Zo people
| ဇိုချင်း | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Total population | |
| ~5 million | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Languages | |
| Various Chin, Kuki, Mizo & Zo languages | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity, Animism, Buddhism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Naga, Meitei |
The Zo people or Zomi means Hill people, also known as the Mizo, the Kuki, the Chin, the Zomi and a number of other names, are a large group of related Tibeto-Burman Hill people spread throughout the northeastern states of India, northwestern Myanmar (Burma), and the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. In northeastern India, they are present in: Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur and Assam. This dispersal across international borders resulted from British colonial policy that drew the borders on political grounds rather than ethnic ones.
The Zo people have typical Tibeto-Burman features and are generally of short-stature with straight black hair and dark brown eyes. Natively, the Zo speak one of the fifty or so languages that linguists call the Kukish language group, which is also known as Kuki-Chin (Kuki/Chin), Mizo/Kuki/Chin, or Kuki Naga.
Various name have been used for the Zo peoples, but the individual groups general acknowledge descent from ancestral Zo. Among the more prominent names given to this group are "Chin" generally in Burma, "Lushai" generally in Burma, "Kuki" generally in India, "Mizo" generally in India
In the literature, the term Kuki first appeared in the writings of Rawlins when he wrote about the tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. It referred to a "wild tribe" comprising numerous clans. These clans shared a common past, culture, customs and tradition. They spoke in dialects that had a common root language belonging to the Tibeto-Burman group.
The origin of the name "Chin" is uncertain. Later the British used the compound term 'Chin-Kuki-Mizo' to group the Kukish language speaking people, and the Government of India inherited this. Missionaries chose to employ the term Chin to christen those on the Burmese side and the term Kuki on the Indian side of the border. Chin nationalist leaders in Burma's Chin State popularized the term "Chin" following Burma's independence from Britain.
Beginning the 1990s, the generic names Chin and Kuki have been rejected by some for "Zomi", a name used by several small groups speaking Northern Kukish languages, including the Zou. The speakers of the Northern Kukish languages, are sometimes lumped together as the Gangte people. Some Zomi nationalists have stated that the use of the label Chin would mean subtle domination by Burmese groups.
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Wikipedia