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Authors Information
SequenceTypeName TitleFirst NameLast NameDepartmentInstitute / Affiliation
1 Author Prof. Sarah Hilaly History Rajiv Gandhi University
Abstract Information
TrackID
:
IUAES23_ABS_S4926
Abstract Theme
:
PT141 - Negotiating the Highlands
Abstract Title
:
The Colonial State: Territorialisation and Buffer Communities in the Arunachal Himalayas
Short Abstract
:
Assam came under British rule in the aftermath of the Anglo-Burmese War of 1826. Its plains and uplands at the frontiers of Burma were fluid territories, with a persistent anxiety of renewed Burmese aggression. A section of Assam designated as Upper Assam was restored to a member of the erstwhile ruling family, while smaller polities of Sadiya and Matak were allowed self-governance under substantial British control. The Khamtis and Singphos straddling the easternmost fringes, were brought within a network of alliance. Essentially the communities served as a buffer with Burma,both in territorial and political terms.
Long Abstract
:

The colonial state in Assam since 1826 encountered the uplands surrounding the Brahmaputra and Barak valleys. During the first three decades of its existence, the anxiety of renewed Burmese aggression along its eastern frontiers shaped its policy towards the tribes. The Khamtis, Singphos, and the Muttock polity were engaged in creating a ring of protection in the vicinity of the passage to Burma along the Hukwang valley. The politics of the buffer zone also lead to an engagement with the Adis and Mishmis in order to ward off conspiracy of the tribes used as buffers with the Burmese state.

Contrary to the situation in the east, the edges of the Tibetan Plateau were kept out of the active buffer zone policy as the colonial state had very tenuous control over the tribes intervening between Assam and Tibet. The paper shall seek to discuss the politics of buffer zone along the eastern edge of the Empire and the communities involved while contrasting it with that along the north with the Monpas.
Abstract Keywords
:
Anglo-Burmese War, Assam, Burma, Sadiya, Khampti and Singpho.