Folktales of the Vaiphei

By S Kamminlun Vaiphei

Folktales of the Vaiphei is a collection a various tales told and handed down orally to the present generation by their forefathers. It has a deep moral significance to the day to day life of the Vaipheis. Most of the tales narrates mainly on the morality of human life. Such stories were orally passed down through generations and feature morals or lessons. In a folktale, goodness is always rewarded. Heroes and heroines live happily ever after while villains are suitably punished. On the whole, the book description are plain and simple but have deep values.The folktales of the Vaiphei reflects the totality of the attitude towards life, family, yearning for happiness, riches, comforts, fames, aspirations and dreams, love of fear and unknown, religious beliefs and practices, concepts of spiritual world or life after dead and last but not the least the traditional values that they continues to cherishes.
These are also the source of their history. The Vaiphei religion was based on worshipping Dawi (magic) which has found basis on the story of Galngam. It was believed that Dawibawm which form the basis of Vaiphei religion was obtained from a spot where the river Tuiluang (Barak) and Tuilang (Irang) river converged called Santaili (deepest point). It was also said that the places where Galngam had a duel with Dawikungpu was in the present day places of Gun (Imphal river) bank and Tuiluang (Barak) river bank. Chawn (feast of merit that no ordinary person with no achievement/success can perform), Sa-aih (feast of merit after a successful hunting), Bu-aih (feast of merit afetr a bountiful harvest) etc. played a major role in the life of the Vaiphei and this is found in the tales like - Dapa, Vaphual Kisuak, Liando and his brother etc. Similarly, many of the stories and tales are considered to be the foundation of some of their believes and traditional values.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Mar 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781482846904

S Kamminlun Vaiphei

S Kamminlun Vaiphei completed his M. Phil at Manipur University in 2008. He is presently doing Ph.D in the Department of History, Manipur University. He has attended several national seminars and published articles. He has deep interest in folktales,folklores and fables etc since his childhood which ultimately resulted in publishing this work. Folktales of the Vaphei is his first publication.

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Copyright © 2015 by S Kamminlun Vaiphei.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-4828-4691-1

                eBook           978-1-4828-4690-4

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CONTENTS

1. Galngam

2. Liando and His Brother Thangho

3. Dapa (A Lazy Man)

4. Maneithangzai

5. Unau Pawsal Sagi (Seven Brothers)

6. Vanlai Chanungak

7. Pubeng/Benglam

8. Lengchawnghawi

9. Phuchil and Hangchal

10. Thakul and Zumtepu

11. Thuaiting and Ngambawm

12. Chemtattepu

13. Pasal Pathum Gamleng (The Three Hunters)

14. Leng Zithum Nei (King With Three Wives)

15. Leng Tekvun Sil (King With Aged Skin)

16. Vaphual Kisuak

In Loving memory of my brother (L) S Thanglianmang Vaiphei who left us for his Heavenly Abode on the 7th January, 2014.

INTRODUCTION

T he Vaiphei tribe, according to historians, is one of the branches of the Mongolian stock of human races and was classified as the Old-Kuki by John Shakespeare. ¹ The Vaiphei like any other Zo ethnic groups (members of the Kuki-Chin-Mizo) maintained their genealogical tree and their earlier history is based on legends and oral traditions. The origin of the name ‘Vaiphei’ itself is still debated but the general understanding is that it is a name used to denote the people (the Suantak) who once lived in the village PHAIZA later known as ‘Khua-Vaiphei’ due to its breadth-wise horizontal expansion. There is a common belief among the Zo ethnic groups/communities that their ancestors emigrated from a place called Sinlung or Chhinlung or Khul or Khur, somewhere in South China where they moved down to Chindwin Valley and the Chin Hills in Burma. ² The Vaiphei believed that it is from the Chin Hills that they adopted the nomenclature ‘Vaiphei’ as their identity. According to the genealogy as maintained by the Vaiphei people in Manipur, there is a claim that they are the descendants of ‘Neilut’ and ‘Vanglua’ clan who are the Second and Fourth sons of Suantak. ³

In the words of Z. Z. Lien, The Vaipheis are one of the most sophisticated and well cultured tribes, having deep lineal- roots in the Chin Hills as ‘Thuantak’ or ‘Suantak. Their language ‘Vaiphei’ which is an ethno linguistic term i.e. a term that stands both for the tribe and for the language belongs to the Kuki-Chin- sub-groups of the Tibeto-Burman language family.⁴

Today, Vaiphei is recognized as a tribe in the Constitution of India (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, in the states of Manipur with a total population of 38,267 (2001 Census of India, Office of the Registrar General, India). The Vaiphei are not concentrated in one area but live in a number of places, distant from each other and separated by elements of other tribes and geographically by the Manipur Valley. They are mostly concentrated in the Churachandpur and Senapati districts of Manipur. They are also found scattered in the other hill districts of Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, North Cachar Hills in Assam, Kabaw Valley and the Chin State of Myanmar (Burma).

A folktale is a type of traditional story that tries to explain or understand the world. Such stories were orally passed down through the generations and feature morals or lessons. In a folktale, goodness is always rewarded. Heroes and heroines live happily ever after while villains are suitably punished. Throughout the generations, the story may change but its core remains the same. Folktales usually have no identified author, but they mirror the values and culture of the society from which they originated.

Before the Internet, newspapers, radio, television, and other types of media, the world relied on storytellers for entertainment and education. Storytellers related magical tales to eager listeners that taught valuable lessons by providing glimpses into strange, faraway worlds. These stories continued to thrive, passed down throughout the centuries.

On the whole, folktales are very plain and simple but have deep moral values. Folktales reflects the totality of the Vaiphei’s attitude towards life, his family, his yearning for happiness, riches, comforts, fames, aspirations and dreams, his love of fear and unknown, his religious beliefs and practices, his concepts of spiritual world or life after dead and last but not the least the traditional values that he continues to cherishes.

The Vaiphei young learners today are in the habit of reading books in English which are in no way is related with their tradition, culture and value system despite the fact of having a rich folk-lores and folktales and which are of course one of the most important primary sources for the reconstruction of their history. In the course of their wandering in different places and thence to their present settlement in the North East, Myanmar and Chittagong Hill Tract of Bangladesh, the Vaipheis came to be endowed with many folktales which are handed down from generation to generation through oral tradition. Folktales tell us from where the Vaiphei originated and who are they.

I am awakened to the fact that present day children, young boys and girls are not familiar with these tales and it is imperative that until and unless it is recorded in a written form it will be lost in the midst of modernity. Keeping in view these facts, I started writing from my memories which I vividly remembered and later on collecting some others verbally from old men and women folk of our community. It took me almost two years to complete this work.

I am profoundly grateful to Rev. S. Prim Vaiphei, Henzgen Vaiphei, S. Songjakhup Vaiphei, S. Lamkhongai Vaiphei, Dr. S. L. Lalkhokam Vaiphei, (Late) Keukholun Vaiphei for their contribution in narrating some of the folk-tales.

Finally, I am also grateful to Soiminlian Lengen and S. L. Lunminlian Vaiphei for helping me in the proof reading.

Imphal : 4th March, 2015                        S. Kamminlun Vaiphei

GALNGAM

L ong time ago, in a village, lived an expert jewellery craftsman who was adept at making different kinds of jewellery, including bangles and necklaces. He once made beautiful items of jewellery for all the young maidens in the village except for Gultei, the daughter of the Village Chief. For Gultei, he made a ring which was joined together by gum extracted from the trees. As the young maidens made their way towards the paddy field, they stopped by along the road to wash their jewellery. While the jewellery of the other girls gleamed and glittered upon being washed, Gultei’s ring broke into many pieces as the water made the joining gum soft and too weak to hold the ring together. Gultei was filled with disappointment and began to cry. As she wiped off her tears with her fingers, unfortunately for her, some gum that remained stuck to her fingers got into her eyes and she became blind. Unable to see anymore, Gultei could not make her way back home alone. So, a series of young men carried her in turns to her home and in the process, Gultei became pregnant. However, Gultei, due to her blindness, could not identify the person responsible for her pregnancy. A young man named Senlet, who was the last to carry Gultei into her home, was charged in accordance with customary law, and forced to accept responsibility for the pregnancy. Unable to bear his embarrassment and humiliation, Senlet took Gultei deep into the forest and killed her.

After Gultei’s murder, her parents demanded a huge indemnity as bridewealth for their dead daughter. Since Senlet did not have enough resources to pay, he set out in search of a Mithun for the bride-wealth. During his search, he came across a rich old childless couple who did not have anybody to take care of them. The old couple told Senlet, We shall give our large Dakpi (gong) to any person who is willing to take care of us. Upon hearing this Senlet replied, I shall take care of you and true to their words the old couple gave Senlet their large gong. However, they told Senlet, You shall not beat and sound the gong until you have reached your home. During his journey back home, Senlet began to reflect and wonder at the parting words of the old couple prohibiting him from beating and sounding the gong. His curiosity got the better of him and Senlet decided to beat and sound the gong and see for himelf what the mystery was all about. Thus, Senlet struck the gong and all of a sudden a mighty storm, accompanied by wind and rain, broke out. A mighty gust of wind swept Senlet off his feet making him release his grasp on the gong. The gong fell from Senlet’s grasp and rolled away from him. The gong continued to roll until it fell into the Santaili, the meeting point between the Tuilang (Irang) and Tuiluang (Barak) rivers. So as to recover the gong, Senlet dived into the waters of the Santaili. There, on the riverbed, he encountered many pythons which he started removing one by one until only the largest python remained. The large python lay on the riverbed using the large gong as his pillow. Using all his strength and both his hands, Senlet managed to lift the python’s head but was unable to free his hands to grab the gong. His efforts at getting hold of the gong eventually angered the python who told Senlet, I shall not allow you to take this large gong from me for I am keeping it with me as bridewealth for Gultei. Upon hearing these words, Senlet ended his efforts for the gong and left the riverbed.

TIANGKHUT (THE WALKING STICK)

The next year Senlet began clearing the field of weeds and plants for plantation. Strangely, the weeds and plants Senlet had cleared the previous day had sprung back to life as he returned to the field the next day. To unravel the mystery, Senlet decided to hide at a vantage point and observe the field after he had cleared it one more time. From his hiding place, Senlet saw an old woman with a walking stick approach the field after some time. She touched the dead plants with her walking stick and commanded Rise up, rise up. Lo and behold, the fallen dead weeds and plants rose up once again at the old lady’s command. Realization dawned on Senlet that it was the old lady who was responsible for raising the dead weeds and plants in his field. He sprang up from his hiding place and caught the old lady by the neck. As he strangulated her, the old lady cried out release me, release me, I will give you my walking stick. Senlet released her and took her walking stick. The walking stick had magical powers of raising the dead, including human beings.

EARLY FAMILY LIFE AND BIRTH OF GALNGAM

Senlet’s son with Gultei, Zauhang began to grow up. As he possessed the magical walking stick of Senlet, Zauhang led