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Adoption
Lushais
had a system of adoption. A rich person without a son would sometimes adopt a
close relative as son. A woman who had no brothers or anyone close to take
her bride price often adopted a man as brother. The adopted brother, called nuta
zawnchaws, would be in the same position as the real brother for all purposes.
The chiefs sometimes adopted women not belonging to their class as sisters. A
chief also could adopt a boy if he was his favourite, and could admit him into
his clan by a custom known as saphun.
In
the ceremony of such adoption the priest would sacrifice a pig or a fowl and
chant prayers. Some hair or feathers would be tied around the boy's neck
and he would thus be admitted into the chief's clan.
Inheritance
Under the Lushai custom of inheritance
(rokhawh) all properties devolved through
males. In case a man left behind only minor sons and widow, generally some
close male relation like the brother of the deceased would take over the
property and look after the family till a son would attain adulthood. In
the absence of such relations, the widow would get the property as trust
for her children. The person who inherit the assets has the obligation to
pay the debts. A man's natural heirs were his sons. Although
formally, only the youngest son (fatlum) could inherit, in fact, the property
would be divided among all the sons. The youngest son was treated as the
heir as the other sons, during the life time of the father, on attaining
adulthood would have lived independently and only the youngest son would have
remained with the family. This was particularly true of the chiefs as
after marriage the chief's son would be given by the father some families of the
village to go and set up and independent village for them. Among the
chiefs the youngest son would remain with the father to look after him during
old age and would inherit his chieftainship after his death. Amongst
commoners when property would be shared by the brothers, the youngest son as the
formal heir, would get the first choice of the articles and he would get two
shares of the cash in place of one each for the other brothers. Sons by a
concubine (hmei) would inherit in absence of legitimate sons and an illegitimate
son (sawn) would inherit in absence of both. In case there were no
children and the father was alive he would inherit the property. Next in
the order of succession would be brothers. Inheritance by women was
generally precluded but if there was no other heir, the daughter or widow could
inherit, the former taking precedence over the latter. A man without any
close relation would select a man as his heir, who would come and live with him
and arrange for his funeral on his death. There was no formal custom
of will and a father often divided the properties amongst his sons before
his death.
Death
There were various customs connected with disposal of corpse and funeral
ceremony. Although there were minor differences between tribes the general
custom was more or less the same, amongst all the Lushai and akin tribes.
The corpse was washed, dressed and placed in a sitting position on the floor of
the house. The personal belongings of the deceased - gun, dao, etc. would
be placed near the corpse. Some animals like mithun, pig, goat or dog
would be sacrificed and a funeral feast, ral, would be held with singing and
drinking of zu. Food and drink would be offered at intervals to the
corpse. It was believed that the souls of the animals sacrificed would
accompany the dead to his abode in the dead man's village called mithikhua.
In the evening of the next day the corpse would be buried with his smoking pipe,
cloth, bag and weapons. Some food and drink would also be buried.
The custom followed for the chiefs was different. The corpse would not be
buried but would be placed in a coffin which would be placed on one side on the
floor of the house. A hollowed bamboo would be inserted in the stomach of
the dead body which would pass through a hole and the other end buried in the
ground. Fire would be kept up in a hearth near the coffin which would dry
the body and the liquid would be passing through the bamboo pipe to the
ground. The widow would sit near the coffin and on the other side personal
belongings of the dead would be kept. After three months the coffin would
be opened, a pig would be sacrificed and a feast given - the occasion being known
as khuang pai or throwing away of the coffin. The dry bones and the
remains of the body would be divided - the dried up skull and the larger bones
would be kept in a basket and placed in a special shelf opposite the hearth and
the reminder of the bones buried in an earthenware pot. When the
collection of bones in the chief's house would become too large these would be buried
outside in a big earthen pot.
The skulls of the animals killed during funeral ceremonies would be placed on
poles around the grave or on a platform erected in memory of the deceased (lungdwah).
The platform was generally made of logs but this would be of stones for the
chiefs and for those who had killed men in war. A big upright stone was
placed on the grave or on the platform. A rubber tree would also be
planted on the side of the chief's grave.
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