The Old Kukis who appeared in Cachar about 1780 are described by Lieutenant Stewart as being divided into three clans called Rhangkol, Khelma, and Beteh. The first and last are known in the Lushai Hills as Hrangchal and Biate respectively, but the Khelma, whom Dr. Grierson identifies as the Hallam, seem to have emigrated entirely. The Hrangchal and Biate are two of many clans collectively known to the Lushais as Hmar—i.e., North—from the position of their villages with reference to those of the Lushais, and among themselves as Khawtlang and Khawchhak—i.e., Western and Eastern Villages I have found representatives of 16 clans in the Lushai Hills and adjoining portions of Manipur. The most important are Loitlang, subdivided into six families; Hrangchal, with four families; Thiak, with five families; and Biate, with the same number. The old village sites of many of these clans are still called by their names. The Hrangchal are said to have had a large village at Vanlaiphai, in the centre of which valley is a large memorial stone with many carvings on it, which is said to have been erected in memory of Chonluma, a famous Hrangchal chief of bygone days. The Biate assert that when they lived on the hill of that name they were attacked by huge eagles, and had to build stone shelters in which to hide their small children. These erections are still to be seen, and consist of three rough slabs of stone with a fourth as a roof, the whole structure being only about 2 to 3 feet high. It was the Biate, also, who fed Rulpui, as has been described in Part I., Chapter V, 3. The Lungthau, a minor family, attribute their downfall to an attack by Chuckmahs, which led to their seeking refuge with the Sailo chief Lalsavunga, and forming a village at Kelsi, near Aijal, where they were under his protection.

When the aggressions of the Thangur chiefs disturbed the Khawtlang and Khawchhak one section fled through the country of the Thados into Cachar, another took refuge among the Chhinchhuan, a Thado family in the southern portion of the Manipur Hills, to whom they paid tribute, and a certain number joined the Thangur villages. Between those who fled to the Chhinchhuan and the Lushais hostilities were carried on until our arrival in 1890, and, as in the case of the Vuite, we found many of them living in a state of semi-slavery in the Sailo villages, whence they have mostly rejoined their relatives, and there are now 296 households of these people in the south-west of the Manipur Hills and more in the adjoining parts of the Lushai Hills. Lieutenant Stewart, in his description of the “Old Kukis,” states that ordinarily the dead are cremated, warriors only being buried. I have never heard of any clan in these hills which cremates its dead. The custom may well have died out owing to the natural wish of the relatives to do honour to the deceased by according him the honours of a warrior. Lieutenant Stewart describes a regular marriage ceremony conducted by the headman of the village, at the foot of a large stone erected in the middle of the village. As far as my enquiries go, the marriage ceremonies differ very little from those of the Lushais.

The dress of the men is the same as among the Lushais, but the women wear a petticoat with a broad white line between two narrower blue ones, and dress their hair in a long plait wound round the head. Zawlbuks are not maintained, but in other respects their villages resemble those of the Lushais. The village organisation is more democratic, the chief being replaced by a headman. The honours of “Thangchhuah” and admission to Pial-ral are obtained by three times celebrating the Buh-ai festival. There is no restriction as to having windows.

When a young man wishes to marry he sends messengers bearing a blue and a white cloth, a hoe, and a pot of liquor to the girl’s parents. This is called “In hawn.” If the articles are accepted the marriage takes place as soon as the necessary amount of zu can be prepared. The bride’s parents kill a pig and the two families feast together. The girl is conveyed to her husband’s house by the men who arranged the marriage, the party being pelted with dirt as among the Lushais.

In case of adultery, it is the seducer, not the woman’s relatives, who have to compensate the injured husband. This is the common rule among non-Lushei clans.

A boy is named seven days and a girl five days after birth, a red cock being killed and zu drunk. The maternal uncle gives the name.

In common with many Old Kuki clans, the dead are buried in a special cemetery outside the village. The corpse of a “Thangchhuah,” dressed in fine cloths and the head adorned with a chaplet of the tail feathers of the hornbill, is carried round the village on a bier by all the old people of both sexes, encircled by a ring of dancers singing a dirge to the accompaniment of drums, and followed by the widow dressed in the scantiest rags and raising loud lamentations. A halt is called opposite the house of every person of importance, and the inmate is expected to regale the party with zu. The circuit of the village completed, the corpse is carried to the grave and buried with rice and other eatables and a flagon of zu. A rough representation of a house is built over the grave and food and drink are placed in it for a year. The grave is fenced round and the heads of any animals which have been killed in the deceased’s honour are placed on posts. At the close of a year a cane is stretched between poles over the grave, and from it are suspended pieces of cloth, small baskets containing tobacco and linseed, and the bodies of small animals and birds. This is the final ceremony, and the spirit is supposed to have no further concern with this world.

The Biate in the Lushai Hills worship the images in the Bhuban caves, but I am told that those in the North Cachar Hills differ in this respect. The three images are called Bolawng Raia, Chhinga Raia, and Maituki Raia, Raia being a corruption of Rajah. A fowl, a pig, two eggs, and two kinds of jungle vegetable called “chinghrut” and “hruitung” are offered to these deities outside the village once a year. The following tale is told to account for this worship of images, which is so opposed to general custom:—Long ago Zatea stole a mithan belonging to two Biate chiefs, Chonlut and Manlal, and on their trying to recover their property they were severely wounded. On their way home they noticed that the leaves of the “bung” tree, a species of Ficus, attached themselves to their clothes, and at night they dreamt that the leaves spoke, saying, “Do not throw us away; we are sent by the gods of the Bhuban caves to heal you.” They applied the leaves to their wounds and were soon healed, and then set off in search of these new gods.3 It is probable that in the course of their wanderings the Biate at one time lived near the Bhuban, and in that case their adopting the figures as local deities is quite in keeping with what has happened in other clans. Thus the Chiru worship the god of Kobru, though their settlement near that hill is of recent date. The Zote, a clan very closely allied to the Biate, after sacrificing a mithan, place bung leaves in a basket at the foot of the memorial post and throw them away with the “sherh” after three days. This clan pays special honour to Chhura, and after a mithan sacrifice a knotched pole called Chhura’s ladder is placed against the gable of the house, and the skull, tail, and entrails are placed over it for three days. The jawbones are hung on a branch specially left for this purpose when the memorial post is being trimmed; a rough fence is made round the posts, on which matting representations of pythons and a bow with an arrow adjusted are hung. The latter is said to drive off the Huai, and reminds one of the similar custom of the Manipuris on the occasion of erecting the first post of a house.