The Naga Hills District was a former district of the

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

province of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. Located in the Naga Hills, it was mainly inhabited by the Naga ethnic groups. The area is now part of the state of

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...

History

British colonial rule

The Naga Hills district was created in 1866 by the Government of British India. Its headquarters were located at Samaguting (present day Chümoukedima). In 1875, the Lotha Naga region was conquered and annexed to the district. An administrative center was established at

Wokha Wokha is a town and municipality in the Indian state of Nagaland. It is the headquarters of Wokha District and is located about 75 km north of the state capital Kohima. Wokha literally means ''head count'' or ''census'' in Lotha language ...

; this center was shifted to

Kohima Kohima (; Angami Naga: ''Kewhira'' ()), is the capital of the Northeastern Indian state of Nagaland. With a resident population of almost 100,000, it is the second largest city in the state. Originally known as ''Kewhira'', Kohima was founded ...

in 1879. In 1889, the Ao region was fully annexed to the Naga Hills District as a subdivision. The boundaries of the District were further extended to include most of the

Sümi Naga The Sümi Naga also known as Sema Naga are a major Naga ethnic group in the Indian state of Nagaland. The Sümis mainly inhabit Zünheboto District, parts of Niuland District and Kiphire District although many have spread and are now living in ...

(Sema Naga) territories (1904) and the Konyak Naga region (1910). In 1912, the Naga Hills District was made part of the

Assam Province Assam Province was a province of British India, created in 1912 by the partition of the Eastern Bengal and Assam Province. Its capital was in Shillong. The Assam territory was first separated from Bengal in 1874 as the 'North-East Frontier' n ...

. The

Government of India Act 1919 The Government of India Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. 5 c. 101) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was passed to expand participation of Indians in the government of India. The Act embodied the reforms recommended in the report o ...

declared the Naga Hills District as a "Backward Tract". The area was to be treated as an entity separate from the

British Indian Empire The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himse ...

. In the early 1930s, some of the ethnic groups in the region rebelled against the British rule under the leadership of Haipou Jadonang and Rani Gaidinliu. As per the Government of India Act 1935, the area was made an "Excluded Area", administered by the

Governor of Assam This is a list of governors of Assam, and other offices of similar scope, from the start of British occupation of the area in 1824 during the First Anglo-Burmese War. The Governor of Assam is a nominal head and representative of the President ...

. The Deputy Commissioner of the district, CR Pawsney, established the Naga Hills District Tribal Council in 1945, which later evolved into the Naga National Council in the 1945.

Post India independence & attaining statehood

Under the leadership of A. Z. Phizo, the Naga National Council unsuccessfully led a secessionist movement. When the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...

was first released in 1950, the Naga Hills District was placed in "Part A" category of tribal districts as per the Sixth Schedule. The Part A areas were supposed to be governed by the Government of Assam in collaboration with the Autonomous District Councils. However, the Naga leaders refused this scheme. Subsequently, the Naga Hills District, along with the Tuensang Division (then a "Part B" area in the

North-East Frontier Agency The North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA), originally known as the North-East Frontier Tracts (NEFT), was one of the political divisions in British India, and later the Republic of India until 20 January 1972, when it became the Union Territory of ...

) were made a new administrative unit under the Ministry of External Affairs in 1957. After negotiation with the secessionists, this administrative unit was later made a full-fledged state called

References

External links

Gazetteer Of Naga Hills And Manipur
(1905) edited by Allen, B. C. {{coord, 25.46, N, 93.46, E, region:IN_type:landmark_source:kolossus-svwiki, display=title Districts of British India History of Nagaland 1886 establishments in British India 1957 disestablishments in India