The land occupied by the majority of the Zo people extends from a latitude of about 25 degrees 30 minutes North in the Somra Tracts facing Mt. Saramati, and in Nagaland across the Namtaleik River and the .North Cachar Hills, to about 20 degrees 30 minutes North. The Asho live further south of the Arakan Yomas, Irrawaddy valleys and Pegu Yomas (below Procne and Sandaway). All these areas fall between 92 degrees 10 minutes East and 94 degrees 20 minutes East. The north-south length of the Zo country is roughly 350 miles (500 km) and it is generally about 120 miles (192 km) wide.
The majority of the people occupy the Indo-Burman ranges, a series of parallel mountain chains trending north-south along the India-Burma boundary. The mountain ranges are a continuation of the Naga and Patkoi hills, extending as far south as Arakan Yomas. Fast Zoram lies in the eastern part of these mountains and is higher than the western mountains (West Zoram or Mizoram).
The highest peaks in these ranges are Ngulluvum, Innbuk. Thuamvum (Kennedy peak), Lentlang, Kharantlang, Rungtlang, and Arterawttlang (Mt. Victoria), which is the highest peak in Zo country at 10.400 feet or 3412 meters. The other peaks are in average about 8700 feet or 2854 meters high. In West Zoram the highest peak is Phawngpui (Blue Mountain), which is 6598 feet or 2164 meters high. At the north and south ends of Zo country the land is less rugged and rises from 2000 to 4000 feet, or 656 to 1312 meters.
The capital of West Zoram, Aizawl, lies at 3700 feet or 1214 meters above sea level, whereas Haka (Halkha), the capital of East Zoram, is at 7500 feet or 2460 meters. The valleys between ranges are mostly v-shaped gorges, and there are very few flat areas to serve as, agricultural land. Because the elevations can vary quite extensively temperatures also vary greatly. In the valleys of the larger rivers, such as the Run or Manipur Rivers, the climate is sub-tropical. Ten miles or 16 kilometers away, however, at an elevation of 6000 feet (20W meters) and at the top of mountain ranges, the climate is rather moderate. The climate is “monsoon” and rain falls from May to October. Average rainfall for the year is between 70 inches (178 cm) and 170 inches (432 cm). Average yearly rain in Aizawl is 82 inches (208 cm), Lunglei 138 inches (350 cm), Haka 90 inches (228 cm), and Kanpetlet 109 inches (276 cm). In one year Haka had 118 rainy days and Kanpetlet 127 days. Summer temperatures range between 64 to 84 degrees F (17 to 29 degrees Centigrade), and winter temperatures are between 37 and 75 degrees F (3 to 24 degrees Centigrade). Some places, like the town of Haka, are chilly in winter and temperatures can drop below the freezing point in the night and frost form on the grass. Snow falls very rarely, and when it does the people call “the mountain has vomited.”
To overcome the cold, Zo people built houses with thatch roofing and often double layered split bamboo walling. The houses were separated into two parts. One part was completely closed except for the main entrance with a door. In this part of Elie room, the people cooked, slept, and spent their evenings sitting around the fire place during the colder periods of the year. To conserve the heat during the night, the glowing charcoal was buried under ashes, to keep that part of the house comfortably warm during the night. Around the fire place was the master bed, usually two wooden planks about five feet wide combined
The pillow was a rectangular wood place about 4 inches in diameter. The children slept on the other side of the fire place. The guests slept on mats on the third side of the fire place.
This might explain the assertion that Zo people were filthy and never washed themselves. This is, of course, partly true in some areas. Zo people did not wash themselves at regular intervals but randomly whenever they conic across a stream or a pool of water. Their water supply at their own dwellings might not be enough for body washing, as it has to be carried up hill from the water fountain or another source. Although they might have washed themselves clean, the smoke. ashes, and dust made them quickly dirty again. When nights were not cold, the front part of the house, which is open at the front, is used for almost all activities including sleeping purposes.
Because people did not have many warm clothes, the blanket that were used in the night might have been the only cloth to protect the body from the cold during the day. This was very much the practice of every Zo during the earlier days when shirts and pants were unknown to them. To cover the private parts, the women wore very short or mini skirts which barely covered the upper part of the thigh. They usually covered their breasts until they became mother. After becoming a mother, hiding of the breast is not deemed necessary. In some parts of the Zo country, young or old Zo women never hid their breasts. Men usually wore loin cloths: however older men may have worn nothing at all except a blanket when it was cold. To prevent the freezing of their hands in times of warfare, the men slept with hands dipped in cold water during the winter nights.
In higher parts of the mountain ranges, pine and rhododendron flourish. In lower areas teak, bamboo, and similar plants are abundant. Farmers grow potatoes, maize, millets, sweet potatoes, plums. and apples in the higher altitudes. Rice, oranges, and pine apples are grown in the lower valleys. Except for the lower part of Zapan (Kaladan), all rivers flow turbulently through rugged country. They are full of rapids which carry boulders and silt. During the rainy season these rivers are especially formidable. All of Zoland is hilly, except for small stretches of plain. The largest such plain is the plateau in the Champhai-Cikha area. Others are near Thlanthlang Khuabung, Letak, Buangtu. Mung-plang, Khuaphual. and Botsung. In these flat areas wet cultivation is practised, using animal power. The low lying Paletwa and Kolosib areas offer the best agricultural land.
There are very few lakes in Zoland. The biggest lakes are Rih Li in the Hualngo area in East Zoram and Palk Lake in the south of West Zoram.
Because of the rugged nature of the land. communication and transportation are difficult. At the present time dirt roads connect towns in both East and West Zoram, and the Kaladan river is navigable from Paletwa to the Indian Ocean. In addition, the Tlawng or Dhaleswari streams could in the future be developed for navigation.
Production from Zo country is limited to agriculture. A few products, mostly fruits, are being exported. Blessed with a variety of climate. Zo people can produce almost all types of fruits, tropical or temperate. There is a noticeable improvement in this field. Other products. such as silk and turpentine, are becoming popular. The potential also exists for exportation of furniture and similar products.
In the past, elephants, tigers, leopards, bears, wild dogs, bison. deer, and wild boar inhabited Zoland. With the appearance of firearms these animals have become nearly extinct. Fish in the streams have been ruthlessly killed with dynamite and poison, and most of the rivers and streams in Zoram are empty of larger species of fish.
Zoram is predominantly made of silty shale and sandstone. Limestone and igneous rocks are also found. The silty shale and sandstone are relatively soft formations, easily washed away by rain. which results in landslides. Because of this, roads built on the slopes of the mountains are difficult to maintain. Ngawcinpau named these rocks “Zoflysch” because of their similarity to the Flysch rocks of the Alps in Switzerland. The oldest rocks in Zoram are the schists, that make up Arterawttlang (Mt. Victoria). They were deposited some six hundred million years ago. The “Zoflysch” was deposited sonic fifty million years ago.
Basic igneous rocks displaced info the “Zoflysch” during the building of the Indo-Burman ranges, some thirty to forty million years ago. Suangdongtlang (Webula), Bukpivum, Ngullumual (Mwetaung), Leisan, Nattaung (Dawimual). and many small peaks along the Zo-Burma border are built of chromite and nickel bearing ultrabasic rocks. Garnierite, a nickel silicate mineral, was discovered by Ngawcinpau, the first Zo geologist, on the Ngullumual. The nickel content was 1.19 to 4.59 percent.
Ngullumual has the economic potential for nickel mining. The author discovered chromite in these same ultrabasic rocks. Other important minerals found in these rocks are talc, from which talcum powder is made. and asbestos, which is used as insulation material in industry. Other commercially interesting rocks are slate and limestone. State is used traditionally as roofing material. Limestone can be used for the manufacture of cement. Abundant limestone is found in Lungrangtlang (Haka), and Paha (Tedim).
Source : Zo History
