The North–East Frontier Agency (NEFA), originally known as the North-East Frontier Tracts (NEFT), was one of the political divisions in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, and later the

Republic of India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country since 2023; and, since its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by ...

until 20 January 1972, when it became the

Union Territory Among the states and union territories of India, a Union Territory (UT) is a region that is directly governed by the Government of India, central government of India, as opposed to the states, which have their own State governments of India, s ...

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

and some parts of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

. Its administrative headquarters was

Shillong Shillong (, ) is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India. It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in India, 330th most populous city ...

(until 1974, when it was transferred to

Itanagar Itanagar () is the capital and largest town of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The seat of Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, the seat of government of Arunachal Pradesh, and the seat of Gauhati High Court permanent bench at Nahar ...

). It received

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

status on 20 February 1987.

History

Tracts (1914–1954)

North-East Frontier in 1946 map of India by National Geographic

North-East Frontier in 1947 Political Map of India

In 1914, some tribal-majority areas were separated from the former Darrang and Lakhimpur districts of

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' ...

of British India to form the North-East Frontier Tract (NEFT). The NEFT was initially divided into two sections: (i) the Central and Eastern Section (made up of the former Dibrugarh Frontier Tract (created in 1884) and some more areas in the South) and (ii) the Western Section. Each section was placed under a political officer. In 1919, the Central and Eastern Section was renamed the Sadiya Frontier Tract, and the Western Section was renamed the Balipara Frontier Tract. In 1937, Sadiya and Balipara Frontier Tracts along with the Lakhimpur Frontier Tract (also created in 1919) of Assam Province came to be known collectively as the 'Excluded Areas of Province of Assam' under the provisions of the Government of India Act, 1935. By Regulation 1 of The North Eastern Frontier Tracts (Internal Administration) Regulations 1943, Tirap Frontier Tract was created by amalgamating certain areas of Sadiya and Lakhimpur Frontier Tracts. After this, a new regulation – The Assam Frontier (Administration of Justice) Regulation, 1945 – was made by the Governor of Assam using his powers under Section 92(2) of the Government of India Act, 1935. This proved to be a landmark step in the history of NEFA which later emerged as the state of Arunachal Pradesh. In 1946, Balipara Frontier Tract was divided into two administrative units: Sela Sub-Agency and Subansiri Area. After the independence of India in 1947, NEFT became a part of the Assam state. In 1948, Sadiya Frontier Tract was bifurcated into two districts: Abor Hills district and Mishmi Hills district. In 1950, the plain portions of these tracts, (Balipara Frontier Tract, Tirap Frontier Tract, Abor Hills district, and Mishmi Hills district) were transferred to the Assam state government and the rest became one of the Tribal Areas in Assam state (under part-B of the table appended to paragraph 20 of the sixth schedule of the Indian constitution). In 1951, Balipara Frontier Tract, Tirap Frontier Tract, Abor Hills district, Mishmi Hills district and the Naga tribal areas were together renamed as the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA).

Agency (1954–1972)

North-East Frontier in 1954 Political Map of India

In 1954, the Balipara Frontier Tract was bifurcated into (1) Kameng Frontier Division, and (2) Subansiri Frontier Division; (3) Tirap Frontier Tract was renamed Tirap Frontier Division. (4) Abor Hill’s District was renamed Siang Frontier Division and (5) Mishmi Hills District was renamed Lohit Frontier Division. A Naga tribal area was formed into the Tuensang Frontier Division, which was, in 1957, joined to the Naga Hills district to form the union territory of

Naga Hills Tuensang Area Nagaland () is a state in the north-eastern 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 Naga Self-Administered Zone of the Sagaing Region of Myanmar (B ...

. The remaining territory was collectively known as North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA). On 1 August 1965, the administration of the agency was transferred from the Ministry of External Affairs to the Ministry of Home Affairs. On 1 December 1965, the five frontier divisions (Kameng, Subansiri, Siang, Lohit, and Tirap) became its five districts. A deputy commissioner was appointed as the administrative head of each district in place of a political officer. In 1967, an Agency Council was constituted for better administration. Until 1972, it was constitutionally a part of the Assam state and was directly administered by the Governor of Assam as an agent of the President of India. On 21 January 1972, the North-East Frontier Agency became the

and was placed under the charge of a Chief Commissioner.

References

Citations

Sources

Why China is playing hardball in Arunachal
by Venkatesan Vembu, Daily News & Analysis. 13 May 2007.