ABSTRACT
This entry traces the historical origin and development of the idea of an inner line in the minds of the colonial administrators while dealing with the complex issues of the hill and plains people living in Northeast India. The author clarifies that the purpose of drawing this line was to minimize the contact, which often resulted in violent conflicts, between the ever-greedy tea planters and the frontier tribes. So, it was part of the colonial policy of borderland management, but it divided the hill tribes from the plains people and the impact of that policy is still visible today.
