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Hmar
(Manmasi, Khawthlang, Khawsak, Hmar Kuki)
Hmar Hnam
Regions with significant populations
India, Myanmar and Bangladesh
Languages
Hmar languages (L1)
Meitei language (L2 in Manipur)[1][2][3]
Mizo language (L1 in Mizoram)[4]
Religion
Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Kuki-Chin-Mizo peoples

Hmar is an Kuki ethnic group living in Northeast Indian state of Manipur, Mizoram, Assam and western Myanmar (Burma) and eastern Bangladesh.[5] They use Meitei language as their second language (L2) in Manipur.[6][7][8] They speak Mizo language as their L1 in Mizoram.[9]

Population

According to the 2011 Indian Census, there were 98,988 Hmar speakers.[10]

Manipur

In the 2011 census, there were 49,081 Hmars in Manipur.[11]

Mizoram

The exact population of the Hmars in Mizoram is not known. In the first census of 1901 there were 10,411 Hmar language speakers. By 1961 the population was assessed to be 3,118, and then 4,524 in 1971. In the 2001 census, 18,155 Hmar speakers were found in Mizoram, but most of the Hmars of Mizoram speak Mizo languages.[12]

Religion

Religion among Assam Hmar[13]
Religion Percent
Christianity
99%
Hinduism
0.48%
Others
0.52%

An overwhelming majority of the Hmar people practice Christianity.

Place of origin

The majority of the Hmars were cultivators. The Hmars in South Manipur were introduced to Christianity in the year 1910 by Watkin Roberts, a Welsh missionary.[14]

Political movements

Flag of the Hmar Students' Association

After the signing of the Mizo Accord in July 1986, some Hmar leaders in Mizoram formed the Mizoram Hmar Association (later renamed the Hmar People's Convention (HPC)). The HPC spearheaded a political movement for self-governance of the Hmars in Mizoram, demanding an Autonomous District Council (ADC) comprising Hmar-dominated areas in north and northwest of Mizoram for the protection of their identity, culture, tradition, language, and natural resources.

To quell and suppress the political movement, the Mizoram government deployed the Mizoram Armed Police (MAP) against the HPC activists, which forced the HPC to take up an armed struggle by forming an armed wing, the Hmar Volunteer Cell (HVC). The armed confrontation continued until 1992 when HPC representatives and the Government of Mizoram mutually agreed to hold ministerial-level talks. After multiple rounds of talks, a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) was signed in Aizawl on 27 July 1994 between the Government of Mizoram and the HPC. Armed cadres of the HPC surrendered along with their weapons in October 1994 and later the Sinlung Hills Development Council (SHDC) was established. Some of the HPC leaders and cadres, however, rejected the Memorandum of Settlement and broke away from the main HPC, forming the Hmar People's Convention - Democratic (HPC-D), which continued an armed movement for autonomy in the form of an Autonomous District Council under the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India within Mizoram.[15] Over one hundred militants of HPC-D surrendered with their weapons in April 2018 following a peace pact signed with the Mizoram state government, which led to the formation of the Sinlung Hills Council[16]

Literature

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ^ "Meitei | Ethnologue". Ethnologue. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Did you know Hmar is vulnerable?". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 31 July 2023. ... Hmar speakers of Manipur use Manipuri while Assamese and Bengali are used in Assam. Ethnic Hmars living in Mizoram speak Mizo as their first language....
  3. ^ Lisam, Khomdan Singh (2011). Encyclopaedia Of Manipur (3 Vol.). p. 561. ISBN 978-81-7835-864-2. ... They speak Hmar language and converse well in Manipuri (Meiteilon) ...((cite book)): CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. ^ "Did you know Hmar is vulnerable?". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 31 July 2023. ... Hmar speakers of Manipur use Manipuri while Assamese and Bengali are used in Assam. Ethnic Hmars living in Mizoram speak Mizo as their first language....
  5. ^ "Manipur :: Meitei Mayek News :: 11th nov22 ~ E-Pao! Headlines" ꯑꯍꯥꯟꯕ ꯃꯥꯔ ꯌꯨꯊ ꯑꯦꯁꯣꯁꯤꯑꯦꯁꯟꯒꯤ ꯀꯟꯐꯦꯔꯦꯟꯁ ꯂꯣꯏꯁꯤꯟꯈ꯭ꯔꯦ. e-pao.net (in Manipuri). India. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  6. ^ "Meitei | Ethnologue". Ethnologue. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  7. ^ "Did you know Hmar is vulnerable?". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 31 July 2023. ... Hmar speakers of Manipur use Manipuri while Assamese and Bengali are used in Assam. Ethnic Hmars living in Mizoram speak Mizo as their first language....
  8. ^ Lisam, Khomdan Singh (2011). Encyclopaedia Of Manipur (3 Vol.). p. 561. ISBN 978-81-7835-864-2. ... They speak Hmar language and converse well in Manipuri (Meiteilon) ...((cite book)): CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  9. ^ "Did you know Hmar is vulnerable?". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 31 July 2023. ... Hmar speakers of Manipur use Manipuri while Assamese and Bengali are used in Assam. Ethnic Hmars living in Mizoram speak Mizo as their first language....
  10. ^ "Languages Not Specified In The Eighth Schedule (Non-scheduled Languages)" (PDF). censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  11. ^ "C-16 Population By Mother Tongue". censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  12. ^ "MIZORAM DATA HIGHLIGHTS : THE SCHEDULED TRIBES Census of India 2001" (PDF). censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  13. ^ mad, mad. "Census of India - Socio-cultural aspects, Table ST-14". Census of India, 2001 - Socio-cultural Aspects. Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs. Not available online. Available only on CD.
  14. ^ Impact of Religious Journal on the Hmar Tribe in Manipur
  15. ^ "Hmar Struggles for Autonomy in Mizoram, India". Ritimo (in French). Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  16. ^ "103 HPC-D militants to surrender today : Nagaland Post". www.nagalandpost.com. Retrieved 13 April 2018.