lake and Champhai. There are also several footpaths through which relatives and friends on both sides of communities  could have contacts traditionally from Paletwa, Matupi and Thantlang, Falam, Tiddim and Tonzang.

Chin State Internal Communication:-Mindat and Matupi are connected by 102 miles motor road. Matupi and Haka are connected by jeep able road of 176 miles. These are not accessible in all weather, however. Haka is connected with all weather dusty motor road but not tar road from Falam which is only 44 miles to Tiddim which is about 100 miles from Haka.

Thantlang is connected with Haka by all weather dusty motor road of about 22 miles. Thantlang and Matupi, a distance of about 160 miles, is connected by mules road through Ruava Village which is 6 miles from Rezua, a new  sub township in Matupi Township. Paletwa and Thantlang is connected by footpath which could take up to five to seven days of walk. The connection between Matupi and Paletwa has been mentioned above. Paletwa is connected with Kanpetlet and Mindat by footpath of about seven to nine days of walk. There are no other means of transportation  like airports and railway within the Chin State as a result of neglect.

Religion: The Chin state is the only Christian State in the whole of the fourteen provinces of the Union of Burma. The first Christian missionaries Rev. Arthur Carson and his wife Laura Carson, arrived at Haka, the present Chin State capital, on March 15, 1899 from the United States of America. The mission was intended specifically for the Chins by the America Baptist Mission which is now American Baptist Church, ABC..

The next six couple missionaries were sent succeedingly one after another and the last missionaries Rev. R. Johnson and his wife Elizabeth Johnson left Haka and the Mission work for good in 1966 as foreign Christian missionaries were no longer allowed to come in. It was in this period before the centenary year of Christian missionary that the over whelming majority of  the Chin State  population converted  to Christians.

It is believed that the conversion has been sped by the similarity of their native religion in many ways with the faith of Christianity. Not less than 80% of the state population is now Christians of several denominations in which Baptist makes majority and Roman Catholic the second. The Chin Baptist Convention known as Zomi Baptist Convention station in Falam is leading the Baptist faith and Bishop of the Chin Diocese station in Haka is leading the Catholic faith.