People of India: Mizoram

The Anthropological Survey of India launched the People of India project on 2nd October 1985 to generate an anthropological profile of all communities of India, the impact on them of change and the development process, and the links that bring them together. As part of this all-India project the ethnographic survey of all the communities of Mizoram was taken up in collaboration with local scholars. Under the People of India project, these seventeen communities were studied for the first time in their cultural, biological and linguistic dimensions. The results of the study were discussed at the workshops held at the North-Eastern Regional Centre in Shillong. An interesting feature of Mizoram has been the consolidation of the Mizo people as a political and territorial entity, and the emergence of Mizoram as a state. The Mizo-isation of the tribes or sub-tribes within Mizoram is a continuous process. Another parallel process is the emergence of the transnational concept of the Mizo people, the Zomi encompassing the Kuki-Chin peoples living across the international border. The Baptist Mission in Mizoram, which recently celebrated the hundred years of its presence, has played a major role in the westernization and modernization of the Mizos, who are now among the most literate people in the country. Other interesting feature of the Mizoram culture are clan endogamy, the decline of jhum and the mergence of settled cultivation, a vibrant cottage industry, linguistic heterogeneity, and the revival of many elements of traditional culture. Dr K. S. Singh retired as Director General of the Anthropological Survey of India. Dr B. B Goswami is former Joint Director, Anthropological Survey of India, North-Eastern Regional Centre, Shillong. Dr C. Nunthrs is Reader in Sociology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. Dr. N. N. Sengupta is the state co-ordinator for Mizoram, and Assistant Keeper, North-Eastern Regional Centre Shillong.