CHAPTER I
PRE-COLONIAL MARA RELIGIOUS AND
CULTURE
1.
Introduction
In
order to get clear understand about the Mara tribal people, Christianity and
the Church in Maraland it is essential to know who and what the Maras were at
the beginning of the twentieth century. In this chapter the author will make an
attempt to analyze the identity of the Maras and their pre-colonial Mara
religious institution which had been presented by the western missionaries as
no religion in the light of postcolonial theological perspectives. The aim is
to rediscover a relevant hermeneutics for interpretations in the present day
context and for the construction of postcolonial Mara theology of mission. The
author will first introduce the background of the Mara history and their
traditional religion and the Mara world view; secondly, the concept of Supreme
Being and active spirits; thirdly, the traditional understanding of salvation;
and fourthly, the concept of the life-after death and immortality of the spirit
will be criticized. Finally, different approaches in the postcolonial period
will be analyzed with the intention of retrieving the concept of God for
postcolonial theological interpretations. It is certain that Mara religion was
far from perfect although there were some good elements, and these need to be
judged in the light of the Gospel.
2.
The
Origin of the Maras
The
Mara belong to the Kuki-Chin group of Tibeto-Burma language speaking family and
are of Mongoloid stock,[1] who are descendents of Shem, the eldest son of
Noah (Gen. 10: 21-32). They occupy the hill tracts of the
erstwhile south Lushai Hills and the southern Hakha Sub-Division of Upper
Myanmar.[2]The
origin of the Mara is, however, veiled in obscurity. They have only oral
tradition of their origin and creation of men. Local elders believe that the
progenitors of the Maras came out of the bowels of the earth from whence they
emerged into this world as humankind. The tradition which has been handed down
from time immemorial says:
“In ancient days, before the great darkness
called Khazohra fell upon the
world, men all came out
of a hole below the earth. As the founder of each Mara group came out of the
earth he called out his name. Tlôsai called out, “I am Tlôsao”; Zyhno called out, “I am Zyhno”
Lelai called out, “I am Lelai”; Hawthai called out, “I am Hawthai”; Saby called
out, “I am Saby”; Heima called out, “I am Heima”. Accordingly God thought that
a very large number of the Mara had come out of the hole, however, only the first
one to come called out, I am Lushai”, and all the rest came out silently. God,
only hearing one man announced his arrival, thought that only one Lushai had
come out, and gave them a much longer time, during
which the Lushais were
pouring out of the hole silently in great numbers. It is for this reason that
Lushais to this day are more numerous than Maras. After all men had come out of
the hole in the earth, god made their languages different, and they remain so
to this day.”[3]
A
story was current among the Khongiais or the Kookis.[4]
The Khawngsai group of the Zomi tribe, also known as the Khawngsai-Kuki had
their own version of the origin of the Chin, which brings the Chin’s ancestors
from the bowels of the earth like the Maras.[5]
It is hard to tell how far the story is true.
It is nevertheless possible that the Maras came from Sinlung or Chinlungsan located on
the banks of the river Yalung in China. According to K.S.Latourette, there were
political upheavals in China in 210 B.C. when the dynastic rule was abolished
and the whole empire was brought under one administrative system. Rebellions
broke out and chaos reigned throughout the Chinese State. The Maras left China as part of one of those waves of
migration.
However,
the Maras were not from the bowels of the earth rather they were descedents of
Shem, but whose history had not record of from where they had come and settled
at their present abode in Maraland. The creation account clearly shows that
human being is created by God in His likeness (Gen. 1:27). Hereby, it is quite
clear that the Mara people are not out of the bowels of the earth but they are
created by God in His likeness.
[1] G.
A. Grierson: The Linguistic Survey of
India, Vol. III, Part III, New Delhi, Reprint, 1967, p. 8.
[2] N.
E. Parry: The Lakhers, Calcutta
Reprint, 1976, p. 18; Also
J. Shakespear: Lushai-Kuki
Clans, New Delhi, Reprint, 1983, p. 213.
[3] N.
E. Parry: ibid, p. 4.
[4] B.
S. Carey & H. N. Tuck: The Chin Hills,
Vol. I, Calcutta, Reprint, 1976, p. 135.
[5]
Lian Sakhong: Religion and Politics among
the Chin People in Burma, (1896-1949), Sweden, 2000, p. 66.
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