Tangkhul

Manipur is famed for being the abode of a wonderful montage of tribes that include the Meiteis, the Tangkhuls and the Kukis to name a few.

The Tangkhul tribals originate from Nagaland and inhabit a large portion of the state of Manipur and the Ukhrul District. Locally known as Hao, these tribesmen are very industrious and have a penchant for enhancing their education and knowledge.

The Tangkhul tribesmen are mostly polyglots who converse in a variety of dialects. However, the most popular language happens to be the Tangkhul dialect. In fact, the linguistic diversity of the Tangkhuls is reflected by the fact that the residents of each and every Tangkhul tribal village and bucolic hamlet speak a different dialect. Although these mediums of speech and communication do have some semblance, some of their distinct traits make it difficult and almost unintelligible for a person hailing from the northern provinces of the Tangkhul tribal belt to decipher the speech of his southern counterpart.

The Tangkhul dialect is very similar to the dialect in vogue with the villagers hailing from the Langdang and Shirui villages. The Tangkhul community records an exemplary literacy rate. The children are proficient in English as well as the Roman script.

The people mainly depend on agriculture for their economic subsistence. Besides agriculture, they also run poultry farms and rear livestock to earn their livelihood.

The Tangkhul tribes, one of the principal ethnic groups of Manipur, provide a wonderful insight into the quintessential tribal legacy of northeast India.