Slavery In Arunachal Pradesh

The book, Slavery in Arunachal Pradesh, by Dr. Amrendra Kumar Thakur, makes a radical departure from what exists in the historiography of the tribal societies of India. By analysing the emergence of private pro-perty and existence of social stratification among the tribes in Arunachal Pradesh the author questions the validity of the myths of ?egalitarianism? and ?non-hierarchism? among the tribes. Laying methodological stress on identifying and analysing in a historical perspective as well as in relation to its different socio-cultural, economic and geographical perspectives the book attempts to provide an alternative perspective of study of tribal societies of North-east India, Burma and Tibet. The empirical material which is examined in depth in this book relates to diverse themes : origin of slavery, position of slaves and abolition of slavery. The introduction provides an overview of historiography as well as of the major perspectives of slavery, serfdom, bonded labour, etc. The analysis in the book is illumined by a rare sensitivity to the nature of class formation and class values as well as to the material conditions of society and family. Meticulously researched and lucidly presented the book is significant for the theoretical, methodological and empirical engagements it offers. It should prove to be of interest to students and researchers of the social and economic history of the tribal societies especially of Arunachal Pradesh.

Dr. Amrendra Kumar Thakur (b. 1962), Lecturer, Department of History, Tirap Government College, Deomali, Arunachal Pradesh, has been teaching in Government College of Arunachal Pradesh for more than a decade. Formerly, he was associated with College of Commerce, Patna, teaching upto the post-graduate standard. He has contributed more than three dozen papers in regional and national seminars, annual conferences of historians and journals of repute. He has eight scholarly books to his credit as the author, co-author, chief editor and member of editorial board. He was the member of the Executive Committee of the Indian History Congress for three years (2000-2002) and the North-East India History Association for two years (2000-2001). Presently, he is the President of the Arunachal Pradesh College Teacher’s Association.