The Pursuit of Colonial Interests In Indias North-East

Contents: Preface. I. Inner lines and inner boundaries: 1. The Darrang and Lakhimpur inner lines 1875-1904. 2. Beyond the Lakhimpur inner line: expedition once more 1899-1900. 3. Beyond the Darrang Inner line: British relations with the Daflas 1896-1910. 4. The frontier tracts: inner boundaries and inner lines. 5. The Sibsagar and the Naga hills inner lines 1876-1929. II. The southern boundary of the Lushai hills: 6. Inter-tribe feud and the southern boundary of the Lushai hills. 7. Arakan Lushai hills boundary. 8. Teh chin hills Lushai hills boundary. III. The Manipur valley and Hills: 9. Manipur Valley: Monetization of land revenue and services. 10. Manipur hills: Kuki Anti-British resistance. Conclusion. Appendices. Bibliography. Glossary. Index.

The present study is an attempt to identify and scan the under currents that had shaped British policy towards the peripheral areas of India's North-East in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The author examines the influence of the tea-plantation and mining interests in determining the Inner Lines between the hills and the Brahmaputra Valley districts of Assam. The evolution of the Inner lines of the Lakhimpur, Darrang, Sibsagar, and Naga Hills districts and those of the Frontier Tracts has been discussed at length. Gradual assertion of British paramountcy beyond the inner lines, establishment of a loose political control in the northern and eastern extremity of Assam in order to inhibit China's expansionist tendencies and the organisation of the frontier tracts that had finally emerged as the Sadiya, Balipara, and Lakhimpur Frontier Tracts have also been focused upon. The nuances of British policy towards the trans-inner Line tribes have also been examined.

Another focus of the book is the question of defining the Arakan-Lushai and Chin-Lushal boundaries and the final disposal of the Unadministered Tract south of the Lushai Hills. It also deals with the abolition of the Lallup and Pothang systems in Manipur and the integration of the State's economy with that of the rest of the Indian Empire. An analysis has also been made on the nature of the Kuki uprising, which according to the author had assumed the character of a national liberation movement. He observes that colonialism and nationalist aspirations are always at variance with one another and indeed at cross purposes. Colonialism bargained only with those who had the potential either to bestow benefits or inflict injury to its interests. The author also observes that altruistic or charitable considerations of the most enlightened among the colonial echelons were but a veneer of hard headed calculations in pursuit of colonial interests. The work is based predominantly on hitherto unexplored archival sources. It also contains a number of valuable appendices and official maps of the frontier. This well documented book should be of interest to researchers, policy makers and the reading public. (jacket)