Homeland Security

Nagaland: The Beginning of Insurgency - I
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Issue Book Excerpt: Lost Opportunities | Date : 09 May , 2011

The origin of the word ‘Naga’ is shrouded in mystery. It is however clear that the appellation “Nagas” was quite foreign to Nagas themselves. It is only after the advent of the British that the word ‘Naga’ began to be widely used for tribes inhabiting the Naga Hills. Before that the inhabitants of these hills knew themselves by their tribe names. “To most Assamese and people in east India, it meant naked hill people, who were head hunters”1.

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It is not intended here to go into anthropological or racial origins of the Naga tribes, but briefly, they belong to Indo-Mongoloid family and migrated from west and north to their present habitat over a period of time from different directions. They do not have a common language or dialect; each tribe has its own dialect or dialects, which are unintelligible to other tribes. For the purpose of this study the term Naga includes the various tribes who have spread across the present states of Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and some parts of Assam, as also across the border in parts of Myanmar.

They do not have a common language or dialect; each tribe has its own dialect or dialects, which are unintelligible to other tribes.

The chronicles of Ahom Kings, Buranjis, throw some light on Naga relations with Ahoms. The first contact of the Nagas with them took place during the time of Sukapha, the founder of the Ahom kingdom in about 1228 AD. As the Ahom kingdom expanded, there were frequent clashes between the Ahoms and the Nagas, but on the whole the Ahoms kept the bordering tribes under control and extracted tributes from them. In return, the Nagas were granted revenue free lands and fishing waters on the understanding that they would desist from making any predatory raids into plains.

The Ahoms never tried to conquer the Nagas and amalgamate them in their kingdom but left them to live the way they liked. The Nagas lived in comparative isolation during the 600 years rule of Ahoms over Assam. It was only after the conquest of Assam by the British in 1826 that they came in contact with the British. The first contact was established during Anglo-Burmese war when Capt Neurf Ville crossed the Patkai Hills to free 6,000 Naga slaves from Singhpos.

“¦some for independence for the Nagas, but there was no overwhelming demand or unanimity for immediate separation from India.

In 1832, Capts Jenkins and Pemberton led an expedition of 700 Manipuri troops and 800 coolies across the Naga Hills and occupied Papoolongmai in the face of fierce resistance by the Angami Nagas. Nearly a decade later in 1841, Lt Briggs in conjunction with Capt Gordon led another expedition into Angami area, which resulted in demarcation of the boundary between Manipur and Naga Hills and payment of yearly tribute by the Angamis to the British. These engagements were mainly to protect the tea gardens of Assam from raids by Angamis. The contacts with the Nagas grew as the British opened up communications between Assam and Manipur through the Naga Hills. But the agreements between the British and the Nagas proved to be temporary, as no sooner the troops had left the hills, the Nagas began their marauding raids into the plains.

Between 1849 and 1850 as many as ten expeditions were sent under Lt Vincent. In the tenth expedition the British captured a strong Naga fort at Khonoma and fought a bloody battle against the tribes of Kekrema, but the British troops were withdrawn in 1851.2 This was in pursuance of the new policy of Lord Dalhousie under which it was decided to abstain from any type of intervention in the affairs of the Nagas. In his minute of February 20, 1851 Lord Dalhousie recorded: “I dissent entirely from the policy which is recommended of what is called obtaining control, that is to say, of taking possession of these hills and establishing our sovereignty over their savage inhabitants. Our possession could bring no profit to us, and would be as costly to us as it would be unproductive – – – Hereafter, we should confine ourselves to our own ground; protect it as it can and must be protected; not meddle in the feuds or fight of these savages; encourage trade with them as long as they are peaceful towards us and rigidly exclude them for all communication either to sell what they have got, or buy what they want if they should become so turbulent or troublesome.”3

The idea of complete independence had not yet crystallised.

The policy of non-interference lasted for the next 15 years, which emboldened the Nagas and they made twenty-two raids in the Assam Valley in 1851 alone. The situation became so hopeless that in 1862 the Commissioner of Assam in a report to the Lt Governor wrote: “the non-interference policy is excellent in theory, but the government will probably be inclined to think that it must be abandoned.”4 The British at the instance of Cecil Beadon, Lt Governor of Bengal, adopted a policy of slow but positive control over Naga territory. In keeping with this policy, Lt Gregory established his headquarters at Samaguting in 1866 and by 1877 the British had decided on a forward policy and consequently two posts, one at Kohima and the other at Wokha, were established in 1878 to check Angami raids on Nowgong and to dominate Lotha country east of Dikhu. The Naga Hill district was formed in 1881 mainly with Angami and Lotha areas.

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Beyond the administered area, the British created a zone of political control. The Ao area of Mokokchung was brought under the British administration in 1890. The expansion of administered hill district continued eastward on one pretext or the other. In 1907 AW Davis, Deputy Commissioner of Nagaland observed: “we shall have no real peace until we have absorbed the whole of hill area between this and Chindwin. This can be done gradually and economically. As it is, the huge area of uncontrolled hill country between Assam and Burma is an anomaly.” The views of local officers were echoed by Sir Archdale Earl, the Chief Commissioner, who said in 1914 that the process of expansion would have to be continued, “until the whole of the country between Assam and Burma had been taken over.”5 The expansion of administered hill district continued till 1927 when the Melomi (Meluri) and Primi (Akhegwo) were included in the Naga Hill district in 1922.6

The Formation of Naga Club

The first stirrings of Naga identity and politics started with the formation of Naga Club in 1918. The members of this club were mainly government servants and many Nagas who had returned from France after the World War I. When the Statutory Commission, headed by Sir John Simon, visited Kohima on January 10, 1929, representatives of the Naga Club submitted a memorandum to the commission demanding that Nagas be excluded from the scope of proposed constitutional reform and kept under direct administration of the British. They told the commission: “you are the only people who have conquered us and when you go, we should be as we were.” However, in the report of the Simon Commission, the representation made by the Nagas was ignored and thus the Government of India Act 1935 came into effect from May 1, 1937, making Naga Hills Backward Tract of 1919 as Excluded Area under Assam but directly under the administration of the Governor.

When it became clear that India would soon become a free country, the leadership of Nagas was in the hands of moderate leaders”¦

The Japanese invasion of Burma during the World War II and the battles fought by the British in the hills around Kohima had brought the Nagas in contact with the outside world. Their leaders were exposed to the prevailing sentiments against British and European colonialism in Asia. But there was considerable uncertainty amongst the Naga leaders in deciding their political future. When it became clear that India would soon become a free country, the leadership of Nagas was in the hands of moderate leaders like Alibaimti and T. Sakhrie. Although there were different shades of opinion, some for independence for the Nagas, but there was no overwhelming demand or unanimity for immediate separation from India.

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The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of the Indian Defence Review.

About the Author

Brig (Dr) SP Sinha

Brigadier (Dr) SP Sinha, VSM (Retd)

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