Matupi

Matupi is a town in Chin State in western Myanmar, in south-east Asia.Matupi is the second capital city, one of the townships of Chin State of West Myanmar, south-east Asia. There are four Chin major tribes living in the Matupi township such as Matu, Mara, Zotung, Lautu and Khumi. Matupi, formerly known as Batupuei or Batu Village before it was promoted to the status of township, occupies a large portion of land and includes over 100 major villages in the southern part of Chin State. According to some local experts from Ngala tribe, the name Matupi is derived from Batupuei ; however, due to misreading of the spellings: Ba into Ma and Puei into Pi in Burmese characters, but this theory is keep in discussion. Matupi appeared to be the widely used name without any historical significance in its terminology. The Matupi tribe is one of the biggest tribes among the Kuki-Chin-Mizo. From the very beginning all the Chins including Kuki, Mizo, Zomi, Naga, Laimi, and Asho, Kcho and Khumi had lived on hillsides or riverbanks, constituting villages or groups. Among the villages, Matupi was the biggest and most populous. The British Gazette mentioned that there were over 1,000 houses including paddy barns in the village Batupuei in the period between 1900 and 1930. Hakha book recorded that during those days “Matupi” was the biggest and most populous village in the Chin Hills.