The People

Customs of Lushai Society

Adoption

Lushais had a system of adoption.

In the ceremony of such adoption the priest would sacrifice a pig or a fowl and chant prayers.  Some hair or feathers would be tied around the boy's neck and he would thus be admitted into the chief's clan.

Inheritance

Under the Lushai custom of inheritance (rokhawh) all properties devolved through males.  In case a man left behind only minor sons and widow, generally some close male relation like the brother of the deceased would take over the property and look after the family till a son would attain adulthood.  In the absence of  such relations, the widow would get the property as trust for her children. The person who inherit the assets has the obligation to pay the debts. A man's natural heirs were his sons.  Although formally, only the youngest son (fatlum) could inherit, in fact, the property would be divided among all the sons. The youngest son was treated as the heir as the other sons, during the life time of the father, on attaining adulthood would have lived independently and only the youngest son would have remained with the family. This was particularly true of the chiefs as after marriage the chief's son would be given by the father some families of the village to go and set up and independent village for them.  Among the chiefs the youngest son would remain with the father to look after him during old age and would inherit his chieftainship after his death. Amongst commoners when property would be shared by the brothers, the youngest son as the formal heir, would get the first choice of the articles and he would get two shares of the cash in place of one each for the other brothers. Sons by a concubine (hmei) would inherit in absence of legitimate sons and an illegitimate son (sawn) would inherit in absence of both. In case there were no children and the father was alive he would inherit the property. Next in the order of succession would be brothers. Inheritance by women was generally precluded but if there was no other heir, the daughter or widow could inherit, the former taking precedence over the latter. A man without any close relation would select a man as his heir, who would come and live with him and arrange for his funeral on his death.  There was no formal custom of  will and a father often divided the properties amongst his sons before his death.

Death

There were various customs connected with disposal of corpse and funeral ceremony.  Although there were minor differences between tribes the general custom was more or less the same, amongst all the Lushai and akin tribes.  The corpse was washed, dressed and placed in a sitting position on the floor of the house. The personal belongings of the deceased - gun, dao, etc. would  be placed near the corpse. Some animals like mithun, pig, goat or dog would be sacrificed and a funeral feast, ral, would be held with singing and drinking of zu. Food and drink would be offered at intervals to the corpse. It was believed that the souls of the animals sacrificed would accompany the dead to his abode in the dead man's village called mithikhua. In the evening of the next day the corpse would be buried with his smoking pipe, cloth, bag and weapons. Some food and drink would also be buried.

The custom followed for the chiefs was different. The corpse would not be buried but would be placed in a coffin which would be placed on one side on the floor of the house. A hollowed bamboo would be inserted in the stomach of the dead body which would pass through a hole and the other end buried in the ground. Fire would be kept up in a hearth near the coffin which would dry the body and the liquid would be passing through the bamboo pipe to the ground. The widow would sit near the coffin and on the other side personal belongings of the dead would be kept.  After three months the coffin would be opened, a pig would be sacrificed and a feast given - the occasion being known as khuang pai or throwing away of the coffin. The dry bones and the remains of the body would be divided - the dried up skull and the larger bones would be kept in a basket and placed in a special shelf opposite the hearth and the reminder of the bones buried in an earthenware pot. When the collection of bones in the chief's house would become too large these would be buried outside in a big earthen pot. 

The skulls of the animals killed during funeral ceremonies would be placed on poles around the grave or on a platform erected in memory of the deceased (lungdwah). The platform was generally made of logs but this would be of stones for the chiefs and for those who had killed men in war.  A big upright stone was placed on the grave or on the platform.  A rubber tree would also be planted on the side of the chief's grave.

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