It may be assumed without fear of much controversy that the literature of the Mizos sprang up independently of the myriad native literature flourishing in this culturally rich nation, an assumption justified by the fact that Mizos are of Tibeto-Burman stock having little or no socio-cultural affinity with either the Aryan or Dravidian races or the Austrics who form the bulk of the Indian populace. The long migration of the Mizo people from the T’ao valley in China to their present habitat had matured their cultural and religious life sufficiently for distinction from their neighbours. The long years of isolation from other more civilized people had a preservative effect. The pristine simplicity and naïve innocence of the people is in sharp contrast with the sophisticated and complex attitudes of the more progressive people around them from whose detrimental influence Providence seems to have kept them for a special purpose. This age of innocence is the early period of Mizo literature, a vast oral tradition and valuable heritage which the intervention of Christianity has transformed into a miracle of social development in less than a hundred years. It is impossible to project the panorama of the virgin songs of a people who are, perhaps, after Wordsworth’s own heart, in close daily contact with nature. It is a tempting thought that the earlier pre-Christianized literature possesses more human spirit than the Christianized literature which offered a sheepish hope of an underserved heaven in exchange for the more heroic idea of an earned Pialral corresponding to Valhalla or Elysium of similar warlike people elsewhere. If we assume the soul of all literature to be the whole-blooded expression of man’s heroic response to an environment hostile to his dreams and ideals, one may bravely assert a pagan literature as superior to a literature of higher inspiration; for heroism remains the highest standard of human aspiration, while it had been observed, “A strong faith tends to render tragedy impossible.” [1]
The People:
It is difficult to decide on a creditable history of the Mizos from hitherto available research. Subsequent researches seem to have no better recourse than the pioneer British administrators but available oral folklore and tradition as their source materials. Reference pointing to Mizos in their generic name ‘Kuki’ was made as early as 1512 AD by Col. T.H. Lewin in his Progressive Colloquial Exercises, showing that it referred to the dwellers of the so-called Lushai Hills irrespective of clan names. Mizos lived in a community of 50 – 300 houses with a hereditary chieftain who ruled by counsel of advisers called Upa(s). Livelihood being dependent on agriculture and hunting for meat, shifting from hill to hill every decade or so, and security being primary concern, development in modern concept did not seem to be a primary concern of the Mizos.
The language or languages spoken by the Mizos belong to the Tibeto-Assam branch of the Tibeto-Burman family. The major clans speak different dialects but having strong and direct links to one another. In time the Duhlian dialect of the politically dominant Lusei clan became the lingua franca of the majority of communities under the umbrella of the Mizo nationality.
This dialect received a further boost when Christian missionaries, Rev. F.W. Savidge and Rev. J.H.Lorrain arrived in 1894, who reduced the language into writing, using a simple and effective phonetic Hunterian system in Roman script. An earlier practice of using Devanagiri script in the then British colonial administration was soon substituted with the new A Aw B system of writing, though, as Pu Buanga himself confessed, there was something to be desired for a fuller and more developed system of writing.
The Literature:
The pioneer missionaries lost no time in teaching the local inhabitants the skill of writing who assiduously learned the new skill, and in no time became an educated society capable of taking the education process into their own hands. While the missionaries carried on the work of evangelization by translating religious matter, a number of secular writings appeared from the hands of a first few educated Mizos with the result that what we may regard as native literature sprang up which may be briefly summarized as follows.
1. Prose and Periodicals: The first book in Mizo language on record is the education Primer titled Mizo Zir Tir Bu was dated 1895. Almost in sync with translations of Bible portions by the missionaries which were published in England, printing was introduced in Mizoram with the hand-press machine brought in by Dr Fraser in 1908. Earlier, J.Shakespear, the British administrator had published what may be called the first periodical in Mizo language called Mizo leh Vai Chanchinbu in 1902 which was printed in Sylhet. The first printing of periodical religious literature called Krista Tlangau (later changed to Kristian Tlangau) by Mizos themselves in 1911 with the machine brought by Dr. Fraser. These precursors of modern print media contributed immensely to dissemination of knowledge both religious and secular and were the instrument of unifying rural and urban society intellectually and politically.
Colonialism in Mizoram worked positively for the Mizo people by promoting peace with the effect that young people’s martial temper was substituted with a new ambition to achieve the white collar dignity. The new educated generation became the torch-bearers of Mizo literature. Prose writings of exceptional quality flowed from the pens of writers such as (to name only the first prominent ones) Kaphleia, (who wrote what may be regarded as the first literary essay in Mizo), R.L.Kamlala, C.|huamluaia, K.C.Lalvunga (Zikpuii Pa), J.Malsawma (Thanpuii Pa), and James Dokhuma.
2. Poetry: The main characteristic of early Mizo poetry is the spontaneity of its composition for an occasion, usually in a couplet and triplet stanza forms, which later on another poet embellish with fresh stanzas. The earliest extant poems correspond to nursery rhymes, a number of them actually used by children at play, chanting them with accompanying actions in play. e.g.
Pang aw inzial inzial, pangpui aw inzial inzial;
Children joining hands would roll into a bundle, and at the line
Pang aw inphelh inphelh, pangpui aw inphelh inphelh;
they would unroll again.
It is a common feature of primitive society to possess war-cries and hunting-cries. Mizos had several such cries in the form of proud declarations of victory over a conquered foe whose head was a proud trophy. Such is Bawh hla:
Kei chu e, ka sentet an sa leh doral ka pianpui e,
Ka do e, rimnampa e, thlangchem e, aikim min ti u law.
(Born was I with game and foe,
I kill whom I fought, the smelly one, ‘kill all’ I am.)
they would unroll again.
It is a common feature of primitive society to possess war-cries and hunting-cries. Mizos had several such cries in the form of proud declarations of victory over a conquered foe whose head was a proud trophy. Such is Bawh hla:
Kei chu e, ka sentet an sa leh doral ka pianpui e,
Ka do e, rimnampa e, thlangchem e, aikim min ti u law.
(Born was I with game and foe,
I kill whom I fought, the smelly one, ‘kill all’ I am.)
Higher education and readings in great literature fostered a new dream. A new stream of poetry flowed from the minds of educated young men who felt a new calling, altruistic enthusiasts who desired to build their new Jerusalem in these pleasant hills of Mizoram. Their poetry oozes the love of their native hills, rejoicing in the peace and harmony of its nature. Euphoria of discovering a new patriotism is the key of Rokunga’s songs:
Kan zo tlang ram nuam hi chhawrpial run i iang e,
Hal lo ten lungruala kan lenna,
(Our pleasant hills seem like a mansion in the sky,
Where in peace and harmony we live.)
3. Drama: Drama in Mizoram began with performance of Biblical stories on religious occasions. Progress in the dramatic art, however, was arrested owing perhaps to the socio-economic set-up of the Mizo society which does not afford the necessary leisure demanded by the actual performance of plays. The first original composition in Mizo drama on record is Lalthangfala Sailo’s Sangi Inleng which was first performed in 1959. Subsequent works of dramatic literature has not been directed towards stage performance in spite of sincere efforts by a few enthusiasts. The absence of theatrical performance, however, has never been felt in the society probably because religious activities through the years sufficiently fill any leisure that may create a sense of monotony. The situation seems in favour of the few play writers in a way that liberate their handiworks from the rigorous discipline of stage narrative.
4. Fiction: As soon as the language came to be written and read, demand for reading material was felt so widely that handwritten copies of translated novels were circulated hand to hand even in rural villages where young groups of listeners lay on cool bamboo floors raptly listening to love stories in translation like Romeo and Juliet, Thelma, Irene and Malory, etc. Original works of fiction soon appeared such as Hawilopari by L.Biakliana, (acclaimed as the first Mizo novel), and Chhingpuii by Kaphleia, Thlahrang and Phira leh Ngurthanpari by Lalzuithanga, deserving mention for skillful weaving of plot and sustained interest. One is wistful, however, for a novel sharp enough to slice through layers of frozen moral pretensions, for a character to explode the unconscious. What followed may be called the most fruitful era of Mizo literature chiefly on the credit of the restless pens of men like Capt. C.Khuma, Lalsiama, James Dokhuma, Zikpuii Pa (K.C.Lalvunga).
What more deserve mention lies beyond our horizon.
[1] G.Wilson Knight, The Crown of Life, Methuen, 1982, p. 35.
Reading List:
1. History of Mizo Literature, Department of Mizo, Mizoram University, Aizawl, 2013
2. Lalhruaitluanga Ralte, Zoram Vartian, Fineprints, Aizawl, 2008
3. Lalzama, Dr., Mizo Language & Literature: Emergence and Development, KL Offset, 2017
Blogger's Note: This article is a revised and updated edition of Prof. R. Thangvunga's assessment on the same topic published here in September 2008. As someone who is now in knee-deep contented retirement after happily leaving behind the world of academics and research, it is quite a feat that he has pulled off here to give us this presentation on an issue that he is still unquestionably a master of.
Thank you so much once again, Pu Vungtea!
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