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LAI.

　Several tribes call themselves Lai. This word is said to mean 'middle,' and the use of it as a tribal name is accounted for by the fact that the Lais are the central tribes in the Chin Hills. Their neighbours towards the north are the tribe which the Burmese call Tashns and the Lais Shunklas. To the south of the Lais we find the Zos. The Lais extend from the Burma frontier on the east to the Lushai country on the west. The Burmese call them Baungsh, and under this name they have generally been known to us. This term is, however, a mere nickname applied to all the Chins who wear their hair in a knot over the forehead. It is derived from the Burmese paung, to put on, and sh, in front. Dialects of the Lai language are spoken by the surrounding tribes, and nearly all of them also understand the standard form of speech. This is also the case with the Tashns, whose own language is said not to be radically different.

　The clans which call themselves Lai are Hakas, Tlantlangs (or Klang-klangs), Yokwas, Thettas, Kapis, and many of the southern villages. The Hakas and the Tlan- tlangs are universally recognised as Lais, and these two tribes contend that the other three have no right to the name, they being the descendants of a wild goat. The Hakas were formerly constantly at war with the Tashns, while the Tlantlangs made raids into Arrakan and Chittagong where they were known as Shendus. This latter name seems, however, to be applied to several different tribes. The vocabularies which have been published differ from each other and from standard Lai, but not more than is natural in the case of dialectic varieties. The Lushis call the Lais, and other tribes who wear their hair in a knot upon the top of the head, Poi.

　 The Hakas maintain that they are the original inhabitants of the hills. Major Newland, who makes this statement, continues to say:-

　 'Their traditions trace them back to the time of the flood, when they sprung from the solitary couple who cscaped the deluge of waters, by clinging to the top of the Rong Ktlang range, which is above Haka. Ever since then they have gone on increasing and multiplying and sending out off-shoots who have founded all the surrounding tribes and villages. Hence by right of descent the Hakas claim jurisdiction over all the rest.'

　The Lais have no written literature, but a large number of national songs, called lha, are current among them. Major Newland has given some specimens in his grammar. He states that they are of two kinds, lha, funeral songs, and nang lha, which are sung on all other occasions. The village bard will celebrate all special events by a song com- posed for the occasion. Each song generally consists of one verse.

　About 1,600 Lais, immigrants from the villages round Haka and Tlantlang, are settled in the Lungleh sub-division of the Lushai Hills where they are called Pois. The number of their houses is estimated at about 450, and they are said to speak the lan- guages of the parent villages still. They extend from the eastern frontier of the Lushai Hills to the Koladyne river, to the north of Mal Selai as far as Dopura. Messrs Carey and Tuck have estimated the number of the Hakas, Tlantlangs, and Yokwas as follows:-

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