 Amongst the old Kuki tribes of Manipur, Koren or Quoireng tribe lives close to the Maram Nagas of the state and a few other tribes of the old group. Their textile technology is identical to the Maram Nagas, with the influence of Angami designs and that of the Meitheis, along with the typical design of the old Kukis. Men wear the short black kilt that in custom of their neighbours, the Angamis, with whom they share trade relations. The petticoat of women is of various kinds. One which is popular is striped like the Meithei Phanek, but the border embroidery designs are akin to the Kukis. They are all woven at home.
The Anal tribe, again a part of the old Kuki group of tribes, are found settled in the south-eastern part of Manipur. Though amongst the old Kukis, they consider themselves as one of the Naga tribes. Along with the Moyons, Monsangs, Koms etc., they call themselves the Pakan tribe. Culturally and linguistically, they are close to the Lushei-Kuki-Chin group of tribes though influence of the Naga culture cannot be ruled out completely. Due to long subjugation, there is also influence of the Meithei culture. The folk stories pertaining to their origin are identical to those of the Mizos and the Kukis. Their textile technology is basically similar to that of Nagas, Kukis as well as Mizos, who used to spin yarn from locally grown short staple cotton with drop spindle or spinning wheel, dye the yarn with locally available vegetable dyes and weave fabrics with Loins loom or Indonesian tension loom. Like their cousins, their technology has also undergone identical changes, discarding the traditional spinning and dyeing technology but continuing with the same old weaving technology using coloured mill yarns. Textile is totally the domain of women, who produce fabrics of different designs. The men usually wear a short resembling a lungi known as "Dil", covering the body from waist downwards. They use a simple shirt known as "Pakan Lungam". The normal attire of women is a skirt known as "Harsunhno" and a long shawl covering from the breasts to the knees known as "Lungwin" and a type of blouse known as "Lungam". Women at times wear a type of short skirt known as "Ahno" and a small cloth which covers their breasts known as "Khungam" or "Lungwin".  The other varied clothes include "Lukhun", "Javi", "Jathu", "Lukharg" etc. They are all known for their beautiful colour combinations and designs. Other tribes of the old Kuki group like Ainol, Maring, Moyon, Monsang, Chothe, Chiru etc., have dresses similar to the Kukis and the Mizos with influence of the Naga and the Meithei designs, being manufactured using the same weaving technology. The costume of the Maring tribe is too scanty.
The new Kuki group of tribes such as Thadou, Gangte, Paite, Poi, Lushei and other Mizo tribes etc., are comparatively recent migrants to Manipur who are found settled mostly around Churachandpur and a few select hamlets almost all over the state. Next to Churachandpur, they are numerous in a portion of the Senapati district, around Sekmai, Motbung etc. It is reported that bulk of them migrated during the 19th century when Maharaja Nara Singh ruled Manipur and it was because of the initiative and planning by Col. W. McCulloch, the then Political Agent, that this group of tribes could be settled appropriately. Out of all these tribes, demographically Thadou is the largest. So far as their textile technology is concerned, it is identical to those of the Nagas and other Indo-Mongoloid tribes of the region. They too used to grow cotton of short staple length in their fields, sundry them after harvesting, gin them either by hand picking or by simple hand operated gins, convert them into sliver by rolling over a thin stick of grass, spin into yarn with the help of drop spindle or spinning wheel, dye the yarn with vegetable dye and finally weave beautiful fabrics with the help of back strap type loom or Loins loom. The changes that took place are also identical, with cessation of almost all preliminary operations but only weaving. They today weave their fabrics from the mill yarns of various colours with the help of Loins loom. The Thadou men wear Loin cloth more or less identical to the dhoti of Bengal and Assam, and have one more cloth to wrap around themselves over one shoulder or both. They also wear as part of their attire, a Pugree or turban about a metre long or a little more. It is tied around the head with the ends or one end sticking up in the front. However, it has not been too long since the Thadou males went naked. Men are perhaps still found nude occasionally in the interiors, the Chin hills region, but the women always wore cloth. It was reported of even the old Kukis being seen naked in their houses in Cachar. The Thadou women wear a Loin cloth which is wrapped around their waist and reaches a little over half way down their thighs. Attached to the cloth, sometimes separately, is a string which is passed around the waist, holding the cloth up.  In addition they wear a breast cloth that is wrapped tight around their torso, the other corner being tucked in at the top at the spot between the left breast and the armpit. Sometimes an additional wrapper is thrown over the shoulders, completing their wardrobe. It may be noted that the Thadou women were careful about covering their breasts only until they gave birth, after which exposing them did not matter. The same tradition was observed with the Mizos as well.
The Thadous settled around Churachandpur in Manipur had the tradition of producing woollen cloths. They got their wool from the sheep they reared. Both men and women use a kind of jumper, which is very crudely made, consisting of two strips of cloth measuring about 1.5 metres by 25 centimetres. These are stitched together leaving an unstitched gap to allow the head to go in. The sides of this chest and back protector are again stitched together leaving a gap in the centre of each for the arms. There is another coat shirt with short sleeves and a collar with a few buttons down the front, but that is certainly an imitation of the coat of Western countries. The wrappers or shawls used by men and women may be white or dark indigo blue. The white one usually has a black band at its extremes, while the blue ones have some embroidery work embellished in place of those bands. Traditionally, blue dye was obtained from the plant Strobilanthes flaceidifolious, which grew wild, although during this age of exploitation of dyeing technology, has been discarded and the weavers have started using coloured mill yarns in weaving their fabrics. The embroidered design is one of the most beautiful art works, rarely seen except amongst the Thadous, the Gangtes, the Mizos including Lusheis and the other new Kuki group of tribes. The design and colour combination of their fabrics are found to be more attractive than their cousins, the Nagas and the old Kuki group. One of the most prominent fabrics woven by the Mizo Kukis are termed as Puans, which are varied and vivid in design but more or less identical amongst almost all of the Mizo Kukis with minor local variations. The development of technology and design among the Mizos is gradual, thus a good lot of variation has been noticed. Related Articles: Manipur Textiles of Manipur Crafts of Manipur Tribes of Manipur Weaving and Dyeing Craft Mizos Kukis Maram Tribe Anal Tribe Naga Tribes |
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Textiles of Kuki Tribes of Manipur
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