Pawibawia: Chief of the Eastern Lushai Hills

On 14 April 1892 British soldiers climbed a steep hill in the eastern Lushai Hills. At the top lay one of the biggest villages in the region.

It had more than 700 houses. Its chief was Pawibawia, a name the British often wrote as “Poiboi”. His story is about hill chiefs, rival villages and a colonial army that came to collect tax.

1What was a Lushai chief?

In the nineteenth century the Lushai Hills were ruled village by village. Each large village had a chief. Smaller villages around it often looked to him for lead.

People farmed by jhum. They cleared a slope, grew a crop, then let the land rest. A chief guided who farmed where. He also settled quarrels and could call on villagers for work.

Chiefs dealt with each other through trade, feuds and alliances. They were not one state. That matters for Pawibawia, because he was one chief among many.

• Rule was by village chiefs, not one king.
• Farming was by jhum plots.
• Chiefs made alliances and fought feuds.
• Pawibawia: a chief of the eastern Lushai Hills, now Mizoram.

2What do accounts say about Pawibawia’s early years?

Mizo histories put his birth near 1852. This is an estimate, worked out from his age at the time of the 1871-72 expedition. They name his father as Lalphunga and his grandfather as Lalsavunga.

A well-known tradition explains his name. It says he was born in a Pawi household, and was made to wear a bawi’s bangle as a fertility blessing. The name Pawibawia is said to come from this. No independent record backs the story, so treat it as tradition.

The 1871-72 expedition entered the hills after raids across the Assam border. One cause was the rise of tea estates in Assam. They pushed into old hunting grounds of the Lushais. Mizo accounts say Pawibawia’s village at Sailam was taken by British troops in February 1872.

Later he settled at Khawruhlian. Disputes over jhum land with rival chiefs led to a local war between eastern and western chiefs. Even so, his village grew into one of the largest in the hills. A British account records 722 houses there in 1892.

• Birth: about 1852, an estimate.
• Father Lalphunga; grandfather Lalsavunga.
• Name story is tradition, not proved.
• 1871-72 expedition; tea estates pressed on hunting grounds.
• Khawruhlian: 722 houses in 1892.

3Why did the chiefs resist in 1892?

By the 1890s the British had set up stronger control in the north. An officer, R. B. McCabe, toured the eastern chiefs. He pressed them for house tax, rice and labour.

The labour was for porters, called coolies in colonial records. In February 1892 the chief Lalbura refused a demand for 100 workers. Reid’s colonial history says fighting soon spread.

The chiefs did not all think alike. Some obeyed the demands. Others resisted. Some had old quarrels with each other as well.

Pawibawia was among the chiefs who resisted taxes. He was one of those named with Lalbura and another chief, Bungteya. Their men fought McCabe’s party in March and April. Mizo accounts say he took part in a meeting of chiefs at Sesawng to plan the rising.

• Officer: R. B. McCabe.
• Demands: house tax, rice and labour.
• February 1892: Lalbura refuses 100 workers.
• Resisting chiefs: Lalbura, Pawibawia, Bungteya.

4What happened in April 1892?

On 4 April fighters linked to several chiefs raided the Boruncherra tea estate. A colonial account says Pawibawia, Lalbura and the chief of Maite took part. It records 45 people killed and 13 carried away.

Ten days later British troops moved on Pawibawia’s village. They made a steep climb. On 14 April they stormed it.

Sources agree that the village was taken. They do not agree on what happened to the chief himself. One says he was captured. Others do not say so clearly. So we should not claim that he was seized.

The main rising was put down. The British force went back to Aizawl in June. Some accounts say Pawibawia died in 1892, but the record is not firm.

• 4 April 1892: raid on Boruncherra tea estate.
• 14 April 1892: British troops storm his village.
• Whether he was captured is unclear.
• Force returned to Aizawl in June.

5What did the conflict cost?

Colonial columns seized villages and food stores. A recent study says forces also burned villages. They tried to stop people from rebuilding on some sites. Such acts threatened homes, food and local rule.

Civilians suffered on the other side too. The deaths at Boruncherra show that. The figures of 45 killed and 13 taken come from a colonial source, so they carry that label.

The end of the rising did not make the chiefs one group. Many kept their rivalries. In time the hills came under colonial rule and, much later, became the state of Mizoram.

• British forces seized villages and food stores.
• Boruncherra: 45 killed, 13 taken, per a colonial source.
• Chiefs stayed divided after 1892.
• Read about Mizoram’s path to statehood.

6What are the exam traps?

Keep the two campaigns and the two names apart.

• 1871-72 was a British expedition. 1892 was the chiefs’ rising.
• Poiboi is a colonial spelling of Pawibawia.
• The main trigger in 1892 was house tax and labour.
• Storming the village does not prove the chief was captured.
• The chiefs were not one united army.
• The picture shows Mompunga, not Pawibawia.
• Compare him with Tirot Sing.
• Compare him with Rani Gaidinliu.