The British policy towards the Lushai Hills: A case study of the Lushai Expedition 1871–1872 in light of colonial historiography
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63635/mrj.v1i2.27Keywords:
Lushai, Expedition, Tea, Trade route, AnnexationAbstract
This paperstudies the lesser-known British expedition into Mizoram during the latenineteenth century on the eastern frontiers of British India. The Lushai country lies between the Bengal province and Burma. The article seeks to counter the misconception that the Lushai Expedition of 1871–1872 was primarily meant as punishment for a few Lushai chiefs who had participated in recent raids into the British protectorate. It argues that the expedition had to happen for a number of reasons andwas a reflection of the colonial government’s astute politics. It makes an effort to shed as much light aspossible on the colonial government’s covert objectives. It spans the early years of Lushai-British relations up till the country’s annexation.
References
[1] Woodthrope, R. G. The Lushai Expedition 1871-1872. Reprinted by Tribal Research Institute Mizoram. Aizawl. 1976.
[2] Guite, J. Civilisation and its malcontents: The politics of Kuki raid in nineteenth century Northeast India. The Indian Economic & Social History Review. Vol. 48(3). 2011. pp. 339-376. https://doi.org/10.1177/001946461104800302
[3] Vanlalhruaia, H. & Ramdinsangi. ‘Generating Knowledge on Lushai Hills: The Works of T.H Lewin’. Mizoram University Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences. Vol IV Issue 2. 2018.
[4] Assam Secretariat, Foreign – A, Progs., August 1891, Nos. 30 – 38, Political Report of the Northern Lushai Hills for 1890-91, Excluded Areas Records, Exbt. 24 (unfiled). Mizoram State Archives (MSA). Aizawl.
[5] Lewin, T. H. A Fly on the Wheel or How I Helped to Govern India. Tribal Research Institute. Aizawl. 2005 (Reprinted).
[6] Branch, I. Division of the Chief of Staff, Army Headquarters, India, comp. Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India, North and North-Eastern Frontier Tribes. Vol-IV.
[7] A letter from R.B. McCabe, Esq., Esq., I. C. S., Political officer, North Lushai Hills, to the Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam, Shillong, the 23rd July 1892. CB-2, G-18. Mizoram State Archives.
[8] Mackenzie, A. History of The Relations of The Government with The Hill Tribes of The North-east Frontier of Bengal. Printed at the Home Department Press. Calcutta. 1884. Retrieved from archives.org on 5 November, 2023.
[9] Judicial Proceedings: April 1871, No. 253; January 1872, No. 141; and February 1872, No. 106. West Bengal State Archives. Kolkata.
[10] Judicial Proceedings: August 1872, No. 212. West Bengal State Archives. Kolkata.
[11] CB-2, G – 18, from R.B. McCabe, Esq., Esq., I. C. S., Political officer, North Lushai Hills, to the Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam, Shillong. the 23rd July 1892. MSA.
[12] Rohmingmawii. ‘Bengkhuaia (1825- 1879)’. Historical Journal Mizoram. MHA. Volume – XI. November 2010.
[13] Besky, Sarah. “Tea” in The Routledge Companion to Northeast India. Ed. Jelle J.P. Wouters and Tanka B. Subba. Routledge. 2023. pp. 429 - 433.
[14] Kumar, Purnendu. State and Society in North-East India: A Study of Immigrant Tea Plantation Labourers. Regency. 2006.
[15] Lalthanliana. Zalen Nana British Do. Mizoram Publication Board. Aizawl. 2000.
[16] Barpujari, H. K. Problem of the Hill Tribes: North-East Frontier: 1873-1962. Vol. 3. Lawyer’s Book Stall. 1981.
[17] Government of Assam. Treaties, Engagements, and Sunnuds relating to the Territories Comprised within, or in Political Relation with, the Chief Commissionership of Assam. 1874. pp. 171-250.
[18] File no. PC 134. The beginning of the British Administration in the Naga Hills. Nagaland State Archives, Kohima.
[19] Christian, John L. ‘Trans-Burma trade routes to China.’ Pacific affairs 13, no. 2 (1940): 173-191.
[20] May, Andrew J. ‘The Starched Boundaries of Civilization’: Sympathetic Allegiance and the Subversive Politics of Affect in Colonial India. Subverting Empire: Deviance and Disorder in the British Colonial World. Edited by Will Jackson and Emily J. Manktelow. Palgrave Macmillan. 2015.
[21] Vanlalhruaia, H. and Ramdinsangi. Generating Knowledge on Lushai Hills: The Works of T.H Lewin. Mizoram University Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (A Bi-Annual Refereed Journal) Vol IV Issue 2. December 2018.
[22] MacDonald, Major, Caption Tanner and Caption Badley. The Lushai Expedition. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London. 1872 – 1873. Vol. 17. No. 1 (1872 - 1873).
[23] Foreign External A. Proceeding. July 1895, Nos. 122-145, as cited in J. Zorema. Indirect Rule in Mizoram 1890-1954. Mittal Publications. New Delhi. 2007.
[24] Zahluna, J. ‘Inner line regulation and Mizoram.’ The Indian Journal of Political Science (2011): 221-225.
[25] Fletcher, K. A. Perceptions of contemporary effects of colonialism among educational professionals in Ghana. University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2013.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright © Author(s) retain the copyright of this article.
