abstract - Zomi Online Library

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extremities, the Chief Commissioner waived the condition previously imposed which required the surrender of the Shwe
Gyo Byu Prince and made no mention of the demand for the delivery of guns by the Sokte and Siyins.(pp. 32-33)
9.7.4 Organization and Objects of the Expedition “...Orders for an expedition from Burma and Chittagong, to be styled
the Chin-Lushai expedition, were issued from Army headquarters on
5th September 1889. The troops operating from Burma were to be divided into two columns, one called the Fort White
column operating from Fort White as a base against the Siyins and the tribes between the base and the Manipur river,
the other called the Gangaw column starting from Gangaw as a base and advancing via Yokwa on Haka. A force called
the Chittagong column was to march from Lunglei to Haka, msking the road as it advanced. After the arrival of the force
at Haka, flying columns were to move northward against the Tashons and in such other directions as the General Officer
in command might decide in consultation with the Political Officer. Thhe objects of the expedition were declared to be
the punishment of tribes which had committed raids in British territory and had declined to make amends, the
subjugation of neutral tribes which had come within our sphere of dominion, the exploration of the country between
Burma and Chittagong, and the establishment, if possible, of semi-permanent posts in the hills to ensure complete
pacification and the recognition of British power. Brigadier-General W.P. Symons was placed in command of the
expedition with full control in political as well as military matters...The Southern column[the Gangaw column] which was
to advance from Kan into the southern Chin Hills under General Symons, consisted of 1,869 men. The Northern
column, which was to operate from Fort White, consisted of 1,622 men under Colonel Skene...“(Carey & Tuck, pp. 32-42)*
9.8. HISTORY OF THE LAIS(HAKAS, KLANGLANGS, YOKWAS, KAPI AND THETTAS)
(pp. 152-163)
9.8.1 Origin of the Lais The clans which claim the title of Lais are the Hakas, Klangklangs, Yokwas, Thettas,
and Kapis, as well as certain other independent southern villages. The first two are
universally acknowledged as Lais, and refuse to admit that the others belong to their race, asserting that they are of a
different origin. The tradition is that there was a village of huge size called Yoklang, which covered the hill upon which
Kwarwa now stands, and that thence two brothers, Seo Hle abd Hlwa Sha, sons of grandsons of Chiefs, started south
and eventually founded a village which they called Pailan, 3 miles north of Haka and just below where the Falam mule-
track now runs. Seo Hle, the elder, asserted his right to be Chief of the newly formed village and insisted that Hlwa Sha
should give him a pig once a year in token of his overlordship. To this Hlwa Sha pretended to agree and only asked that
he should be allowed to kill the animal while Seao held it. The pig was therefore produced, but as Seo Hle stooped down
to seize it, Hlwa Sha stabbed him to the heart with the bamboo pike which had been prepared for killing the pig.
9.8.2 Legendary information Hlwa Sha was now in undisputed possession, but believing that the place where he had
of Lai communities slain his brother would bring ill-fortune to his village, he removed to the hillside upon which
Haka now stands, and allowed hi people to build in scattered hamlets. Several generations
after, Tan Hle, Yatang, and Bong Long, three brothers in direct descent from Hlwa Sha, began to collect the scattered
people into villages, and about the same time two Chiefs of Yoklang and Mwel Lun and Ting Lon, founded Klangklang,
while villages began to form at Yokwa, Thetta, and Kapi, the three later tracing their descent to a wild goat which
conceived and gave birth to a man on the top of a precipice called Boi Hrum(the Chief‘s jungle) close by...
9.8.3 Distribution of territories There was now an enormous tract of country at the disposal of the Haka Chiefs, and
certain portions appear to have been alotted to each, and it became the custom for
the younger branches of the chief families to leave the mother-village and found villages in the newly acquired territory
under the protection of, and paying tribute to, the Hakas. Thus the sons of Tat Sin were settled in Aibur, Bwe, Dongvar,
and other villages; Lyen Hnon with the aid of the Shanpi family made his sons Chiefs of Bwelet, Hrein Hrein, and
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* Author‘s Note: There were several skirmishes between the Chins and the British even up to the end of 1894 in Southern and Northern Chinland.
Anyone who is interested to know more about these skirmishes is advised to see the original book(pp. 32-117). And this expedition is dealt with also
in The Chin-Lushai Expedition 1889-90 by Col. A. S. Reid, I.M.S.