ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to demonstrate that the British, when they tried to subjugate the Naga hills lying between Assam and Manipur, bordering Northern Cachar, encountered a number of clusters of polities of which one group, calling themselves ‘Tengima’, took centre stage in the resistance. Why is this important? I will argue at a later stage that the societies of these polities shared a similar culture that allowed them to identify themselves in a political way and of which the former Tengimas only formed a part. Further, the hardening of the surrounding cultural and societal boundaries defined the extent of the conglomeration of polities. That is to say it was to a lesser extent the colonial vis-à-vis his boundaries and administration, but to a far greater one the policy of the post-colonial successor that merged these polities into one, forming the Naga nation. This is an ongoing process, and will become clearer in the course of the following chapters.
