THE LUSHEI CLANS

PART I
CHAPTER I

GENERAL

THE Lushei chiefs now rule over the country between the l. Habitat
Kurnaphuli river and its main tributary, the Tuilianpui
on the west, and the Tyao and Koladyne river on the east,
while their southern boundary is roughly a line drawn east
and west through the junction of the Mat and Koladyne
rivers and their most northerly villages are found on the
borders of the Silchar district. Within this area, roughly
7,500 square miles, there are only a few villages ruled over by
chiefs of other clans, and outside it there are but few true
Lushei villages, though I am told that there are villages of
people very closely connected with the Lusheis, on the southern
borders of Sylhet, in Tipperah and in the North Cachar Hills,
and there are a few in the Chittagong Hill tracts.

All the Lushai Kuki clans resemble each other very closely in 2. Appear-
appearance and the Mongolian type of countenance prevails, p^^f
One meets, however, many exceptions, which may be due to the character-
foreign blood introduced by the many captives taken from the istics"
plains and from neighbouring tribes; but these are not worth con-
sidering, and the description of the Kuki written by Lt. Stewart
close on 80 years ago cannot be improved on. a The Kukis are a
short, sturdy race of men with a goodly development of muscle.
Their legs are, generally speaking, short in comparison with the
length of their bodies, and their arms long. The face is nearly
as broad as it is long and is generally round or square, the

B