Sinlung, sometimes called Chhinlung, Khur or Khul, is the ancestral home of the

Chin The chin is the forward pointed part of the anterior mandible ( mental region) below the lower lip. A fully developed human skull has a chin of between 0.7 cm and 1.1 cm. Evolution The presence of a well-developed chin is considered to be one ...

, Kuki or Zo people ( Zohnahthlâk ). The

Mizo Mizo may refer to: *Mizo people, an ethnic group native to north-eastern India, western Myanmar (Burma) and eastern Bangladesh *Mizo language, a language spoken by the Mizo people *Mizoram, a state in Northeast India *Lusei people, an ethnic group ...

Hmar Hmar may refer to: *Hmars or Hmar people *Hmar language Hmar language, also known by its endonym Khawsak Ṭawng, belongs to the Kukish languages, Kukish branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages, Sino-Tibetan family of languages. The speakers of ...

s, and other Zo people trace their origin to Chhinlung / Sinlung. Most of the tribes/clans in

Mizoram Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo", the self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo language means "lan ...

and its neighbouring regions have talk about Chhinlung as their most ancient origin, which is orally told by the ancient

and other sub-tribe/clan. Numerous poems, songs and tales about this place have been made and handed down from generation to generation. Folklore about Sinlung describes it as a

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

where a form of

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...

was in existence, and which engaged in many wars with its neighbours. There are many stories of bravery and courage, and here the tribe started the practice of headhunting.

Location and origin

Historians differ on the issue of the location of Sinlung and the origin of the name. Several theories and views regarding the origin and location have been put forward. Historian Hranglien Songate believed it to have been in South West China, possibly in the present Dali or Silung of

Yunnan Province Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

of today's China. Other possibilities are

Xining Xining (; ), alternatively known as Sining, is the capital of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. The city was a commercial hub along the Northern Silk Road's Hexi Corridor for over 2000 years, and ...

central China Central China () is a geographical and a loosely defined cultural region that includes the provinces of Henan, Hubei and Hunan. Jiangxi is sometimes also regarded to be part of this region. Central China is now officially part of South Centr ...

or the present Sinlung, located near the

Yalong River The Yalong River ( zh, 雅砻江, p ''Yǎlóngjiāng'', w ''Ya-lung Chiang'', IPA ), or Nyag Chu ( Tibetan: , z ''Nyag Qu''), is a major tributary river of the Yangtze River in Southwest China. With a length of , the ...

Sichuan Province Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of th ...

of China.

Hmars leave Sinlung

The

Hmars Hmar, also spelled as Mar, are one of the ethnic peoples of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo living in Northeast Indian state of Manipur and Mizoram, western Myanmar (Burma) and eastern Bangladesh. Population Manipur In the 2011 census, there were 49,081 Hm ...

, the majority of whom now belong to a tribe of the

people, eventually left Sinlung, for reasons which are not known for sure, but historians suggest either economic reasons, oppressive Chinese rulers or powerful enemies in the area. There were successive waves of migrants southward from China before 1000 AD into

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. Historian

Edward Thomas Williams Edward Thomas Williams (1901–1973) was a lieutenant general in the United States Army. He gained prominence as chief of artillery for the Third United States Army in Europe during World War II, commander of the United States Army Field Artil ...

, writes about the

Qin Dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...

who, "violated all the rules of courteous warfare, triumphed and took over the territory and symbols of the rule of the

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by ...

(their predecessors)". It is believed that the Hmars might have been moving along with one of these waves towards the south, and eventually into

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

Shan

Hmar folk tales and songs describe the second settlement of the Hmars as being in Shan, which was marked by a time of prosperity and peace. According to Hranglien Songate, a Hmar historian, in Shan their civilisation advanced much farther than Sinlung. Many of the Hmar festivals such as ''Butukhuonglawm'' (Spring festival), ''Lunglâk'' (Autumn festival) and ''Sesun'' (Solemn celebration) have their origin in Shan.

References

{{reflist

External links

Sinlung
Hmar Culture of Mizoram