Traditional tribal peoples of Manipur

The hill areas of Manipur were peopled by two major ethnic groups – the
Naga and the Kuki-Chin-Mizo, which are sub-divided into about thirty two
smaller tribes according to difference in culture, language and customary
practices. No clear-cut boundary line can be drawn between the areas
occupied by the Nagas and the Kukis as they are all mixed up in all the hill
districts except Churachandpur. In the present district of Ukhrul, though
the Tangkhul Nagas are predominant, a large number of Kukis also settle
there.

The Senapati district is inhabited by Chiru, Kom, Liangmei, Mao, Maram,

Nepali, Paomei, Thangal and Zemei Naga while the two subdivisions of
Kangpokpi and Saikul are predominantly inhabited by Kom, Koren and
Thado Kuki. In the district of Tamenglong of west Manipur are found the
following tribes- Chiru, Gangte, Kom, Koren, Hmar, Liangmei, Rongmei,
Thado Kuki and Zemei Naga. The district of Chandel of south east Manipur
is again inhabited by Aimol, Anal, Chothe, Lamkang, Monsang, Moyon,
Thado and Zo and the Naga tribes appear to be in majority here. The
district of Churachandpur of south Manipur is an exclusively Kuki-Chin-
Mizo area.

2. Pre-colonial social structure: It is an established fact that the hill tribes,

whether Naga or Kuki-Chins have come to their present habitat from
different places of China or Southeast Asia through Burma and in different
times. The earliest group came came probably between 11th and 13th
century and the latest groups by the beginning of the 19th century. In
course of their long migratory movement and sojourn at different places,
the people had evolved a very stable and time-tested traditional
institutions which can withstand the challenges of colonization and
modernization.

One prominent traditional institution which emerged in course of their

onward migration was the chieftainship. Each village chiefdom was
independent from one another. But one strking fact was the absence of any
paramount tribal power, whether among the Kukis or the Nagas during the
historical period.
It may be noted that every person could not become a chief. Only those
persons who had the capacity to lead the people in their struggle for
existence and constant anxiety in times of war, ability to command
obedience from others, a certain charisma and readiness on the part of his
followers to conform to the rules laid down by him, emerged as chiefs. Or
such clan leaders who conquered new territories and built new villages
were eventually recognized as chiefs. In each chiefdom, there was a village
council.

The specific character, composition and methods of functioning of the

council deferred from tribe to tribe or from region to region. The chief was
the supreme head of the council. The chiefs and the councilors in a sense
constituted a privileged group in a traditional tribal society. The village
council combined in itself both judicial and administrative powers. It
settled disputes and cases, both civil and criminal according to customary
laws.

There was no clear-cut class division in tribal society which may at most be
characterized as a twofold category consisting of the commoners
(cultivators) and the ruling chiefs. The two groups again represented two
broad categories of livelihood: the commoners were the producers of food
and the ruling chiefs appropriated a part of what the commoners had
produced. As a matter of fact, the ruling chiefs practically depended on the
labor of the common people. Particularly, the Chin-Kuki-Lushai people, in
course of their historical evolution, had evolved an aged-old practice of
Busung-sadar which may be considered as a sort of feudal tribute.

According to this practice, every household cultivator within the chiefdom

was to pay a certain fixed amount of paddy to the chiefs annually and every
hind leg of any animal shot or killed in a trap was also surrendered to the
chiefs. In between the chief and the commoners, there was no any other
noticeable social group or class. This is to suggest that the concept of class
in modern sense is very much conspicuous in its absence in pre-colonial
tribal societies.