The history of Christianity in Mizoram covers the origin and development of all forms of Christianity in Mizoram since the British occupation at the end of the 19th century until Indian independence. Christianity arrived due to British intervention in tribal warfare and raids on British plantations. The ensuing punitive British military expedition was called the Lushai Expedition of 1871. The subsequent annexation of the erstwhile Lushai Hills to the British Empire opened the gateway for British Christian missions to evangelise the Mizo people.
By the 1890s, the British Empire occupied all of Lushai Hills. The natives were still under the influence of several tribal chiefdoms, practising Sakhua (Lushai Animism) and lacking a writing system. There was an urgent need to introduce formal education. The solution came in the form of Christian missionaries. The first Christian Missionary to step into the land of Lushai (Mizoram) was William Williams of the Welsh Mission, in 1891. But, he got little or no time to spread the gospel and then died at a young age due to illness. The pioneers were James Herbert Lorrain (who was given a Mizo name, Pu Buanga) and F.W. Savidge (who was named Sap Upa), sent by the Arthington Aborigines Mission in London, who entered Lushai Hills in 1894, the year recorded in Mizoram as the "advent of the Gospel".
The Arthington mission was of Baptist persuasion, and the two missionaries were of the Baptist Church, along with David Evan Jones (Zosaphluia) from the Welsh Mission. The Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church (later constituted in India as the Presbyterian Church of India) was established by D.E. Jones in the 1890s at Aizawl and later, the Baptist Church (Baptist Church of Mizoram) at Lunglei by Lorrain and Savidge. The first church was of Baptist church established at Sethlun, Lunglei. The first recorded Christian convert was M. Suaka, chieftain of Durtlang, near Aizawl, and the first people baptised were Khuma and Khara of the Presbyterian Church. Other denominations soon arrived, including Catholic, Salvation Army, United Pentecostal Church, Seventh-day Adventists and others.
Half a century later, the Mizos, by and large, were converted. A variety of indigenous denominations also emerged. The new religion was immensely effective at overturning the traditional culture. Christianity turned into a new culture and ethnic identity. Attempts of revival of Mizo culture in the 1960s were objected by the Church. However, in the 1970s, the Church, upon seeing the loss of Mizo culture, began to revive several traditions such as Chapchar Kut. While Krismas is the biggest festival in Mizoram, Chapchar Kut is the second biggest due to these efforts.
By the end of the 20th century, Mizoram became one of the most Christian-populated states in percentage behind Nagaland. The legacy of Christianity has led to the highest literacy rate as of May 20, 2025 in India. Demographically, the native population is predominantly Christian.
Background Lushai Expedition
Before the mid-19th century, Mizos were virtually unknown. The British Empire, which had occupied all the surrounding Chittagong and Burma, had little to no interaction with the tribes or their lands. The Mizos then lived in small and isolated clusters of tribal chiefdoms, often raising warfare against each other. Their religious views were dominated by the primal religion of Sakhua, which was influenced by animism. This was accompanied by a unique concept of an afterlife called Pialral. They practised elaborate rituals, including animal sacrifice, and functioned on priests known as Puithiam and medicine men known as Bawlpu. The British officers used to subsequently describe these practices as of "irreclaimable savages".
Around 1850, the Mizos started to encroach on the British plantations in the neighbouring Cachar. The raid was most severe in 1871 when a series of attacks resulted in several deaths on both sides, with extensive damage on the plantations. A number of workers and soldiers were taken prisoner, and among them a six-year-old Mary Winchester. Mary Winchester was taken hostage by Bengkhuaia warriors, while other prisoners were executed on the way. To retaliate, the British military organised a punitive expedition named the Lushai Expedition in 1871–1872 in the northern region. General Bourchier led the expedition and, after encountering overwhelming resistance and unfamiliar terrain, rescued Mary Winchester and the other British hostages. Mizo chiefs of the offending tribes made a truce not to make further encroachments.
Chin-Lushai Expedition
However, the terms of the truce were broken in 1888–1889. In 1889 British military was forced on a second expedition. The Chin-Lushai Expedition of 1889–90 oversaw the subjugation of all the major chiefdoms throughout Mizoram (then called Lushai Hills). The British permanently fortified in major villages such as Aijal (now Aizawl) and Lungleh (now Lunglei). The land came under military occupation and subjected to the British rule.
History Initial missionary endeavours
Christian missionaries began to visit the Lushai Hills administration as early as 1891. A young Welsh Presbyterian missionary, William Williams, who was working in Khasi Hills happened to meet Mizo prisoners at Sylhet prison in February 1891. As many of the prisoners were Mizo chiefs this raised the idea to visit the newly annexed territory of the Lushai Hills. Williams wrote to the Liverpool office Missionary secretary Josiah Thomas requesting permission to visit the Lushais. In his letter Williams stipulates his desire to spread the gospel to "bring peace amongst them". He further wrote a letter describing the newly annexed territory, which was published in the Welsh newspaper Baner ac Amserau Cymru. Due to the Lushai Rising, the new territory was limited to military personnel and did not permit civilians to enter. Williams formed a party of Christian activists consisting of Benjamin Aitken (Free Church of Scotland), Kasinath (An Assamese preacher) and a Christian Manipuri before gaining entry.
Williams and the party members travelled on rivers preaching the gospel before landing in Changsil, which was two days away from Aizawl. Aitken, who was also a journalist, published an article on the forestry and living conditions of the Lushais in the newspaper "Englishman". On 15 March 1891, Williams and his party met with the first Mizos, where they exchanged tobacco and yarn and handed out scripture to Mizo children. Williams and the party met with Robert Blair McCabe, the political officer of the North Lushai Hills, where the Lushai Rising under Chief Khalkam was narrated to them. After staying in Sairang, Williams went on horseback to Aizawl and crossed the path where Herbert Richard Browne had been ambushed and killed and described the remains of the massacred group. On 20 March 1891, Williams arrived at Fort Aizawl. Williams recorded more observations of Lushai life and handed out biblical iconography. Initial interactions about the gospel resulted in Lushais proclaiming "God is good" and that they identified God as Khuavang. Williams also recorded the number of non-Lushais such as Khasis, Manipuris and Nagas. Each of the party members spoke their respective languages for each of the groups to spread the gospel. Williams wrote to the Welsh Presbyterian Mission of his intention to evangelise the Lushais. However, Williams would die of typhoid on 21 May 1892 and was buried in Shillong.
On closer scrutiny of Williams' activities during his visit, the date of his arrival, 15 March, is declared as the true "Missionary Day" by the Mizoram Presbyterian Church in its 89th General Assembly in 2012.
Patronage of Robert Arthington
Robert Arthington, a British philanthropist and Christian patron, taking an interest in the missions among the Lushai tribes, began funding a mission with the help of the BMS or Baptist Mission Society. This led to the establishment of the Arthington Aborigines Mission in 1889 for the evangelisation of tribal people in northeast India. For Mizos he chose J.H. Lorrain and F.W. Savidge of the London Southgate Road Baptist Church. Arthington arranged for missionaries to attend in pairs to uncontacted groups in the British empire to spread the gospel. However, he did not allow missionaries to remain for more than a few years, which limited the learning of local languages. This meant most evangelisation was done via local interpreters.
Arthington Aborigines Mission
The arrival of Christianity and formal education in Mizoram is due to Robert Arthington's efforts in the Arthington Aborigines Mission. Lorrain reached India on 21 January 1891. Lorrain initially applied to work as a missionary in Agartala among the Tripuri tribes but his application was rejected. Frederick William Savidge arrived in Bengal in November 1891. The two met at an evangelical campaign at Brahmanbaria (now in Bangladesh) organised by the New Zealand Baptists. They applied to start work in Tripura, but they were rejected once more. Following this, they made a decision to enter the Lushai Hills. They were only allowed to stay at Kasalong village, the nearest possible location. This was due to constant insurgency from the Mizo tribes. After several months of starvation and dysentery, they moved to Darjeeling and finally to Silchar. They applied to work in Tripura but were objected by the king of Tripura. They waited for one whole year in 1893 for fresh permission in Silchar. They remained with the Welsh Presbyterian Mission under Dr. T.J. Jones. While at Silchar, they frequently met Mizo travellers, from whom they started learning their language. Finally, a permit was issued by political officer A.W. Davis to visit Aizawl. They immediately set off on Tlawng River in a canoe on Boxing Day of 1893. They arrived in Aizawl on 11 January 1894. The day is now observed as a public holiday as "Missionary Day" in the state.
Difficulties were affecting the missionaries from the first day of stepping in Aizawl. There was no local Kukis to carry their luggage boxes to Aizawl which meant the missionaries had to carry their own provisions and sleep on it. Sustenance was difficult to come by and growing their own vegetables was difficult due to flooding, insects and wild goats. Lushai tribesmen also failed to understand the teetotalism of the missionaries. Many staff of colonial institutions, from education to medicine and engineers, often contributed to the spread of Christianity in their personal efforts beyond the roles they were entitled under. British engineers installed musical organs in Welsh churches, government officials contributed and published missionary literature, and missionaries moonlighted themselves as school inspectors, among others.
The missionaries were advised by the administration to not encamp more than one mile outside of Aizawl as the country was considered unsafe due to the previous Lushai Risings. Due to this, under advice from Granville Henry Loch, they made camp at (, now MacDonald Hill) in Zarkawt. Lorrain and Savidge constructed a bamboo house with a thatched roof made from sungrass after being granted permission to trade salt to labourers to work for them.