xiv INTRODUCTION

form the bulk of the subjects of the Thangur chiefs. In this
monograph Lushai is used in this wider sense, Lushei being
used only for the clan of that name. Among the people them"
selves the Lusheis are sometimes spoken of as Dulian, at the
derivation of which I will hazard no guess, and the general
population of the hills is spoken of as Mi-zo. Among inhabi-
tants of the Lushai Hills are found a very considerable number *
of immigrants, or descendants of immigrants from the Chin
Hills, who are found living among the Lushais under the
Thangur Chiefs or in villages under their own chiefs. I have
made no attempt to deal with these, as their proper place is
the Chin Hills monograph, and Messrs. Carey and Tuck have
already described them very fully in their Chin Hills
Gazetteer.

I am conscious that there are many omissions in this book;
the subject is a very wide one and the difficulty of getting at
the facts from so many different clans, each speaking a different
dialect and scattered over an area of about 25,000 square miles
is extremely great. I trust therefore that my readers will
excuse all shortcomings.

I have purposely avoided enunciating any theories and
making deductions, considering it wiser to limit myself to as
accurate a description as possible of the people, their habits,
customs and beliefs. Regarding the affinities between the
clans dealt with in this monograph and those described in tha
other books of the series, I venture to express a hope that the
subject may be dealt with by some competent authority when
the whole series has been published; until this is done no
finality will be reached. It would be easy to fill several pages
with points of resemblance between the different clans. Major
Playfair, in his account of the Garos, has pointed out many
ways in which the subjects of his monograph resemble the
inhabitants of the Naga Hills, but reading his book I find many
more in which they are like the clans I am dealing with. Sir
Charles Lyall has drawn attention to the evident connection
between the Mikirs and the Kuki-Chin group; I venture to
think that a study of the following pages will confirm his
theory. I may mention here that the main incidents of the
" Tale of a Frog " given by Sir Charles are found not only in