According to the 1981 census the total Chakma population in Bangladesh was 212,577, making them thelargesttribal group inBangladesh.In1971a further 54,378 Chakmawereenumeratedinneighbori
Trang 1Castes, Hindu 57
Thecaste system is aform ofhierarchical,kin-based social
or-ganizationofgreat antiquityfoundinSouth Asiansocieties.
Theterm,from thePortuguesecasta, isfrequentlycontrasted
with such other socialcategories as race,class, tribe,and
eth-nic group.InIndia, caste-togetherwith thevillage
commu-nityand the extendedfamily-formsthemainelement of
so-cialstructure.Thissystem consistsofhierarchically arranged,
in-marrying groupsthat weretraditionally associatedwitha
specific occupational specialization Interrelations between
castes arose outof theneed of one castefor thegoodsor
serv-icesof another.These relationsaregoverned bycodes of
pur-ity andpollution
The wordcasteitselfishomologouswithanyof three
dif-ferent indigenous terms. Varna, whichwas an ancient,
all-India classificationsystem consistingofafourfold division of
society,perhapsarose outofablendingof the nomadic
war-riorculture ofAryanswith the settledurban,agrarianculture
of the IndusValley The religioustextRigVeda spellsoutand
justifies this stratification system, putting the Brahman or
priest atthetop,followedby the Kshatriyaor warrior,Vaisya
orlandowner and trader,and Shudraor artisanandservant,
inthat order LaterafifthvamaofUntouchablesdeveloped,
calledPanchama,toaccommodate intercasteoffspring The
wordcaste mayalso becoterminouswiththe wordjati,which
is ahereditary occupationalunit.Hindutexts saythatjatis,of
which thereare several thousand, emergedoutof
intermar-riagesbetweenvamas. Modem theory holds thatjatis
devel-oped asother socialgroups like tribesorthosepracticing a
new craft oroccupational skill became integrated into the
classicvama system.Thisprocess continuestodayas groups
onthe fringes of Hindusocietybecomepartofitby claiming
a jatidesignation Lastly,caste mayreferto gotra,whichis an
exogamousdescentgroupwithin a jati. Itmaybe anchored
territorially, anditsmembersmayholdproperty in common.
Thecaste system rests on the following principles (1)
Endogamy Thestrictest rule ofcaste is marriagewithin the
jati.Arrangedmarriage atadolescenceensuresthis (2)
Com-mensality Castemembersarerestrictedto eatingand
drink-ing only with their own kind (3) Hereditary membership
Oneisbornintothecasteof one'sparents. (4) Occupational
specialization Eachcastehasafixedand traditional
occupa-tion. Thismakes it an economic aswell as a social system.
Thisaspectofcaste istheonethat has beenaffectedmostby
modernization andWesternization (5) Hierarchy Castesare
arrangedin somekind of order, eachcastebeing superior or
inferiortoanother.Sincenotallcastes arefoundin every
vil-lage or every partof SouthAsia,and whichone is superior to
which othersvariesfromregion to region,hierarchyisthe
dy-namic element ofcaste.
Underpinning theentire system are notionsofpurityand
pollution Words for these two ideasoccur in every Indian
language Eachtermhasa certain amountofsemantic
fluid-ity Pure means"clean, spirituallymeritorious, holy"; impure
means "unclean, defiled," andeven'sinful." The structural
distance betweencastes ismeasured in termsofpurity and
pollution; highercastes are pure intheiroccupation,diet,and
life-style.Casterulesgovern intercasterelations, determining
the socialandphysicaldistance thatpeopleof differentcastes
haveto maintainfrom each other and theirrightsand obliga-tions toward others Anequally important feature of caste rankisthenotionof serving andbeing served, of giving and receiving.Castesmaybe rankedby the balance between the
intercastetransactionsinwhichone caste is agiverand those
inwhichit is areceiverofgoods, services, gifts, or purely spir-itual merit The seeming contradiction between the power and position of the Brahman versus that ofthe kingorthe po-litically and economically dominant caste canbe resolved in light of thetransactional aspect of caste, which creates varied realms of differentiation andranking
Individuals accept their positioninthecastesystem
be-causeof the dual concepts of karma and dharma It isone's
karma or actions in a previous life that determine one's caste position inthis lifetime The only way to ensure a better
posi-tion in societynext time is tofollow one's dharmaor caste
duty So closely are notionsof salvation in Hinduism tied to
castedutythataHindu withouta caste is acontradictionin terms
Although an individual's caste is fixed by his or her birth, the position of a caste within the system is changeable A
caste as awhole may accumulate wealth that would allow it to give up manual labor and adopt a "cleaner profession," therebyraising their comparative purity.Today the process of
"Sanskritization," in which a lower caste or a tribal commu-nity imitates high-caste behavior, is an attempt to move up the castehierarchy The most common changes are switching
toa vegetariandiet and holding public prayers using high-casteforms and Brahman priests In daily life secularization and Western education lead to an undervaluing of caste iden-tity onthe one hand and a compartmentalization of the self
onthe other The latter phenomenon occurs when an indi vidual varies his behavior according to the context (e.g., at workhe adopts a secular self without observing caste taboos, but at home he is a caste Hindu)
Castebecomes a potent force in amodern democratic political system when it becomes a caste block whose mem-bers can affect the outcome of elections At local levels this canlead to a monopoly of power by one caste, but no caste is large enough or united enough to do so at a national level Anothermoderntrend is to be found among migrants from rural parts who tend to settle close to each other in the city, forming a casteneighborhood Often they form caste associa-tions for civic and religious purposes (e.g., celebrating Inde-pendence Day or performing religious recitals) In addition they may petition for government benefits, set up student hostels,commission the writing of a caste history, or in other ways promote the welfare of their group In recent times some high castes have resented the privileges now flowing to low castes and haveeven taken the matter intotheir own hands in intercommunal strife
SeealsoBengali; Brahman; Kshatriya; Sudra; Untoucha-bles; Vaisya
Bibliography Berreman, Gerald D (1979) Caste and Other Inequities: Es-says on Inequality NewDelhi: Manohar Book Service Kolenda, Pauline M (1978) Caste in Contemporary India: Beyond Organic Solidarity Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland Press
Trang 258 Castes, Hindu
Mandelbaum, David G (1970) Society in India 2 vols
Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press
Raheja,Gloria G (1988)."India:Caste, Kingship,and
Dom-inance Reconsidered." Annual Review ofAnthropology 17:
497-522
W D MERCHANT
Chakma
ETHNONYM:Changma
Orientation Identification The Chakmaspeaka dialect ofBengalior
Bangla, live in southeastern Bangladesh, and are
predomi-nantly of the Buddhist faith Although they are generally
knownintheanthropologicalliterature as Chakma-and are
officially so termed in Bangladesh-they usuallycall
them-selvesChangma
Location Bangladeshislocated between 200 34' and 260
38' N and 880 01' and 920 41' E Chakma (and another
eleven ethnicminoritypeoples) occupythreehilly districtsof
Bangladesh-Rangamati, Bandarban, and Khagrachhari
This hillregion is cutbyanumber ofstreams,canals, ponds,
lakes, andeastern rivers; it covers atotalareaof about 13,000
square kilometers Some Chakma also live inIndia
Demography According to the 1981 census the total
Chakma population in Bangladesh was 212,577, making
them thelargesttribal group inBangladesh.In1971a further
54,378 Chakmawereenumeratedinneighboring Indian
ter-ritory.Theyconstitute 50percent ofthe total tribal
popula-tionof the southeastern hill region,although there arealso
manyBengali-speaking (nontribalororiginallyplains) people
intheregionwho migrated thereat various times inthepast.
Asaresult, Chakmanow constitute less than 30percentof
the total population of that region In 1964, thisregionlost
itsofficially designated tribalstatus,andas aresultmany
peo-ple from the plains migrated there
Linguistic Affiliation The Chakma speak a dialect of
Bangla (Bengali), which they write inthe standard Bangla
script. (Thisisthe mothertongueofalmost99 percentof the
total population in Bangladesh-i.e., of some 110 million
people.) However, it seems likely that the Chakma once
spoke anArakanese (Tibeto-Burman) language, which they
later abandoned in favor of the Indo-European tongue of
their Bengali neighbors The Chakmawriter Biraj Mohan
Dewan gives a figure of80 percent for the Bangla-derived
Chakma vocabulary
History and Cultural Relations
Scholars differ on the origin and history of Chakma One
popularview amongthe Chakmaisthat theirancestors once
lived inChampoknagar, althoughopinions differ as toits lo-cation It isalsoguessedthat the Chakma derived theirname
fromChampoknagar According to oral history the Chakma leftChampoknagarfor ArakaninBurmawheretheylived for about 100 years.Theyhadtoleave Arakan forBangladeshin
oraround sixteenth century, whenBangladeshwasgoverned
byMuslimrulers,before the arrival of the British Even ifwe
do not believe the story of their origininChampoknagar,we
have reason to believe the Chakma lived in Arakanbefore
they migratedtoBangladesh.Theywerethen nomadic shift-ingcultivators On theirarrivalinBangladesh the Chakma
chiefs made a business contract with the Muslim rulers,
promising to pay revenue or tax in cotton Inreturntheywere allowed to live in the hill region and engageintrade withthe
largersociety By the lateeighteenthcentury,British authori-tieshad established themselves in the southeasterndistricts
ofBangladesh.The Britishformallyrecognizedadefinite ter-ritory of the Chakmaraja (the paramount chief) In 1776, Sherdoulat Khan became the Chakma raja Hefought unsuc-cessfully against the British Further fighting between the Chakma andthe Britishtook place between1783 and 1785
In 1787,RajaJanbuxKhan,son ofSherdoulat Khan,made a peace treaty with the Britishgovernment, promising to pay
the latter 500maunds ofcotton TheBritish recognized the office of Chakmarajathroughout therestof theirrule
Differ-entChakmarajasmaintained goodrelationswith the author-ities ofcentraladministration andtheChakma increasingly came in contactwith the Bengali people andculture
Settlements Traditionally the Chakma build their houses about 1.8 me-tersabovethe groundonwoodenandbamboo piles.With the increasingscarcityofbamboo andwood, they havestarted to build housesdirectly ontheground inthe Bengali style The
Chakma haveasettledvillage life.Afamilymaybuildahouse
on aseparateplot of land.Afew familiesalsobuildhouses on
the same plot of land These units (clusters of houses) are known as bari (homestead) Anumber of bari constitute a
hamlet (paraoradam) Anumber ofhamlets makeup a gram
orvillage Thisisalsoknown as a mouza, a "revenue village." Mosthousesarebuiltonthe slopes of thehills,usuallynear streams orcanals
Bamboo is widely used in making houses The pillars are made ofbamboo (orwood);theplatform (above the ground) andwalls arealso ofbamboo.The roofis made with bamboo and hemp A veryfew Chakma have started using tin for mak-ing roofs
Economy
Subsistence and Commercial Activities Theeconomy is based onagriculture Chakmafarmersutilize three different microenvironments: flat lands, which can be irrigated, slightly higherlands, which are not usually irrigated; and rela-tively steephighlands Each microenvironment is utilized for thecultivation of specific crops In the irrigated lowlands, the Chakma grow wet rice Here plowing is done with a single metal-blade wooden plow drawn by bullocks or water buffalo TheChakmawho learnedplowagriculture fromBengalis in
themid-nineteenthcentury grow wet rice twice a year on the same land The crop isharvested by hand with the help of sickles Onslightly higher lands the Chakma cultivate a
Trang 3vari-Chakma 59
ety ofcrops These includeroot crops such astaro, ginger,
andturmeric, somevegetablecrops,andpulses, chilies, garlic,
andonions Inthehills,theycultivatemainly dry paddy,
ses-ame, andcotton These cropsare grownby the traditional
method ofshiftingcultivation.Menselect land for swiddens
in December-January; clear off the trees and bush in
February-March; bum this debris by April when dry; and
startsowingafteraheavyrainfall,usuallyinApril-May They
fence their swidden fieldstoprotect cropsfrom pigs, cattle,
goats, and buffalo and beginto harvest crops in October,
continuingintoNovember
Becauseof increasingpopulationpressure,shifting
culti-vation is gradually being limited The government also
dis-courages swidden agriculture Instead ithas been trying to
motivate the Chakma and other hill peoplesto grow fruits
such aspineapples, bananas,andjackfruitonthe hills Many
Chakma have starteddoingso.Silviculture (i.e.,planting of
timberand rubbertrees) isalsobecoming popular
Hunting,fishing,andcollectingofdifferent edible leaves
and roots are also part of their economy Around their
houses, the villagers grow vegetables Domestic animals
in-cludepigs, fowl, ducks, cattle, goats andwaterbuffalo
IndustrialArts The Chakmaweavetheirownclothsand
make bamboo baskets ofvarious types
Trade Surplus productsarebroughttothe markets.Some
Chakmasupplyproducts tothe nontribal businessmen who
buycheap, store, and then selldear;orthey supply the cities
for ahigherprice
Division of Labor Traditionally the Chakma women
cook, tendbabies,cleanhouse,fetch water, weave, and wash
cloths Themen assistthemintendingbabies and fetching
waterfrom the canalsorfrom waterfalls The women also do
all agricultural work side by side with the men, except for
plowing and cutting big trees for shifting cultivation They
alsobuy and sellinthe marketplace
Land Tenure There was no private ownership in land
even intheearly twentieth century.The Chakma were at
lib-erty to choose any hill land for swiddensorflat land (between
thehills) for wet rice cultivation The Chakma and other hill
peoples arenowrequiredtotake grants ofland from the
gov-emment and to pay a land tax to the government The
Chakma rajatraditionally receivedasmall portion of tax on
swidden land
Kinship
Kin Groups and Descent The paribar (family) is the
basickinship unit in Chakma society Beyond the paribar and
bari (homestead), multihousehold compounds are the next
widestunit,themembersof whichmayform workgroupsand
help each other in other activities Nextarethe hamlets,
com-prised ofa number of bari.Theyformwork groups for
eco-nomicactivities requiring travel, such as swidden cultivation,
fishing,collecting, etc.Hamletpeopleareorganized and led
by a leadercalled the karbari The village is thenextlarger
group who arrange a few ritualstogether.Descentamongthe
Chakma ispatrilineal Whena womanmarries, sheleaves her
own family and is incorporated into that ofher husband
Property is inherited in the male line.Despite the
patrilineal-ity, some recognitionisgiventomaternal kin.Forexample,
an individual's mother'sfamily will participate inhis orher cremation ceremony
Kinship Terminology The patrilineal nature of the Chakma kinship systemis partially reflected inthekinship
terminology Thus,differentterms areusedtoaddressa fa-ther's brother and amother's brother andto address a fa-ther'ssisterandamother'ssister.Onthe otherhand,inthe
grandparental generation the distinction between paternal
and maternal kin disappears, with all grandfathers being called aju and allgrandmothersnanu Inthe firstdescending generation, thereisagainno distinction betweenpatrilineal and other types ofkin Thus father's brother's children, fa-ther's sister's children, mother's brother's children, and mother's sister's children are all termed da (male) and di (female)
Marriage and Family
Marriage Polygynous marriages are permissible among the Chakma, although they areless common today than in
the past Marriages areusually arranged by the parents, but opinions ofpotential spousesareconsidered If aboy and girl love each other and want to marry, the parents usually give theirconsentprovided the rules of marriage allow them to do
so Chakma rules of exogamyforbid marriage between people belongingtothesamegutti (orgusthi) This gutti may be de-fined as a patrilineage whose members traditionally traced descentfroma commonancestorwithin seven generations However, early in the present century a Chakma prince, Ramony Mohon Roy, took for his wife a woman related to him within five generations, both being descendants of the samegreat-grandfather Following this example, it has now become common for marriages to be allowed with anyone not patrilineally related within four generations The gutti seems
to have been redefined accordingly In more recent times, Chakma still say that marriage should not take place within the gutti, and yet it sometimeshappens that second cousins (the descendants of the same great-grandfather) are permit-ted to marry Virilocalresidence after marriage is the norm andpeople do not look favorably upon uxorilocal residence; however, rare instances of uxorilocal residence have been reported
DomesticUnit The family (paribar) usually comprises a husband and wife, together with their unmarried children However, there are instances of married sons with their wives and children living together with their parents in one paribar Usually all members of the paribar occupy a single ghar or house However, if a paribarexpands to the point where it is impossible or uncomfortable for all members to live under the same roof, one or two annexes may be added at the side of the main building But even whenthe paribar members live under separate roofs, they continue to cook and eat together Inheritance Property isdivided equally among the sons The daughters usually do not inherit Usually a younger son who cares for his parents in their old age receives the home-stead in addition to his share
Socialization Infants andchildren are raised by both par-ents and siblings In a three-generation family, grandparpar-ents also take active roles in socializing and enculturating the
Trang 4chil-60 Chakma
dren.TheyaretaughtBuddhistideologyat anearlyage
Re-spectfor eldersisstressed
Sociopolitical Organization
SocialOrganization Chakma societyishierarchically
or-ganizedonthe basis of age, sex,occupation, power,religion,
wealth, and education An older person is invariably
re-spectedbyayounger person The husbandis morepowerful
than the wifeinthefamily;anda man isaffordedmore status
outsidethefamily.PowerisunequallydistributedinChakma
society (see below) The society is also hierarchically
or-ganized on thebasis ofreligious knowledge and practiceas
follows: monks, novices, religiously devoted laymen, and
commoners Educated persons whoareengaged in
nonagri-culturalworkareespeciallyrespected.Wealth also influences
behaviorindifferent aspects ofsocial life
Political Organization The entire hill region of
south-easternBangladesh (which is dividedintothe threepolitical
andadministrative districts ofRangamati,Khagrachhari,and
Bandarban) isalso dividedintothreecircles,eachhavingits
own indigenous name: Mong Circle, Chakma Circle, and
BohmangCircle.Eachcircle,withamultiethnicpopulation,
isheadedbyarajaorindigenous chief,whoisresponsible for
the collectionof revenue and forregulatingtheinternal
af-fairs of villages within his circle The Chakma Circle is
headedbyaChakma raja(theMongandBohmongcirclesby
Marmarajas) Unlike the situation inthe othertwocircles,
Chakma Circle's chieftaincyisstrictlyhereditary
Each circleissubdivided into numerous mouza or
"reve-nuevillages" (alsoknownasgram,or'villages"), eachunder
a headman He isappointedby the district commissioner on
the basis of the recommendationofthe local circle chief The
postof headmanis not intheoryhereditary, but inpractice
usually itis.The headmanhas,amongother things, to collect
revenueand maintain peace anddiscipline within his mouza
Finally, each mouza comprises about five toten para (also
calledadam).These arehamlets,each with its own karbari or
hamletchief.He isappointedby the circle chief, in
consulta-tionwith the concerned headman The post of karbari also is
usuallyhereditary, but not necessarilyso Each hamlet
com-prises a number of clusters of households The head of a
householdorfamily is usuallya seniormale member, the
hus-band or father
In addition to these traditional political arrangements
(circle, village,andhamlet, each havingachiefor head), the
local government system (imposed by the central
govem-ment) has been in operation since 1960 For the convenience
of administration, Bangladesh is split into four divisions,
each under a divisional commissioner Each one is further
subdivided into zila, or districts The administrative head of a
zila is calledadeputy commissioner Each zila consists of
sev-eral upazila or subdistricts, headed by an elected upazila
chairman (elected by the people) He is assisted by a
govern-ment officer known as upazila nirbahi, the officer who is the
chiefexecutive there Each upazila consists of several union
parishad or councils An elected Chairman heads a union
parishad Several gram make up aunionparishad This
ad-ministrative setup isalsofound in the districts of the hill
re-gion TheChakma and other ethnic minority hill people are
increasingly accepting this local governmental system
be-cause the government undertakes development projects through this structure
Social Control Traditionally thevillageheadman would settle disputes Ifcontending partieswere not satisfied with the arbitration, they might make an appeal to the Chakma raja,the circlechief.Traditionallyhewasthehighest author-ity to settle all disputes.Todaythey can move to the govem-ment courts ifthey are not satisfied with the raja'sjudgments Although Chakma were usuallyexpected to get their disputes settled eitherby the headman or raja, they are now atliberty
togotothesecourts Inrecenttimes,depending on the na-tureandseriousnessofdisputes,the Chakmaareincreasingly doing this rather than settling disputes locally
Conflict Inthe past, the Chakmafoughtagainstthe Brit-ish imperial government several times but failed In recent times (since 1975), they have become aware oftheir rights They donotlikethe influx of the nontribal population in the hill region, and they considerit animportant cause of their growing economic hardships Therefore, since 1975, some Chakma (and a few from other tribes) have fought to banish nontribalpeople from the hill region The governmentis try-ingto negotiatewith the Chakma and other tribal elites to settle this matter It has already given some political, eco-nomic, andadministrative powers toelected representatives
of the Chakma and other hillpeople.These representatives (who are mostly hill men) are trying to negotiate with the Chakma (and other) agitatorsonbehalfof the government Manydevelopment projects have also been undertaken by the government in the hill region, so that the economic condition
of the Chakma and other ethnic peoples might improve gradually
Religion and Expressive Culture
Religious Beliefs TheChakma are Buddhists There is a Buddhist temple (kaang) in almost every Chakma village They give gifts to the temple and attend the different Bud-dhist festivals The Chakma follow Theravada Buddhism, their official and formal religion Buddhism dominates their life Indeed, it is now a unifying force in the southeastern hill region ofBangladesh,asBuddhismisthe common religion of Chakma, Marma, Chak, and Tanchangya These ethnic groups celebrate together at one annual Buddhist festival called Kathin Chibar Dan, in which they makeyam (from cotton), give it color, dry theyam, weave cloth (for monks), and formally present this cloth (after sewing) to the monks in
afunction The Chakma also believe in many spirit beings, including afew Hindu goddesses Some of these are malevo-lent while others arebenevolent They try to propitiate malev-olentspirits through the exorcists and spirit doctors (baidyo) They also believe inguardian spirits that protect them The malevolentspirits are believed to cause diseases and destroy crops
Religious Practitioners ManyChakma go to the temples
to listen to thesermons of the monks and novices They also give food tothe monks, novices, and theBuddha's altar The monksread sermons andparticipate in life-cycle rituals, but they do not take part in villagegovernment affairs In addi-tion tothe monks, exorcists and baidyo are believed to
medi-ate between humans and the world of spirits through
incanta-tions, charms, possession, and sympathetic actions
Trang 5Ghenchu 61
Arts The Chakmaarenoted fortwoarts, musicand
weav-ing.Thebamboo fluteispopularamongyoungmen,andgirls
playonanother kind of flute.Songsandepicpoemsaresung
Weaving is an essential accomplishment of women. They
makecomplextapestries on aback-strap loom called aben
They do theirown spinningand dyeing.
Ceremonies Chakma observe both Buddhist and
non-Buddhistceremonies.Theyobserve thedaysofbirth, enlight-.
enment, and death of the Buddha; they observe Kathin
Chibar Dan and other Buddhist occasions Villagers also
unitetopropitiatethemalevolentspirits.Individual Chakma
householdsmayalsoarrangeritualsto counteractillness and
crop damage.
Medicine Illnessis attributed to fright, spirit possession,
or animbalance of elementsinthebody.MostChakma will
still call in avillage baidyo.
Death and Afterlife The deadbodyisburnt;kin and
af-fines mourn for aweek, and then they arrange satdinna to
pray for peace for the departed soul The Buddhist monk
leads thecremation and satdinna
Seealso Bangali
Bibliography
Bangladesh, Government of(1983) Chittagong HillTracts:
District Statistics Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau ofStatistics
Bangladesh, Governmentof (1989). Statistical YearBookof
Bangladesh. Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau ofStatistics
Bernot, Lucien (1964). "Ethnic Groups ofChittagong Hill
Tracts." InSocial Research in EastPakistan, editedbyPierre
Bessaignet, 137-171 Dhaka:Asiatic Society of Pakistan
Bessaignet, Pierre (1958). Tribesmen ofthe Chittagong Hill
Tracts Dhaka:Asiatic Society of Pakistan
Dewan,BirajMohan (1969).ChakmaJatir Itibritta(The
his-toryof the Chakma) Rangamati: Kali Shankar
Ishaq, Muhammad, ed (1972) Bangladesh District
Gazet-teers: Chitta gong Hill Tracts Dhaka: Government of
Bangladesh.
MOHAMMED HABIBUR RAHMAN
Chenchu
ETHNONYM: jungle people
The Chenchus of Andhra Pradesh (formerly
Hydera-bad) inhabit the hilly country north of the Kistna River,
which forms the most northerly extension of the Nallamalai
Hills and is generally known as the Amrabad Plateau It lies
whole of the plateau belongs to the Mahbubnagar District,
but a few scattered Chenchus liveon the other side of the DindiRiverinthe district ofNalgonda.Inthe north the
pla-teau risessteeplyabout200meters overtheplainsandinthe south and east drops precipitously into the valley of the
Kistna River The Amrabad Plateau falls naturally into two
definiteparts:the lowerledgetothenortheast,withan
eleva-tionof about600 meters, thatslopeseastwards totheDindi
River,and thehigherrangestothesouthwest,averaging700
meters. Onthe lowerledge, where therearelargecultivated areas,lieAmrabad,Manamur,andothervillagesinhabitedby
Chenchus and others The higher ranges are a pure forest
area and are almost exclusively inhabited by Chenchus In
1971 there were 24,415 Chenchus
The Amrabad Plateau has three seasons: the hotseason, which lasts from themiddle ofFebruarytothe end ofMay,with
temperatures rising to 390 C; the rainy season, early inJune
until the end ofSeptember,and the winter from October to
February.Theupperplateauis adense forestjungleofbamboo andclimbers,withheavyrainfallintherainyseasonbutanarid sun-baked landinthe hotweather Thereis agreat varietyof
an-imals,suchasbears, panthers, hyenas,wildcats,tigers,antelope,
monkey, peacocks, jungle fowl,and snakes In 1941 theupper
plateau was declaredagame sanctuary.
Theeconomicsystemofthe Chenchusisprimarilyone
ofhuntingandgathering. The Chenchusdepend on nature
for nine-tenths of their foodsupply TraditionallyChenchus roamed the jungles, living under trees and in rock shelters Thecommonfoodwashoney,therootsoftrees, plants,and the flesh of animals caught in hunting. A typical day was
spentin gathering the fruits androots to beeatenthatday Gatheringmaybe doneinsmallgroupsbutisstilltodaya
sol-itary activity without cooperation from others Hunting is alsoasolitary rather thancooperative effort that rarely
pro-duces muchgame Huntingisdone withbow andarrow,
oc-casionally withagun No trappingorsnaring isdone Very
few things are cultivated-mostly tobacco, corn, andsome
millet-and little provision is made for "a rainy day" (i.e.,
there isno storing ofgrain). There is division of labor
be-tweenthesexes: menhunt, gather honey, and makebaskets;
womenprepare mostof the food Gatheringisdonebyboth
sexesalthoughthemen maygofurtherafield, evenspending
two to three days away from thecommunity A few buffalo
cows may be kept in avillage for milk but are not eaten.
Recently (ca 1943) most Chenchus livedin houses of bamboo and thatch.A partof thepopulationremains
depen-dentonfood collectedinthe forest(1943).Thisforces them
tofollow thetrainofthe seasonsandat certain timesof the year to leave the villagesforplaceswithmore water and in-creased probabilitiesfor collection of edible plants.
Perma-nentvillage sites are occupiedforten tofifteenyearsunless
diseaseravages acommunity andmanydeathsoccur.Thesize variesfrom threetothirteenhouses,withan averagenumber
ofsix or seven. The permanent house (gada iUlu) is solidly
built withacircular wattle wall and conical thatched roof and bamboo roof beams Temporary dwellings may be lowgrass
hutsor shelters constructed ofleafy branches
The principal units of social organization are the clan,
thelocalgroup,and thefamily.Thereis apronouncedlack of tribalfeelingwithfew traditions The tribepracticeclan
exog-amy.The clans arepatrilineal. Therearefourprincipalclan
Trang 662 Chenchu
groupson theupper plateau: (1) Menlur andDaserolu; (2)
Sigarlu andUrtalu; (3) Tokal,Nallapoteru, andKatraj; and
(4) Nimal, Eravalu, and Pulsaru.Villages areusuallymixed
clans.Individualsmay joinatwillanylocalgroupwith which
they haverelations;however, theyalwaysremain "linked" to
their homevillagewhere theirparents lived and wherethey
grew up Therethey arecoheirs totheland,whereasa man
livinginhis wife'svillageisonlya"guest."Thefamilyconsists
of thehusband, wife,andunmarried children The husband
andwife are partnerswith equalrights andproperty jointly
owned There is a concurrence ofpatrilocal and matrilocal
marriage.In thekingroupthere is aspiritofcooperationand
mutualloyaltythat is not seen atthe tribeand clan levels
The Chenchus speak a dialect ofTelugu interspersed
with anumber of Urduwords,asdomostpeople ofAndhra
Pradesh.Increasing exposuretotheplains peopleshas ledthe
Chenchustoadoptthe cult ofvariousdeities oftheTelugu's
Hindu religion
Bibliography
Fiirer-Haimendorf, Christoph von (1943) The Aboriginal
Tribes of Hyderabad Vol 1, The Chenchus London:
Macmillan
SARA J DICK
Chin
ETHNONYMS: 'kKxou and related words; Mizo (same as
Lushai), Zo, Zomi Also regional anddialect group names:
Chinbok, Chinbon, Dai, Kuku, Lai (same asHaka), Laizo
(same as Falam), Mara (same as Lakher), Ngala (same as
Matu),n'Men, etc.
Orientation Identification The Chin live in the mountains of the
Myanmar(Burma) -India border andinneighboring areasof
Myanmarand India "Chin"is anEnglishversionof the
Bur-mese name for these people (cognatewithasouthern Chin
word, 'kKxang, "apeople")whocall themselvesZo(orrelated
words),meaning"marginalpeople." "Chin"appliesstrictlyto
theinhabitants ofMyanmar'sChin State Onthe Indianside
of the border the major related people are the Mizo, or
Lushai,of Mizoram State TheKukiandHmararetheir
rela-tives in Manipur State The Plains Chin, orAsho, live in
Myanmarproper just east of Chin State
Location The Chinlivebetween92° and95° E,and20°
and26° N Forthemost partthis ishighmountain country
(thehighestpeakis3,000meters) with almostnolandlevel
enough forplowcultivation; villagesare foundatelevations
between about 1,000 and 2,000 meters. This region is not
drainedbyany major or navigable rivers. Ithas a monsoon
climate,withamarkedwetanddryseason.Annual rainfallis
locallyasmuchas230centimeters or more a year Inthehot
season (March to June) the temperature can reach about
320 C, whileinthe coldseason (November-February), after themonsoonrains,early-morningtemperatures atthehigher
elevations cansinkto afewdegrees of frost
Demography There have beennousefulcensusesofthe
BurmaChinina couple of decades, but reasonable
projec-tions from the figures of the 1950s indicate a population there ofperhaps 200,000, while the population of India's
Mizoram State isroughly halfamillion Outside these two
major areasthe Chin-related populationamounts to no more
thanafewtensofthousands The populationisunevenly
dis-tributed,butacrudeestimateofaveragepopulation densityis
at most80 persons per squarekilometer Therearefewtowns
ofany size The largestisAizawl, capitalof Mizoram State, withapopulation exceeding 100,000 Owing totheabsence
offlat lands and ready communications with majorplains
areas inIndia and Myanmar (Burma), the numberof
non-Chinpeoples livingintheregion is negligible
LinguisticAffiliation TheChin languages belong to the Kuki-ChinSubgroup of the Kuki-NagaGroupof the
Tibeto-Burman Family.They are alltonal, monosyllabic languages, and untilthe late nineteenth century,when Christian mis-sionariesdeveloped Roman alphabets foratleast the major
Chinlanguages (including Mizo),noneof themwas written Thereareexcellent grammars anddictionaries of such major languages asMizo, Lai (Haka) Chin, Laizo (Falam) Chin,
Tedim (Northern) Chin, and n'Men (Southern) Chin
History and Cultural Relations
Ourearliest notice of Chin is in stoneinscriptions inBurma
of thetwelfthcentury,which refertoChinliving inor
adja-cent tothe middle Chindwin Riverofnorthwestern Burma
In the next century the Chindwin Plain and the tributary Kabaw-Kale Valley wereconquered and settled by the Shan (a Tai-speaking people of the region), and fromthen on more andmoreof the Chin werepushed up into themountains(no
doubtdisplacing their close relatives alreadylivingthere).By
the seventeenthcentury these pressures increased owing to
theBurmese warswiththeKaleShan andwithManipur.This
brought about major population movements within the mountain region,and thepresentdistribution of peoples in
themountains goes backmainly to theeighteenth century
The Kukiareremnants ofpeople who were pushed out from the main Chin areas ofoccupation by the ancestors ofthe Mizo, andwhothen tookrefugeunder theprotection ofthe
maharajas of Manipur TheChin and Mizopeoples were
in-dependentof any major state untiltheimperial era when,in
the late nineteenth century,theywerebrought underBritish rule:the Mizo intheLushai Hills Frontier District of India, theChin intheChinHills ofBurma With theachievement
ofindependenceforIndiaandBurma in the late1940s,these
districts becamerespectively the Union Territory of Mizoram (Mizoram State within the Indian Union since the late 1980s) and the Chin Special Division, now ChinState, of
the Union ofBurma, now Myanmar However, in spite of
theirtraditionalfreedom from any semblance of outside rule
or administration before the colonialperiod, these peoples were dependent upon the plains civilizations of India and Burma.They gotallthe iron fortheirtools andweaponsfrom
theplains, which theyreforged locally, and they looked to the
Trang 7Chin 63
plains as the source for luxury goods (preeminently
brass-ware, someelaboratewovengoods, andgoldand silver) and
for their ideals aboutmoreluxurious social and cultural life
Their name, Zo, reflects this senseof their relative
depriva-tion, and their origintales also expand on this theme,
pur-porting to explain why the Burman or Assamese "elder
brother" of their original ancestor came to have all those
amenities and the Chin so few The Chinpeoplesgotwhat
they needed from the plains partly through trading the
pro-duce of their forests andpartly by raidingborder settlements
in the plains. Itwas this habit ofraiding plains settlements
(for goads,slaves,and humanheads-especiallyLushai raids
ontheteaplantationsof Cachar andAssam) that caused the
British, in the late nineteenth century, to occupythe Chin
and Lushai territories.
Settlements
With the exception ofafew administrative towns-such as
Aizawl, the Mizoram capital; Haka, capital of Chin State;
Falam, Tedim, Matupi, and Mindat in ChinState; and the
variousdistrict administrative towns inMizoram State-the
Chinpeoplesliveinagricultural villagesrangingin sizefroma
few dozento several hundred houses There are more towns
and fewer verysmallvillages in Mizoramnow because from
1964 until wellinto the 1980s Mizoramwasinsurgent
terni-toryinwhichthe Indiangovernmentinstitutedmassive
reset-tlement andvillageconsolidation Now,astraditionally, the
averagehousehold has about fivepersons in it.Villagestend
tobe situated welluponthehillsides, thoughsome areplaced
nearerthe smallstreamslower down.Villagelocation has
al-ways been acompromisebetween the need for defensibility
and the need foraccess to water. Housesandvillagesare
ori-ented according to the possibilities provided by the
convo-luted slopes. Houses are built on pilings, though in some
placesoneendortheuphillsiderestsdirectlyontheground.
Traditional houses are built of hand-hewn planks for the
mostpart, though the poorer ones have at least their walls
and floors made of split bamboo The roof is generally
thatched withgrass,butinpartsof northern ChinStatethere
are someslate roofs Nowadays corrugatedironoraluminum
sheetingisused whenpossible.The traditionalfloorplanisof
one main interior room-or at most two-with its central
hearth, afront veranda open in front but coveredbyaroof
gable,andfrequentlyashallowrearcompartmentforwashing
andvarious sorts ofstorage, which may have also a latrine
holein itsfloor Themajorlimitationonthesizeofavillageis
the accessibilityofagriculturalland.Thesepeople are
exclu-sively shiftingcultivators:theyclear andcultivate ahillslope
forone tofiveyears or so,then leave thatslopetofallow and
clear another forested slope in their territory The longer a
hillsideisfarmed,thelongerit mustlie fallowuntilfit foruse
again (twenty and more years in some cases), and it is not
thought manageabletohavetowalkmorethan12kilometers
or so to one's fields, sothat avillage's territory extends not
much above10kilometersfromthe settlementperiphery.An
averagehouseholdcanandmustcultivateafield of2hectares
or so.Traditionally,when thepopulationofavillageoutgrew
itseffectiveabilitytogetaccess tofarmtracts itwouldmove
as awhole,or somesmallergroupswould breakoff andmove
away from the parentsettlement Villages might also move
because ofvulnerabilitytoraids frompowerful neighbors,
be-cause of such inauspicious events as epidemics, or simply
because abettersitewasfound elsewhere Since theimperial period villageshave been forcedto remainstationary,and the
increasingpressureofpopulationonthe land has resultedin
deforestation, erosion, and depleted fertility, as fields have had tobe usedmore years in a row and the fallow periods
have been reducedsubstantially Fertilityalsodependsupon
the ashresultingfrom thefelling andburningof foreston a new hill slope Thus, the lengthening of the periods ofuse
and the shortening of the fallow periods have combined to
lessen theabilityof foresttoregenerate.Overuseand reduced forestrecoveryalsohave ledtoheavy growthoftoughgrasses
replacingforestgrowth duringfallowperiods,andthistoohas
set a severelimitonthesystemofshiftingcultivationasthe
population has grown
Economy Subsistence and Commnercia Activities The Chin are
nonpioneer shiftingcultivators Where soil and climate per-mit,theygrowdryhillrice astheirchiefstaple,andelsewhere, chieflyatthehigherelevationsinChinState,thegrainstaple
is one oranother kind ofmillet,maize,or evengrainsorghum, thoughthe lattergrainismainlyusedonlyfor thebrewingof thecoarservariety ofcountrybeer(zu).Cultivationisentirely
by hand, and the tools involved are mainly the all-purpose
bushknife,theaxe,thehoe (an essentiallyadze-hafted
imple-mentabout45centimeterslong), and,inplaceswhererice is grown, asmallharvestingknife Grownamidst thestaple are
avariety ofvegetablecrops, mainly melons, pumpkins, and,
mostimportant,various kinds ofpeas andbeans, onwhose
nitrogen-fixing properties the longer-term
shifting-cultiva-tioncycles of central ChinStatedepend crucially. Cottonis alsowidelygrown,though nowadayslesssobecause
commer-cial cloth hasrapidly displaced the traditionalblankets and clothes locallywoven onthe back-strap tension loom The traditional nativedyes werewild vegetable dyes such as
in-digo. Inthe southernareas akind of flaxwasalsogrown for
weavingcloth (chieflyforwomen'sskirts).Variousvegetable
condimentsarealsocommonlygrown,suchaschilipeppers, ginger,turmeric (alsousedtomakedye)androzelle(Hibiscus sabdariffa);theMizoinparticulargrowandeat agreatdealof
mustardgreens, andnowadays all sortsofEuropean
vegeta-blesare grown,especially cabbagesandpotatoes.Fruits,such
as shaddocks, citrons, and guavas, and such sweet crops as
sugarcane were traditionally unimportant Today there is somecommercialgrowingofapples,oranges,tea,andcoffee;
other commercial crops are also grown experimentally, but the chief hindrancetosuchdevelopmentsisthe fact that the
plainsmarketsinwhichthey mightbe soldarestilldifficult of
access.Tobacco haslongbeengrowninallvillages:it was
tra-ditionallysmokedgreen (cured by beingburiedinhotsand),
inclaypipes (laterinhand-made cigarettes) by men,and in small bamboo water pipes with clay bowls by women. The
nicotine-charged water produced by the latter is decanted into small gourd containers or other vessels kept,about the personand is widely used as a stimulant, beingheld in the mouth and then spat out.
Livestock such as pigs and fowl (less commonlygoats,
cows, and theoccasional water buffalo and horses) maybe
penned within or beneath the house; most notable is the
gayal (Bos frontalis), asemidomesticatedboyidforest browser
Trang 864 Chin
bred for meat and for ritual sacrifice, which constitutes a
major form of traditional wealth Dogs are commonvillage
scavengersalongwithpigs,and somedogsare usedin
hunt-ing Littlegameremainstoday,butformerlyallsortsofgame
were hunted including black and brown bears, all kinds of
deer (preeminently barking deer, also known as muntjac),
mountaingoats, gaur (Bos gaurus), various junglecats large
andsmall,andeven,fromtime totime,elephantsand
rhinoc-eroses,thoughthese havelongsincegonefrom the hills The
Bengaltigerwasrarelyhuntedbecause,as inmanySoutheast
Asian societies, itsspiritwas (andstillis) thoughtrelatedto
thehuman soul (the "wer-tiger" idea) and therefore hadtobe
treatedinmuch thesame way as asevered human head-that
is, it required expensive and ritually dangerous ceremonies.
IndustrialArts The traditionalmanufactures, other than
the reforged iron tools and weapons made with the
open-hearth double-bamboo pistols bellows, were mainly things
like bamboo andcane mats and baskets of allsorts and
red-firedutilitypottery; and theubiquitousweavingofblankets,
loincloths, and women's skirts and blouses Some of the
weavingemployed silk-threadembroideryandsingle-damask
weave, and themostelaborate formsweretraditionallycalled
vaai (civilized), suggestingthatanythingthat finemusthave
come originally from the plains. These things could have
been madebyanyone,butcertain personshadmorethan
or-dinaryskillandonlysomevillageswereendowed withpotting
clays, sosuchpersons andvillages becamepart-time
special-ists inthis work and traded theirwares (barteringforgrainor
other kinds of goods) in surrounding villages. There were
smiths who made the traditionalsilver-amalgam (later
alumi-num) jewelry-such as the bracelets, belts, earrings, rings,
and necklaces hung with imported beads and silver rupee
coins-aswellasbrasshairpinsandother items, but those
ar-tisanswere even fewerin number than theones mentioned
above indeed, the trade in the latteritems was akinto the
long-distance trade in heirloom goods, such as the great
gongsfrom Myanmar (Burma),brass vessels from India,and
other sorts ofitems that signified at least a nominal claim
upon thegoods of thevaai plains country
Trade All of thesemore expensive itemsconstituted the
basis of the prestige economy of thesehills and passed not
only bysale butbycirculation ofmyriadceremonialpayments
andfines (especiallymarriage-prices,blood-moneypayments,
andcompensationpaymentsfordefamation ofstatus).
Pres-tige goods andgayals-especially important fortheir use in
sacrifices associated with the "merit feasts" by which social
rankwas attained orvalidated-were the traditional wealth
ofthesepeople Furthermore, the display or announcement
of theentire arrayof whatonecurrentlyownedorhad owned
in life-symbolically indicated on carved memorial posts
erectedforprestigious dead-was the definitive sign ofone's
social and ceremonialrank Morespecifically,thepossession
ofasupposedly uniqueobject fromthe outsideworld, likely
to possess aunique"personal"nameofits own, wasespecially
important The idea behind the prestige economy is that
prosperityinthis worlddependsuponthe sacrificialexchange
ofgoodswithinhabitants ofthe Land of theDead,andonlyif
one had conducted feasts of merit would one and one's
descendants have wealth andwell-being Thus,too,the
con-tinuityoflineagebetweenthe dead andtbe livingwas
impor-tant; itwas especiallyimportantforanyone to be
memorial-ized after his or her death Memorial service was done not
only bythedisplayof wealth andbyitsfigurationon
memor-ialpostsandstonesbutalsointhecompositionofsongs (va hia) commemorating a man's greatness on the occasion of
oneof his feasts Sogreatlywerewealth andpossessionstied
upwithaperson'ssocialposition thatamong the most
hei-noustraditional offencesinthis societyweretheft, bastardy,
and thesupposedpossessionof "evileye" (hnam, the uncon-scious and heritable ability to cause harm by looking
envi-ouslyuponanother'sprosperity,or evensomeone's
consump-tionofagood meal).All thesesituations meantthatproperty
had failed topassbymeansofexpectedformalexchanges: it had passed instead by arbitrary expropriation, orthrough a
childborn outof wedlock without benefit ofmarriage-price,
orbymisfortune causedbymurderous envyofpossessionsto
whichone hadno legitimateclaim
Divisionof Labor The few classes ofpart-timecraft spe-cialistarementioned above.Womendomoreof the domestic tasks and all thetraditionalweaving.Theyarealso almost
ex-clusively the spirit mediums because male spirit familiars choose them Men alone cut down the forests andwork as
smiths Thereappeartobenofemale huntersor warriors
ex-ceptinlegends, probablybecauseno woman canholdinher
own name afeast of celebration for thekillingofamajor
ani-mal,or afeast of celebration ofahumantrophyheadorthat
ofatiger (Inall of thesecasesthepointis to tametheangry spirit of thedeceased animal or person and send it to serve one andone'sforebearsinthe Land of theDead.) Awoman can, however, hold adomestic feast ofmerit inthe name of her deceased husband, in which domestic animals are
simi-larlysacrificedonbehalf of theLandofthe Dead
Neverthe-less, only men can be village priests, who are mostly
ap-pointed bychiefs and headmen becausetheyhave memorized the required chants and formulas and know the ritual se-quences. Priests serve as mastersofceremony atthe feasts of merit and celebration and at the various kinds of rite of
placation-both cyclicalandsporadic-addressedtothe var-iousspiritownersofthe face of theland,greatand small
Al-mostall other tasks andactivities canbeundertakenbyeither sex; there have evenbeen historical instances ofimportant
female chiefs, who attained office through being widowed There are few ifany exploitable natural resources in these hills andvirtuallynomodern industry,atleastnothingmade for export Aside from the salaries of teachers and
govern-ment servantsof allsortsand the incomesof merchants and
shopkeepers,the main source ofmoney isthewages of Chin
who workonthe outside-preeminentlyinMyanmar,inthe armed forces
Land Tenure Thisaspectof Chin culture ishighly varia-ble Avillage has complete ownership ofits tract, andeven
the right to hunt in it must be requested from the village;
however, it ispossibleto rentlandsin anothervillage's tract
on anindividual or acommunal basis Village tract bound-aries arepreciselyindicatedbylandmarks Frequentlyagiven hillsidetract, or eventhe wholevillagetract,will beownedby
achieforotherhereditary aristocrat.The rightofachiefto
the dues andservices of hisvillagers infact derivesfromhis
ownershipof theland,while theultimateownership bya
vil-lage of its land as a whole derives from the heritable pact
madeby the ancestral founders of thevillagewith the spirit
ownersof the land Theparamount rightisownership, since
Trang 9Chin 65
it is to some extent atleastconveyablein marriage-prices or
by sale,andyet it isfarfromanabsoluteparamountright.For
instance, it is arguable whether conveyance of ownership
throughmarriage payments orsalecan everbeoutright
alien-ations ratherthan merelong-term mortgagings. Atleast in
theHaka(Lai) areaof central ChinState,individual
house-holds andpersons canhaveheritable,evenconveyable rights
(within village limits, perhaps) over individual cultivation
plotsin one or morecultivationtracts, forwhich theowner
owes payments tothechieflyparamount ownerthatare inthe
natureof bothtaxandrent.Yet should thesepayments notbe
made, the fieldownertechnicallycannotbeevicted-though
hemaybeexiled,physically assaulted,or evenkilled,because
the failure ofpayment is a rejectionofconstitutedauthority
Fruit trees, honeybee hives, and other exploitableitems on
the land may also be individually owned and conveyed
Housesites areownedsubjecttotherightof residenceinthe
villageatthepleasure of constituted village authority
Nowa-daysmuch of the landhaspassedinto true privateownership,
especially where modemcommercialcrops or apatchof
irri-gated rice are grown, more soperhapsontheIndian side of
the border thaninMyanmar Butinbothcountriesthereare
legalrestrictions onthe right ofnonnativeinhabitantsto own
landintheChin-Lushaicountry.
Kinship KinGroupsandDescent Descentis agnatic,with
epony-mousclans and lineages that tendto segmentfrequently: in
generalonefindsmaximallineagesandmajorandminor
seg-ments, theminor segmentoften beingcoextensivewith the
household Oftenonlythe minimallineagesegment isstrictly
exogamous-and the rapidity ofsegmentation can often
override even that proscription, so that marriage between
even half-siblings is in parts ofChin State not necessarily
penalized-though at least the legal fiction that clans are
themselvesexogamous iscommonlymaintained.Postnuptial
residenceisusuallyvirilocal, andit isviripatrilocalinthecase
of thesonwhowillinherit his parent's house Daughters
al-ways marry out of the household and noninheriting sons
marryneolocally Although polygynyisallowed,it isgenerally
confinedto aristocratswhocanaffordapluralityofwives or
who need more than one wifeto manage their households
and farmsorwhoneedtomakevariouspoliticallymotivated
marriagealliances.Morecommonly,onewifeisthoughttobe
quiteenough,andit istherare strongcharacterwho will have
severalwives in asingleestablishment-for theChin believe
that if thewiveshateoneanother, their fightswillmake the
husband's lifemiserable, and iftheyagreewithoneanother,
they'llcombineagainsthim.Besides,love matchesoccur
fre-quently,and oftentheywill override thecommonparental
ar-rangements formarriages ofstate thatengage couples from
infancy (For example,agirlmaysimplycamp onthe veranda
ofa young manwhois tooshytoask for herhand.)Chinmen
often love theirwives,andifa manrefers tohis wifeas inn
chung(the "inside ofIthespeaker's} house"),heiscertainly
fondof herandprobablyfaithfultoher Also,marriage
alli-ances are usually avoided because the ensuing obligations
often cause men to be dominatedby theirwives or bythe
brothers of theirwives.
Kinship Terminology The terminology is
bifurcate-merging,withanOmahacousinterminology,consistentwith
asymmetricalliance marriage Themenofall generationsin wife-takinglineages are classed with grandfathers, butinthe wife-taking lineages only those agnatically descended from theoriginalunionlinkingthelineagesareclassed with
grand-children Members of lineagesother than one's own, whoare noteitherwife givers or wifetakers,areclassed with one'sown lineage agnates accordingto sex and generation.There are
separate terms for younger siblings of the same sex as the
speakerand for youngersiblings of the oppositesex
Marriage and Family
Marriage With the exception mainly of the Mizo
(Lushai), the Chin peoples practice asymmetrical alliance marriage There is noobligation to marry into alineage to
which one is already allied; indeed, saveinthe demographi-cally relict Kuki groups of Manipur, diversification of
mar-riage connections is aleading strategicprinciple But it is pro-scribed under severe penalties-occasionally amounting to temporary exile from the community-to reverse the
direc-tionof marriage alliance (e.g.,tomarrya womanfroma wife-taking lineage) With the Mizo the rapidity of segmentation meansthat affinal alliances lapse almost as soon asthey are formed, and so there can be no question of their reversal Also,inasmuch as wife givers are at least ritually dominant overwife takers, it is oftennecessary to cement and renew an alliance by further marriages, both because a particular wife-giving lineage may provide auseful umbrella of wealth and power and because this lineage may be unwilling to let a prof-itable alliance lapse (which it will after three or four genera-tions); also,itmay insist onimposing more wiveswith a view
totakingin more marriage dues.Divorce, if the woman is said
tobe at fault, is cause for anattempt to recover all or much of thebride-price, either from her natalfamilyor, ifshe has run offwith another, from her seducer Divorce of a woman for no good cause is difficult because it constitutes an implicit of-fense against the wife givers
Inheritance Houses, land, and other major property, as well as succession to office (priestly or chiefly), pass from fa-ther to son Sometimes they pass by primogeniture,
some-timesby ultimogeniture, and sometimes by a combination of the two (e.g., house and household goods to the younger son, office and movable estate to the older) These matters vary evenfromlineage to lineage Certain classes of property that
awoman brings from her natal household to her marriage (chiefly valuable jewelry and the like) pass to one of her daughters upon either the marriage of the daughter or the death of the mother Even noninheriting sons have some right to expect their father to settle on them a portion of his estate while he is still alive, whenthose sons are about to es-tablish households of their own It is commonly thought that
anoninheriting son of a chief or other powerful man is likely
tobecome socially disaffected, footloose, volatile, and unreli-able,and this sort of person is called, in Lai Chin,
mihraw-khrawlh, "one who is constantly looking for the main
chance."
Socialization Both parents take care of infants, as do elder siblings of either sex; it is not rare to see even a distinguished chiefwith a baby in a blanket on his back or a child crawling all over him, and a child carrying a baby carrying an even smaller infant is not an unknown sight Mothers slap and
Trang 1066 Chin
scold childreneven toageof about 10or12,but thepowerof
thefather,atleastoversons,ishispowertowithholdsupport
and settlement Young boys are encouraged to throw
tan-trums so thattheymay grow up abitwildand willful
Chil-drenareweaned when the demands of thenextinfantare too
great, orby 18 months of age While thereis atendencyfor
tensions between fathers andsons to arise as sons comeof
age and need financial independence, theemotional bonds
between parents and childreningeneralare oftendeep and
lasting, and those betweendaughters and their mothersare
especially poignant: ifa woman becomes drunk she often
weeps, andit issaid then that sheis"thinkingof hermother."
Sociopolitical Organization
Northern and Central Chin andMizohavehereditary
head-manship or chieftainship and the associated distinction
between commoner and chiefly clans and lineages The
Southern Chin (includingthose ofMatupi) have neither
in-stitution.Inthe former groupssomevillageshaveasingle
par-amountheadmanorchief,while othersareruledbyacouncil
ofaristocraticchiefs, each ofwhom may have his own
net-work of followers eitherlocallyor inthe form ofsubordinate
chiefs and headmen of clientvillages. It is a mistaketo
sup-pose that villagesruled by thesecouncils are "democratic."
Whatdistinguishesa mereheadmanfromachief isthatonly
the lattercanhave othervillageheads under hisjurisdiction,
and notevery chiefis the headof a wholevillage.The dues
owed headmenarementioned aboveinconnectionwith land
tenureand deriveas arightfrom the exclusiveheritable
con-nectionbetween thevillage founder and his successorsand
the ultimate spirit owners of the village lands These dues
consistmainlyoftax/rentfor therighttocultivateland anda
hindquarterofanylarge-sizedwildordomestic animalkilled
in the territory Furthermore, a headman, chief, or major
landowning aristocrat can demandvarious sorts of services
from his client households,such asfarm work, house
build-ing, andassistance atfeasts,rites, andceremonies.Headmen
orchiefs also coulddemandpublicwork and sentry/warrior/
messenger service from the young men Acting in council
with their peer household heads inthevillage,these leaders
alsoconstitute aformalcourtforadjudicating legalcasesand
levying fines.All theserightsandoffices have been abolished
in recentdecades Formerlyitwasusual fortheyoung people
of thevillage, especiallytheyoung men,tobeorganizedas a
cadre forsuch service purposes, and in thosecircumstances
theytendedto reside, from before theirteens untilmarriage
or beyond, in a ceremonial bachelors' house (the Lai and
Lushai word zawlbukis its best-known name) This
institu-tionhaddisappearedbefore the middle of this century When
itstillexisted, either the youngwomenvisited the youths in
the bachelors' house atnight,ortheyoungmen roamedthe
village and spentthe night courtingat the houses of young
women. Today, thepower ofachief, inthe strictsense,
de-rivesfrom either the threat or exercise offorce or from the
fact that satellitevillagesmayhavesplit offfrom the mother
village wherethe chiefresides The chief's abilitytodemand
giftsandassistance inwarfare fromclientvillagesis enforced
by threat ofreprisal andbythe fact thatthechief will
com-monlymake himself wife givertohisclient headmen who are
notof hisownlineage Throughmarriagegifts and payments
he is also likely toacquire landholdings in thesatellite
vil-lages Rank differences are complicated On the one hand,
thereistheprinciple that rank ishereditary by clans, but,on the otherhand,it isjurally recognizedthat wealth can
effect-uallyraisethe rank of a lineage segment.Withwealth, one
cangive the necessary seriesof feasts of merit and
celebra-tion,with theobjectofpersuading other born aristocrats to attendandacknowledgeone'sclaims;there arealways aristo-cratswho have fallenuponhardtimes,who arewillingto
ac-cept inflated amounts for the ceremonial attendance pay-ments and inflated bride-prices for their daughters in
marriage to a born commoner Such complicated marriage maneuvers, madepossibleby wealth,arenecessaryinorderto elevate one'srank,foronlya manwhosemajorwife is of
aris-tocraticlineage cangivethehigherfeasts All of this forms the basisof anaturally inflationary cycleof theprestige
econ-omy These processes and rankambiguitiesaresupported by
thetendency forlineagestosegmentrapidly, sothat an up-wardly mobile lineage segment can readily dissociate itself
from itslineagefellows.Still,tobe an aristocratbyclan mem-bershipgivesone abetter claimtothe rank andbetter ritual
privileges,andit is not uncommonformembersof commoner clanstoinsistthat for them the veryidea ofclanmembership
ismeaningless.Chin society also usedtoinclude slaves.Some slaves were warcaptives,while others chose slaveryas a way
outofdebtor asprotection from revenge feuds.Slaverywas strictly hereditary only through females.Afemale slavewas
considereda member of heraristocratic owner'shousehold, with the interesting consequence that her marriage-pricewas often greater than that of a commonergirl, though it was
neverequaltothat ofanaristocrat'sdaughterevenbya
com-monerminorwife TheSouthern Chin had only small-scale
feasts ofmerit,whichsecuredonly nonhereditary ritual pres-tige to thegiver's household
Social Control There arefivemain sources ofcontrol: (1)
theideologythatseesall social relationsasdefined by
ritual-ized exchanges of property, which binds people to one an-otherinthe expectationofmaking property claims on each
other; (2) the threatofforce (feuding and revenge are
com-mon) and the associated need of mutual cooperation for
de-fense; (3)the power ofhereditaryheadmentomonopolize
rit-ual access tothe spiritworld, directly and through appointed
orhereditary villagepriests,withoutwhich the spirits would
make lifeintolerable; (4) fearthat one's bad reputation and actions will preclude one's going to the Land of the Dead afterdeath; and (5) the closely related ideology of mutual assistancewithin the community
Conflict Many of the causes offeuds have already been mentioned The most common causes of warfare between
villages, however, were the following three: disputes over women;disputesoverlandrights (not uncommonly having to
do withaccesstothe veryfewandessential saltwells in the whole region and totrade routes within and to outside re-gions); and disputes over property, usually property claims stemmingfrommarriage alliances andtributary relations It was notunusualtotake humanheads in raids on other
vil-lages,and thisheadhuntingconstitutedsomething of an in-dependentmotivationfor warfare, since one's prosperity de-pended uponone'sability to aggrandize one's own forebears
inthe Landofthe Dead and for that purpose one needed to
ensure them a regular supply of slaves This object was
achievedby taking heads and celebrating them, which tamed