ABSTRACT

This book explores the Kuki uprising against the British Empire during the First World War in Northeast frontier of India (then Assam-Burma frontier). It underlines how of the three-year war (1917–1919), spanning over 6,000 square miles, is crucial to understanding present-day Northeast India. The essays in the volume examine several aspects of the war, which had far-reaching consequences for the indigenous population as well as for British attitudes and policy towards the region – including military strategy and tactics, violence, politics, identity, institutions, gender, culture, and the frontier dimensions of the First World War itself. The volume also looks at how the conflict affected the larger dynamics of the region within Asia, and its relevance in world politics beyond the Great War.

Drawing on archival sources, extensive fieldwork and oral histories, the volume will be a significant contribution to comprehending the complex geopolitics of the region. It will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of South and Southeast Asian Studies, area studies, modern history, military and strategic studies, insurgency and counterinsurgency studies, tribal warfare and politics.

chapter |33 pages

Introduction

part I|56 pages

Understanding the Anglo-Kuki War

chapter 1|41 pages

‘Fighting the White Men till the Last Bullet’

The general course of the Anglo-Kuki War

part II|63 pages

Tactics, technology and symbols

chapter 3|25 pages

Breaking the spirit of the Kukis

Launching the ‘largest series of military operations’ in the northeastern frontier of India

chapter 4|36 pages

‘These crafty jungle fighters’

Tactics, technology and symbols of Kuki war

part III|79 pages

Ideas, ideology and institutions

chapter 5|11 pages

Patriots and utilitarians in the Anglo-Kuki War

The case of southern Manipur, 1917–1919

chapter 6|30 pages

‘As men of one country’

Rethinking the history of the Anglo-Kuki War

chapter 7|13 pages

‘Speak as one free nation’

Significance of the Kuki war council

chapter 8|23 pages

Revisiting the ‘military’

Role of som institution in the Anglo-Kuki War

part IV|48 pages

Women and the war

chapter 9|25 pages

Aphonic partners of war

Role of Kuki women in the Anglo-Kuki War

chapter 10|21 pages

Her-story in history

Women’s roles and participation in the Anglo-Kuki War

part V|17 pages

Trial and tribulation

chapter 11|15 pages

Keeping them under control

Impact of the Anglo-Kuki War