Lungzubels, the timeless heritage of the Biate tribe in Assam

If you have explored the northeastern part of India, you must have come across the tradition of rice beer. It doesn’t matter which state you are in, rice beer or millet beer is a big part of the local tradition.

We are here to talk about the Biates, one of the oldest hill tribes of northeast India, belonging to the Chin-Kuki-Mizo family.

At present, you will find Biate communities residing in Assam, Mizoram, Manipur and parts of Meghalaya. Lungzubel is a big part of the Biate story.

Lungzubel, when translated, means stone jars of rice beer. These 12-13th century stone relics, not confined to a particular place, can be found in many of the Biate inhabited areas.

Khobak, a Biate village, located approximately 130 km from Haflong, in Dima Hasao district, Assam, is where you can see a field of these stone relics.

Probably due to the lack of written records from those days, no one actually knows what these stone jars were initially used for.

Today one assumes they were used to store alcoholic beverages, keeping the importance of rice beer in the northeastern culture in mind.

The jars of Khobak are now under the care of the Archaeological Dept. of the Department of Cultural Affairs, Assam. These relics are now a part of the tangible history of Assam.