Keeper of history

Guwahati, July 17: Sometime between 750 and 1150, Mizo settlers were getting ready to leave Khampat, nestled in the Kabaw Valley of Myanmar and move westwards through the Chin Hills to present Mizoram.

Loath to leave though, they planted a banyan sapling and as one legend goes, vowed to return to the place once the tree’s branches touched the ground.

Then, not long ago, in 1925, a group of Mizo missionaries came across a banyan tree on the banks of river Khampat where they had gone to preach Christianity.

The tree and its surroundings stirred up memories of Mizo roots and a promise made centuries ago.

The branches have indeed touched the ground but the tree is in grave danger from Khampat, only 58 feet away. The settlers’ descendants have kept their word too — gone back and raised the alarm — save the tree, save Mizo roots and heritage.

Locally known as Khampat Bungpui (Khampat’s Big Banyan), the tree finds mention in Mizo folklore.

“We find references to the tree in our folklore and songs which suggest that before migrating to present Mizoram through the Chin Hills, our ancestors settled in the Kabaw Valley,” said Mizo scholar P.C. Biaksiama.

Khampat is situated 150km from Champai. Though there is no exact account of when the tree was planted, Mizo historians like B. Lalthangliana, following oral tradition, put the date between 750 and 1150.

In fact, it was Biaksiama who began the conservation process after he returned from a trip to Myanmar and found the tree in mortal danger of being washed away.

“When I went there I found that the tree is on the verge of being washed away as the Khampat is fast eroding the land. The tree now stands at a distance of only 58 feet from the river,” Biaksiama said over phone from Aizawl.

“The tree is the offshoot of the original one that collapsed in 1952,” he added.

On his return, Biaksiama, along with other citizens in Mizoram and Khampat village formed the Khampat Bungpui Humhalhtu Committee (Khampat Bungpui Preservation Committee). The committee is trying to create awareness among the people in Mizoram about the need to preserve the tree. It also plans to approach the Myanmar government to preserve the tree by building retaining walls around it.

As the campaign gathers momentum, many Mizo organisations have offered to help. Stating that the tree has caught the imagination of the Mizo people, Biaksiama said a concert was organised last month by the Mizo Students Union to drive home the message — protect the heritage tree.