The Zeliangrong people are one of the major indigenous

Naga Naga or NAGA may refer to: Mythology * Nāga, a serpentine deity or race in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions ** Phaya Naga, mythical creatures believed to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong River ** Naga, another name for Bakunawa, an ...

communities living in the tri-junction of

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 ...

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 ...

and

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

in India. They are the descendants of Nguiba. The term "Zeliangrong" refers to the Zeme, Liangmai and Rongmei Kindred tribes combined. Earlier, the term also covered the

Inpui Inpui or Puiron is a Naga language spoken in different villages of Senapati district, Tamenglong district, Noney District, and Imphal district in Manipur, and in some areas in Nagaland, India. Speakers of Inpui and Rongmei are subsumed unde ...

tribe. The descendants of Hoi of Makuilongdi (Makhel) were divided and were made peripheral appendages to three political entities - Nagaland, Manipur and the Dima Hasao (N.C Hill district) of Assam. The Zeliangrong may be classified as an ethno-cultural entity. The Zeliangrong belong to the larger

Southern Mongoloid Mongoloid () is an obsolete racial grouping of various peoples indigenous to large parts of Asia, the Americas, and some regions in Europe and Oceania. The term is derived from a now-disproven theory of biological race. In the past, other terms ...

population and their language belongs to the

Sino-Tibetan Sino-Tibetan (also referred to as Trans-Himalayan) is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. Around 1.4 billion people speak a Sino-Tibetan language. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 ...

family of languages.

Etymology

The ethnonym 'Zeliangrong' is derived from 3 words ZE-LIANG-RONG. ZE from Zeme, LIANG from Liangmai and Rong from Rongmei. It traced back to the three kindred tribes. The three tribes are the ''Zeme'' (dwellers of the warmer) or ''Mejahme'' (lower region), ''Liangmai'' (men of the North) the original Northerner; on the other hand the term ''Rongmei'' (people settled in the south) and finally Inpui (Puimei). The word ''Zeliangrong'' was first coined on 15 February 1947 at Keishamthong Imphal. The terminology Zeliangrong was coined in coherence with the solidarity movement after

India's independence The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic movement t ...

Distribution

The Zeliangrong have been living in the present location of their land since time immemorial, in a compact and contiguous geographical setting of approximately 12,000 km² lying between 93 degrees E and 94 degree E longitude and 94.40 degrees and 24 degrees N latitude in N. C Hills of Assam; Peren district of Nagaland; Tamenglong district, Senapati district, Kangvai subdivision of Churachanpur district, Jiribam subdivision of Imphal district, Imphal valley and Cachar district along with various villages and its adjoining slopes in Manipur. Earlier, Manipur had only 9 districts but, due to administrative changes, it led to the formation of 7 new districts, namely

Kamjong Kamjong ( Meitei pronunciation: /kām-jōng/), is the headquarters of Kamjong district, Manipur state, India. The village is about 120 kilometers from Imphal and is connected by Ukhrul-Kamjong State highway. This District headquarter is flanked ...

Kakching Kakching ( Meitei pronunciation:/kək.ciŋ/) is a town in the southeastern part of the Indian state of Manipur. It serves as the headquarters of Kakching district and is a major commercial hub in the state. In 2018, Kakching was declared as the ...

Noney Noney ( Meitei pronunciation: /nō-né/), also known as Longmai, is a town located in the western part of Manipur, India. It is west of Imphal, the capital of the state of Manipur. Its population is almost entirely made up of Rongmei Naga. Pr ...

Kangpokpi Kangpokpi ( Meitei pronunciation:/kāng-pōk-pī/), is the headquarter of Kangpokpi district and the Sadar Hills Autonomous District Council in the Indian state of Manipur. Geography It is located at an elevation of 1000 m above sea level.ht ...

Tengnoupal Tengnoupal ( Meitei pronunciation:/teŋ-nə́u-pəl/) is a hill town at the highest point of a road ( NH-2) between Imphal and Moreh at the end of northwestern Myanmar; the ASEAN Highway passes through the village. It is the district headquarte ...

, Pherzawl, and

Jiribam Jiribam ( Meitei pronunciation:/jee-ree-baam/) is a town governed by a municipal council in the Jiribam district of the state of Manipur, India. It is one of the fastest-growing towns in Manipur. The town is located on the state's westernmost ...

. * 11 Villages in Myanmar .

Religion

When it comes to religion, majority of Zeliangrong follow Christianity. At present, the non-Christian Zeliangrongs follow three faiths, namely the Heraka, Poupei Chapriak (in Assam) and Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak (in Manipur), all venerating Tingkao Ragwang (Tingwang in short), the supreme deity of the Zeliangrong pantheon.

References

{{reflist

External links

Zeliangrong History (The Exodus)

Introduction to Zeliangrong Nagas

A brief account of the Zeliangrong People
Ethnic groups in Northeast India Naga people Ethnic groups in Manipur Ethnic groups in Assam People from Nagaland Ethnic groups in India

Etymology

Distribution

Religion

See also

References

External links