NorthEast strife... rooted in history

As mentioned earlier, the North East remained away from the influences of even the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughals. For the Britishers, the region became important due to its strategic location along the old trade routes. The powerful Burmese empire could ward off the British plans each time they planned its annexation.

The first Anglo-Burmese War was foughtbetween 1824 and 1826. By the end of the first war in which the British emerged victorious, Assam, Manipur, Cachar, Jaintia, Arakan province and Tenasserim came under the control of the British. Though the main aim of the British to get into war with Burma was to expand their territory, there was an ulterior motive too - of expanding its markets. Moreover, Burma was constantly attacking the North East region to the detriment of the British interests.

This was also the time when the British were in contest with the French everywhere and did not want to lose the Burmese market to them. Increased trade with France was a threat for the British as it hindered the trade relations of the British with other countries. The British were also concerned about the French influence on the Court of Ava and feared loss of territory, control and trade. A war with Burma and the annexation of Ava, its then capital, was the only way in which the French could be driven out by the British.

By 1822, long borders had been created between British India and the Burmese because of Burmese conquests of Assam and Manipur. The British at that time were based in Calcutta and had different plans for the North East region. The British also actively supported rebels in Assam, Manipur and Arakan. When the British in Calcutta unilaterally declared Cachar and Jaintia British territories and sent in troops to drive away the Burmese, the then Burmese Commander-in- Chief, Maha Bandula, was convinced that a war with the British was inevitable and thus, adopted an offensive policy against them. He believed only a firm control over the entire region would help his country stay strong forever.

The first Anglo-Burmese War was not an easy win for the British. There were several encounters between the Burmese and the British and after a huge loss of life and at a great cost, the British finally could defeat the Burmese. The Latter’s empire got crippled and collapsed. Finally the Treaty of Yandabo emerged between the two which meant ceding Assam, Manipur, Arakan, Tanesserim coast to the British completely without any type of control over these territories. The Burmese were to stop all interference in Cachar and Jaintia hills. The Burmese also had to pay an indemnity of one million pound sterling in four instalments to the British. This consolidated British control over the North East as never before.

Though the British said they had no intention to annex any other areas, they soon compelled the Jaintia’s, Garos,Cacharis, Nagas and Lushias to fall in line. Lushias known as Kukis were the most feared and very difficult to take control of. Nagas too were equally fierce as the Garos were. The disputed succession of the British disturbed the peace and tranquility of the province. Anarchy predominated in the later Ahom period resulting in mismanagement in the state. The situation was further intensified by the successive rebellions, the population of Assam dropped down to half of its actual number. The peasants had to give up cultivation and depended mostly on wild roots and plants. They had to face a lot of stress from protracted wars and oppression. The land was stalked by famine and pestilence.

The establishment of British rule in Assam, as a consequence of the treaty of Yandaboo in 1826, brought the colonial forces closer to the tribes of Arunachal Pradesh. The colonial masters adopted the policy of peace and cooperation as well as the policy of armed intervention and other coercive means whenever and wherever required. And finally they drew the line ‘Inner Line’ between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh to monitor or regulate the movement of people between the hills of Arunachal Pradesh and the plains of Assam.

The British colonial interests always took into consideration ‘Arunachal and beyond’ (into Chinese territory). The economy in the Brahmaputra valley in the form of tea, petroleum, coal, rubber and increased revenue from improved agriculture on the foothills of the border area greatly depended on the capacity of the colonial administration to maintain law and order in the border areas.

The British authorities worked to exploit the opportunity to settle the Indo-Tibetan boundary in the north. Enough work had already been done after the Abor Expedition of 1911 and the various surveys and explorations, which had been summarized in a ‘confidential note’ by the Chief of General Staff in June 1912. The military authorities had suggested that the proposed boundary line should follow some prominent geographical features, preferably the main watershed of the mountain system; and the border thus demarcated

should be easily approachable. The frontier, as suggested in the notes, was divided according to the tribes and river basin into Khamti Long, Mishmi, Abor and Miri or Subansiri sections. Always keep this fact in mind for weighing in arguments.

Tibetans expected that the British would help them defend their territory and secure their rightful place. The Chinese government, however, was not at all satisfied with the boundary agreement and disapproved of the action taken by its representatives. China wanted the whole of Tibet as an integral part of it. Sir Henry McMahon, Foreign Secretary of the British-run Government of India, informed the Peking government on 23 June 1914, that if by the end of June, China refused to rectify the agreement, the British government would begin agreement with the Tibetan government and China would lose all the benefits of the Simla Conference. (An example why the Indo-Chinese border is a complicated issue).