ZO SOCIETY
Zo
Kipmang Ciinhil
Nawphut Leimang
Nawsong Phusong uangkop
Songthu Ngaite
Sungmang Hanem
Songkip Songza Zahong Zaniang Zakhai
Zamang Hualthan Hualnam Tohin Suantak Seaktak Tawtak
Table 1. Genealogy of Zo people after Khupzathang36
Zo Population
There are currently about two and a half million Zo people. About half of them live in the Indian part of Zo country (Zoram), half a million are in the western part of Zoram (Mizoram), 180.000 in Manipur, 50.000 in Tripura, and some scattered in Nagaland, Cachar and the state of Meghalaya. In Burma 400,000 live in the eastern part of Zo country—East Zoram or the Chin State, 300,000 in the plains of Burma, 50,000 in the Sonya Tracts and the Hkamti or Naga District, about 150.000 in the Kale-Kabaw-Myittha valleys. and about 40,000 in the state of Arakan. In Bangladesh. about 50,000 Zo occupy hilly regions between the Sangut and the Karnaphuli Rivers.
The Zo people occupy a contiguous region of about 60,000 square miles not counting Asho settlements in lower Burma and Masho settlements in Arakan
Zo Society
Lack of communication, tribal wars, and lack of arable land in the country they adopted as their home caused Zo people to lose their racial harmony. As they grew in size quarrels erupted between groups, and even relatives were separated and driven to different regions. As a result of these kinds of forces the Zo gradually developed differences in their political, cultural, and religious systems.
The Political System
hundred people, constituted a village. Heterogeneous society was seldom found in early stages of Zo migration to the hills but developed in later stages of history.
A village was an independent unit, claiming land about seven miles or eleven kilometers in radius for its cultivation. Zo people shifted their fields frequently due to rapid erosion of the soil, and settlements were frequently moved from one place to another. The people in central Zo country were less migratory than those in northern and southern regions. The southern people shifted their villages in a circular or repeating pattern, whereas in northern areas people moved farther and farther north and west. Each village had its own government, and a chief or a headman functioned as administrator for the village. Generally the duty and power of the chief or village headman was similar among all Zo. Hereditary chieftainships were common in the northern part of the country, whereas in the southern part a headman or a village leader ruled the village. In some instances chiefs ruled over several villages.
The chief or headman had political and judicial powers, he controlled to varying degrees the daily lives of the people. Land division, disposal, sequestration, and redistribution within the village boundary were his responsibilities. In northern Zo country the village headman collected taxes and dues for the chief. In southern Zo country, where no chief (Maru) arose, the headman or village leader lent his name to the village.” The village headman was usually assisted by his councillors, the number of which was determined by the number of village houses.
The chief usually owned the land or, as Stevenson put it, “the chief is the Lord of the Soil.” However there were chiefs who did not completely own the land. In the Sizang area the chief and commoners each owned their own fields, which were handed down over generations from father to son. Chieftainship was hereditary. From clan to clan the custom differed as to whether the youngest or eldest son inherited the office of the father. In most cases however, the youngest son inherited the chieftainship. It was next to impossible for a daughter to inherit the office of the father. The inheritance of property among common people followed the chiefs” examples. If a man had more than one wife the children of the first wife were heirs to the property of the father. The sons of chiefs who would not inherit a chieftainship could fend for themselves and often led or were sent to take their followers to found new villages.
As “The chief was Lord of the Soil”, the chief received a certain tax from all products of that soil. He also received a “flesh tax”, usually a hind leg of a four-legged wild animal killed by the villagers. A salt tax was also paid in areas where there was salt production. The villages also built the chief’s house complete with a defensive wall and, in time of war, it served as a village refuge and fort. Some chiefs conquered neighbouring peoples and typically sent their sons to rule over conquered villages. In some cases chiefs recognized the chieftainships of conquered people, as long as an alliance or tribute fee was paid.
At the time the British conquered the Zo people Falam had developed itself into the most powerful of chieftainships in Zo country. They had done this through development of a political organization comparable to democratic types of government found in the western world. Each Falam chief was aided by a council of elders, although they were not necessarily of aristocratic origins and could even be from among the slaves or conquered people.
In waging war the Falam never fought alone but invited their allies to fight with them. They formed alliances with the Shan Sawbwa of Kale, as a result of which the Falam became the traders of the Zo, supplying salt to even the most remote regions of the country. They also knew how to exploit their subjects. When they subdued the Zanniat rebels, they made the Zanniats carry trade goods from the plains without payment.
The Falam people integrated all people and treated all peoples equally and without prejudice. Thus the Falam were not only Powerful but enjoyed the trust of most of the Zo people from the Lushai Hills to the Burmese border. They might one day have united all Zo people under their domain, had not the British appeared on the scene. Even today the Falam are not clannish; any newcomer to Falam is accepted as one of them, so that the town of Falam is the most pleasant in the whole Zo area.
There were other common bonds beside those of the chieftainship practice in Zo society. In the central part of the country, where individuals owned land, the people practiced some form of capitalism, but the overall Zo social structure was communal (communism). The communist theoreticians Karl Marx, 1. Lenin, and Maotse Tung desired human equality and assumed they could move human beings from greed to generosity. In western and other so called civilized countries this has proved a failure. But the Zo people have always practiced a form of socialism within thee’ communities. This form of socialism is called Tlawmn-gaihna in the Lusei dialect, which means “love of less”.
Samuelson explained Tlawmngaihna; “Tlawmngaihna implies the capacity for hard work, bravery, endurance, generosity, kindness, and selflessness. The forefathers emphasized this value of action to their progeny. In days of both happiness and misfortune, the concept of Tlawmngaihna was a stabilizing force.”
“If a person grew sick or died in a village other than his own, the youth of that village would carry the dead body or sick person back to his own village. When the Mizo people traveled in a group, the youngest man’s duty would be to obtain firewood to cook food for the rest of the company. If an older man’s basket became too heavy a younger man would help relieve the load. Later on, the elders would honour the man who had the greatest Tlawmngaihna by letting him drink rice beer first in the get together.”
“...this ... code of morals made it obligatory for every Mizo to be courteous, considerate, unselfish, courageous, industrious and willing to help others, even at considerable inconvenience to oneself. When everybody was hungry, a man would eat very little, leaving the bigger portion of food for friends. . walking one whole day over rough terrain in order to give important news ... a man risks his life to save his friends.. These are all Tlawmngaihna or ‘to need less’. It might be called “self denial and acceptance of pain”. In a village community, the building of one’s house is the responsibility of all, and only basic material needs to be collected by the owner. The villagers will build a widow’s house from scratch. The field of a sick person is attended by all the villagers. When a hunter brings home a big four-legged animal the whole village shares the meat, and all the villagers are automatically invited when there is a wedding. The whole village goes into mourning for a dead person.”
Source :
ZO HISTORY
~ Vumson
Source :
ZO HISTORY
Photo : Cingno
