Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s6.30

c48.s6.30

§ 98. (g) **The Luṣēi** (63,600). This people, who call themselves Dulien, are of the same race as the Thado, or Kuki, whom they drove out some sixty or seventy years ago. Long previous to that date, however, a Chief of the Luṣēi had subjugated most of the hill villages around him, and his descendants are said to be the progenitors of the present numerous Chieftains who rule the tract. The clans and subdivisions are many, but they seem constantly to be being absorbed or reformed, always with reference to connection with the eponymous founder. Each village is under one of these petty Chieftains, who is entirely independent but has recognised duties towards his fellow villagers, and in return receives a certain share of each man's rice crop. The only remedy against a too despotic headman is to flit, and transfer allegiance to another village. The village itself is stockaded, like those of the Nāgā, but is laid out differently, the streets radiating from a square in the centre, in front of the house of the Chieftain. Except in detail, the religion of the Luṣēi does not materially differ from that of the tribes just mentioned. Like most of the Kuki, the Luṣēi is a keen and expert hunter and snarer, and seems to carry into his warfare the qualities which makes him successful against wild animals, for he rarely attacks except from ambush or by a surprise. The tribe is not given to head-hunting for the mere sake of the trophy, but cuts off the head of his enemy in order to prove to the women at home that he actually killed him. South of the Luṣēi Hills, the tribes almost entirely belong to Burmese races, with which this review is not concerned.