Tangkhul Traditional System of Education and Its Relevance in the Modern Indian Context

The Tangkhul tribe is one of the major Naga tribe of Manipur and is an indigenous people of the state. They are inhabited mostly in Ukhrul and Kamjong districts of Manipur and some are found in Senapati and Imphal East districts of Manipur and Somra tract of north western part of Myanmar. The population of Tangkhul is about 2 lacks. The Tangkhuls ethnically belonged to Naga groups who are Mongoloid race speaking Tibeto-Burman language. There is a peculiarity in their dialect and they are a mono-tribal community having the same custom, culture and tradition. Each and every village speaks different dialects, hardly or not understood by other villagers. However, they have evolved a common dialect known as Tangkhul dialect, though which they communicate among themselves. Agriculture was the main occupation of the Tangkhul people. The social lives of the Tangkhuls were closely intertwined with their religious life and the religious festivals are in perfect harmony and their festivals and songs are mostly agricultural oriented. Music and dance are the two main features and events of every festival. The culture of the Tangkhul revolves around the traditional beliefs and custom exercises being passed down. The Tangkhuls were an organized people who had well-structured socio-political system in their own way. In course of time every Tangkhul village became a small republic like the Greek city states. Every village had an unwritten constitution made up of age-old conventions and traditions. They had their own clan administration, village administration and area or regional administration, and an overall judicial administration for the entire territory.