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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2019}}
{{Contains special characters|Meitei}}
{{Sources|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Mao
| image = "Mao" written in Meitei script.jpg
| caption = "Mao" written in [[Meitei script]]
| population = 97,195 <ref>{{cite web |title=CENSUS OF INDIA |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-16.html |publisher=MHA GOI}}</ref> (2011)
| languages = [[Mao language|Mao Naga]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_nma|title = WALS Online - Language Naga (Mao)}}</ref> ([[first language|L1]]) <br /> [[Meitei language]] ([[second language|L2]])<ref>{{Cite web |title=Meitei {{!}} Ethnologue |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/mni/ |access-date=2023-05-03 |website=[[Ethnologue]] |language=en}}</ref>
| religions = [[Christianity]], [[Animism]]
| related = [[Meitei people]], other [[Naga people]]s
| footnotes =
}}

The '''Mao people''' are a [[Tibeto-Burman]] major [[ethnic group]] constituting the [[Naga people|Nagas]] inhabiting the northern part of [[Manipur]] and some parts of [[Nagaland]] in [[Northeast India]].
They use [[Meitei language]] as their [[second language]] (L2) according to the [[Ethnologue]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Meitei {{!}} Ethnologue |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/mni/ |access-date=2023-05-03 |website=[[Ethnologue]] |language=en}}</ref>

== Language ==
{{main|Mao Naga language}}
George van Driem put the [[Mao language]] as one of the [[Angami-Pochuri]] languages, classified as an independent branch of the [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]] languages.<ref>van Driem, George (2001), ''Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region'' (Brill).</ref> Although classification differs in most other accounts, it is considered{{by whomst|date=November 2021}} as one of the languages forming the [[Kuki-Chin–Naga languages|Naga]] genus of the [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]] subfamily of the [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]] family.<ref>See http://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_nma; also https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=naga+mao</ref> It displays a lot of variations in tonality, spelling and pronunciation among the Mao villages, suggesting a lack of interaction in the past. Many of the physical and metaphysical objects are referred to by different names by different villages. The degree of variation gets considerably widened with the neighbouring dialect groups such as the [[Poumai Naga people|Poumai]] and the [[Angami Naga|Angami]], although the Maos can inter-communicate fully with many of the villages in the [[Poumai Naga people|Poumai]] group and to a certain extent in the [[Angami Naga|Angami]] group.

In popular Mao folklore, there is a story transmitted through an old folksong which says that each of the three brothers descended from the first man was given a language and a script scrolled on three different materials by their father. The eldest son was given the script scrolled on a bark, the middle one on a bamboo culm sheath and the youngest on a hide. As the youngest of the brothers, the forefather of the Nagas did not understand the significance of having a script and casually tucked away the scroll at the side of his bed. Over time, the scroll was lost and the [[Naga people|Nagas]] lost a major tool in the advancement of knowledge. Since the script was scrolled on a hide, it was thought that the scroll was nibbled away by mice. Later, suspicion arose that the two older brothers might have conspired to deprive their brother of the script as later interactions among the brothers showed the reluctance of the two older siblings to accept their youngest brother as an equal.

Similar stories are shared by many of the unrelated ethnic groups such as the [[Khasi people|Khasis]], [[Kuki people|Kukis]] and several [[Naga people]]. A very persuasive hypothesis is that "these stories represent a tribal memory of time when they were associated with a literate civilization, perhaps in [[Southeast Asia]] or [[China]], before their migration to [[India]]. Being peripheral to that civilization, they were unable to preserve its literacy skills once their migrations began."<ref>See Downs, Frederick S. (1983),
''Christianity in North East India: Historical Perspectives'' (New Delhi, ISPCK), Note 187.</ref>



== Mao in Naga Tradition ==
[[File:Chiitebu.jpg|frame|The sacred ''Wild Pear Tree'' (''Chiitebu Kajii''), standing at ''Shajouba'' (''Charangho'') in the Mao area, believed to have been planted at the time of migration of the Nagas to different areas.]]
The Mao village of ''Makhel'' holds a central place in Naga tradition in connection with a belief that the Nagas at one point of time settled here and later dispersed to their present areas of habitation, but not before erecting monuments that would signify their communion and a pledge to reunite in the future. The village of ''Makhel'' and the surrounding areas have several historical as well as mythological monuments and relics that are of interest to ethnographers, historians and cultural anthropologists.

The significance of the beliefs and mythologies that are associated with it is that they help us to understand and to piece together their past which is otherwise shrouded in obscure and unrelated stories and legends. Many scholars and writers have tried to piece together the folklores of the Naga people to construct an intelligible map of migration to their present habitat. Most of these accounts differ in details, as also in their conclusions. However, the one thing that has gained wide acceptance and currency is the view that they came to their present habitat in waves of migration, of which two major waves are fairly detailed.

The more numerous group of these two waves of migration point to the Mao village of ''Makhel'' (''Makhrai Rabu'' in Mao language), and also to ''Khezhakenoma'', a Chakhesang village, 7-8 kilometres northward of ''Makhel''. Included in this group are the Mao, [[Poumai Naga people|Poumai]], [[Maram Naga people|Maram]], [[Thangal]], [[Angami Naga|Angami]], [[Chakhesang]], [[Rengma]], [[Lotha Naga|Lotha]], [[Sema]] and the [[Zeliangrong]] people. The belief of ''Makhel'' origin is also shared by some other groups in some accounts. While some of the ethnic groups who are situated farther away from ''Makhel'' have fuzzy accounts of the particular place, the Maos, [[Poumai Naga people|Poumais]], [[Maram Naga people|Marams]], [[Angami Naga|Angamis]], [[Chakhesang Naga|Chakhesangs]] and the [[Zeliangrong]]s, clearly indicate ''Makhel'' as their place of origin, which properly understood means that they once lived at the place and moved away from there to their present areas of habitation. The groups which claim the ''Makhel'' origin are collectively called the ''Tenyimis''. However, some more ethnic groups have come to share the legends of ''Makhel'' which did not figure originally in the ''Tenyimi'' group.

Although the ancestors of the ethnic group at one point of time, come and lived at ''Makhel'' and the surrounding areas, population increase must have made them to push outwards to find new habitations. In popular folklore, before departing, they converged at the foot of a wild pear tree, which is believed to be the sacred pear tree standing at Shajouba, about a kilometer away from ''Makhel'', and made a pact to come together one day.

The ethnic groups that went northwards such as the [[Angami Naga|Angamis]], the [[Chakhesang Naga|Chakhesangs]], the [[Rengma Naga|Rengmas]], the [[Lotha Naga|Lothas]] and the [[Sema Naga|Semas]] mention ''Khezhakenoma'' also as a place where they had once lived. The rest of the groups such as the Mao Naga, the [[Poumai Naga people|Poumais]], the [[Maram Naga people|Marams]], the [[Thangal Naga people|Thangals]] and the [[Zeliangrong]]s, who moved westward, eastward and southward, do not have knowledge or mention of the place in their folklore. It is quite probable that the northern ethnic group, when they dispersed from ''Makhel'', took the ''Khezhakenoma'' route and lived there for a period of time.

The second major wave of migration can be adduced from the folklores narrated by the [[Ao Naga|Aos]], some of the [[Konyak Naga|Konyaks]], and a section of the [[Chang Naga|Chang]] people. The Aos in their folklore narrate how they emerged from stones called ''Lungterok'' (meaning six stones in [[Ao language]]) at ''Chongliyimti'' which is in the present [[Sangtam Naga|Sangtam]] area. Collectively claimed as the ''Chongliyimti'' clan, they are widely spread in different areas in the northern side of the Naga country.

These waves of migration are believed to be the tail-end of a long migration of a much larger group which started from the confluence of [[Mongolia]] and [[China]] and spread out over [[Southeast Asia|south-east Asia]], [[Tibet]] and the north-eastern part of [[South Asia]] in prehistoric times.<ref>For more detailed accounts, see Alemchiba, M. (1970), ''A Brief Historical Account of Nagaland'' (Kohima: Naga Institute of Culture); also Vashum, R. (2005), ''Nagas’ Right to Self-Determination'' (New Delhi: Mittal Publications)</ref>

== Folklores and tradition ==
[[File:Okhe-ora-omei-tu.jpg|frame|left|Three menhirs, commemorating the meeting of the three brothers – Okhe (meaning 'Tiger' representing all of the animal kingdom), Orah (meaning 'God' representing all of the supernatural world) and Omei (meaning 'mankind') who, in the Mao mythology, are said to have descended from a common mother. Two menhirs, representing Orah and Omei, stand upright on the eastern side with the third (representing Okhe) on the western side lies flat on the cairn, at Chazhilophi, south of Makhel or Makhrai Rabu,a Mao Naga village in Manipur state of India. Makhrai Rabu is also believed to be the ancestral village of the Nagas who first settled there after years of migration and before further migrating to their present areas of habitation.]]
The village of Makhel and the surrounding areas in the heart of the land of the Maos are an ethnographer's delight and an open invitation to archaeologists too because of the various artifacts present and the never ending stories and legends associated with them.

There is a legend in Mao folklore which tells of the first woman named Dziilimosiiro (Dziilimosiia to some others according to variation in the dialect) from whom the whole of mankind has descended. One day a column of clouds enveloped her while she was asleep under a banyan tree, and she conceived. She gave birth to 'Okhe' (Tiger), 'Orah' (God) and 'Omei' (Man), in that order with ''Okhe'' as the eldest and ''Omei'' the youngest. Life went on and many years passed. In her old age, the mother became weak and fell ill. Each of her sons took turns to stay at home and care for her while the other two went away for daily activities in the forests gathering food. The story goes that on the day ''Okhe'' stayed at home with the mother, he pestered her by pointing at all parts of her body saying it would eat such and such part after her death. On other days when ''Orah'' took his turn to nurse her, her illness grew worse.<ref>Incidentally, the Mao term for fever is ''Orah maki'' meaning 'in the gripping teeth of God'.</ref>

When it was ''Omei''’s turn to care for her, the mother was happy because he took good care of her. The mother dreaded the day when ''Okhe'' and ''Orah'' would take their turn to nurse her. As her condition grew worse, ''Omei'' thought to himself that he should do something to let her die peacefully on a day when he was with her. So, he collected some chillies which grew in the wild and cooked it into a soup thinking that it would slowly kill her. On taking the soup, the mother got better and thereafter asked for more of it. Time passed, and unfortunately the old mother died on a day when ''Omei'' was with her. ''Omei'' buried her under the family hearth as his mother instructed him to do before her death, and put the hearth stones back into place so as to make it look like nothing happened. He also dug at various places so that fresh earth could be seen everywhere. When ''Okhe'' came back home and noticed that the mother was not there, it enquired of ''Omei'' about her. ''Omei'' told him the truth about their mother's death, but wouldn't divulge where he buried her. ''Okhe'' pawed and dug at all places to find the mother's body, but could not find it. He had missed the hearth place as it did not occur to him that she could be buried under the hearth. From thereon, the tradition that the family can bury their dead beneath their hearth originated, though the practice is not common.

Over time, conflict of interest arose among the three brothers. ''Okhe'' was always looking for an opportunity to harm his youngest brother with the intention of making him its meal. ''Omei'', wary of his brother's intentions, created a sleeping place high up on the roof beyond the reach of ''Okhe''. One day, when ''Omei'' was asleep, ''Okhe'' came into the house and saw his brother's reflection in the long tubular water drum below. Thinking this was the opportunity, it dived in only to find that it was full of water. The splash woke up ''Omei'' and thereafter he began to think of ways to get rid of his menacing brother. Seemingly, with all innocence, he asked ''Okhe'' what it feared the most. ''Okhe'' replied that nothing could frighten him except the sound of a booming thunder. After getting the cue, ''Omei'' took a gourd, hollowed it out and put some pebbles into the dried shell. He tied it to ''Okhe''’s waist while it was asleep. He then took his bugle, made from the long stem of a tubular plant called 'makhi', and sounded it sharply into ''Okhe''’s ears. On hearing the loud bugle, ''Okhe'' leaped to its feet and fled. As the pebbles made a sound in the gourd shell with its every leap, ''Okhe'' fled and fled until it was deep into the dark jungle in the western hills (''Evele''). In the meantime, ''Orah'' decided to go to the south (''Kashiilei'') where the sun was warm, in the lowland valley. Thus, the three brothers went their own ways.

In another version, it is said that the conflict over who would inherit the motherland (called the ‘navel’ of the earth, meaning the middle ground) was resolved through a contest—a race—on the instruction of the mother. For the purpose, she set up three stone monoliths as the target, one for each of them, and decided that the one who reached or touched it first would be the heir to the motherland. In the first contest, ''Okhe'' overtook the other two, and reached the target first. However, their mother objected to it and accused ''Okhe'' of making an earlier, and therefore false, start as she wanted her favourite and youngest son, ''Omei'', to inherit the motherland. She then instructed ''Omei'' to create a bow and how he should reached the target with an arrow. In the contest, ''Omei'', with the help of his bow, reached the target with an arrow and thus claimed his right as the heir to the motherland to which the mother agreed.

A variation of the second version says that the contest happened after the mother died. The target was a bunch of leaves rolled on a twig, called ''prodzii'' in Mao language. ''Orah'', being a benign being, was more compassionate towards the youngest brother ''Omei'' who had to face bullying from ''Okhe'', the ferocious brother, as he could not match the physical strength of the latter. So, unlike the version which has the mother instructing the youngest son to use an arrow, it was the second brother ''Orah'' who instructed his younger brother ''Omei'' to use an arrow to hit the target. ''Omei'' did as he was instructed and claimed his right to the heartland or motherland. The three menhirs at ''Chazhilophi'' (near Makhel village), representing Tiger, Spirit and Man were erected in commemoration of the three brothers who once lived together.<ref>Neli, Daili (2011), "Makhrai Hrii (Makhel Race)" in ''Celebration of 50 Years: Mao Nagas in Delhi (1961-2011) - A Commemorative Souvenir-cum-Report'' (New Delhi: Mao Welfare Association, Delhi)</ref>

== Notes and references ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

{{Naga tribes}}
{{Hill tribes of Northeast India}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Naga people]]
[[Category:Meitei as a second or foreign language]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Northeast India]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in South Asia]]

Mao people (India) - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article