JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground
HTML
<ul id="id1" class="mylist">
<li><a href="">a</a></li>
<li><a href="">b</a></li>
<li><a href="">c</a></li>
<li><a href="">d</a></li>
<li><a href="">e</a></li>
</ul>
<ul id="id2" class="mylist">
<li><a href="">f</a></li>
<li><a href="">g</a></li>
<li><a href="">h</a></li>
<li><a href="">i</a></li>
<li><a href="">j</a></li>
</ul>
JavaScript
var thisEleArr = document.getElementsByTagName('ul');
for (var i=0;i<thisEleArr.length;i++) {
if (thisEleArr[i].getAttribute('id')==='id1') {
console.log(i); //this will console write out the index of the matching ID
}
}