**SHORTLISTED FOR ADVENTURE TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR, 2018 EDWARD STANFORD AWARD** A thrilling and dangerous adventure through Arunachal Pradesh, one of the world's least explored places. 'A fabulously thrilling journey through a beguiling land' Joanna Lumley 'With tremendous verve and determination Antonia plunges through an extraordinary world. Thank heavens she survived to tell this vivid and thoughtful tale' Ted Simon, author of Jupiter's Travels 'A tale of delight and exuberance - and one I'd thoroughly recommend. Bolingbroke-Kent proves a great travelling companion - compassionate, spirited and with a sharp eye for human oddity' Benedict Allen, author of Edge of Blue Heaven and Into the Abyss 'A transformative journey that gripped me from the very first page' Alastair Humphreys, author of The Boy Who Biked the World and Microadventures 'Remote, mountainous and forbidding, here shamans still fly through the night, hidden valleys conceal portals to other worlds, yetis leave footprints in the snow, spirits and demons abound, and the gods are appeased by the blood of sacrificed beasts' A mountainous state clinging to the far north-eastern corner of India, Arunachal Pradesh - meaning 'land of the dawn-lit mountains' - has remained uniquely isolated. Steeped in myth and mystery, not since pith-helmeted explorers went in search of the fabled 'Falls of the Brahmaputra' has an outsider dared to traverse it. Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent sets out to chronicle this forgotten corner of Asia. Travelling some 2,000 miles she encounters shamans, lamas, hunters, opium farmers, fantastic tribal festivals and little-known stories from the Second World War. In the process, she discovers a world and a way of living that are on the cusp of changing forever. 'A beautifully written, exciting and revealing book that harks back to a golden age of travel writing' Lois Pryce, author of Revolutionary Ride

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A first of its kind, this book brings together the writings of women from Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India. Home to many different tribes and scores of languages and dialects, once known as a ‘frontier’ state, Arunachal Pradesh began to see major change after it opened up to tourism and once the Indian State introduced Hindi as its official language. In this volume, Mamang Dai, one of Arunachal’s best known writers, brings together new and established voices on subjects as varied as identity, home, belonging, language, Shamanism, folk culture, orality and more. Much of what has been handed down orally, through festivals, epic narratives, the performance of rituals by Shamans and rhapsodists, revered as guardians of collective and tribal memory, is captured here in the words of young poets and writers, as well as artists and illustrators, as they trace their heritage, listen to stories and render them in newer forms of expression.

A tropical land hidden in rain and mist, a place where life and legend intertwine, a society dominated by age-old customs and beliefs, a people who till recently had little or no contact with the outside world, a region known as Arunachal Pradesh. Called the land of unknown savages by early explorers, Arunachal s tribal society and traditional culture has undergone rapid transformation since India s Independence. The indescribable loveliness of this landscape is unveiled in this beautifully illustrated book, revealing a people who, since life began, have lived in complete harmony with their unique environment. The book also attempts to document the rich oral tradition of the various tribes of this fascinating, forbidden land. The stunning hues of this magical landscape and the remarkable lives of its people, all depicted in a manner which has never been done before.

Set in the mid-nineteenth century, the action takes place in the Northeast-the region that spreads from Assam to Arunachal today. The East India Company is seeking to make inroads into the region and the local people-in particular the Abor and Mishmee tribes fear their coming and are doing all they can to keep them out of their territories. The author takes a recorded historical event-the mysterious disappearance of a French priest, Father Nicolas Krick in the 1850s and the execution of Kajinsha from the Mishmee tribe for his murder and woven a gripping, densely imagined work of fiction around it. And, even as the novel tells the story of an impossible journey and an elopement, it explores the themes of the lure of unknown worlds, the love people have for each other and their land and the forces of history. Gimur, a girl from the Abor tribe, runs away with Kajinsha from the Mishmee tribe and they settle down on his land near the Tibetan border. Father Krick's attempts to reach Tibet to set up a Jesuit mission are foiled repeatedly by the local people not because of any personal animus towards the priests or their work but because they feel rightly that once the priests come, the British, with their guns and their garrisons will follow. The story revolves around events in Gimur's and Kajinsha's villages and is also seen from the point of view of Father Krick, a gentle, intelligent man, devout but no bigot, whose determination to reach Tibet no matter what the cost, impacts tragically on all those who encounter him.

Hidden Lands in Himalayan Myth and History showcases recent scholarship, photo essays, maps, and translations about hidden lands (sbas yul) across the Himalaya, from historical and contemporary perspectives.

Origins and migration are core elements in the histories, identities and stories of Tibeto-Burman-speaking populations in the extended eastern Himalayas. These essays explore theories of explaining origins and migration, methods for studying them and expressions of them in local cultures.

Description Combining history, myth and contemporary politics, Escaping the Land is a saga of a beautiful but sometimes turbulent land and its people. Acclaimed poet-novelist Mamang Dai takes us on an unforgettable journey from the land of Kojum-Koja, a sacred place beyond time, to the formation of the modern state of Arunachal Pradesh. Maying, a woman who has lived away from the state, returns in order to write a history of the people she has known and who have shaped her land. As she speaks to them and leafs through old records, a myriad stories and destinies unfold-an ancient flood and a lake full of stars; conflict and curiosity that led to the establishment of NEFA (North-east Frontier Agency); hardy men and women like Lipun, who walked the highest mountain passes and thick forests establishing connections with remote tribes; the 'rainman', who can read the elements because he is so closely tied to them; Umsi, who has to go far away in order to know herself; and Lutor, the shaman's child, who can feel the pulse of his people, even when he is disillusioned with public life. But there are also land and forest mafia, corrupt politicians in cahoots with violent militants, and friends who can turn foes to satisfy their ambitions. Maying recoils from the murky theatre of the modern state, but realizes, too, that 'our hearts are taken, given, mistaken, lost' but 'what is never lost is the original obsession that was a dream of love'. Lyrical, vital and epic in scale, Escaping the Land is the story of a people and a place that is, like the best novels, the story of all humanity.

This book explores Sino-Indian tensions from the angle of state-building, showing how they stem from their competition for the Himalayan people's allegiance.