Bnei Menashe -The Lost Tribe of Israel in Mizoram

My pre-travel research  told me that this is one group I must seek out and meet in Aizawl. All through the trip, in Aizawl, In Lunglei, in Thenzawl and in Sirchip, I’d seen numerous retail outlets with typical Jewish or Israeli names.

The presence of these everywhere made me think that it would be easy to find the people and was putting off the ‘finding-out’ for another day.

Right after the Chapchar Kut festival as I was walking back to the taxi with my English speaking guide Emily, I suddenly noticed this board :

I told Emily I’d like to meet them and we walked into the building and up the stairs to their office.  She went in and came back with the news that the office people were in a meeting and would be free in awhile.

As I prepared to park my bags and get comfortable during the wait, a lady came out and welcomed us in. They had interrupted their meeting to receive us. (The hospitality and graciousness is such an endearing feature of North East Indians).

There were about ten people sitting on the benches facing the worship altar. (Please excuse any errors that may arise because of my ignorance of the correct vocabulary)

Over tea and puris, the lady – the chairperson began telling us all about their people in the Mizo language and Emily intermittently translated her words.

Here are a few things I learnt :

That these descendents are now spread over Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura and Myanmar and number about 200,000.

That DNA testing was done a few years ago and the genetic lineage was established.

Te Bnei Menashe or descendents of Joseph, Menashe and Ephraim travelled found their way to Mizoram along the following route:

BC 722    :  Israel

BC 621    : Asuria

BC 523    : Afghanistan

BC 340   : Vietnam

BC 320   : Japan

BC 212   : Mongolia

BC 5       : China

AD 333  : Tibet

AD 1230 : Burma

AD 1304 : Plainchin

AD 1400 : Kallay Hills

AD 1558 : Mizoram

Here are a few pictures of the meeting room and the members.

     

     

Fascinating cultural migration!

Back to Mizoram Mosaic

jm

March 2012

Mizoram Diaries

Mizoram.

A landscape of blue mountains. Rising above white clouds and mist. Green. Pristine.

Located in the North East of India.

With a population of 10,00,000. Spread over half a dozen small towns and numerous villages, all on hilltop ridges.

Home to one of the “Lost Tribes of Israel”.

And to the man who holds the record for the highest number of wives.

Creators of the amazing textile art.

Mizoram – the remotest state in North East India.

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Some noteworthy aspects of Mizo lifestyle:

The youngest son inherits all the property while the eldest sons move out of the parent’s house after they get married. The youngest son is expected to stay on and look after the parents in their old age.

In modern day Mizoram, wills are recognized.

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Principles of ‘self help’ and cooperation prevail. Under the system called ‘Hnatlang’ the villagers are expected to contribute labour for the welfare of the community. Inter village paths, community halls, water points are constructed & maintained by hnatlang.

Under a parallel system the  ‘tlawmngaihna’ community services are rendered to people in distress. When anyone goes missing (a not-so-infreqent occurrence given the jungle paths and rough hilly terrain combined with heavy monsoons) search parties are organized as part of the hnatlang. Signals in case of distress are passed on from village to village.

This is now instituted and the Young Mizo Association, of which every young Mizo male is a member, carries out the functions of communal social support. Burials, weddings, and any social event in the life of an individual that require people resources that are beyond the reach on an individual and necessitate the involvement of others, are carried out not on a commercial basis but through the effort and support of the YMA.

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The Zawlbuk or the bachelor’s dormitories are anoter interesting feature of Mizo communities. Every village had a Zawlbuk or a big hall in which all the village bachelors slept at night. Women wee not allowed inside the hall.

In the Zawlbuk, young men were trained in life skills such as manly behavior and the Mizo way of life.

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Tobacco is grown in the jhooms and men, women and children all smoke. Pipes of men and women differ as the women smoke through water, while the men smoke it directly. The nicotine-water from the pipes of the women is preserved and used in mouthfuls by men as a substitute for tobacco smoke especially when they travel.

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Mizos brew alcohol from rice called ‘zu’. Before their conversion to Christianity, sometimes there would be village feasts in which the entire village population got drunk for days together.

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The following articles and photo-essays outlining my visit  will be put up over the next few weeks.

1. The Chapchar Kut Harvest Festival

2. Zion-A the man with 39 wives

3. Bnei Menashe – The Lost Tribe of Israel in Mizoram

4. Alternate Sexuality Traditions 3 – The Lushai Custom

5. The Lunglei Museum

jm

Mar 2012