Nagas and Nagaland

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NAGAS AND NAGALAND

NAGAS AND NAGALAND Nagaland became the sixteenth state of the Indian Union on 1 December 1963. It has a rapidly expanding population (about 2 million in 2004) and is divided into sixteen districts, with Kohima as the capital. Its official languages are English and six tribal languages. The literacy rate is nearly 70 percent. The Nagas are a tribal Indo-Mongoloid people who live in the Northeast region of India, the Himalayas, and Burma (Myanmar). More than a dozen tribes, including the Angamis, Aos, Chakhesangs, Changs, Khienmungans, Konyaks, Lothas, Phoms, Rengmas, Sangtams, Semas, Yimchangurs, and Zeliangs, make up the Naga tribes. The Nagas were a warlike people who engaged in head-hunting raids on each other, on Nagas across the border in Burma, and on the people of the lowlands. The morung, dormitories for young bachelors, served as training centers, barracks, and centers for ceremonial purposes, where skulls and other trophies of war were also displayed. Rice beer and meat such as beef and pork were the Nagas' favorite diet. Each of the Naga tribes enjoys elaborate festivals, some of which last several days. Although suspicious of outsiders, they have a highly developed sense of hospitality and generosity. The Naga tribesman was fiercely loyal to his family, his clan, his khel (the village), and his land, and he brooked no interference by outsiders in these or the village and tribal courts. Beginning in the 1840s, Christian missionaries converted many Nagas. The major Naga tribes each had representatives in the Naga Baptist Christian Convention. In 1881 the British established the Naga Hills District, with Kohima as the chief administrative center, and they initiated punitive expeditions to avenge head-hunting raids. After 1947 head-hunting raids continued and involved Naga tribes on both sides of the Indo-Burmese border.

In 1945 the Nagas had set up the Naga Hills District Tribal Council, which in 1946 became the Naga National Council (NNC), published the Naga Nation, and called for separation from India upon independence. In March 1956, the Nagas founded the Naga Federal Government with its own flag, and created the Naga Home Guards of five hundred men from each tribe. Eventually 15,000 men were under arms, attempting to achieve independence through a campaign of terror; throughout the struggle, however, the Nagas have been divided on whether to fight for independence or to accept statehood within the Indian Union. The Indian army was sent into the province in 1957. Accusations of atrocities by both sides were made. Moderate Nagas began to realize that secession was unrealistic, and they formed a Naga Peace Organising Committee. In 1957 they met in an All Tribes Naga Peoples' Convention. The "Naga Hills" was a district of the state of Assam, but the Naga Hills Tuensang Area was created on 1 December 1957. In 1963 the state of Nagaland was created. In spite of this, violence continued. On 23 May 1964 a cease-fire agreement was signed by both sides. On 31 August 1972 the underground NNC, the Naga Federal Government, and the Naga Federal Army were all banned, and the government ended the cease-fire. On 11 November 1975 the two sides signed the Shillong Accord, and the rebels surrendered large numbers of weapons, and many gave up the struggle. From the mid-1980s there were renewed bouts of violence, which led to the cease-fire agreement of 25 July 1997. An uneasy peace followed.

Roger D. Long

See alsoAssam ; Ethnic Conflict ; Ethnic Peace Accords ; Insurgency and Terrorism ; Tribal Peoples of Eastern India ; Tribal Politics

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gurudev, S. Anatomy of Revolt in the North East India. New Delhi: Lancers Books, 1996.

Pakem, B., ed. Regionalism in India (With Special Reference to North-East India). New Delhi: Har-Anand Publications, 1993.

Vashum, R. Nagas' Right to Self-Determination: An Anthropological-Historical Perspective. New Delhi: Mittal Publications, 2000.