North-East India : Interpreting the Sources of its History

Contents: Preface. List of contributors. 1. Keynote address/J.B. Bhattacharjee. 2. On a coin of Jaintiapur/S.K. Bose. 3. Sources of history of Arunachal Pradesh: A critical survey/S. Dutta. 4. Historical studies of Arunachal Pradesh: An overview/Amrendra Kr. Thakur. 5. The sources of the history of Pre-Ahom Assam: A survey/D.K. Ganguly. 6. Graeco-Roman sources for the reconstruction of Assam history/P.C. Sarma. 7. Monoliths as a source of Mizo history/J.V. Hluna. 8. Sculpture as a source of social life (with special reference to the sculptures of Guwahati)/Paromita Das. 9. Sculptures of Assam from earliest time to twelfth century AD/Nishipad Dev Choudhury. 10. Historical significance of the sculpture at Unakoti/R.D. Choudhury. 11. Folklore as a source of history of North-East India/Anima Choudhury. 12. Oral sources of Mizo history/Sangkima. 13. The Saga of Chao-Lung Siu-Ka-Pha as depicted in DHAS manuscripts Nos. 2 and 34/Romesh Buragohain. 14. Hagiographies as historical sources: The Carita - Puthis of Assam/Radha Das. 15. Tripura Buranji - A source of historical geography of North-East India/I.S. Mumtaza. 16. A brief note on the Manipuri historical and cultural materials available in some British Museums/N. Lokendra. 17. The Manipur Puyas/Rena Laisram. 18. Indigenous literacy sources of the history of Manipur/N. Joykumar Singh. 19. Sources of the history of Precolonial Tripura/Mahadev Chakravarti. 20. Medieval Persian sources of the history of North-East India: A brief survey/F.A. Qadri. 21. Pemberton\'s Report: Trade and trade-routes between Assam and its neighbourhood/Priyam Goswami. 22. Reconstructing the history of the Nepalis in Assam: A look into the sources/Lopita Nath. 23. Anandaram Dhekial Phukan\'s \'Observations on the administration of the Province of Assam\' -- A classic document of rewriting the social history of Modern Assam/S.D. Goswami. 24. Sources of the history of the Khasi-Jaintias in libraries and archives in the United Kingdom/David R. Syiemlieh. 25. Sources of labour history of North-East India/Dipankar Banerjee. 26. From the margins: An overview of the alternative sources on the history of North-East India/Indira Baptista Gupta. 27. Dr. Fraser\'s Crusade and Bawi-Correspondences 1909-1923: Sources of social history of the Lushai Hills District of Assam/Ranju Bezbaruah. 28. An analysis of American Baptist Missionary sources for history writing in North-East India/Sheila Bora. Select bibliography. Index.

"North-East India is no longer a Terra Incognito to Indian historiography. The researches have brought to light evidences of past cultures of North-East India. However there is a need to sustain this enthusiasm and also study and interpret the different sources of the history of this region.

The present book serves two-fold purpose, viz. (i) to expand and analyse the already identified sources and (ii) to share the information about the newly identified sources. The book also emphasizes on the need to explore non-conventional oral sources as an alternative and/or supplementary to the conventional recorded sources. The oral sources (folklore, folksongs, beliefs and superstitions, ceremonies, rituals, etc.) are very important to study history as they reflect on the problems, needs and aspirations of the masses at various points of time.

The interpretation of the source is also as important as its identification. The present volume aims to interpret and analyse these sources and thus paces the way for further research to put the history of the area in its correct perspective." (jacket)