ABSTRACT
THE institution of slavery was prevalent among many of the hill-tribes of Assam, but the establishment of British administration control led in most cases to its early abolition, and there are comparatively few detailed studies of the rôle of slaves in tribal societies. In the case of the Apa Tanis anthropological inquiries preceded the imposition of administrative control, and this enabled me to observe the interrelations between freemen and slaves before the Apa Tanis had any notion of governmental disapproval of the institution of slavery. These unusual circumstances justify a somewhat fuller presentation of my material on the position of slaves than the framework of this monograph would otherwise indicate.
