Hakha

Hakha (MYname|MY=ဟားခါးမြို့|MLCTS=ha: hka: mrui.; formerly called Haka) is the capital of Chin State in Myanmar.

The vernacular name of the city was Halkha. The city is convert|6120|ft|m|abbr=on above sea level and it lies at the foot of Rung Tlang (Mt. Rung), which is about convert|7543|ft|m|abbr=on high, and is one of the most famous and beautiful mountain peaks in the Chin State. January is the coldest month of the year with a mean temperature of around 27 degrees Celsius. April is the hottest month at a mean of 36 degrees. The total rainfall is about 86.22 inches every year. The total area of Hakha is about convert|12.50|sqmi|km2. It is one of the most beautiful cities in Burma but most foreigners cannot visit and do not know about the city because it is in a restricted area under the military government. It is virtually unknown to most of the countries in the world. No foreigners are allowed to visit to the Chin State in any case, without special permission, which is rarely given any time. Hakha is in the center of Chin State and it is connected with Thantlang, Falam, Gangaw and Matupi by truck roads.

History

Hakha was founded in around A.D 1400 by the Lai ethnic group. There were only 30 houses at that time and the area was ruled by local chiefs for many generations. The British occupied Hakha on January 19, 1890, as part of their operation to "subdue the wild tribes" in the Arakan Hills Division, as the area was then called. The British government later established a sub-divisional office and Hakha became a small town a few years later. The first American Baptist missionary couple, Rev. & Mrs Authur Carson, arrived in Hakha on March 15, 1899 and opened a mission station. Later other missionaries joined them and did extensive mission works throughout the Chin Hills and Christianised most of the Northern Chin State within a century. This mission work brought education, development, social and economic changes, and health improvement to the Chins. During the Second World War Hakha was captured by Japanese troops on November 11, 1943; it was later recaptured by British troops. When Burma got independence from British control in 1948, Hakha became an important city as the headquarter for one of the sis subdivisions in the Chin Special Division and Falam was the capital in that time. The Chin Special division was abolished and formed the Chin State in 1974 and Hakha became the capital for the Chin State. That brought an influx of government workers, housing development and extension of the city limits. Hakha eventually became the largest city in the Chin State with about 20,000 people.

Culture

*Chin State Cultural Museum

External links

* [http://www.myanmarbible.com/bible/Hakha/html/index.html Hakha Bible]
* [http://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wp/cnh Lai Wikipedia]