Ralte Hnam
Mizo
At a glance
- Called a
- Hnam
- Community
- Mizo
- Found in
- Mizoram
About
Ralte is a Mizo hnam, or clan, of Mizoram. Shakespear's 1912 account treats it as a clan of its own, apart from the Lusei, with two families, Khelte and Siakeng; Mizo lists now give it four main branches. Older surveys counted Ralte as one of the dialects of Mizoram, and most Ralte today speak Mizo. The Mizo are a Scheduled Tribe; the clan is not a gotra or a Hindu caste.
What “Hnam” means for the Mizo
Hnam is the Mizo word for a clan, and in a wider sense a tribe or nation; Lorrain's Lushai dictionary gives 'clan' among its senses. A Mizo clan passes through the father, and its name is carried as a surname. Shakespear (1912) called the larger groups, such as the Lushei and the Ralte, clans and their branches families.
Every hnam of the Mizo, with how the clan system works: the Mizo page.
Name and Origin
Shakespear wrote that the Ralte were divided into two families named after their founders, Khelte and Siakenga, said to descend from two brothers of legend, and that all Ralte chiefs belonged to the Khelte, who had always held the leading position. The chiefs, in his account, claimed descent from a man who founded a community at Khuazim. He also recorded that the Kawlni clan was said to be connected with the Ralte. Modern Mizo lists give four main branches, Khelte, Siakeng, Lelhchhun (or Lalhchhun) and Kawlni, each divided further.
Historical Journey
Shakespear described the Ralte as living under Sailo chiefs until British rule began in the Lushai Hills, and wrote that in some Sailo villages there were so many Ralte that the chief himself spoke their dialect. A study of the land and people of Mizoram lists Ralte among the dialects of Mizoram, beside Lushai, Hmar and Lakher, and notes that the 1951 Census allowed the Ralte and the Hmar to return themselves as Mizo while keeping their own names. Most Ralte now use the common Mizo language (Duhlian), and Ralte families count themselves Mizo.
How the Hnam Is Kept
Shakespear recorded that the Ralte add two payments, dawngbul and dawngler, to the marriage payments that the Lusei make to a bride's relatives, and he gave separate notes on Siakeng customs at childbirth. Children belong to their father's clan and carry its name. The sources checked name no family deity for the clan.