Ukhrul is a land of beautiful mountains interspersed by numerous tribal habitats echoing with rhythms of tribal cultures and rich wild life. This virgin land has enchanting calls to people who love to spend time in tranquility. Beside the serene environment, the ways of live of the simple and friendly tribals who are known for generation for their honesty and integrity leave one spellbound. Such is the people of the hill.
Ukhrul district is the home of the Tangkhul. The Tangkhuls belong to the great Mongolian race which is spread all over the World. Linguistically, they belong to a large language family called Sino-Tibetan, within that family to the sub-family Tibeto-Burman. In general this points towards an origin in the north, that is south-west China and Tibet . It is believed that the earliest home of the Tangkhuls was the upper reaches of Huang Heo and Yangtze Rivers which lies in the Zinjiang province of China. Like the other desert areas of the world, the people including the Tangkhuls migrated from this place to different directions. One group moved towards east and southeast to be become known as Chinese, another group moved southward to become the tribes of Tibeto-Burman which includes the Tangkhuls and other Naga sub tribes. That was between c. 10,000 BC to 8000 BC. This movement has continued into recent historic times. S.K. Chatterjee noted that from 2000 BC onwards, Sino-Tibetan speakers from China pushed south and west and entered India. According to W.I. Singh, in his “The History of Manipur”, the Tangkhuls settled in Samshok (Thuangdut) area in Myanmar. It is believed that they belong to Yakkha tribe in China.
The Tangkhuls as also other Naga tribes came to Manipur, Nagaland, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh through Myanmar. Some of them also settled down in Myanmar and did not venture further. However, their movement over Myanmar and into India was spread over a period of time. They entered the present habitat in waves following one
