~ Dr. S. Kipgen

The Thadou-Kuki is the most widely spoken language of all the tribal languages in Manipur. It is only next to Manipuri locally known as Meiteilon. The diachronic linguistic studies of Thadou-Kuki languages and other cognate languages such as Mizo, Tiddim-Chin, Hmar, Siyin, Vaiphei, Mara, Paite, Simte, Kom, Gangte, Zou, etc. revealed that they had no literature of their own. The present alphabet of the Kuki-Chin groups is derived from the Roman script. However, according to tradition these groups are said to have possess their own script written on parchments. The indigenous script was believed to have lost during the course of their migration to various parts of the distant lands. Some people believe that the lost script was beyond recovery
 since the hungry dogs ate up these parchments. The Thadou pao or Thadou-Kuki language as old as the people.

The advent of Christian missionaries coincides with the education of the Kukis. Thus, in the context of
historical linguistics of the Thadou-Kukis and their cognate dialects, the beginning of written languages
can be traced to the arrival of the western Christian missionaries. Thadou pao or Thadou-Kuki language
is a language spoken in most of the India’s Northeastern states of Manipur, Nagaland, North-Cachar Hills
and Karbi-Anglong districts of Assam, Mizoram and in the Chin Hills of Myanmar (Burma), Homalin areas of Upper Myanmar and Chittagong hill tracts of Bang-ladesh. The language is widely spoken to the people belonging to the anthropologically Kuki-Chin sub group of Tibeto-Burman sub-family of Sino-Tibetan families of languages. It shares linguistic and ethnographic similarities with the other dialects of the Kuki-Chin subgroups. Therefore, it is to assert without any fear of contradiction that Thadou pao or Thadou-Kuki language is a living and vibrant language.

Now the Thadou-Kuki language is taken as Modern Indian Language (MIL) from Class IX, X, till Class XII in the state of Manipur. In this connection the Thadou- Kuki Text Book Committee is also working hard to introduce the subject up to B.A. (TDC) level. It, therefore, goes without saying that Thadou-Kuki speaking students are the largest in number from the lowest level to the University level. Take for instance, the number of students who opted Tangkhul or Paite or Hmar as MIL in the Council of Higher Secondary School Examination (CHSEM), Manipur hardly comes up to 300-450, while in the case of Thadou-Kuki there are more than 2000 (two thousand) candidates in the said examination opting Thadou-Kuki as MIL. Historically, the British India Government accorded recognition to Thadou-Kuki language as the official language for the purpose of Administration in Manipur similar to Meitei-lon and awarded “special Allowance” to British officers who acquired the working knowledge in what is called “Thadou pao”. This facility was extended to Somra Tracts of Myanmar, known as then “Unadministered Areas”, mainly due to the large number of Thadou-Kuki speaking people living therein. Official records are witnesses to this fact without pretending to speak with exaggeration. In his letter addressed to the Deputy Inspector General of Military Police - Burma, dated 11th Jan. 1919, J.C Higgins ICS, Political Officer stated that –

“Thado (Thadou) Kuki is the language of the Kuk” tribes in general and is intelligible to all the Kukis in the Somra area and Thaungdut State, thought the various tribes speak it with some slight variations”.The learning of the Tangkhul dialect spoken in the Somra will present very considerably difficulty, as it is an entirely unknown language” The dialects throughout the Tangkhul country vary to a surprising extent even from village to village.i.e Tangkhul dialects are not on the list of languages for which a reward is offered by the Assam Government, as no officer has ever learnt them. They are quite distinct from Both Manipuri and Thado. Manipuri and Thado contain certain roots in common, but are quite distinct languages and knowledge of one does not enable a person to make himself understood by persons speaking the other. The Assam Government grants a separate reward to officers passing in both”

This shows that Thadou-Kuki language is the lingua-franca of all the erstwhile Kuki tribes and till today it is so to some extent. This people have no difficulty in communicating one another even by using their own dialects. But it is not the same in the case of Tangkhuls who speak different dialects to an amazing extent of variation from village to village.

banjom nalaiding ....