Ao Naga

Common card · No. 419999

The Aos are a major Naga ethnic group native to Mokokchung District of Nagaland in Northeast India. Their main territory is from Tsüla (Dikhu) Valley in the east to Tsürang (Disai) Valley in the west in Mokokchung District. The Ao Nagas refer to themselves as Aoer, which means "those who came" from across the Dikhu river. They were the first tribe of Nagas to be converted to Christianity, and by virtue of this development, the Aos availed themselves of the Western education that came along with Christianity. Christianity first entered into the Ao territory when an American Baptist missionary, Edward Winter Clark, reached an Ao village called Molungkimong in 1872. According to Edwin W. Clark's accounts, when he first set foot in Mulong village in 1872, Mulong, which was under the protectorate of Chungtia, had to seek permission from the latter for his stay which was promptly allowed by Chungtia village. Subsequently, he went on to spread Christianity all over Nagaland.

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