Chiefly on Angami, Indic people, from Kohima and Khonoma villages of Nagaland.

A comprehensive history of the Nagas of Tibeto-Burman origin in the Naga hills, Assam, and adjoining parts of Burma.

There are no systematic historical records of the 'Nagas'. The account of the period of the Hindu Kings of Kamarupa' between the fourth and twelfth century are silent and some notice in the chronicles of ahoms who ruled Assam from 1228 to 1819 A.D. is noticed but no clear idea emerges from these on particular Naga tribes, their religion and culture and relations between various tribes. In this book, Y.L. Roland Shimmi, a Naga himself presents his fist hand study based on authoritative books and culture of the Nagas. The author has recorded glowing details of Naga hills and features of its people; their historical and probablity of origin; their racial affinities; geographical spread out, customs and traditions; religion, principla administrative system; weapons and equipments; the traditional Naga philosophy. In addition, an informed glimpse is provided in the history of Kingdom of Pong -Manipur Scenarion from 1597 to 1826 and tribes of Zemi, Liangmai and Rong mei allied to Kabui who settled in the western mountain tracts of Naga Hills. This book will evoke enormous intersts in scholars and researchers of history, political science, anthropology and general readers alike.

In 1937, Ursula Bower visited Nagaland at the invitation of a friend, and on a dispensary tour encountered the Naga people. She was so taken was with their striking dignity, tribal pride and unique culture that she arranged to live among them to write an anthropological study. But she became more than an observer – living alone among them, Ursula was integrated into their village life, becoming their figurehead when in 1944 the Japanese invaded the jungles of Nagaland from Burma. The Nagas turned to her for leadership and with the support of General Slim, her Naga guides were armed and trained to patrol and repel the Japanese incursions. The Nagas’ courage and loyalty were duly recognised, and after the conflict Ursula, with Naga support, went on to run a jungle training school for the RAF. Later, with her husband, Tim Betts as Political Officer, she worked among the volatile tribes of the remote Apa Tani Valley, bordering Tibet. Following the Independence of India in 1947, Ursula returned to her highland roots, but to her death in 1988, her experiences among the Naga people shaped and directed her life.

Northeast India has witnessed several nationality movements during the 20th century. The oldest and one of the most formidable has been that of the Nagas — inhabiting the hill tracts between the Brahmaputra river in India and the Chindwin river in Burma (now Myanmar). Rallying behind the slogan, ‘Nagaland for Christ’, this movement has been the site of an ambiguous relation between a particular understanding of Christianity and nation-making. This book, based on meticulous archival research, traces the making of this relation and offers fresh perspectives on the workings of religion in the formation of political and cultural identities among the Nagas. It tracks the transmutations of Protestantism from the United States to the hill tracts of Northeast India, and its impact on the form and content of the nation that was imagined and longed for by the Nagas. The volume also examines the role of missionaries, local church leaders, and colonial and post-colonial states in facilitating this process. Lucidly written and rigorous in its analyses, this book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of South Asian history, religion, political science, sociology and social anthropology, and particularly those concerned with Northeast India.

In the Shadows of Naga Insurgency is a fine-grained critique of the Naga struggle for political redemption, the state’s response to it, and the social corollaries and carry-overs of protracted political conflict on everyday life. Offering an ethnographic underview, Jelle Wouters illustrates an ‘insurgency complex’ that reveals how embodied experiences of resistance and state aggression, violence and volatility, and struggle and suffering link together to shape social norms, animate local agitations, and complicate inter-personal and inter-tribal relations in expected and unexpected ways. The book locates the historical experiences and agency of the Naga people and relates these to ordinary villagers’ perceptions, actions, and moral reasoning vis-à-vis both the Naga Movement and the state and its lucrative resources. It thus presses us to rethink our views on tribalism, conflict and ceasefire, development, corruption, and democratic politics.