A Chin history of the encounter with British colonial rule and the American Baptist mission works in the Chin Hills: A story of cultural adaptation and transformation in Burma (Myanmar)

This dissertation describes the story of choices made by the Chin people in their encounters with the American Baptist mission work and the British Colonial Government rule in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. This dissertation is not an uncritical endorsement of the British colonial project but recognizes and describes the positive evaluation of the British colonial project in so far as it provided the Chin people with resources to resist Burmese cultural domination. The Chin people responded, adjusted, and adapted with the new colonial government and the new religion, such that Chin culture came to embody particular Christian values.;While there are many tribes in Chin state, this dissertation is written from a Falam perspective. This dissertation explores the presence of Christianity in Falam area before the coming of the American Baptist missionaries in 1899. It also explores the negotiation made by Falam chief, Con Bik (Son Pet) with the British colonial government in 1889 on terms favorable to his people. That negotiation resulted in maintaining chief and headman status, and a desirable Chin society within the British dominion. It examines some similarities between Chin traditional Animist belief and Christian messages. It describes the continuation of Chin traditional practices into Christian Chin society Finally, this dissertation affirms that Christianity has helped maintain Chin identity against the influence of Burmanization and the influence of Buddhism.