TERRITORIAL IMPERATIVES
Amalendu Guha
Problem of the Hill Tribes, North-East Fron¬tier 1873-1962: Vol III Inner Line to McMahon Line by H. K. Barpujari Spectrum Publications, Gauhati, 1982, 372 pp., 80.00
Nov-Dec 1982, volume 7, No 3

Contrary to its claim of making a comprehensive study of the problem of north-east India’s frontier tribes, the volume under review deals only with frontier-making in that region and examines the ‘forward policy’ pursued in that respect. Chronologically structured, this narrative pays little attention to the ethnolo¬gical details of the tribes con¬cerned, or to their many-sided problems, economic and social. The title of the volume is therefore somewhat mislead¬ing. In this third and last volume of his work, Barpujari shows how Indian control and ad¬ministration were slowly ex¬tended up to the present inter¬national frontiers of Arunachal, Nagaland and Mizoram, during 1873-1962. In this con¬nection, he also discusses the Sino-Indian border dispute as well as the Naga and Mizo secessionist movements; the first in some detail and the second only in bare outline. As far as the use of fresh materials and new interpre¬tation are concerned, the volume rests on a somewhat I uneven keel.

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