Tangkhul Literature

Tangkhul Literature was orally passed down in the form of story telling and folk songs.

“Maitonphy eina Shimreishang” is an equivalent of “Romeo and Juliet” for the tangkhul people. From this story we get to learn a lot about the culture and customs of the past. At the same time it tells us the story about two young lovers who were separated by the differences in the family status.

The Tangkhul tribe were headhunters until a missionary by the name William Pettigrew came to the tangkhul hills in 1886 and spread the gospel of Christianity. At this point 99% of the tangkhul society is christian. He was the pioneer of the tangkhul literature. He used the english alphabet and added two more letters á- pronounced higher like ‘aa’ and the lower ‘a’ sounds variably like ‘uh’. Pettigrew’s arrival to the hills of tangkhuls brought a literary outbreak.

The Holy Bible was translated to tangkhul, and the gospel hymns were also translated to tangkhul.

Since then, poets began writing about love, war, family, nature and spirituality. Right after this literary outbreak, came the first world war and the second world war. The Nagas in general, and Tangkhuls in particular faced the wrath of modernization in a bittersweet manner.

Firstly from headhunting to Christianity, and as soon as the tribe learned to write, first world war started. The Naga people participated the 1st world war as an allies of France. Able’d men were recruited and sent to France to aid the war. Many died and did not return. And with the exposure of literary value, the decade of war time era became a fertile ground for the mind of the young tangkhuls to write more.

Due to lack of proper publication, 90% of the literary works are lost. There are some literary works which fortunately went on to the curriculum in primary and high school. Some of the early writers are Suisa Rungsung, Ringkahao and more.

The second world war brought a huge impact on the psychological state of the tangkhuls. The innocent citizens witnessed the dogfight of Allied forces and Axis (British Planes and Japanese planes) above their home. The 2nd world war came to the doorstep of these tribesmen. This made them aware of the global politics and made them understand what colonization can bring about to the harmony of the world.

Post 2nd world war, came the Indian state under the leadership of the first prime minister Nehru. When he asked the Nagas to join the Indian state. The Nagas refused. Then came another struggle. The Naga territory was forcefully occupied using military power. To cut the story short, Nagas suffered the process of being occupied using the force of gunpoint. All this sufferings gave the younger Nagas another path to take up pens.

There were many writings; stories, poetry and songs written during the post 2nd world war time. These are filled with deep and at times dark emotions. Again, publication was very less, and most of the literary works will be lost again. It is quite possible that the works of these era may be dug up with extensive research.

By 2020, it is observed that the millennial are now using the tangkhul language as almost a second language. It is because, english has become too universal that the need to use the native tangkhul language hardly arises. Most millennial writers are now writing only in english except for a few handful.

LEARN BASIC TANGKHUL FOR TOURIST

Greetings	Maza’ haira?	Have you had your meal?
	Za’ hairei	Yes, I had
	Maza’ rangei	No, I hadn’t
Asking for Location	Viewland Bazaar kali lei?	Where is Viewland Bazaar?
Asking for Toilet	Toilet kali lei?	Where is toilet?
Asking for price	He lupa’ kaya’kha?	How much is this?
	He	This
	Lupa	Money
	Chi lupa’ kaya’kha?	How much is this?
	Chi	That
Direction	Aatung	Up
	Aazing	Down
	Yaa-shong	Right
	Wui-shong	Left
	Kha-nuk	behind
	Ma(h)-ngaa	Front