Lushai Hills
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CENSUS, 195 I ASSAM LUSHAI HILLS DISTRICT, CENSUS HANDBOOK. Edited By R. B. VAGHAIWALLA, I.C.S. Superintendent, Census Operationa, AlSam, Tripura and Manipur. CONTENTS Pages 1. Introducing the District i-viii Introducing the Statistics 2. The Primary Census Abstract (showing distribution of population by livelihood classes, 1-18 number of occupied houses and small-scale industries in villages and wards). 3. A.-General Population Tables- I.-Area, Houses and Population 19 11.-Variation in Population during fifty years 19 111.-Towns and villages classified by population 20 IV.-Towns classified by population with variation since 1901 20 V.-Towns arranged territorially with population by livelihood classes 20 4. E.-Summa;y figures for the District and Subdivisions 21 5. B.-Economic Tables- I.-Livelihood Classes and Sub-Classes ... 22-25 (For total population 26-29 II.-Secondary Means of Livelihood ~. LFor displaced persons 30 IlL-Employers, Employees and Independent Workers (For Total Population 31-38 by Industries and Services, Divisions and~ Subdivisions. l For Displaced Persons 39 6. C.-Eousehold and Age (Sample) Tables- I.-Household (Size and Composition) ... ... ... 40 For sample population 41-43 n.-Livelihood Classes by Age Groups { For Displaced persons 44 IIl.-Age and Civil Condition 45-48 IV.-Age and Literacy ... 49-52 V.-Single Year Age Returns (For Sample population) 53-54 7. D.-Social and Cultural Tables- L-(i) Mother-Tongue 55-56 (ii) Bilingualism 57-58 H.-Religion •.. 59 III.-Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Anglo-Indians ... 60 IV.-Migrants ... 61-64 V.-Displaced Persons by district of origin and year of arrival in India 65 VI.-Non-Indian Nationals 66 VI I.-Livelihood Classes, by Educational Standards 66-68 8. Tribes by Religion 69--70 9. Census Abstract of Small-scale Industries- I.-Distribution of Small-scale Industrial Establishments by Subdivisions 71 n.-Employment in Textile Establishments 71 10. Index of Non-Agricultural Occupations 12-76 INTRODUCING THB DISTRICT LUSHAI HILLS The district of the Lushai Hills is .ituated between 22° ~O' ~t;l ;,~ 27' N, 92° 20' and 93° 29' E, and co .en an area of a,U8'9 square mileJ. It is bounded on the north by the districts of Sylhet and ~har an :tJle State of Manipur, on the east and iouth by the f,Jhi.J} Hills; ()ll the south by Arakan and 00 the west by the Chittagonk lliJl Tracts in E. Pakistao and the State of Tripura. For administration purposes, the district'is divicJe9 into two ~ubdivisions, Aijal and Lungleh. AUal is i. ,charge of tHe Superintendent of th~ district while there is a Subdivisional Officer in charge of LUQgleh sub division. For the purpos-es of jntcrnal administration the distric:;t is divided into 18 circles, 12 in the f\,ijal and 6 in the Lungleh subdivision. Each of these circles is pl~ced in charge of an interpreter ",ho Jives at some .cef\tral spot. ,Orders issued by the Superintendent· are transmitted to this' man for communication to the Chiefs. ~ is also required to submit every fortnig~t a report on the state of the, crops ~d the general ~onditioo ofaffain'within his circle. Society ill, however, organised on an aristocratic basis, and in ali minor matters the people are subj~t t9 their Chiefs The relations existing between a Chief and his people are described in a subsequent paragraph. Under the Constitution of India, a District Council with wi<i.e power" for manOl~ing the interpal. aifairs of the tribes, their customs, manners, organisation, land rights, edu c'\tion, roads. etc., d,ected by universal adult franchise has been set up, replacing the District Advisory Coun cil which had ,no constitutional status. with only an ~dvisory c_pa~ity. The new District Council will be the executive and legislative authority in respect of certain 5pecific matters provided for in the Sixth Sche dtile of the Constitution of India. PHYSICAL ASPECTS The whole of the district consists almost entirely of ranges of hills running in a north and south direc. tion, sepaxated from one another by narrow valleys, only a very small portion lying in the plaips. The gene ral height of these ranges is about 3000 feet. though here:: and there there are p~ks over 6000. feet in height -an~ the Blue Mo~ntain in the South Lwhai, Hills rises to a height of 7100 feet. The general.elevation of the.di:;trict rises tow~ros the east and in the Chin Hills there are several summits over 8000 feet above the sea lev~. the si~es of the hills are covered with dense forest or bamboo jungle, except ia those places where they have been cleared for cultivation. Heye,and tpere. amidst this junglj:: covered waste of hills and narrow valleys, there are plains, which are believed to have formed in'the beds of silted up lakes. They have, as a rule an elevation of ab.out 4500 f.ee~ and are .oovece<;!. with~ thick layer of rich alluvial soil. They are surrounded by hilis which slope geptly, to")'Vards .the plains but are generally very stc;:ep, often precipitous on the outer side. The largest of these plains is Champhai which has a lenith of about 7·miles and at the widest part is nearly l miles across. There il ahothet plain at Vanlaiphai, about 6 miles long and from a quarter to h~lf a mite in breadth. The slopes of the valleys ate gentle and uhdUlating, thds giving the plain tht effect of being wider than it really is. .Ripers.-T4e most impodant rivers are the Tlpng or the DhalesW'ari~ the Sonai, and the Tuivol, which p,r.ain the northern pprtion of the counu;y an? eventualiy fall into .the Barak. The southern hills are dfain~d by the Koladyne on the east, with its t,ributaries, the Mat, Tuichang, Tiao and Tuipui ; while the Karnaphhli at the mouth of which stands Chittagong, with its tributaries, the Tuichang, Kao, beh, Phairang and Tuilianpui, form the western drainage system. The drainage levels of the country are unusually complica ted. Ge~,_-The h~ .consist of san4, .stone. iUld slabs of Tertia,ry age, thrown into Folds, die axes pf which r-pn i~ a nearly .north .anCl south diTeCtion. The rocks are a continuation southwards of those forming the Patkoi range. Cli11Ulte and Rai!!faU.-The valleys are feverish and unhe.althy, and during the rains the climate, even in ~e lower hiUs, is moist and enervating. In the higher ridges. it is faitly cool and pleasant ev.en at the hottest $~~hs of the year. Iri March apd April, violent storms from the horth-west sweep 'over the hilb. "r.he ave ra:_ge rainfall.at Aija'l is 83 inches in the year; at Lungleb, 'Some distance to the south, it 'is no Jess than l~O m cb.es. •Owing to t~f sttep~ess of the hiitsides an.d the narrownes~ m tb~ vallIeys ,the Ti'l/'ers rise ~fter heavy rain WIth wonderl'u rat>Idlty. It bas beerl recorded tbat ihtt'lng the \ast " ;tays 'Of Ma+" 1.889 .aver '21 inclies of rain fell ih the :south Lushai Hills ~nd the level 'Of the KamapnuH rIver rose ..over 5:0 feet. FOR"ESTS Tbtre are no Forest Resetves in 'the Lushai Uifi. ~slTict 'eXcept approXimately 211 tlqllare miles of :tile lhnet tine Reser:ve h>nstituted irl1817 in 'the Cachar District under the previsions -Gf 'the A6sam lFox:est ito g~laiion wbiph no'f fall Within .t'h'e'boundaries -Of tHe lmShai Hills Diittict. Cet1;aia Forest Reserw:s bve been 'con~titb.ted ih 'flit: Liishai Hills District 'tlm~r the dtfClltive -orders t)f ttte Superintendent, :r;,utlhai Hills '. the most conspicuous of which is the Aijal Reserve'~ituated close to the headquarters station of Aijal. A strip half a mile on either bapk of strea~ns useful for,floating timber has also been reserved from jhuming under the exec\Jtive orders of the Superintendent but considerable destrucrian of the forests in such areas has. taken 'place because of liberal grant of permission to open orange garoens: There 'arc:: extensive areas of forestsi 'not con'stituted as ,Reserves within the Rams of Lushai Chiefs, in respect of the management of which executive rules were framed by tlIe Chief . Commissioner of Assam. in 1904. For, pur-poses of management the fore.st working of the northern Lushai Hills is done under the control of the Divisional Forest Officer, Cachar;while the forests of the other areas are exploited under the control of the Superintendent, 'Lushai Hills. In respect 'of the forests of the drainage area of the Boraharina river in the south Lushai Hills which iows into' East Bengal, prior to the partition of India there used to be a working arrangement between th'(! Goverhments of Bengal and Assam, wher~by the collc:ction of revenue was done by the Bengal Government who paid the Assam Government an agreed share of such collection. With the constitution of Pakistan, this arrangement was terminated and the revenue on foreit produce from this area i.'now collected by the Forest Department staff working under the control of the Superintendent, Lushai Hills. Approximately It lakh's of rupees of revenue are collected annually from the ,forests situated within the limits of the Lushai Hills District. The principal species of trees exploited from the forests of the Lushai Hills are Jarul (Lagerstroemia FlCs-Reginae), Cham (Artocarpus Chaplasa), Boroi (Heritiera acuminata , Champasunid (Michelia mon tana). Dhunarata (Canarium bengal~nse or resiniferum), Hatia (Chickrassia tabularis), Jhalna (Terminalia myriocarpa) andJ~m (Eugenia species).