ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with the general course of the Anglo-Kuki War 1917–1919 from the perspective of the Kukis, in the way the war unfolded from the start. It examines the course in three broad phases: passive resistance phase (March–October 1917), active armed resistance period (October 1917–April 1919) and period of trial and tribulation (April 1919 onward). It began with the refusal to send men for the labour corps and the successive failure of negotiations with government. The unprovoked burning of Mombi on 17 October 1917 by the Political Agent in Manipur led to active phase of armed resistance which went on till April 1919. This active phase was further subdivided into five phases, including the period of war preparation, first phase of confrontation, punishment to the ‘friendly’ villages, second phase of negotiation for truce, and then second phase of confrontation. The third phase of the war was the period of collective punishment to the Kukis. While their leaders were trialled and transported, the Kuki population were subjected to communal penal labour for five years. The chapter also provided the lives at the detention camps at Sadiya and Taungyi, and also, the military estimates of the Kuki war.
