Over the last three decades, Tripura, the smallest of North East Indian states surrounded on three sides by Bangladesh, was caught in the vortex of highly patterned militant violence, deadly ethnic conflicts, and planned destruction of thousand year old harmonious and peaceful coexistence of tribal and non-tribal people of the state. Since the day the TNV took to arms, the surfeit of tribal insurgencies in Tripura is marked by brutal civilian massacres, abduction of innocent citizens, ambushes on security forces, large scale extortions and a ruthless ethnic cleansing perpetrated on unarmed non-tribals by the National Liberation Front of Tripura and the All Tripura Tiger Force-two banned underground organizations.The armed insurrections in Tripura at varied levels and colors - often abetted by narrow political interest - were marked not only by serious threat to human life and civilian security, but also by destruction of properties on a colossal scale. The blood spilling xenophobic tribal militancy sough homogenization of the land, and the subsequent fall out also caused wide ethnic fissures between the majority Bengalis and minority indigenous tribal people. One of the important features of the orgy of violent campaigns was that it had taken ominous proportions, with the forces inimical to India coming to play the key role to help and support the underground elements. The book 'The Eyewitness-Tales from Tripura's Ethnic Conflict', creates a matrix of hard facts and figures with personal experiences and stories of witnesses from a cross section of people-common men, police and security officials, administrators, militants, journalists, businessmen, victims of militancy, et al. The book records in cold letters, and with appropriate interpretations, the painful litany of grisly crimes in the name of insurgency and how and why these happened. ILLUSTRATIONS 16 b/w photographs

North-East India, comprising the seven contiguous states around Assam, the principal state of the region, is a relatively unknown, yet very fascinating region. The forest clad peripheral mountains, home to indigenous peoples like the Nagas, Mizos and the Khasis, the densely populated Brahmaputra valley with its lush green tea gardens and the golden rice fields, the moderately populated hill regions and plateaus, and the sparsely inhabited Himalayas, form a unique mosaic of natural and cultural landscapes and human interactions, with unparalleled diversity. The book provides a glimpse into the region’s past and gives a comprehensive picture of its physical environment, people, resources and its economy. The physical environment takes into account not only the structural base of the region, its physical characteristics and natural vegetation but also offers an impression of the region’s biodiversity and the measures undertaken to preserve it. The people of the region, especially the indigenous population, inhabiting contrasting environments and speaking a variety of regional and local dialects, have received special attention, bringing into focus the role of migration that has influenced the traditional societies, for centuries. The book acquaints the readers with spatial distribution, life style and culture of the indigenous people, outlining the unique features of each tribe. The economy of the region, depending originally on primitive farming and cottage industries, like silkworm rearing, but now greatly transformed with the emergence of modern industries, power resources and expanding trade, is reviewed based on authentic data and actual field observations. The epilogue, the last chapter in the book, summarizes the authors’ perception of the region and its future.

This book is a historical study of the development of agrarian-class relations among the tribal population in Tripura. Tracing the evolution of Tripura and its agrarian relations from monarchy in the nineteenth century to democracy in the twentieth century, the book discusses the nature of the erstwhile princely state of Tripura, analyses the emergence of differentiation within tribes, and documents the emergence of the tribal movement in the state. It specifically focuses on the tribal movement led by the Ganamukti Parishad, beginning with the historic revolt of 1948-51 against state repression on the tribal people, followed by the mass movements in the 1950s and 1960s, which were founded on a recognition of class relations and the slogan of unity across the tribal and non-tribal (Bengali) peasantry. The first of its kind, the book will be indispensable for students and researchers of tribal studies, agrarian studies, exclusion studies, tribe-class relationships, minority studies, sociology, development studies, history, political science, northeast India studies, and South Asian studies. It will also be useful for activists and policymakers working in the area.

History as a social science is arguably more self-reflective than associated disciplines in that family. Other social scientists seem to see little reason to look beyond the paradigm they are developing in the present times. Historians on the other hand, tend to depend on the cumulative process of the development of their craft and the fund of accumulated knowledge. Yet, while this is acknowledged in the practice of research, Historiography in itself as a subject of study has rarely found its place in the syllabi of Indian universities. Knowledge of Historiography is taken for granted when a scholar plunges into research. In an attempt to address this lacuna, the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) has planned a series of volumes on Historiography comprising articles by subject specialists commissioned by the ICHR. The first volume in the series, Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography brings to the readers the first fruits of that endeavour. While the essays encompass areas of research presently at the frontiers of new research, scholars will also find the bibliographies accompanying the essays of significant appeal.

In Cultural Constellations, Place-Making and Ethnicity in Eastern India, c. 1850-1927, Swarupa Gupta outlines a fresh paradigm moving beyond stereotypical representations of eastern India as a site of ethnic fragmentation. The book traces unities by exploring intersections between (1) cultural constellations; (2) place-making and (3) ethnicity. Centralising place-making, it tells the story of how people made places, mediating caste / religious / linguistic contestations. It offers new meanings of ‘region’ in Eastern Indian and global contexts by showing how an interregional arena comprising Bengal, Assam and Orissa was forged. Using historical tracts, novels, poetry and travelogues, the book argues that commonalities in Eastern India were linked to imaginings of Indian nationhood. The analysis contains interpretive strategies for mediating federalist separatisms and fragmentation in contemporary India.

Contributed articles.

Studies the processes that result in tribal land alienation and the consequent conflicts.

Explores the possibility of a new search enabling a 'discovery' of Northeast India from within.