Vangteh

Vangte or Vangteh is a large village in southern Tedim Township, Falam District, Chin State, in Myanmar. Vangteh is also the name of the village tract where Vangte lies.

It is sometimes spelled as Wunkathe, probably a mispronunciation by Burmese guides when the British came to the land for the first time, and also recorded as Vangte by contemporary writers as can be seen in the information provided by such as the Satellite Views,the Falling Rain Genomics, Inc.,the Travel Post, and such.

In the local area, Vangteh is still known as a "khua-pi", in the language of the natives, "khua" generally means any human abode, big or small, and "pi" is a suffix meaning "large" in extent or "great" in character or "big" in size. Hence may be a reference to former greatness despite its very discouraging geographical situation in the mountainous Chin Hills, where elevations vary from 1500 and 2700 meters.

In common poetic expression, Vangteh is also addressed as "Khumhnuai", meaning "under the shade of Khumh", in respect of the peak of Khumh Mt. (Khumh Vum in local dialect), under its shade this ancient city is laid for centuries. For instance, in a poetic song composed by Mr. Ngul L. Zam, a villager of Vangteh, for an event commemorating the founding of Vangteh, Vangteh is directly attributed as Khumhnuai as seen in following:

(Translation)

Oral traditions gives at least glimpses of the proud history of Vangteh as being one of the once political centers of the ruling Guite or Nwite (Vuite, Nguite [local pronunciation in Vangteh], Gwete, Gwite) family in the region, that its sovereignty in the region was lasted for more than half a millennium (c. AD 1300–1900).

While other tribes and clans were also retaining their chieftainship in their local areas, but none of those could claim the same sovereignty that of the Guite family until the mid 19th century when the allied force of the southern Pois (Pawi) spilled over northward. Accordingly, S. K. Khai made a remark on the once unparalleled sovereignty of the Guite family by differentiating them as "Mang" even to contrast with the later emerging power of the Sukte family that was marked only as "To" in the book. In the native language, "Mang" implies the natural state of sovereignty by means of conscience and "To" implies a struggle for sovereignty by military conquest or force.

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