Northeast India : A Political History

In the midst of global contemplations surrounding nationalism and identity, this book delves deep into the historical narrative of one of the planet’s most recently formed and intriguing regions: Northeast India. Emerged through the stroke of a pen in 1947, as the British Raj underwent a seismic rupture resulting in the partition into India and Pakistan, this realm unfurls as a landscape of river valleys and hills, inhabited by a multitude of tribes. These tribes, some untouched in their ancient practices until colonial rule, found themselves nestled in a realm where their customs, often associated with headhunting, gave them a distinct identity among their neighboring communities.

Within the pages of this narrative, penned by Samrat Choudhury, unfurls the intricate journey of how these remote hill tribes, alongside the varied inhabitants of the sprawling Brahmaputra river valley, became integral components of the “imagined nation” that embodies India. Amidst this exploration, the author traverses the ongoing tug-of-war between two distinct visions of India: Bharat, characterized by Hindu nationalist ideals, and Hindustan, a nomenclature rooted in Persia that extends westward to Turkey. Employing a panoramic perspective, this captivating political chronicle retraces the diverse routes by which imperialism, the influence of Christianity, and the British affinity for tea intertwined to assimilate each of the contemporary states within the region into the tapestry of modern India.