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Chiefly based on the hitherto-unexplored archival material, preserved in the Assam Archives, Dinapur, this study takes a retrospective look at the colonial interests in India’s North East in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Having taken possession of the Brahmaputra Valley of Assam, the British colonial masters virtually established themselves as the paramount power in the India’s north-eastern region. However, the East India Company brought under its direct administration only those areas which, it considered, were either economically or strategically important. The book shows how the lure of tea plantations, mines, and forest products (timber and rubber) were largely the economic factors that shaped the British interests in determining the Inner Lines between the hills and Brahma Valley districts of Assam: Lakhimpur, Darrang and Sibsagar. Also included here are over twenty maps. Dr Ranju Bezbaruah is currently Professor of History, Gauhati University, Assam.

Contents:

SECTION ONE INNER LINES AND INNER BOUNDARIES: 1 The Darrang and Lakhimpur Inner Lines 2 Beyond the Lakhimpur Inner Line 3 Beyond the Darrang inner Line 4 The Frontiner Tracts: Inner Boundaries and Inner Lines 5 The Sibsagar and the Naga Hills Inner Lines: SECTION TWO THE SOUTHERN BOUNDARY OF THE lUSHAI HILLS 6 Inter tribe Feud and the Southern Boundary of the Laushai Hills 7 Arakan Lukshai Hills Boundaries 8 The Chin Hills Lushai Hills Boundaries SECTION THREE THE MANIPUR VALLEY AND HILLS 9 Manipur Valley: Monetization of Land Revenue and Services 10 Manipur Hills Kuki anti British Resistance