Mizoram Under The British Rule

‘Mizoram under the British Rule’ is the adaptation of the author’s doctoral thesis THE ENGLISH AND THE LUSHAIS. The book describes in simple language the history of the different Mizo clans living in Mizoram before and after they came in contact with the Engish. Head-hunting campaigns of the Mizo-Chiefs compelled the East-India company to send expeditions to Mizo hills. These military expeditions opened up Mizoram to the world. The trial of the Mizo-Chief Lalchukla disclosed many facts hitherto unknown to the authorities of Fort William.

Energetic Frontier Officers Captain Lewin and John Edgar did their best to study the Mizo-Problem. These pioneer civil servants rendered yeoman’s service in conciliating the Mizo tribes. Abduction of Miss Mary Winchester from Moiner Khal Tea Estate in Cachar set the British army into motion. The Mizos did not accept the British rule happily. After the annexation of Upper Burma, the Chin tribes, an analogous Mizo tribes, made depredations complicating the Mizo Problem. Settlement of the Mizo chiefs and allotment of their territorial jurisdiction had to be tackled carefully. More than law and order was the question of demarcation of the boundaries of the Lushai chiefs living within the administration of India and Burma. Christian Missionaries Savidge and Lorrain brought in the civilishing influences into the Mizo hills. Conversion to Chrisitianity and adoption of Western culture transformed the hillmen into a modern community. The author, having the experience of extensive field work, had narrated all these events systematically in his book. Administrators, Military Officers, Research Scholars and the Social Scientists will find in the book a veritable mine of information of historic importance. For scholars conducting research on Mizo tribes, the book is likely to prove as a reference tool of inestimable value.

Dr. Suhas Chatterjee (1935-2010) was a distinguished scholar in Tribal History. He assisted Dr. H.K. Barpujari in his PROBLEM OF THE HILL TRIBES OF NORTH EAST FRONTIER: A Bose in her DICTIONARY OF BIOGRAPHICS OF THE BENGALIES and edited the centenary volume of the Seminar Papers (1969) GANDHIJI AND NON-VIOLENCE. As social worker, conducted relief in Mizo Famine, 1968. He was one of the conveners of the Cachar-Mizo convention (1968) to focus the Mizo Problem. He had been a member of the Mizoram Peace Mission (May, 1975) and met the cross-sections of the Mizo people. He was the prime mover through Mizoram Congress and Himalayan Seva Sangh to convince the government to start dialogue with Lal Denga, the M.N.F. leader.

A former president of Indo-Soviet Cultural Society, Cachar, the author was a writer in Assamese. A product of Missionary College, Dr. Chatterjee was the Senior Lecturer in History in the P.G. Department of D.M. College, Imphal, Manipur. He was the Head of the Department of History and Principal-in-charge, Cachar College, Silchar, Assam.