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. Christianity arrived as a consequence of tribal warfare, raids of British plantations, and the ensuing punitive British military expedition 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. It was still a chaotic administration as the natives were still under the influence of several tribal chiefdoms, practising animistic rituals and completely illiterate. Their rituals and tribal lifestyles were serious hindrance to law and order. There was an urgent need to introduce formal education. The solution came in the form of Christian missionaries. The pioneers were from Arthington Aborigines Mission in London, who entered Lushai Hills in 1894, the year venerated in Mizoram as the "advent of the Gospel".The Arthington mission was of Baptist persuasion and the first two missionaries were of the Baptist Church, the first church in Mizoram was a Baptist Church. It was established at Sethlun, Lunglei which is still a venerated establishment by the Mizo populus. Even, the recorded first christian conversion was that of the cheiftain of Durtlang, Aizawl, by the name M.Suaka. 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. By the end of 20th century, Mizoram became the most Christian populated state (and third highest in literacy rate as of 2011 census) in India, and the native population is almost entirely of Christians.
Prelude
Alexandrapur incident and British military expeditions
Before the mid-19th century Mizos were virtually unknown. The British Empire, which had occupied all the surrounding Chittagong and Burma, had little or no interest in the tribes or their hilly land. The Mizos then lived in small and isolated clusters of tribal chiefdoms, often raising warfare against each other. Their religious views were dominated by paganism and they led animistic world view, with unique concept of afterlife called Pialral. They practised elaborate rituals including animal sacrifice, and worshipped or feared almost all conceivable inanimate objects, diseases and unusual natural phenomena. The British officers used to describe them as "irreclaimable savages".
Around 1850 the Mizos started to encroach 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 as hostage by Bengkhuaia warriors, while other prisoners were executed on the way. To retaliate, the British military organised punitive expedition named Lushai Expedition in 1871–1872 in the northern region. The Mizo villages were crushed one by one, and Mary Winchester was rescued. Mizo chiefs made a truce not to make further encroachments. But the truce was soon broken. In 1889 British military was forced to subjugate all the major chiefdoms throughout Mizoram (then called Lushai Hills), and got 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.
Missionary reconnaissance
The British administration over Mizos was a hectic problem. The totally illiterate people still practised their own tribal customs, which often got in the way of law and order. The obvious option for the government was to introduce education, and a simple solution was through Christian missions. The duo Baptist missionaries viz, J.H Lorraine and F.W Savidge took to the reins and fought their way in after a much trouble laden path with both physical infirmities and tribal animosity for a couple years, doing their diligence in both studying the tribal language of the Mizos and their customs, on January 11th, 1894 - to which the Mizos gave absolute reverence i.e, the date January the 11th, 1894, and is still declared as of to-date, a state holiday by the government of Mizoram as "Missionary Day".