The Lushei Kuki Clans :: THE LAKHER OR MARA CLAN

THE LAKHER OR MARA CLAN

This clan emigrated from the neighbourhood of Thlan-tlang (called by the Chin Hills officers Klang-klang) in comparatively recent times. They are closely allied to the Southern Chins, and a description of them belongs more properly to the Chin Monograph. Much of the information in Messrs Carey and Tuck’s Gazetteer regarding the Southern Chins applies to the Lakhers. I therefore propose to give only a brief description here.

The clan calls itself Mara, Lakher being the name used by the Lushais. The Chins, I believe, call them Zo, and the Arracan name for them is Klongshai. The following extract from my diary, dated 10th February, 1891, gives a brief account of the advent of this clan:—“In the evening I had a long talk with the chiefs and found out the origin, according to them, of the feud with the Mrungs (in the Chittagong Hill tracts). In the lifetime of Thonglien’s father, the Bohmong of that time sent to ask the Mara clan to come and make friends. A deputation went, taking with them two large elephant tusks as a peace offering. The Bohmong had two of the party treacherously killed, and hence the feud which has led to so much bloodshed. I am told that the first Mara to come here (Saiha) were a colony under one of Thonglien’s ancestors. They came from Thlan-tlang to where Vongthu now is, and then moved further east till they settled somewhere on the Blue Mountain. Finding themselves too small a colony to hold their own, they sent for the rest of the clan, who, under Lianchi, Hmunklinga’s great-grandfather, came and settled where Ramri now is. After a few years a few of the Chinja tribe arrived and were received into the village. These were followed by more and more until eventually the Mara left the Chinja in possession of Ramri and moved across the Blue Mountain, where they have remained ever since.” There are other Lakher villages besides those referred to in the above extract, and the clan is found in considerable strength to the south of the Lushai Hills boundary, in territory which is at present unadministered. Members of the clan are also found in the Lushai and Chin villages adjoining the real Lakher country, which lies in the loop of the Koladyne or Kaladan river, south of latitude 22°3´.

Their villages are more permanent than those of the Lushais though the houses are built of the same materials, the proximity of large supplies of bamboos having led the immigrants to abandon the substantial timber buildings of the land of their origin for more flimsy structures. The sites are, however, levelled and the villages are seldom moved. Before the reign of peace which has followed our occupation of the Hills, each village was surrounded by a triple line of stockading or by an impenetrable belt of thorny jungle, through which a narrow pathway, defended by three gates, led to the village. Inside the houses the sleeping platforms of the Lushais are absent and the hearth is in the middle of the floor. If the owner has slaves or a married son, the interior is divided into compartments by partitions which extend three-quarters of the way across the house.

The men smoke but little, but much relish the nicotine water from the women’s pipes, which differ slightly in shape from those used by their Lushai cousins.

Dress.—I have been unable to detect any difference in dress between the Lakhers and the Southern Chins. The men wear a narrow loin-cloth twisted round the waist, one end being passed between the legs and slipped under the waist-band, the only other garment being a cloth about 7 feet by 5, worn as the Lushais wear theirs, and made either of cotton or silk. Blue and white check cloths are very much fancied, but are imported from Burma, whence also comes a very rough cotton cloth with large brown checks. The silk cloths are made by the women and are fine pieces of work, taking an industrious woman as much as a year to weave.

LAKHER CHIEF AND FAMILY

The dress of the women is more elaborate—several petticoats reaching almost to the ground and held up by a massive brass girdle, made after the pattern of the chain of a cog-wheel. These petticoats are generally of dark blue cotton, but sometimes the outer one is a very elaborately worked piece of silk, similar in pattern to the man’s cloth. Each petticoat is merely a strip of cloth wide enough to go one and a half times or even twice round the body.

While clothing her nether extremities thus decently, the Lakher woman wears a jacket which consists really of little more than two very short sleeves joined at the back and tied loosely together in front. This absurd little garment does not by several inches reach to her petticoat. The jacket is generally of home-made cloth or silk of a pattern similar to the men’s cloths. A loose cloth of the favourite blue and white check is wrapped round the body for warmth, but discarded when any work is being done.

The men wear the hair tied in a knot above the forehead. A very narrow turban is often worn, being passed round the back of the head low down and the ends twisted round the knot of hair. Chiefs affect the high turban of the Thlan-tlangs.

Women wear nothing on their heads, except in wet weather, when both sexes wear hats like the Lushais. The raincoat of the Chins is also used. Special cloths and plumes are worn by those who have killed men or given certain feasts, as among the Lushais.

Ornaments.—The amber necklaces so dear to the Lushais do not find much favour with this clan, who value especially necklaces of a stuff known as “pumtek,” but as this is very rare, necklaces of glass-beads, cornelians, buttons, coins, etc., are generally all that commoners can obtain. The women are particularly fond of necklaces; the men wear but few, which is in marked contrast to the custom of the Lushais.

The men ornament their top-knots with combs, the backs of which are sometimes of ivory, sometimes of wood lacquered in various patterns. A long pin of iron or bone is always worn in the top-knot, and is used for scratching the head as well as for cleaning out the pipe.

The women wear their hair rolled round a very heavy two-pronged brass skewer, the weight of which, sometimes as much as 3 lbs., keeps the hair low down on the nape of the neck.

Constitution of Society.

The Lakhers, in common with the Chins, are less democratic than the Lushais and their cognates. The power of the chiefs is greater, and the chiefs’ relatives and other wealthy people form a kind of peerage and lord it over the lesser fry, being seldom interfered with unless their doings endanger the interests of the chief. Slaves with the Lakhers are real slaves, not merely unpaid servants as among the Lushais. A slave is the absolute property of his master, and may be sold like any other possession. Female slaves are not allowed to marry, but are encouraged to become mothers, as their children are the property of their owners. Male slaves who win their master’s favour are sometimes married at their owner’s expense, but they and their children remain slaves. Parents and other relations sell children when they are in pecuniary difficulties, and captives taken in war are naturally the slaves of their captors.

In the matter of marriage the Lakher’s choice is as little limited as that of the Lushai but, owing to the power of the upper class, there is great competition to secure a bride of good birth, and this leads to girls being married before they attain puberty. After her marriage such a child-wife helps in the household of her husband’s mother, but sleeps with her own parents. The following extract from a report on the Lakhers sent me by Mr. Whalley, of the E. Bengal and Assam Police, cannot be improved on:—“The advanced age, as regards males, at which marriage takes place is due to the recognised obligation on the part of every male to marry the daughter of a house of higher standing than his own, with the consequently disproportionate advance in the amount of the marriage price. Too frequently a male on coming into his inheritance is occupied during his years of vigour in paying off the debt of his mother’s marriage price, and can only afford to take a wife of a higher station than his own when he is no longer capable of becoming a father. In the interval he takes a concubine, generally of a lower class than his own. On the other hand, the marriage or betrothal of children by their parents is common. Such marriages are on two scales. In both from the date of betrothal the bridegroom commences to pay the marriage price in irregular instalments; in one, however, he contracts, if he becomes a father by his bride, to pay the whole marriage price, and can claim the return of all payments made if the decease of his bride precedes such an event; in the other he pays only a proportion of the whole fixed beforehand, which is not recoverable, even if marriage is never consummated. The first is in more general favour with parents, as even in the case of the death of the prospective bride it is by no means certain that, in view of the disparity in position of the families, the bridegroom will be able to compel disgorgement of the instalments paid.”

“The above description of customs refers mutatis mutandis to all classes of society except slaves. The desirability of an unmarried girl varies directly with the social position of the parents; appearance, industry, and chastity are entirely subordinate factors, and exercise very little influence on the marriage price demanded. There is a strange custom by which a husband who finds his wife incompatible may exchange her for any of her sisters still unmarried. A younger brother, again, whose parents are dead, even though already married, takes over as a rule the wife as well as the liability of an elder brother who has predeceased him. The precedence of such wives should be regulated solely by the position of their parents, and breaches of this rule, owing to the partiality of the husband, lead frequently to bitter feuds.”

The following valuable note on the marriage price of a Lakher girl, and on the dues payable at death, by Mr. R. A. Lorrain, is inserted just as received:—

The important position occupied by the bride’s eldest brother and her maternal uncle are noticeable.

PARTICULARS OF MARRIAGE PRICE PAID BY A MARA FOR HIS BRIDE.1

Name of Price.		Amount of Price.2		No.	To whom price is paid and other particulars in regard to the Marriage Customs of the Mara Tribes.
Name of Price.		Common People.	Ruling Clan.	No.
O-Kia		Rs. 20/- Gong (7 spans). Gun.	Rs. 150/- One slave. Two Mithan.	1	When the whole family live in the same house, none of the sons having their own houses, then the Prices Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and Nos. 9, 10, 11, have all to be paid to the father of the bride.
Sei-pi-hra		Rs. 20/- Gong (7 spans). Gun.	Rs. 50/- One Mithan (female).	2	If the family is divided and the eldest son has a house of his own, then the father has price No. 11 and the eldest son must have price No 1, while the prices Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and Nos. 9, 10, are at the eldest son’s disposal and he may or may not share with the youngest son as he pleases.
Chaw chyu		Rs. 20/- Gong (7 spans). Gun.	Rs. 50/- One Mithan. Gun (syulÔ).	3
Sei-chei-hra		Rs 20/- Gong (7 spans). Gun.	Rs 50/- One Mithan. Gun (syulÔ).	4
NÔ-hla		Rs. 2/- Brass pot (4 spans).	Rs. 10/- Beer pot (Ra-cha).	5
Saw-hla		Rs. 1/- Full grown hen	Rs. 2/- Brass pot (4 spans).	6
Kei-ma		Rs. 2/- Brass pot (4 spans).	Rs. 5/- Beer pot (Ra-cha).	7	No. 7 has to be paid to the friend of the father of the bride if the sons and father live in the same house. But if the family is divided, the eldest son having his own house, then this must be paid to his friend instead of the father’s.
Lao-khyu		Rs. 2/- Brass pot (4 spans).	Rs. 5/- Beer pot (Ra-cha).	8	No. 8 has to be paid to the bride’s mother’s brother (bride’s uncle).
Rai-pi-hra		Rs. 2/- Brass pot (4 spans).	Rs. 10/- Beer pot (Rai-pi).	9
Aw-rua-baw-na		Rs. 5/- Beer pot (Ra-cha).	Rs. 50/- One Mithan. Gun.	10
Si-sa-zi or chhi-sa-zi.	a U-thei-pa	Rs. 10/- A “Sisa” bead.	Rs. 20/- A “Sisa” bead.	11	Note.—No. 11, divided into three sums, has to be given on engagement before marriage, and is kept by the father of the bride.
	a Lia-pa	Rs. 5/- Brass pot (5 spans).	Rs. 10/- A “Sisa” bead.
	a Sei-hnai-pa	Rs. 2/- Brass pot (4 spans).	Rs. 5/- Beer pot (Ra-cha).
PU-MA.3
A-ma-pi		Rs. 20/- Gong (7 spans). Gun.	Rs. 150/- One slave. Two Mithan.	12	Pu-ma has to be paid by the bridegroom to the bride’s “Pu-pa,” that is, the bride’s mother’s brother (uncle). He therefore receives the prices Nos. 12, 13, 14, 15 and 18.
Aw-rua-baw-na		Rs. 5/- Beer pot (Ra-cha).	Rs. 50/- One Mithan. Gun.	13
NÔ-hla		Rs. 2/- Brass pot (4 spans).	Rs. 10/- Beer pot (Ra-cha).	14
Saw-hla		Rs. 1/- Full grown hen.	Rs. 2/- Brass pot (4 spans).	15
Kei-ma		Rs. 2/- Brass pot (4 spans).	Rs. 5/- Beer pot (Ra-cha).	16	No. 16 has to be paid to the friend of the “Pu-pa” (bride’s uncle).
Lao-khyu		Rs. 2/- Brass pot (4 spans).	Rs. 5/- Beer pot. (Ra-cha).	17	No. 17 has to be paid to the bride’s grandmother’s brother on her mother’s side (bride’s great uncle), or it is sometimes paid the “Pu-pa’s” (bride’s uncles) wife’s father (father of aunt by marriage on the mother’s side).
Pha-vaw.	a U-thei-pa	Rs. 7/- A “Sisa” bead.	Rs. 20/- A “Sisa” bead.	18
	a Lia-pa	Rs 2/- Brass pot (4 spans).	Rs. 10/- A “Sisa” bead.
	a Sei-hnai-pa	Rs. 1/- A large fowl.	Rs. 2/- Brass pot (4 spans).
DEATH DUE.4
Ru		Rs. 10/- or more. Gong. This price is often nearly as heavy as the “O-kia.”	Rs. 80/- or more. One Mithan (large). This price is often nearly as heavy as the “O-kia.”	19	At the death of a wife this price has to be paid as a death due by the husband to the dead wife’s father or eldest brother as the case may be. At the death of a husband the eldest son of the dead man has to pay the price to his father’s mother’s brother (the dead man’s uncle). If there is no son, the dead man’s brother will pay, and then the dead man’s daughters, when they marry, their marriage prices will go to this brother of the dead man (his nieces’ marriage prices). If there are no daughters then he has his dead brother’s possessions as a recompense, and he will also care for the widow unless she prefers to go to her own family once again.

One out of each of the above prices has to be paid by the bridegroom before he is out of debt for his bride, and it will be found that:—

(1) An ordinary person has to give for his bride about Rs. 153/-, or £10 4s.
(2) One of the ruling clan has to give for his bride about Rs. 671/-, or £44 14s. 8d.

Then at death the death-due must be met,	for No. 1, from Rs. 10/- to 20/-, or 13/4 to £1 6s. 8d.
	for No. 2, from Rs. 80/- to 150/-, or £5 6s. 8d. to £10.

Needless to say, many of these prices are kept on credit, and often have to be met after death by the son or the son’s son, making it a terribly complicated matter on the whole.

Reginald A. Lorrain,

Pioneer Missionary to the Lakhers’ or Maras’.

May 4th, 1911.

Offences against property and person can generally be settled by payment of a fine, but the Lakhers have no fixed custom in such matters, and a person of quality generally takes the law into his own hands if he considers himself aggrieved.

Head-hunting used to be indulged in and is still practised by the Lakhers in unadministered tracks. In case of a chief’s death it was proper to kill someone of a distant village before drums or gongs were beaten, but it was thought “thianglo” to bring back the head on such an occasion. As regards their religious beliefs, the Lakher equivalent of Pathian is Khazang. Mr. Whalley writes:—“All spirits, with one doubtful exception to be noted later, whether malignant or benign, are slaves of the great spirit Khazang or Loitha. Whereas the attributes and the names of the lesser spirits vary from village to village and individual to individual, this great spirit has a firmer outline and permits of some attempt at description. The picture they draw is primitive, almost touching in its childishness. The Khazang or Loitha is small and brown and almost hairless. He is capable of sexual love and has children. He is material in his essence, but superior to natural laws such as those of time, space, and gravity. He is immortal, and has an immaterial wife and immaterial children. For his continuance the world exists with its revenue. In their own phrase he ‘eats’ the domains of the lesser spirits through all nature as a chief ‘eats’ villages (i.e., receives tribute in supplies from villages). He regards individual men much as these same men regard individual ants. Nearer to the heart and farther from the intelligence of the Lakhers is the mysterious Pi-leh-pu, the all-mother and all-father (strictly translated ‘grandmother’ and ‘grandfather,’ the term is generally used for ancestors)—a being not anthropomorphised or materialised, partaking in some shadowy way of the functions both of guardian angel and of originator of the human race.”

In the course of my enquiries I did not come across any references to Pi-leh-pu, but there seems good reason to think that the term is applied to the mythical ancestor of the clan. In the Lushai Mi-thi-rawp-lam, it will be remembered that in the centre of the frame round which the effigies of the ancestors of the celebrants are fastened there is a white effigy to represent the mythical ancestor of the whole clan. In some respects Pi-leh-pu seems to resemble the Lushai Sakhua.

The Ram-huai of the Lushais are known as “Hri-pa” and the Lashi as “Sakhia.” After death the spirits pass to Mi-thi-khua, the road to which is by the village of Lunchoi and passes up a precipice. It is so narrow that women with child have to widen it as they go, for which purpose a hoe is buried with them, or at least laid beside the corpse during the funeral feast. Pial-ral is called “Pe-ra’,” and to reach it all sorts of animals must be killed and the Ai ceremony performed for each. The Khuangchoi feast is also considered, if not absolutely necessary, at least very useful. Triumphs in the courts of Venus will not help the spirit to pass to Pe-ra’. Women can only reach that happy place if their husbands take them. A series of feasts or sacrifices closely resembling the Thangchhuah feast of the Lushais is performed, but I was assured that the performer’s state in the next world was not in any way affected thereby, the feasts being equivalent to the Lushai Sakhua sacrifice. The series consists of—

Vok-rial.—A very small pig which has been brought up in the house is killed and eaten.

Vok-pa.—A boar of five fists’ height which has been brought up in the house is killed, a black hen being also sacrificed at the same time.

The “sherh” are kept inside the house for three days, during which time none of the household may do any work, but the house is not closed and anyone may share in the feast. The Vok-rial is performed three times and the Vok-pa twice, and then a mithan is killed and all share in the feast. The performer of the She-shun may not cross a big stream or enter another village till he has sacrificed a hen. Subsequently he again performs Vok-rial, which is said to conclude the sacrifices to Sakhua. A feast in which two mithan are killed is called “Bawi.” It is followed by Khuangchoi, in which at least five mithan must be slain.

The spirits of the dead are supposed to become mist after having lived two or three lives in the other world.

Ten days after the birth of a child the mother goes to the water supply and washes herself. She then takes the child to her father’s house, where she receives some rice and a fowl, which she takes home and eats. Sacrifices are not done at this time. Children’s heads are shaved at three months, and the hair is allowed to grow at nine years with girls and at eleven with boys. The bodies of stillborn children are buried outside the village without any ceremony, but no purification, either of the house or village, is considered necessary.

Death. The usual funeral feast, which in the case of wealthy persons may last three to five days, precedes the burial. Some time afterwards a second feast is given and a portion is put aside for the spirit of the deceased. At the funeral feast the corpse is laid out with fine cloths and ornaments and a dance is performed by two women and one man. In other respects the Lakher and Lushai customs are very much alike. There is an annual feast in honour of those who have died during the year. It is called “Lachhia.” A pig is killed and the young men and maidens dance attired in their best clothes, and the usual large quantities of zu are consumed.

Lakher Baskets.

In cases of unnatural death no one may leave the village till the sixth day. On the fourth day a hen is sacrificed outside the village. The corpse is buried beyond the village boundary fence. Deaths in childbirth are considered unnatural deaths. If the firstborn in a family dies within a few days of its birth the corpse is buried anywhere, without ceremony, and the household abstain from work for one day. Such a death is called “naw-dawng” (Lushai “hlamzuih”).

Many of the Lushai sacrifices are performed. The Khal takes the following form:—A fowl is killed at the head of the bed in the name of the father, a month later one is killed in the name of the mother, and in successive months one is killed for each child. The flesh of these fowls can only be eaten by the parents. The Uihring sacrifice is known as “An-hmu”; a dog is killed outside the house, the hills inhabited by their ancestors being named. The “sherh” are hung on a tree or a bamboo. The husbands of women who are enceinte may not enter the house on such occasions. The following sacrifices of the Lushais are not performed—Hring-ai-tan, Khuavanghring, Tui-leh-ram, Bawlpui. In the Thla-ko a cock is killed outside the village and the spirit is summoned. Khawhring is unknown, and they maintain that there are no wizards or witches among them.

There are three festivals connected with the crops—(1) “Kicheo” or “Kutsa-zawng,” which takes place in January; feasting and drinking are the main features of this festival, which is preceded by a general hunt, as the flesh of wild animals, birds, or land crabs is absolutely necessary. (2) “Paku,” which comes just before the sowing of the rice, closely resembles the Lushai Chap-char-kut. (3) “Lalia”—this corresponds to the Lushai Mimkut; the children are fed with maize cakes, and if any member of the family has died within the previous year some cakes are put aside for his spirit.

The superstitions of the Lakhers resemble those of the Lushais. To kill a python is sure to result in the death of the killer. Even to see a loris is unlucky and to kill one is fatal. The sight of two snakes copulating will also be followed by serious illness, if not by death. The Lushai Chawifa is known as “Thla-shi-pu,” and if it falls in the jungle that is the place to cut your jhum, for then you are sure of a good crop. It seems that Thla-shi-pu is merely a meteor; the Lakhers have not surrounded this natural phenomenon with the myths which the more imaginative Lushais delight in. In choosing the site for a village a cock is taken, and if it does not crow the site will not be selected, but if one of the party dream of dead persons or bad things this is also sufficient cause for rejecting the site.

Among the Lakhers there are no priests of any sort; every man is his own priest. At the marriage ceremony the fowl is killed by the man who has arranged the match.

1 At the wedding the bridegroom has to kill half the number of pigs that are killed by the bride’s family, thus:—

Bride’s family,	5	pigs killed; the bridegroom kills	3	pigs	=	8	pigs.
Bride’s,,family,,,	10	pigs,,killed;,,the,,bridegroom,,kills,,	5	pigs,,	=	15	pigs.

2 The amount of price in these columns are all equal to one another in value and the bridegroom chooses only one out of each price according to what he has.?

3 If the “Pupa” wishes for these prices to be paid he has to go to the bridegroom’s house after the marriage (some other day) and kill a big pig. Then the prices have to be met quickly, or at least some of them, and the bridegroom also has to go to the “Pupa’s” house and kill a pig in exchange for the pig that was killed for him. If the “Pupa” is dead (or when dead) his children can claim the prices in his stead.?

4 The death-due upon a woman is heavier than that upon a man. The death-due upon a prosperous man is more than that upon a poor man.?

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