Ram-Uk

   "Lord (uk) of the soil/land (ram)," referring to the chiefs of the Chins, whose authority encompassed as many as several hundred villages, in which case he was the leader of a tribe. He had the authority to distribute land to cultivators and was high priest officiating over sacrifices to the Khua-hrum (local guardian deities), head of the community, and commander in war. The authority of the ram-uk was tightly bound to the Chins' animistic religion because, as lord of the land, he had a special relationship with the deities who protected it and the people who lived on it. When the British issued the Chin Hills Regulations in 1896, they refused to recognize the authority of the ram-uk, who had strenuously opposed the pacification of Chinram, but this was reversed after the Anglo-Chin War of 1917-1919, partly to gain the goodwill of the tribal elites.