decentralization to describe the process of power devolution and decentralization. The process of political decentralization has been treated as a conflict prevention mechanism and as a means for further democratization by devolving resources and responsibilities to subnational governments. This chapter makes an attempt to discuss the history of power devolution in Northeast and the colonial and post-colonial structures of governance which led to different forms of political mobilization in post-colonial India.
The chapter tries to examine the political history of Assam, making of frontier regions, the different administrative structures developed by the British and how these influenced the process and politics of political decentralization in the post-colonial phase/period. An important question that this chapter addresses is how the policies of pre- independence and post-independence affected the political process of accommodating and integrating tribal ethnic minority groups? The core question that this chapter tries to address is whether political decentralization helped to reduce ethnic violence of Northeast India?
The process of political decentralization which is considered as the conflict prevention mechanism was implemented in undivided Assam while giving autonomy to some tribal ethnic groups. Despite decentralizing, under Article 244A and Sixth Schedule of the Indian constitution, the conflict prevention mechanism failed to reduce violence in some cases. In this chapter, the focus has been the colonial and post-colonial structure of governance to analyze its influence on the present structure of political decentralization in Assam. This chapter also deals with the politics of autonomy and further decentralization in Assam and its relation to ethnic violence. It tries to analyze the processes of political demands, creation of sub-state units, autonomous structures and the beginnings of ethnic mobilization in the post-independence period.
Northeastern part of India is the easternmost region of India linked to the rest of India by a narrow stretch of land. States that are included in Northeast India are- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. These states are known as Northeast because of its geographical location. As the region is situated in the extreme east and the northern side of India, it is popularly known as Northeast India.
Northeast India comprises of different ethnic groups with different ethnic identities. Ethnic groups are different in terms of their culture, language, religious beliefs, food habits, and customs. Although there is a great ethnic and religious diversity in these states of India, they also have similarities in different political, social and economic contexts. The region comprises of both tribal and non-tribal communities.45 The tribal communities in Northeast India are mostly Tibeto-Mongloid from Western China.46 The Northeast frontier was usually known as the boundary line and sometimes termed as a tract because it embraces all the frontier regions of Assam Valley lying between Bengal and Burma which experienced many invasions Shans, Moamorias, Burmese and finally the Kacharis and the Ahoms who established their rule in Assam from the 12th to 19th century witnessed wars and conquests in the region. Finally, on 24th February 1826, the Ahoms signed the treaty of Yandaboo with the British (Mackenzie, 1999).
45 See, Assam State Gazetteer, 1999, Vol. 1.
46 Edward Gait said, “The so-called Aryans, and many later invaders, such as the Greeks, the Huns, the Pathans, and the Mughals, entered India from the north-west, while from the north-east, through Assam, have come successive hordes of immigrants from the great hive of the Mongolian race in Western China. Many of these immigrants passed on into Bengal, but in that province they have, as a rule, become merged in the earlier population. Their influence is seen in the modified physical type of the present inhabitants, who are classed by Mr. Risley as Mongolo-Dravidians, but there are very few who possess the distinctive Mongolian physiognomy or who speak Mongolian dialects. In Assam, on the other hand, although in the plains large sections of the population, like that of Bengal, are of mixed origin, there are also numerous tribes who are almost pure Mongolians, and the examination of their affinities, in respect of physique, language, religion and social customs, with other branches of the same family forms one of the most interesting lines of enquiry open to Ethnologists.” (Gait E. A., 1906, p. i)
Undivided Assam was characterized by rough hills and deep canyons inhabited by different tribes. Administrative setup of the region changed during the British period. Hills which consisted of tribal communities were named after the name of the tribes, such as Naga Hills which was inhabited by Nagas and westward from the Naga Hills, Khasi and Jaintia hills were also named after the tribes. These were the frontier regions which fall between India and Burma. Other hill tribes in the frontier regions were Lushai, Kuki, Twipperahs, Akas, Duphlas, Abors, Miris, Mishimis, Khamtis, Singphos, Moamarias, Manipuris, Mikirs, Chittagong frontier tribes and Chakmas. Among all these frontier tribes Jaintias were the first hill people who came into direct contact with the British administration in 1774 though it was not fully annexed (Gait, 1906).
From a geographical, historical and also from a strategic point of view, the Northeast region occupies an important position in India. The region shares an international border with many South Asian countries. As far as language groups are concerned, colonial historians argue that though Dravidian (colonial language) was the earliest linguistic form recognizable in India, it is now spoken by the people that are inhabitants of Southern part of India, whom ethnologists call the Dravidians. This linguistic group has a connection with the African Negroid race, which suggests that they came from Africa, entering northwest India from Arabia. Dravidian families are found even in the plains of Assam (Gait E. A., 1906, p.
3). Another family of languages was the Mundas with a separate form of a linguistic identity.47 The migration of Dravidian and Munda linguistic forms were followed by the Indo-Chinese groups, as Gait argued. The Indo-Chinese group is associated with the tribes
47 Mundas are the tribes who migrated from Chota-Nagpur during British period as daily laborers to work in the tea gardens of Assam (Gait, 1906).
with Mongloid (term used in colonial language) origins from Western China.48 They entered India from the north-east and descending the Brahmaputra, spread into Bengal and Assam.
However, the Indo-Chinese linguistic family is divided into three sub-families that are Mon- Khmer, Tibeto-Burman and the Siamese-Chinese which includes Shan language. History shows that the Ahoms belong to this category of Shans (Gait E. A., 1906, p. 4). Edward Gait in his book stated:
“The Mom-Khmer speakers came first, and they were followed by successive incursions of tribes speaking dialects of the Tibeto-Burman sub-family, who either absorbed and imposed their own forms of speech on, such of the earlier inhabitants as survived, or pushed them back into the hills. The dialects of this sub-family belong to three groups, mainly Naga, spoken in east of the Naga Hills, Kuki-Chin, spoken in Manipur, Cachar and the Lushai Hills, and Bodo, which claim practically all the surviving non-Aryan languages of the Brahmaputra valley and the Garo Hills and the principal ones of North Cachar and Hill Tippera; it includes, amongst others, Kachari or Mech, Garo, Dimasa, Tippera, Lalung, Rabha, and Chutiya.49 Later, there have been several intrusions of tribes speaking Tai or Shan languages, the most notable being that of the Ahoms.”
(Gait E. A., 1906, p. 5)
Opinion also differs when we discuss the origins of the term ‘Assam’. Interpretations are made on the Assamese word, Asam meaning ‘unequal’ and ‘peerless’ which was used by the local people to address the Ahoms or the Shans.50 Some historians on the other, hand argued that the word is derived from Asama to represent unevenness of the place as Assam is comprised of many rivers, hills and plain areas showing its uneven nature or Asaman
48 See, Assam State Gazetteer of 1999, Vol. 1 which stated that Indo-Chinese groups that are now predominantly indigenous population of Assam, migrated from Western China entered from various routes.
The Ahoms entered Assam in the early 13th Century, and other groups such as Khamtis, Phakials, Aitongs, Khamjangs and Turungs entered the land of Assam by 16th Century.
49 Garo hills are the hill areas inhabited by mostly tribal communities dominated by Garo population which now falls under the state of Meghalaya. Naga Hills are the frontier areas that fall between India and Myanmar inhabited by the Naga tribes.
50 See, Assam State Gazetteer, Vol. 1, 1999.
landmass. The uneven landmass was significant for the colonial government in the administrative structures of the British period.
Undivided Assam therefore comprised of many linguistic families with different ways of living. Interaction of different groups was rare where fights and clashes were daily affairs among the groups. To bring together all the people of Assam, Sri Sankardeva and his disciple Sri Madhabdeva brought a renaissance through their teaching in religion in the 15th century A.D. They are known as the pioneers in the field of socio-cultural reform in Assam.
They tried to bring social reforms through education and religious teaching in Assam. Ek Sarana Dharma, which insisted on equality and one god, irrespective of caste and creed was the practice that was popularized during the reforms. They also introduced cultural practices of Bhabana, Ankianat, Bargeet and Ojapali to bring unity among the people of Assam, which also contributed to Assamese literature and culture.51 These reforms were mainly in the plain areas of Assam. The hills remained isolated and were not brought under the purview of Ek Sarana Dharma.
The next section discusses the administrative structures in undivided Assam during the British administration.