The Chin peoples (, ) are a collection of Tibeto-Burman ethnic groups native to western Myanmar (Burma). The Chin primarily live in the mountains of Chin State but are also found in parts of Sagaing Region, Magway Region, and Lower Myanmar. Significant Chin diaspora communities are also present in northeast India, the United States, Malaysia, and Australia.
The Chin are divided into numerous tribes and speak a variety of Kuki-Chin languages that are closely related but often mutually unintelligible. The Chin identity, as a pan-ethnic identity, is a modern construction, shaped by British rule and post-independence ethnic politics, built upon older tribal and regional identities.
Ethnonyms Chin (ချင်း, MLCTS: khyang:) is a pseudo-exonym, a Burmese language adaptation of the Asho Chin word khlong or khlaung, which means "man" or "person". Burmese speakers approximated the Asho Chin word and began to apply the exonym to all nearby groups residing in the Arakan Mountains and Chin Hills. The Burmese term first appeared in stone inscriptions dating to the reign of King Kyansittha in the 11th century.
The term "Chin" is not universally accepted by all groups living in Chin State nor by all Kuki-Chin-speaking groups. Groups in the north tend to prefer the term "Zo", while related ethnolinguistic groups in India prefer the terms "Zomi" or "Mizo".
During the era of British rule, the colonial government used the compound term "Chin-Kuki-Mizo" to group the Kuki-Chin language speaking peoples, and the Indian government inherited this nomenclature. "... for these tribes including the Kuki speaking tribe such as: 'Chin', 'Mizo', 'Chin-Kuki-Mizo', 'CHIKIM', 'Zomi', 'Zou', 'Zo'. ... During the British era, the British rulers used the term 'Chin-Kuki-Mizo' and the Government of India seemed to follow ..." "... within Chin State, Chin nationalist leaders popularized the term "Chin" following Burma's independence from Britain." The Burmese government classifies the Chin as a "national race" composed of 53 sub-groups that predominantly live in Chin State.
Subgroups The Chin peoples are divided into five main tribes, namely the Asho, Daai, Khami (Mro), Laimi, and Zomi, which can be further distinguished by at least 60 different sub-tribal categories. According to anthropologist F. K. Lehman, the Chin people can be divided into two broad categories under geography and culture: the Northern Chin and Southern Chin. The division between the Northern and Southern Chin is demarcated at 21°45'N.
The Northern Chin can be divided into three tracts: Tedim, Falam and Hakha. The Tedim tract consists of the Sukte, Kamhau and Sizang. These can be further subdivided into subtribes such as the Dim, Khuano, Hualngo, Sizang, Tedim, Saizang, Thadou, Teizang, Vangte, Guite, Vaiphei, and Zou, most of whom collectively identify as Zomi.
The Falam tract is the most thickly populated, with the tribes: Sunthla, Zahau, Hualngo, Khualsim, Tawyan, Zanniat, Ngawn, Laizo, and Khuangli, who are known as or Sunthla. Historically, the British recorded them as "Tashon", an anglicized form of Taisun or Klashun, a village located west of Falam.
In the Hakha tract, the main tribes include the Hakha, Thantlang, Zokhua, Thetta, and Kapi. They call themselves and share similarities with the Mara. Historically, the Northern Chin were headhunters.
The Southern Chin largely consist of the plains or valley Chin. The Southern Chin are composed of the Chinme, Welaung, Chinbok, Yindu, Chinbon, Letu, Khyang, Sho, Asho, Cho, Khami, Mro and some Burmese tribes such as the Anu, Kun, Pallaing, and Sak. Their cultural practices differ, such as cremation of the dead and face tattoos.
Geographic distribution
In Myanmar
The Chin peoples predominantly live in the western part of Myanmar in Chin State and Rakhine State. Some Chin also inhabit Sagaing, Magway, Bago, and Ayeyarwady Regions. Chin settlements are usually above in elevation. Major cities such as Yangon and Mandalay are also home to sizable Chin communities.
In India An estimated 60,000–100,000 Chin refugees live in India, primarily in Mizoram. Due to restrictions on freedom of movement imposed by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), many fled Myanmar without documents to seek refuge across the border. Since the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état and resulting civil war, around fortythousand Chin people have fled to India. Chin people in India live without legal status, making them vulnerable to arrest, detention, and exploitation. They face challenges accessing livelihoods, healthcare, and shelter, often living on the margins of society. Mizoram has facilitated the integration of Chin refugees into local communities, including enrolling children in schools.
Diaspora Due to political instability and poverty in Myanmar, many Chin have migrated to Bangladesh, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Canada, Australia, and the United States as refugees. As of August 2024, 27,250 Chin people were registered with UNHCR in Malaysia. Indiana has the largest Chin population in the United States, with around 32,000 in the Indianapolis area alone. Tulsa, Oklahoma is home to 7,000–9,000 Zomi people, and is referred to as "Zomi Town".
Chin people who flee from Myanmar usually seek refuge in Thailand, Malaysia, or India before eventually resettling in the United States. Leaving Myanmar is often expensive, dangerous, and illegal. Refugees with limited financial means flee by boat, car, or on foot, whereas those with greater resources may travel by air. Human smugglers, or brokers, typically charge around US$1,000 per person to cross borders. Refugees caught by either Myanmar or foreign authorities may face imprisonment and mistreatment, including physical abuse.
In refugee camps, particularly those in Thailand, families are advised that having children could improve their prospects for resettlement in the United States. Consequently, many young Chin parents arrive in the U.S. needing immediate employment in order to support their families.
History Origins
The Chin maintain an origin known as Chinlung. Due to the nature of oral history, it is difficult to locate Chinlung, and several theories have been proposed. Zawla, a Mizo historian, argues that the Chin departed from Chinlung during the reign of Qin Shi Huang (modern-day China). Historians Sing Khaw Khai and Chawn Kio both argue that the Chin are descendants of the historical Tibeto-Burman Qiang people. Based on this account, the Chin originated in the Gansu-Tibet frontier.
The Tibeto-Burman peoples are said to have migrated in three waves: first with the Chin-Kachin-Naga group, followed by the Burman and Lolo peoples. However, anthropologists like Edmund Leach challenge the link between Tibeto-Burman groups and ancient China. They argue that the people did not originate from cultural units known today and cannot be identified with any particular groups of today. F. K. Lehman contends that the ancestors of the Chin and Burmans were already distinct before migrating into Burma. He states that the Chin originated from western China and eastern Tibet towards the Hukong Valley, separate from that of Burmans.
Chindwin settlement Burma scholar Gordon Luce suggested the Chin first settled in the Chindwin Valley around the mid-eighth century. However, he considered an earlier date, possibly as early as the fourth century. The Chindwin Valley was uninhabited until the Chin arrived. While the Burmans fought groups such as the Thet, Mon, and Pyu, they did not fight the Chin. Luce states that Pagan Burmans referred to the Chin as "friends". Luce postulates that the Chin did not join the enemies of the Burmans due to hostile relations. The migration of the Chin through the Hukong Valley split Thet tribes, leaving some in western Manipur. Burmans referred to the Chin as and are inferred to have agreed to their occupation of the upper Chindwin.
Kale–Kabaw Valley The Chin would eventually migrate from the eastern bank of the Chindwin into the Kale valley, around the late 13th century or the early 14th century. Evidence from Pagan-era records places the Chin between the eastern bank of the upper Chindwin and west of the Irrawaddy River. Zophei and Laimi folklore suggests floods drove them from the low valley into the mountains across the river, while scholars argue that the Chin moved after losing their alliance with Pagan.
After the fall of Pagan Kingdom, the Chin people lived peacefully in the Kale–Kabaw Valley for about a century and established their capital at Khampat. In 1395, the Shan founded Kale town on the border of the Chin Hills, bringing the Kale Valley under Shan control until British annexation. The rise of the Shan States weakened Chin influence in Upper Chindwin and central Burma. Zomi tribes note that a prince from the lowlands ruled Kale, during which the Chin people were forced to build fortifications and suffered severe oppression under Shan rule, while historians Sing Khaw Khai and Lal Thang Lian argue that the Chin and Shan peoples coexisted for a period.
Movement into the Chin Hills After 1395, Chin people began leaving Kale and established new settlements in the Chin Hills, including the present township of Tedim. The first settlement in the Chin Hills was named Ciimnuai. Chin people lived in Ciimnuai until splitting into different tribal groups due to political infighting, lack of land, and economic issues. The Asho people split away early and scattered around the Irrawaddy Delta, eventually going as far as the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, where they are known as "Khyang". One group split off to make a settlement in present-day Falam and formed the Laimi tribe. Tribes that moved north of Ciimnuai became known as Zomi. Historians posit that the Chins reached the northernmost extent of their settlement in present-day Manipur around 1554. Prior to Ciimnuai, there was no historical evidence of tribal differentiation between the Zo people.
The true reason why the Chins left Khampat and the Chindwin Valley is unknown. Historian D.G.E. Hall asserts that the Shans drove out the Chins from the valley into the Chin Hills. Lal Thang Lian, a Mizo historian, presents the oral story of the banyan sapling at the altar of the khua-hrum. According to the legend, the Chins planted the sapling before they were forced to abandon Khampat and pledged to return when the branches of the sapling grew to reach the ground.
Rise of the Sukte
Following the establishment of political agency in the Kingdom of Manipur, the treaty of 1834 transferred the Kabaw Valley to Burma, including the Shan () of Kale and Sumjok to Burmese sovereignty. This coincided with the rise of the Sukte clan in the northern Chin Hills. Chief Khan Thuam was a powerful chief who became the target of a coalition of () against him. Khan Thuam fled to Falam and took shelter under the Chief of Rallang, Khuang Ceu, paying tribute. With his son Kam Hau, Khan Thuam soon overcame opposition with aid from Rallang. He returned to Mualbem and took revenge on the previous chiefs. His invasion of the Tedim tribes led to the migration of several tribes into neighbouring Manipur. Colonel William McCulloch described his observations of the scattered tribes in the Manipur Valley. The Guite and Zou tribes settled in the eastern Lushai Hills and the Manipur Valley. The Sukte absorbed the remaining tribes, while Khan Thuam levied customary taxes and dues from subordinate villages, thereby establishing the Sukte domain.