Zo is their true original name

Let us first listen to what Rev Sang Ling and Rev Sang Fen of Hakha had to say to us about Zo. “In our younger days we were told that we were born at Zotlang and Zo is our true original name” said Rev Sang Ling. (Constitution Drafting Committee, Falam 1952.) “I agreed”, seconded Rev Sang Fen affirmatively, adding “I believe Zo is our national name and I myself am the pastor of Zokhua” ibid. Rarely did you hear Haka leaders of today say “Zo is our original name”, but that’s just what the eminent duo from Haka dedared in 1952 did.

This memorable declaration was the corner stone of the Zomi Baptist Convention. Rev ST Hau Go, Rev Sang Ling, Rev Sang Fen, some two hundred from Falam, a small contingent, less than ten from Tedim and the 3,000 strong Haka Christians unanimously voted at Saikah in March 1953 and Zomi Baptist Convention (ZBC) was born. The Convention, ZBC was dedicated by Rev E E Sowards, then GS of Burma Baptist Convention. Burma Baptist Chronicle p 395 and it has bound the Zo People together as a close-knit Christian community for more than half a century.

Interestingly enough, what Rev S Ling mentioned about Zo-tlang as the original birth place of the tribes definitely take us back to their Tibetan origin. Pu Khup Za Go of India, wrote: “Zotlang is the Haka legendary that corresponds to the Tibetan origin of Zo-thang (Jo-thang) in the Amdo region where the Zomis are said to have originated” “Sho-thang/Jo-thang(Zo-thang) was brought down through centuries and subjected to cultural and linguistic variation” (Zo Chronicles, Khup Za Go p 192). It became Zotlang in the younger days of the two pastors. It is very likely that Zotlang is the corrupted word for Jothang/Zothang along its odyssey down through the centuries as they are phonetically very similar. This explains the origin of Zo dated as early as the beginning of Anno Domini, perhaps even much earlier in BC.

This Article Received From, and Credit to: Dr.J. Suan Za Dong, Sydney, Australia