The Lusei people are one of the eleven tribes of the Mizo people, native to Mizoram

Mizoram

Mizoram is one of the Seven Sister States in North Eastern India, sharing borders with the states of Tripura, Assam, Manipur and with the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Burma. Mizoram became the 23rd state of India on 20 February 1987. Its capital is Aizawl. Mizoram is located in the...

 in Northeast India, Chin Hills

Chin Hills

The Chin Hills are a range of mountains in Chin State, northwestern Burma , that extends northward into India's Manipur state. They are part of the Arakan Mountain Range . The highest peak in the Chin Hills is Nat Ma Taung, or Khonumthung , in southern Chin State, which reaches 3,053 meters...

 in western Myanmar

Myanmar

Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

 and Chittagong Hill Tracts

Chittagong Hill Tracts

The Chittagong Hill Tracts comprise an area of 13,295 km2 in south-eastern Bangladesh, and borders India and Myanmar . It was a single district of Bangladesh until 1984. In that year it was divided into three separate districts: Khagrachari, Rangamati and Bandarban. Topographically, this is the...

 of eastern Bangladesh.

The name

There have been many speculations as to what the name means. It was first interpreted 'long-headed', as they believe that it is actually 'lu-sei' and not 'Lusei' ('sei' means long), as the Lusei people tie their hair in knots at the back of their heads.

Physical Features

The Lusei people are usually described as "short, sturdy and heavy people of Mongolian

Mongols

Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...

 type." The average height of men was usually between 162 cm and 170 cm. The average women's height ranged from 140 cm to 160 cm. Their skin complexion varied between dark brown to light yellow.

Religious Practices and Influences

The Lusei, being one of the major tribes of the Mizo people, influenced neighbouring, smaller tribes, such as the Lai/Pawih

Lai

A lai is a lyrical, narrative poem written in octosyllabic couplets that often deals with tales of adventure and romance.Lais were mainly composed in France and Germany, during the 13th and 14th centuries. A Provençal term for a similar kind of poem is descort.The English term lay is a...

, the Ralte

Ralte

The Ralte tribe is found scattered in the Lushai villages to the north of Aizawl, India. About 200 years ago the Raltes lived mostly near Champhai. Mangkhaia was an important Ralte chief there. He was killed in course of events following his clash with a Lushai chief. Mangkhaia's memorial stone has...

, the Hmar

Hmar

Hmar is the name of one of the numerous mizo/kuki/chin tribes of India, spread over a large area in the northeast. The Hmars belong to the Chin-Kuki-Mizo group of tribes, and are recognised as Scheduled Tribe under the 6th Schedule of the Constitution of India. Literally, Hmar means North or...

, the Paite

Paite

The Paites are one of the constituting tribes of the Zomi who inhabit Burma, India and Bangladesh. The word paite means " a group of people marching " or 'Walkers' in a word,. The Paites are a recognised scheduled tribe in Manipur as well as in Mizoram. The Paites concentrated in Manipur, a...

 and the Rangte/Gangte.

Presently all the ethnic Lusei people are Christian. The major Christian denominations are Presbyterian, Baptist Church of Mizoram

Baptist Church of Mizoram

Baptist Church of Mizoram, abbreviated BCM is a Protestant denomination of India and the second biggest Church in Mizoram state in Northeast India....

, Salvation Army, Seventh-day Adventist, Roman Catholic and Pentecostal.

In recent generations a small group of Mizo have claimed themselves as Jews; see Bnei Menashe

Bnei Menashe

The Bnei Menashe are a group of more than 9,000 people from India's North-Eastern border states of Manipur and Mizoram who claim descent from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. The claim appeared after a Pentecostalist dreamt in 1951 that his people's pre-Christian religion was Judaism and that...

.

Language

Only one language is spoken by the Lusei people and it is called the Lusei language (spelled Lushai by the Colonial British). Other languages were also spoken in the Lusei hills. However, the main one spoken is Lusei

Mizo language

The Mizo language is natively spoken by Mizo people in Mizoram, a state in the Indian Union; Chin State of Burma and in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. The language is also known as Lushai , as Lusei people are the first clan who have an external exposure...

. Many of the smaller tribes communicate amongst each other through their own language but usually speak Lusei with outsiders or in public, which subsequently became the official language of Mizoram State of India.

Lusei is commonly now known as Mizo language

Mizo language

The Mizo language is natively spoken by Mizo people in Mizoram, a state in the Indian Union; Chin State of Burma and in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. The language is also known as Lushai , as Lusei people are the first clan who have an external exposure...

. Christian missionaries introduced written form of the Lusei dialect/language in 1890s using the Latin letters as its alphabet.