1st Edition
Northeast India Through the Ages A Transdisciplinary Perspective on Prehistory, History, and Oral History
This volume explores the rich pre-history, history, and oral history of the northeast region of India––a land-locked region that is home to over 350 ethnolinguistic communities. Despite its uniqueness and diversity, little is known to the outside world. The book studies the vibrant and diverse socio-political and cultural history of this region through a transdisciplinary perspective, covering a wide range of topics such as the pre-history, medieval and colonial histories of Assam, the geopolitics of the creation of independent states from undivided Assam, oral narratives from Manipur, prehistoric cultures of Meghalaya, the Naga National Movement, Sikkim’s Namgyal dynasty, and Tripura’s transition from monarchy to democracy. It also discusses the invaluable contributions made by Professor Mohammad Taher (1931–2015), who laid the foundation of geography in Northeast India.
A compelling exploration of this geo-politically contested space, this volume will be of interest to students and researchers of anthropology, archaeology, history, human geography, South Asian studies, and minority studies.
Foreword by Yasmin Saikia
1 Northeast India Through the Ages
Rituparna Bhattacharyya
2 Professor Mohammed Taher: A Brief Profile of his Life and Works
Abani Kumar Bhagabati
3 Assam from Prehistory to History
Sukanya Sharma
4 Revisiting the History of Medieval Assam
Sangeeta Gogoi
5 Assam in the Colonial Period
Barnali Sarma and Pooza Sharma
6 Reorganisation and Changing Territorial Framework of Assam since India’s Independence
Madhushree Das and Chandan Bhuyan
7 Prehistoric Dwellers of the Meghalaya Plateau
Queenbala Marak
8 A History of Meghalaya: A Saga of Three Fascinating Tribes
Amena N. Passah
9 Incorporation of Oral Tradition in Archaeological Studies in Nagaland: An Overview
Aokumla Walling
10 03 August 2015 Framework Agreement, Naga National Movement, and Confused Road Ahead
Rituparna Bhattacharyya, Ajay Prasad, and Sanjay Prasad
11 Oral Narratives of Manipur as the Source of Historical Reconstruction
Thounaojam Caesar
12 Manipur: The Sociocultural Continuum
Vijaylakshmi Brara
13 Mizoram through the Ages
Benjamin L. Saitluanga
14 Tripura’s Nuanced History to the Present
Mousami Debbarma
15 Sikkim through the Ages
Namita Chakma
Biography
Rituparna Bhattacharyya is Senior Fellow, Advance HE (formerly Higher Education Academy), UK, who works as a research consultant and is Editor-in-Chief (joint) of the journal Space and Culture, India.
"The book portrays the annals of the Northeast region’s prehistory, history, and oral history using a transdisciplinary approach. It is a well-researched book with in-depth analysis, and its easy flow of facts makes the book of reader’s interest. The editor deserves all appreciation for bringing the different shades of nuanced histories of the most important constituencies of the Northeast region in fifteen chapters. A vital, necessary, and appealing book that presents an interesting account of a geographically strategic and culturally enriching region in a most simple format."
Professor Sanjai Bhatt, Department of Social Work, University of Delhi, India; Immediate Past President, National Association of Professional Social Workers in India; Immediate Past President, (South Asia) International Council on Social Welfare; Alliance Ambassador, GSSWA
"The interdisciplinary approach of this book to the study of Northeast India has done justice to the complex ethnographic, geographic, historical, and sociocultural mosaic of this region. Anyone interested in developing a deep understanding of the region and its people must read this book."
Professor Hiranya K Nath, Department of Economics and Intl. Business, Sam Houston State University, USA
