Indian Antiquary Vol 32

SR No.: 032524
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 550
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 20 MB

Page 437

OCTOBER, 1903.)
MISCELLANEA.
413
After two or three hours' bloodshed, unless the raiders feel no danger of a surprise, in which case they prolong their stay, they move out of the village, taking the women and girls captives with them, all tied together. They never take a full-grown male captive; it saves them trouble to kill him on the spot. As a rule the heads of all slain are carried off, though sometimes only the scalpe. On their return journey the captives endure many hardships: if any one through weakness or ill-treatment cannot keep up, instant death is the result. When pearing their village the raiders are again met, if successful, by all the worden and old men, who bring them down cooked food and liquor and accompany them in triumph to their houses. On entering the village one or more captives are always sacrificed BB & thanksgiving offering, the buoty is divided and the captives are set to work as slaves As a rule after they have been a short time in the village they are well treated. The women invariably marry one from among their captors, and have been known wben offered release years after to cling to them and refuse to go back to their own relatives.
One extraordinary custom among the Lushais which I would not have believed bad I not had personal knowledge of the fact is that men and women change their sex in all outward appearances and customs. I give as an instance a woman who has twice accompanied a chief to see me and who is dressed as a man, smokes a man's pipe, goes out hunting with men, lives with them and has in every way adapted herself to the habits of men. She actually married a young girl who lived with her for one year. I myself asked in the presence of several chiefs and other Labais why she had, being a woman, become a mun. Sbe at first denied being & woman, but when I suggested that we should change coats sbe demurred and finally confessed she was a woman, but that her khua-vang was not good and 80 she became a man. I have heard of other cases in which men have adopted the dress and customs of women.
Constant disputes arise among the chiefs, regarding their necklaces of amber and other stones, which arise through intermarriages of different clans, and I have found it a hard task sometimes to settle these disputes satisfactorily when I have been appointed arbitrator by them. Differences arise owing to sisters, brothers, wives, Bone and daughters claiming portions on the duath of a chief, and often ended in the old days in bloody feuda.
The Lushais are great at songs and dancing. I give a few typical songs, translated literally :1.-" The long day song " runs thus:
I do not aspire for the day, Evening dusk I want not, Sweet girls P their speech I solicit,
Then I wish for the day again. 2.- An ode to Thluk-Pai, a famous gallant, and his mistress Dil-Thangi, a great beauty:
Walk on, walk on, Oh Big Thluk-Pui, Walking on the cloudy plain Far over the vault of the sky,
Go and embrace Dil-Tbangi. Powerful chiefs have their songs dedicated to them and the various clans have their songs, all of which are sung on the occasion of big feasts.
One of the great difficulties in gathering genealogical tables, etc., is the extraordinary way in which the relatives of two chiefs, who may be at distinct enmity with one another, intermarry, and also the migrations of chiefs and their followers from one clan to another distinct clan. Broadly speaking, I would classify these tribes as follows:-All west of the Koladain I would call Lusbaie, and east of it or across it Shendus. These, again, can be classified. The Lushais consist of Sailds and Haulongs and Tanglauas, but have living in their territory Pankhoe and Banjogis, who are distinct offshoots of the Shendus. The Shendus consist of Molien-Pais, Thlang-Thange, Lakhers, Halkae, eto., under the general designation of Pois. The main difference in the appearance of the Lushais and the Shendus can be seen at a glance. The Lusbai men and women wear their bair tied in a knot at the back of the head, while the Shendus or Pois, as they are called, wear the bair tied in a huge knot right over the forehead : the latter in the case of men only. The languages are totally distinct also, but the Lushai language is, I believe, understood as far as the west border of the Obin country in Burma. One thing has struck me as being most extraordinary, and that is how rarely one meets # really old man amongst these people. Old women I bave seen in abundance, but from what I can judge of their ages, I should say that a man of over 65 years is most uncommon.
Taking the Lushais as I have found them in their own villages, they are far superior to many savages one reads about. They are most hospitable, and I rarely enter a house in any village