Nagaland, foreword.

Nagaland is one of the smallest states in India, located in the northeast of the country. He is one of the "Seven Sisters" (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripipura), a group of remote Indian states and away from the usual tourist circuit. These Seven sisters are interdependent from each other and connected to the rest of India by a single access by the earth, the Siliguri Corridor.

The Nagaland takes its name from its inhabitants, the Nagas, composed of multiple tribes (17 officially). There is very little information on the history of these communities, which are shared between Burma and Nagaland today. Historically, the oldest trace that we have of these hunter/picker peoples dates back to 13^th century. A patriarchal system governed the various kingdoms, a system which is still visible today. The various tribes were regularly in conflict; And the Nagas were known to cut the heads of their enemies.

Nagas ao, 1900

However, from 19^th A century, British colonization and the arrival of American baptist missionaries operating from Jaipur at the end of these practices and brought profound changes to Naga society. Thus, their original animist religion was completely abandoned in favor of Christianity, and the practice of head hunters also abolished, giving way to peace between the tribes. The Baptist Church played an important role in peace efforts between tribes, including in the 1960s during insurrections against the Indian government. By browsing the Nagaland, it is common to find a church in the center of each village.

First assimilated to the neighboring Assam with the arrival of the British settlers, Nagaland became after several rebellions against the government of a freshly independent Indian Indian state from 1963. The insurrections continued, however, the work of the last independentist groups which remained active until 1975, the year they finally decided to accept the Indian Constitution and to lay down the arms.

In 2004, two bombs exploded in Dimapur, killing thirty people. Several acts of rebellion should then be noted, causing the death of several civilians per year until 2013. In 2021, the Indian army assassinated 6 peasants from the MON district. Riots ensued which caused the death of 8 other civilians and a soldier. These events have contributed to fuel the reputation of insecurity of the small state, notably hindering the development of tourism.

The official language since 1967 is English, however the most common language remains Nagaimais, a language derived from Assamed; And there are still several dozen other languages ​​spoken on the territory.

Nagaland traditional home

Despite mass conversion to Christianity, Nagaland has retained its former tribal traditions. Many festivals of each ethnic group punctuate the calendar, modeled on agricultural practices, the Nagaland economy based mainly on agriculture. In addition, an Inter-Ethnie festival, the Hornbill Festival, was created by the Government of Nagaland in 2000 to celebrate the diversity of Naga culture. It brings together all the tribes of the region, and makes it possible to highlight the culture and traditions of each. The festival is named after a bird, the Calao (Hornbill in English), which happens to be the emblem of the Nagaland. Thus, for a week in December, are highlighted the different crafts such as painting, wood sculpture, textiles, but also sports, food, games, music ...

In order to explore the origins of the famous Naga beds, we undertook one to discover Nagaland, with a first stay in 2023. Visit this blog to discover the story of our trip.