The Biate's

The Biate tribe is an old hill tribe, racially belongs to the Mongoloid stock with Tibeto-Burman language group. Though they are less in term of population, they have their own identity with a rich and distinctive history, culture, dialect and religious heritages. They are also one of the oldest living tribes in North East India especially among the Chin-Kuki-Mizo family. The term Biate comes from the word Biete. The word ‘Bia’ or ‘Bie’ means ‘speak’ or ‘worship’. ‘Te’ is a suffix denoting plurality. Hence, the two words combine to form the word Biate which means ‘worshipper’. According to legends, while they were in Saitual, a group of people known as the Koilam or Kawilam from Rulchawm village of Mizoram (India) used to sacrifice human to appease a large python called Rulpui, believing that the snake had supernatural power. Thus, some writers are of the opinion that the word Biate originates from the term ‘Rul-Bia-Te or Rul-Biak-Te’ which means snake-worshippers in other dialect. However, this hypothesis is highly objectionable because the Biates as a tribe never fed or worshipped a snake except one. The offering sacrifices done by one village was also not to worship as God, but due to their fear and timidity and that too only for sometime..