A Lesson from the Past: What did the Anglo-Kuki War Teach Us?

The Anglo-Kuki War, 1917-1919 was one of the lengthiest and deadliest anti-colonial wars against the British. It was also a major Tribal Revolt during World War I. The preparation for the war began as early as in March 1917 but the assault started in October 1917 and continued till May 2019. Many people assumed that the Kukis were defeated in the war, but in reality, they were not defeated even in a single battle. This is mainly because the rebel Kukis applied guerrilla warfare where “hit- and-run” was the main tactic.

In many cases, the rebel Kukis would ambush the British soldiers, kill or maim as many as they can, and then disappear deep into the jungle. In some cases, they laid traps using boulders, giant wooden logs, hidden pits with sharp wooden or bamboo sticks fixed at the bottom, and nets with sharp bamboo or wooden sticks, etc. in unsuspecting locations and narrow roads where there are no diversion route. However the military strength of the rebel Kukis lay mainly in the guns and gunpowder they produced on their own. Without relying on any resources from abroad except parts or raw materials required to ensemble guns and manufacture gun-powder, the Kukis were able to sustain the fight against the British using traditional as well as acquired skills in producing arms and ammunition locally. The main weaponries used by them were muzzle loading guns and country-made cannons [locally called Thihnang and Pumpi].

One reason why the Kuki rebels needed to fight the British through guerrilla warfare was due to the more advanced weaponries possessed and war tactics used by the British including .303 and other semi-automatic rifles and mortars, not to forget the unlimited supply it received from the government exchequer. The kind of military strength and logistic support the British officers have at their disposal was not a match for the Kukis who depended mostly on indigenous technology and skills. Moreover, the Kukis were better prepared to fight in their own hills as they were familiar with the landscape and terrain where they could attack the unsuspecting advancing troops and escape into the jungle leaving no chance for the alien soldiers to trace them. Before the war began, there were War Councils where the Kuki chiefs came together, decided the course of action, and performed rituals such as “Sathin-Salung neh”, “Thal-long a twidon”, “Sel-mei tan”, “Kihanlah”, etc. [“Sathin-Salung neh”: the act of eating livers and lungs of animal to show unwavering commitment towards a cause; “Thal-long a twidon”: the act of drinking from the barrel of a gun to show that they will not retreat even at the point of death; “Sel-mei tan”: cutting the tails of Mithun as a sign of being the rightful authority, chiefship, or show of valour and courage; “Kihanlah”: Kukis way of performing war cry as an act of taking a vow, building confidence and dispelling fear, if any]. In the process, commanders for each division (hills or areas) were also decided. Here, most of the leaders so appointed were naturally the powerful chiefs of the respective areas but some of them such as Enjakhup were common men chosen purely on merit because of their personality and experience as a former military man in the British government. This shows that the Kuki chiefs, who possessed self-sacrificing nature and deep sense of patriotism, were usually “born leaders” and “organisers” of such rebellion but it was not the monopoly of the hereditary chiefs to lead a war front.

While reading the Anglo-Kuki War, many tend to focus on the role of the chiefs alone. But the contribution of the womenfolk was not lesser. They were the driving force behind the menfolk who were in the battlefield by taking care of the dependants (children, elderly, and the sick) including those injured. The women were also responsible for preparing ingredients required for pounding gun-powders and in manufacturing guns. Even naang (tender bamboo splits mean for binding) or khaopi (wild rope), sharpened bamboo and wooden sticks, and other materials needed for laying traps, etc. were often arranged by the womenfolk. They also took the responsibility of cooking and arranging lunch-packs and tobaccos which the fighters who were on ambush sometimes for days together were fond of.

However, despite their best efforts, the Kuki chiefs had to finally submit to the colonial government, not out of fear or defeat, but compulsion necessitated by lack of food supply and other essential items needed to sustain the war particularly to feed their dependants. This was the result of various factors ingeniously applied by the British of which one of the most important was the warfare on the economic front.

Perhaps the British initially thought that the Kuki tribals wouldn’t sustain the “rebellion” for long. But they soon realised that they had miscalculated the strength of the Kuki rebels, and hence changed the strategy in the second phase. As they couldn’t subdue the Kukis in the first year, they focuses on destroying their villages and huts, seeds and crops, cattle and other domesticated animals, water sources and road-connections, and such other essential items required for a living in the “hostile” villages. They also ruined their jhum fields by burning them before it was the right time to do. So, after the end of the second year, as the wild foods and those harvests usually left in jhum fields were exhausted, the Kukis were left with practically nothing to survive on for another year.

Moreover, as the Kukis from the “hostile” villages had been living in the jungles for years, epidemics and diseases overwhelmed them. To make their condition worse, they were no longer able to prepare enough medicines and preform medical treatment for the sick and injured. Pregnant and lactating women and the new-born children were also struggling to survive under the cold and rain in the jungle. Over and above, they felt worst of in the spiritual realm as they were unable to perform fitting funeral rituals for the deaths! It shouldn’t be forgotten that one of the reasons why the Kukis refused to go to France as part of the “labour corps” was the fear that they might not be able to perform death rituals in case they died beyond the sea. According to the Kukis’ beliefs, if necessary rituals are not performed for a dead body, the soul will not be able to cross the “mithi-kho” (village of the deaths), but would remain in perpetual servitude in in the life after death.

All these factors, and many more, compelled the Kuki chiefs to surrender to the authority after nearly three years of revolt. During this whole period, they were neither exhausted nor demoralised to endure the sufferings due to the war. In fact, the will to fight was as strong as it was in the beginning. Yet they couldn’t also ignore the plights of the innocent women, children and the elderly. Above all these, the inducements offered by the government such as reconstruction of villages; supply of food for free, or with minimal taxes for a year; distribution of seeds for agriculture; leniency for surrendered chiefs, and the like, were too tempting to refuse.

However, the surrender spree did not take place before the government lost a huge amount of money and a good number of soldiers and coolies in its attempt to suppress the rebellion. The military operations with “continuous active service in mountainous country” was carried out by the combined forces of Assam and Burma Military Police involving 6234 combatants, 696 non-combatants, 7650 transport carriers among others. It was the “largest series of military operations” in the eastern frontier of India, eclipsed only by the World War II in the region in 1944. These whole operations cost a staggering rupees 28 lakhs to the government exchequer!

Moreover, casualties on the British troops include 60 deaths (including a British officer), 142 wounded (including 3 British officers), and 97 death due to diseases. Interestingly, only seven coolies were killed by the rebels, a figure which could have been higher had the targets included them, though many more died of diseases. The total number of deaths (most of which were due to epidemic and diseases) was 393. On the other hand, official estimates of Kukis killed during the operations stands at 120 though the figure was much less from the Kukis’ version.

Regarding livestock and properties destroyed or looted, the official record says 576 mithuns (possibly much higher than this) along with a large number of cattle, goats, pigs, fowls, etc. Moreover, 126 Kuki villages were completely burnt down, 16 declared permanently barren or deserted, and 140 coerced to surrender. No official estimate was available on the amount of food-grains and other materials such as rice, root crops, vegetables, oilseeds, cotton, beans, etc., systematically destroyed or looted from the village granaries and “hidden stores” in the jungles. Considering the tiny population size of the Kukis then, the amount of properties destroyed was unimaginable.

To condense the long history short, there are many lessons we can learn from the Anglo-Kuki War to sustain the ongoing ethnic cleansing campaign perpetrated by the dominant community to crush the Kukis, but the following two questions are worth pondering over at the moment:

First, are we in a position to sustain the war effort economically beyond three years as our forefathers did?

Second, are our leaders in a position to decline anything other than separation from the “hegemony of majoritarian politics” if the state offers us a condition so tempting?

Let us not forget the last-hour agreement signed following the 123-days agitation for Sadar Hills district in 2011 which many of us fondly remembered as the “mid-night agreement”. During the course of that agitation, three precious lives were lost in an unfortunate incident, and huge amounts of money and resources were pooled-in, not to forget the invaluable contributions of those injured in police actions, volunteers on duty, hunger strikers, and donors and well-wishers in and around the world.

In this ongoing ethnic war, the brave Kuki warriors in the frontlines will not retreat even in the face of death. As Pu Paolienlal once tweeted, “Every Kuki will give their lives to be free from the hegemony of majoritarian politics,” but we are all human being with emotions. Therefore, unless our frontline warriors are shown the minimal moral as well as material support needed for a soldier, they can lose the spirit to bear heat and cold under incriminating weather.

By the way, how’s the josh, Dear Leaders!