Introduction

The Nagas have hitherto achieved no prominence in world politics, and indeed have had neither the opportunity nor the desire to participate in international affairs. When the map war in the Himalayas came into prominence in 1962, there was some suspicion that the Chinese advance towards Assam, and in particular down the Lohit valley, might have been planned with knowledge of the unrest prevailing for several years in the nearby Naga Hills. In the mountain country to the north of the Assam valley, particularly that which forms the southern slopes of the Assam Himalayas, there are other distinctive hill tribes which show certain similarities to the Nagas. When the Japanese penetrated into Burma during the Second World War, the hills south of the Assam valley became an operational area. Between the two World Wars there was a period of general advancement.