| INTRODUCTION |
| |
| |
The Hmar language belongs to the Kuki-Chin group of
Tibeto-Burman stock of the great Tibeto-Chinese family
of languages. The speakers of the language are also
known as Hmar. According to Grierson1 the word Hmar
is related to the Chin word /mar/ which among Hakas
and other tribes is the name given to Lushais (= now
Mizos). In Mizoram, the word Hmar is used to refer to
imigrants from Manipur and its meaning in Mizo is said
to be ‘north’. Thus, Hmars are a group of
people who have come from the north. According to another
interpretation2, the word Hmar is a corruption of the
word Hmer which is the term given for those who tie
their hair in a lock on the nape of the neck. This term
of reference was used by other tribes of the Lushai-Kuki-Chin
group. |
| |
| |
Hmar speakers are scattered over a vast area comprising
of Northern Mizoram, South district of Manipur and parts
of N.C. Hills and Cachar districts in Assam. There is
no homogenous settlement of Hmar speakers alone. Historically,
they accepted the dominance of the Duliens but maintained
their own language and culture. Although there is close
affinity between Hmar and other sister languages of
the Kuki-Chin family of language, Hmar is distinct from
other languages in pronunciation, intonation and morphological
structure. Hmar is a recognised language in the school
curriculum of Assam, Manipur and Mizoram. |
| |
| |
According
to their own belief and tradition the Hmars have come
from a place called Sinlung or Chinlung, a place supposed
to be somewhere in South Central China. The traditional
songs and ballads prevalent among Hmars mention the
place of their origin in clear terms as under : |
a)
kh
sínlsù ah
kt
síel a
kà zÚo
sùok a,
mi: le ne:l lo tam à:é.
‘I sprang up likea bull from
Sinlung
village where there were many people’. |
b)
kà pá: làmtlà:k á
thà: á:n dà,
sìnlú
làmtlà:là:k á thà: á:n dà,
‘My father’s way excels, and
Sinlung’s
way also excels.’ |
| There
is, however, no written evidences to substantiate this
claim. |
Some
modern authorities3 also ventured to trace the origin
of Hmars along the above line of discordances and give
some more details. From Sinlung the Hmars are said to
have migrated to Shan, a place south of Sinlung. Famine
and inhospitable living conditions forced them to migrate
further southward. Renowned historians and authorities
on South-East Asia also concur the view that due to
famine hordes of tribes migrated southward in successive
waves4 The Hmar tribe also traveled southward and then
westward along with other tribal groups, particularly
of the Lushai-Kuki-Chin group and entered India through
the present day Mizoram. Pakem (1984) observed that
the Hmar group of people traveled with Lushai (=Mizos)
and Non-Lushai group; while Lushai (Mizo) group was
on the south and the Kuki group was on the north, the
Hmar group was in the middle position. The Hmars were
further driven north from Lushai hills by the strong
Sailo migration. Many fled Mizoram and settled in Manipur,
Assam and Meghalaya. Thus, a considerably big and populous
tribe, the Hmar remained a scattered group
of people till present time. The total number of Hmar
speakers are estimated to be little over twenty five
thousand. |
