ABSTRACT
The creation of the ‘north-east frontier’ can be traced to the colonial period. This chapter deals with how the Valley was mapped in the pre-colonial period. The Brahmaputra Valley was a central piece in the colonial strategic planning of the north-east frontier. Colonialism transformed the Valley from a continental crossroad to a frontier. The early colonialists frequently remarked on the high heterogeneity in social composition of the Valley and the region in general vis-à-vis the mainland of British India. The colonial tax regime in the Valley could be studied in this context too. Edward Gait, in his History of Assam, which could very well be treated as an authoritative government report on ‘Assam’, uses ‘tribe’ and ‘caste’ with a thin margin of difference. Colonial records clearly indicate that colonial revenue collection was directly linked to establishing a fixed order of relation between community and space (or people and land), i.e., territorialising the people.
