About Kuki Tribe:
- The Kukis are an ethnic group including multiple tribes originally inhabiting the Northeastern States of India, including Manipur, Mizoram and Assam; parts of Myanmar, and Sylhet district and Chittagong hill tracts of Bangladesh.
- The Chin people of Myanmar and the Mizo people of Mizoram are kindred tribes of the Kukis and are collectively known as the Zo people.
- Notably, Kuki is not a term coined by the ethnic group itself, the tribes associated with it came to be generically called Kuki under the colonial rule, and were further divided by the British into ‘old Kukis’ and ‘new Kukis’.
- The Kukis have a rich cultural heritage, with institutions like Sawm and Lawm playing significant roles in their society.
- Sawm is a community center for boys where they learn under the guidance of elders, while Lawm is a youth club that fosters social activities and practical skills
- The Kukis traditionally engaged in shifting or Jhum cultivation in the forested hills, which allowed them to expand their settlements through the wooded areas over generations.
- Their expansionist land ownership patterns due to Jhum cultivation put them at odds with the Nagas, who practised territorial agriculture, and the Meiteis, who lived in the cultivated valley areas.
Kuki Rebellion of 1917-19:
- The first resistance to British hegemony by the Kuki people was the Kuki Rebellion of 1917-19, after which their territory was subjugated by the British and divided between the administrations of British India and British Burma.
- Up until their defeat in 1919, the Kukis had been an independent people ruled by their chieftains.
