Daai Chin should not be confused with Tai peoples.
| Group: | Dai Chin |
| Native Name Lang: | my |
| Population: | 40,000-50,000 |
| Regions: | Chin State, Burma |
| Pop1: | Unknown |
| Languages: | Dai language |
| Religions: | Christianity, Animism |
| Related Groups: | Chin people |
The Dai are an ethnic group living in Chin State, Myanmar. The Dai consist of 32 Chin tribes, which have been registered by the Government of Burma since 1890. The recent Military Regime’s census mentions the Dai tribe as the 62nd of 135 tribes of Burma. Researchers refer to them as the Dai group in the ethnic survey book of Burma. The Dai Chin appear to be of Tibeto-Burman descent. The Dai people live in the Mindat, Paletwa, Matupi and Kanpetlet townships of Southern Chin State in Burma. There are more than 180 Dai villages with a total population of somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000. Their population makes the Dai-Chin the majority tribe of the Southern Chin Hills.
The Dai land was an independent country until the British expedition in 1890, and later annexation in 1897 by the British Empire. The Dai language varies slightly between sub tribes. Their ethnic tribal symbol is the khuum (rocket tail dragon). The ling leih (Bulbophyllum refractum, one of orchid species) is their royal flower. About 99% of Dai are Christians.
The Dai Chin inhabit a part of the Southern Chin State of Myanmar, located on the mainland of Southeast Asia. It is surrounded by China to the north and northeast, Laos to the east, Thailand to the east and southeast, India to the northwest, Bangladesh to the west and the Andaman Sea to the south. The country is divided into four topographical zones. The Eastern Shan Plateau is a highland region that merges with the Dawna and Tenasserim Yoma mountain ranges. The central belt zone covers the valleys of the Irrawaddy, Chindwin and Sittang rivers as well as a mountainous region to the north and a low lying delta to the south. The third region is the western mountain zone, also known as the Arakan Mountains, a series of ridges that start in the northern mountain area and extend to the southwestern corner. The Arakan coastal zone is a narrow alluvial strip lying between the Arakan Mountains and the Bay of Bengal.
The Dailand is situated in the southern part of the Chinland (Chin state) located on the western mountain zone of Myanmar. It is also located between north latitude 20˚ 42' and 21˚ 35', and between east longitude 93˚ 14' and 94˚ 8'. Dailand covers the west of Mindat Township, the northwest of Kanpetlet township, the northeast of Paletwa township and to the southeast of the Matupi township. The longest part of their land is about 120 miles (193 km) and the narrowest part is roughly 60 miles (96 km). The Dailand is mountainous and situated between 800 m–3200 m above sea level. Dailand has thousands of slope ranges of mountains, brooks, streams and a small river called the Lemro River. The biggest stream is Mone (မုန်းချောင်း). Many natural water courses flow through the mountain ranges running from north to south, forming valleys and gorges.
" The very word Daax ai is derived from the word Thai/ Dai, meaning peace, plain and harmony, and its root for adjective form is Do, Dam, and Dai, literally meaning plain or good for Do, valley or plain for Dam, and cool for Dai. Therefore, we can note that the term Dai as plain though the present location is hilly and mountainous. At present the term Dai is a collective name, of the inhabitants of Dailand in the southern Chin state of Myanmar. According to Thang Hleih, the word Dai represents the people who live peacefully, gently lovingly, harmoniously, generously and kindly. The word, therefore, stands for the people who are living inside the most interior part of southern Chin State. The Dai appears to be from Mongoloid stock and from Tibeto-Burman family as the other Chin tribes. At present there are 175 Dai villages with a total population between 40000 and 50000. They have their own particular traditional cultures, way of life, language, practices and traditional beliefs, and societies as other tribes in Myanmar.
Dai people can be found in the west of Mindat township, the northwest of Kanpetlet township, the northeast of Paletwa township and the southeast of Matupi township, the southern part of the Chin state in Myanmar very close to Bangladesh and Northeastern India. The entire area is hilly made up of a series of ranges running from north to south which fortunately give sufficient food and rice to the inhabitants and their neighbors. The longest part of its land is about 120 miles (193 km) and the narrowest part is roughly 60 miles (96 km), and the area is far from each township between 60 miles and 90 miles. The Dailand is situated between 800ft to 3200 ft above the sea level. "
The overall Dai population is estimated somewhere between 60,000 and 90,000. 15% of the total population (500,000) of the Chin State are Dai people. Some of the Dai people live in and around Myanmar and all over the world. Dai people are descended from Tibetan, Tibeto - Burma, Kuki - Chin - Naga, Kuki - Chin, Chin - Dai.
Dailand is divided into four parts within the southern Chin state: Kanpetlet, Mindat, Matupi and Paletwa townships. Today Dai land encompasses Chin state, Myanmar. The local government separated Dailand into Kanpetlet Dai, Mindat Dai, Matu Dai and Paletwa Dai.
There are only basic educational institutions, such as middle schools (students from 5 to 14 years of age) in Daailands. Basic primary school is available in almost all villages. Higher education is available only in a few villages. Today, Dai, and people are receiving further education in various Christian colleges such as in the capital cities of Yangon, Falam, Hakha, Mandalay, Kalay, Maymyo, Kyaukhtu, Pakokku and also America, India, and some others countries.
There are government clinics and dispensaries in some villages, but there is no medicine in those dispensaries. People go to the nearest Burmese villages and the cities to buy medicine. There are no doctors in Dailand. Sometimes medical staff and nurses visit Dai lands. They occasionally administer government-provided vaccination to the Dai people.
All Dai tribes speak the Dai Chin[1] language, of the Sino-Tibetan family (not to be confused with the Dai language, belonging to the Tai-Kadai family). There are slightly different styles between the subtribes of Kanpetlet township and Matupi township. Despite this, the different dialects are usually mutually intelligible.
There are more than 180 villages in Dailand. Dai villages make up 13% of the 1,355 total villages in the Chin State. Villages range from 10 to 140 houses, the largest and most populated village in Dai land is Majar Innu Village in the Kanpetlet township, west of the central part of Dai land.
Approximately thirty years ago, Dai people practised animism. In the traditional belief of Dai people, there is a Supreme Being, especially called M'hnamnu. God was defined in many terms in Dai concept before Christianity; such as; Mhnamnu, Khyümhnam, Nukhyünu and Pamhnampa. The main concept of the defined names is to express about God, as Supreme Being, Creator or Shelter for human beings, with human terms. Ki Houng states in his research paper that "M'hnamnu is the supreme name (Supreme Being's Name) in Dai. The Dai believed M'hnamnu as creator of everything, righteous and holy, who does not dwell in this world." Ha Om also states in his Thesis that "In the traditional belief of Dai people, there is a Supreme Being claiming with several names, Khyümhnam (Word of God), M'hnamnu (Mother God), or Pamhnam (Father God) who is the creator of the universe and the life-giver of every living creature. Manar Naing (Rev.) also states concerning Mhnamnu concept as the followings;
"The Dai (Dai) people believed that there is God called Mhnam Nu. They accept that Mhnam Nu created all things including human. In poetical expression, God, M'hnam Nu is metaphorically called the Mother of Word (Nu Khyü), Almighty Father (Pa Mhnam), Celestial Son (Kkho Lo), Preserver (She Paang), Morning Mother (Mdü Li Nu), Loving Father (Pa Phoong Pa). All of these names are attributed to one God, Mhnam Nu. The name of God Mhnam Nu is composed of two words. Mhnam means God and Nu means noble. So, the word Mhnam Nu has the meaning of Noble God. While Nu in Dai dialect means mother, God has been called Pangsiim since 1975, which means Saint Father (Holy Father)."The above mentions are assumptions about God in Dai people's inner belief. Therefore, with regard to Supreme Being, Daais believed that M'hnamnu is beyond humans understanding. Mhnamnu couldn't be defined with human language, sometimes; they used to say that "Jah hmuki ni lu khana ka". They assumed that no one can see Mhnamnu. If someone saw Mhnamnu, he/she who saw Mhnamnu would die soon.
Since then, most Dai people have converted to Christianity within the last two decades. Currently about 99% of the Dai people are Christian. Two hundred years ago, the first American Missionary, Adoniram Judson, went to Myanmar (Burma) and gave his life to the Lord reaching out to Myanmar (Burma). He positioned the lay ministers to lead the believers in Myanmar (Burma) after he died. That was in Rangoon (Yangon), the Capital City of Myanmar (Burma). They could not reach to the Dai area at that time because it was very far and for many other reasons. The gospel reached to the Dai area in around 1970 by other missionaries. That was 156 years after Judson's arrival in Myanmar (Burma).
Dai people practise shifting cultivation, known as 'Taungya" in Burmese and "Lou" in the Dai language. Cultivators cut and burn forests and raise agricultural crops for one to two years before moving on to another site, only returning to the original after 10 to 11 years.
The Dai people living in western part of Myanmar and southern part of Chin State have rich customs and traditions. Their traditions and rituals are associated with their shifting cultivation in the hills. The practice of shifting cultivation is deeply rooted in Dai culture. Shifting cultivation for the Daais is more than sustenance, it is a way of life, the foundation from which emerged their economic and social traditions.
In its early period, shifting cultivation provided food for the Dai. However, these days it serves as the economic mainstay for the Dai, providing money to buy clothes, attend school, and trade with their neighbours.
The Dai people cultivate rice, corn, millet, beans, peas, cucumber, pumpkin, gourd, egg plant, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, ginger, sesame and celery in their gardens or farms. Dai farmers cultivate at the beginning of monsoon season (the mid-April to June) and harvest crops in October and November. The cultivation method is dependent on monsoon rains.
Generally, Dai land is mostly used for slash-and-burn or shifting cultivation, with the least-developed regions inhabited by the indigenous hill tribes of Myanmar. Dai people earn their livelihood by shifting between cultivation (Taung Ya) and subsistence farming. Farming and gardening are only for their subsistence and personal consumption, transportation systems and markets are not developed in Dailand.
Some Dai people migrate to Malaysia because their lives and political, cultural, and religious freedoms are threatened in Myanmar. There, the parents struggle for their daily bread as undocumented migrants, vulnerable to arrest for immigration offences, and are often subject to detention, prosecution, whipping and deportation for several months.
Dai refugees in Malaysia originate from Myanmar, where current conditions do not permit them to return. Dai refugees are scattered throughout Malaysia in places such as Johor Bahru, Ipoh, the Cameron Highlands, Kalang, Kajang, Rawang, and others.
There are no refugee camps in Malaysia. Instead, Dai refugees share living spaces in groups of up to 20 people, living in low-cost apartments, urban villages or housing estates near Malaysian homes. Many also live in makeshift camps in jungles near construction sites where they seek employment.