These clans have adopted most of the manners and customs of their conquerors, and to an ordinary observer are indistinguishable from the true Lushei. In many cases the only difference is in the method of performing the Sakhua sacrifice. In few cases some words of the clan dialect are still used, but, generally speaking, there is but little difference noticeable. In cases where the clan had attained considerable strength before its overthrow by the Lusheis the process of assimilation has naturally been slower, and there is more to describe. The following list of clans does not lay claim to being complete, but contains all the best-known names.

Chawte. Members of this clan are found in small numbers scattered among the Lushei villages. They kill a goat as the Sakhua sacrifice, and omit all the Naohri sacrifices except the Zinthiang and Ui-ha-awr. When a mithan is sacrificed it is killed in the evening, and the giver of the feast wears some of the tail hairs on a string round his neck.

In the hills between the Manipur valley and Tamu I found two small hamlets of Chawte, who said that their forefather had come from the hills far to the south very long ago. Their language closely resembles Lushei, but they have come much under Manipuri influence. The names of the families in no case agreed with those given me by the Chawte in the Lushai Hills. A detailed account of the Manipur Chawte will be found in (3).

Chongthu. This clan is very widely scattered. The following account of the origin of the clan is given by Suaka, now Sub-Inspector of Police at Aijal:—“Of all Lushai clans Lershia (Chongthu) celebrated the Chong first of all. Lershia’s village was on the hill to the south of the Vanlai-phai. There he celebrated the Chong. He was the richest of all men. Lershia had a younger brother, Singaia. His village was separate at Betlu. He was very rich in mithan, gongs, and necklaces. Once he was moving to another village with all his goods, when a very big snake swallowed him. Even till now Chongthus are always ‘upa’ to chiefs. It may be they are wiser than the other clans; they are very amiable—maybe they understand how to express matters well. In every village Chongthu are always upa. How many children Lershia had or where they are I do not know. Nevertheless he was the richest of all men. Because he was so rich in mithan, gongs, and necklaces he first celebrated the Chong. His name was also first given to the Chong song. Even till now the Sailo and all Lusheis and all Ralte, if they celebrate the Chong according to their customs, sing Lershia’s song—they have not a new song of their own.”

From the above it would appear that Chongthu is a nickname given to Lershia on account of his having first celebrated the Chong. Chongthu’s name appears in the Thado pedigree as the first of the race to emerge from the earth, and the great-great-grandfather of Thado. The Chiru and Kolhen also claim descent from him, though they cannot give the intermediate names.

Hnamte. This clan lived to the east of the Tyao river. Their most famous chief was Chon-uma, their last village was at Tlangkua, on the Lentlang. Bad harvests and general misfortunes brought about their dispersal early in the last century.

Kawlni. A widely-distributed clan sub-divided into at least 12 families said to be connected with the Ralte, q.v.

Kawlhring. Kawl = Burma. Hring = Born. This clan had a big village on the Hringfa hill, where the remains of earthworks made by them in their final struggle against the Haka people may still be seen. Messrs. Carey and Tuck in their “Chin Hills Gazetteer,” p. 153, say:—“Having settled with their formidable neighbours on the north, the Hakas turned their attention to the Lushais, who at this time occupied the country as far east as the banks of the Lavar stream, barely 20 miles east of Haka. Their chief centres were Kwe Hring and Vizan, two huge villages on the western slopes of the Rongtlang range, and to this day the sites, fortifications, and roads of the former town may be traced.” The Hakas, not feeling equal to attacking their powerful neighbours single-handed, called in the assistance of a Burmese chieftain, Maung Myat San of Tilin, who came with 200 men armed with guns and bringing with them two brass cannons. “The Haka and Burman forces were collected on the spot where Lonzeert now stands, and, marching by night, surprised Kwe Hring in the early dawn by a noisy volley in which the brass cannon played a conspicuous part. The Lushais, who had no firearms, deserted their villages and fled in disorder, and for several months parties of Hakas ravaged the country, eventually driving every Lushai across the Tyao before the rains made that river unfordable.”

The people called here Lushais were the Kawlhring. The last Kawlhring chief was Lalmichinga. The clan is now scattered among the villages round Lungleh. There are eight families, but I have not found any branches. The Zinthiang and Zinhnawm are omitted from the Naohri sacrifices.

Kiangte. This clan lived east of the Manipur river, from which place it was driven by the Chins. Kiangte are now found in small numbers in most of the villages in the North Lushai Hills. The clan is divided into seven families, without branches.

Ngente. Although this clan has been practically absorbed its members have retained in an unusual degree their distinctive customs. The Ngente were formerly a somewhat powerful clan living at Chonghoiyi, on the Lungdup hill, where about 1780 A.D. a quarrel broke out between their two chiefs, Lalmanga and Ngaia, and the latter set out with his adherents to form another village, but was pursued and killed by his brother. Shortly after this the clan was attacked by the Lusheis and broken up. The above particulars were given me in 1904, when I was near the Lungdup hill. They seem to account for the Koihrui-an-chhat festival, which is described below from notes supplied to me by Mr. C. B. Drake-Brockman in 1901, embodying information gathered by him from Ngente living at Lungleh, many days’ journey from Lungdup. This is an interesting instance of history being embalmed in a custom of which the origin has been forgotten, and I humbly recommend its consideration to those wise men who are ever ready to interpret every custom as affording evidence of their particular theories.

Marriage.—The Ngente young man is no more restricted in the choice of his wife than is the Lushei, but the price is fixed at seven guns, which are taken as equivalent to Rs. 140/-. Of this sum the girl’s nearest male relative receives Rs. 120/-, the remainder being distributed as follows:—Rs. 8/- to the “pu,” maternal grandfather or uncle, Rs. 6/- to her elder sister, Rs. 4/- to her paternal aunt, Rs. 2/- to the “palal,” or trustee. Should a woman die before the whole of her price has been paid, her relatives can only claim half the remainder.

Childbirth.—Three months before the birth, the mother prepares zu, which is known as “nao-zu”—i.e., baby’s beer, which must on no account be taken outside the house and which is drunk in the child’s honour on the day of its birth. Women are delivered at the head of the bedstead, and the afterbirth is placed in a gourd and hung up on the back wall of the house, whence it is not removed. The puithiam sacrifices a cock and hen, which must not be white, outside the village, and, having cooked the flesh there, he takes it to his own house for consumption. On the third day after the birth the child is named by its “pu,” who has to give a fowl and a pot of zu. A red cock is killed and some of its feathers are tied round the necks of the infant and other members of the family.

Death Ceremonies.—The Ngente do not attach any importance to burying their dead near their place of abode. They put up no memorials and offer no sacrifices, and make no offerings to the deceased’s spirit. The dead are buried wherever it is most convenient. This is a most singular divergence from the general custom.

Festivals.—The Khuangchoi, Chong, Pawl-kut are observed. In place of the Mim-kut they celebrate a feast called Nao-lam-kut, which takes place in the autumn. For two nights all the men and women must keep awake, and they are provided with boiled yams and zu to help them in doing so. On the third day some men dress themselves up as women and others as Chins, colouring their faces with charcoal. They then visit every house in which a child has been born since the last Nao-lam-kut and treat the inmates to a dance, receiving presents of dyed cotton thread, women’s cloths, &c., and much zu. Compare the account of the Fanai She-doi, p. 136 et seq. below.

Koihrui-an-chhat (They Break the Koi Creeper).—A party of young men, being supplied with hard-boiled eggs and fowl’s flesh, go off into the jungle equipped with bows and arrows. On the third day they return with the heads of some animals—for choice those of the “tangkawng,” a large lizard—and also a long piece of the creeper from which the Koi beans (v. Chap. II, para. 18) are obtained. They are received with all the honours paid to warriors returning from a successful raid, and a tug of war with the creeper takes place between the young men and the maidens. The heads of the animals are then placed in the centre of the village, and dancing, singing, and drinking go on round them all night, no young man or girl being allowed to go inside a house till daybreak, when the whole party adjourns to the house of a member of the Chonghoiyi-hring family—i.e., a descendant of one born at Chonghoiyi—and after further libations they disperse.

It is quite clear that this feast commemorates the victory of Lalmanga over Ngaia—compare the account of the reception of a raiding party given in Part I., Chap. III, para. 9. The use of bows and arrows is an interesting survival.

The tug of war with the creeper is found among the Old Kuki clans as one of the incidents of the spring festival, and in the Manipuri chronicle we find references to such amusements being indulged in. The Ngente evidently combined the play, intended to keep green the memories of their ancestor, with the usual ceremonies of the spring festival.1

The Ngente do not practise the Khal sacrifices.

Language.—In the Linguistic Survey Dr. Grierson gives a translation of the parable of the Prodigal Son in the Ngente dialect supplied him by Mr. Drake-Brockman, and sums up his description of the dialect as follows:—“But in all essential points both (i.e., Ngente and Lushei) agree, and the difference is much smaller than between dialects in connected languages.”

Paotu. A very insignificant clan, of which I have found only one family. The clan formerly lived on a hill north of the Tao peak, to the east of the Koladyne, and were probably driven out by the Chins at the same time as the Kawlhring.

Rentlei. There are five families in this clan, which has long been absorbed by the Lusheis, but the Rentlei maintain that at one time, when they lived in a big village on the Minpui hill to the east of the Tyao river, they were the more powerful and showed their contempt for the Lusheis by throwing stones at the skulls of the pigs which the latter used to place on posts outside their houses after performing the Sakhua sacrifice, and this led to the Lusheis placing the skulls inside their houses, whereas the Rentlei to this day adhere to the custom of putting them outside. This clan is still looked on with respect, and chiefs frequently take Rentlei brides.

Roite. This clan is divided into seven families, one of which has a branch. There is nothing of interest to be noted about it.

Vangchhia. This clan has only three families and one branch. Its members are said to be generally wealthy, and therefore prudent parents strive to get them as “pu” to their children. Their Sakhua sacrifice is elaborate, a mithan being killed in front of the house, a cock at the head of the parents’ bed, and a boar at that of the children. There is a great feast, followed by nine days’ “hrilh.”

Zawngte. Now an insignificant clan, of which I have not obtained a single family name. Under a chief called Chengtea they lived on a hill north of Thlan-tlang, which is still known by their name. They were ejected by the Chins probably at the same time as the Kawlhring and Paotu. The eldest son inherits. They place their dead in hollowed-out logs in small houses outside the village, and leave them there for three months. In these particulars they resemble the Vuite. As among the Chawte, after killing a mithan the household of the giver of the feast wear some of the hairs of the tail on strings round their necks.