The Sukte are one of the clans of
Tedim Chins
The Tedim people, also called Tedim Chins
and Tiddim (Hai-Dim) people,
are a Zomi ethnic group, part of the Chin people, primarily inhabiting the Tedim Township in the Chin State of Myanmar. They speak the Tedim language
The Tedim language ...
(also called "Zomi") that mainly inhabit the Tedim district in Myanmar, with small numbers in India, in
Manipur
Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...
,
Meghalaya
Meghalaya (; "the abode of clouds") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeast India. Its capital is Shillong. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the Assam: the United Khasi Hills an ...
and
Assam
Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...
states. They are recognized as a
Scheduled Tribe in Manipur. From 1995, they have been part of the
Zomi Re-unification Organisation
The Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) is a Zomi nationalist militant group formed in 1997, following an increase in ethnic tensions between the Thadou-Kuki people and the Paite people in Churachandpur district of Manipur, India. Its parent organ ...
in Manipur.
Social status
They were listed as Salhte in the 1947 Constitution where they are among the groups given
Adivasi
The Adivasi (also transliterated as Adibasi) are heterogeneous tribal groups across the Indian subcontinent. The term is a recent invention from the 20th century and is now widely used as a self-designation by groups classified as Scheduled Tr ...
status. They are commonly referred to as the Zo by others, but they use the name Sukte for themselves.
Population
Only five people were counted in this ethnic group in the 1981 census. However the leader of the youth group for the Kuki/zo claims there are 3,500 Sukte currently. The Sukte are agriculturalists, growing primarily maize and rice. They are mainly Christian in religion.
See also
*
Sukte language
The Tedim language is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken mostly in the southern Indo-Burmese border. It is the native language of the Tedim tribe of the Zomi people, and a form of standardized dialect merging from the Sukte and Kamhau dialects ...
References
*http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ctd
Ethnic groups in Northeast India
Kuki tribes
Scheduled Tribes of Manipur
Social groups of Manipur
Social groups of Assam
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