'The Lakher or Mara clan' at 'The Lushei Kuki Clan' by J. Shakespear

Entry of 'The Lakher or Mara clan' at 'The Lushei Kuki Clan' by J. Shakespear, Imphal, Manipur state. Dated September 12, 1910.

'The Lakher or Mara clan' at 'The Lushei Kuki Clan' by J. Shakespear

The clan calls itself Mara, Lakher being the name used by the Lushais. The Chins, I believe, call them Zo, and the Arracan name for them is Klongshai.

The following extract from my diary, dated 10th February, 1891, gives a brief account of the advent of this clan:- "In the evening I had a long talk with the chiefs and found out the origin, according to them, of the feud with the Mrungs (in the Chittagong Hill tracts). In the lifetime of Thonglien's father, the Bohmong of that time sent to ask the Mara clan to come and make friends. A deputation went, taking with them two large elephant tusks as a peace offering.

The Bohmong had two of the party treacherously killed, and hence the feud which has led to so much blood-shed. I am told that the first Mara to ome here (Saiha) were a colony under one of Thonglien's ancestors. They came from Thlan-tlang to where Vongthu now is, and then moved further east till they settled somewhere on the Blue Mountain. Finding themselves too small a colony to hold their own, they sent for the rest of the clan, who, under Lianchi, Hmungklinga's great-grandfather, came and settled wehre Ramri now is.

After a few years a few of the Chinja tribe arrived and were received into the village. These were followed by more and more until eventually the Mara left the Chinja in possession of Ramri and moved across the Blue Mountain, where they have remained ever since." There are other Lakher villages besides those referred to in the above extracts, and the clan is found in considerable strength to the south of the Lushai Hills boundary, in territory which is at present unadministered. members of the clan are also found in the Lushai and Chin villages adjoining the real Lakher country, which lies in the loop of the Koladyne or Kaladan river, south of latitude 22'3.

The villages (Lakher villages) are more permanent than those of the Lushais though the houses are built of the same materials, the proximity of large supplises of bamboos having led the immigrants to abandon the substantial timber buildings of the land of their origin for more flimsy structures.

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http://books.google.com/books?id=pFN9VymCe0YC&pg=PA213&lpg=PA213&dq=lakher+chiefs&source=bl&ots=dBmYvMTgEZ&sig=BnZItTSTKp2Zu5GT4AKFvuTyTDk&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result

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