It was during those times, when the Lushai Hills first came under the occupation of British East India Company. It was at that time dominated by Mizo/Lushai clans with powerful chiefs, frequently in clash with rivals to gain territory or to exact revenge, with headhunting of the defeated tribal chief and their clan as proof of their prowess.They frequently entered the populace of tea gardens and other villages for loot and carnage, areas under control of British East India Company.The raid of Katlichhera and Alexandrapur by Sailam Chief Bengkhuaia had a tremendous influence on the lives and future of the Lushai people. James Winchester, the tea owner of Alexandrapur, was killed, and the Mizos kidnapped his daughter Mary Winchester(Mizo:Zoluti).The British retaliated by organising an expedition to rescue the hostages. The owner’s daughter and other hostages were saved in the said expedition. Thereafter, though there was a temporary lull in the raids by Lushai Chiefs for some years, they soon resumed loot and carnage of British occupied territories. Such frequent raids compelled the British to mount the Chin-Lushai Expedition of 1889 and thus to bring the territories of Lushai Hills under British occupation.The fiercely independent Tribal Chiefs were now required to follow the diktats of the British authorities, which became a direct challenge to their free and savage mindset, and skirmishes occurred from time to time whenever they found an opportunity to corner the British rulers. It was one such incident that happened in a remote Township more than hundred miles south of Capital Aizwal………..
