Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Oral traditions and history suggest that the ethnic groups at Northeast borders lived in widespread accord sustaining soft jutted boundaries until very recently when the modern state(s), and its politics, resonates on administratively divided lines. The borders and the ethnic groups were never at dispute, yet, though of lately, they are confused (or rather misled) only to realise their ancestral lands situated on either side of the administrative state boundaries. This essay invites discourse on if the political state boundaries need to be revisited historically and redrawn or to rely on the ancestral-inherited ownership without perplexing it with the political boundaries. The essay also concerns on whether we can rely on the linguistic contours and vernacular place names to contest the given cartographic lines. The essay selects a border site (Manipur–Nagaland) for discussion.

Keywords

Cartographies oral-narratives place names indigenous borders boundaries

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Anderson

(1994). Ortnamnens existentiella villkor [The existential conditions of place names]. In Ulfsparre

(Ed.), Ortnamm varda att varda. Foredrag Fran Riksantikvarieambetets symposium Ortnamnskultur (pp. 7–21). Riksantikvarieambetet.

Bradley

(2015, February 2). What’s in a name? Place names, history, and colonialism. Active History . Retrieved July 31, 2018, from http://activehistory.ca/2015/02/whats-in-a-name-place-names-history-and-colonialism/

Butler

(1872). Tour diary of the deputy commissioner of the Naga Hills for the year 1870–1872 (John Butler) (Vol. 2). The Nagas: Hill Peoples of Northeast India. The Naga Data Base. Retrieved October 28, 2020, from http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/naga/record/r87983.html

Butler

(1875). Rough notes on the Angami Nagas and their language. Journal of the Asiatic Society , 44(4), 307–350.

Das

R. R.

, & Patangia

(2017). Place names of Assam: A folkloristic perspective in folklore in North East India: Continuity and change . Lakshi Publishers & Distributors.

Davis

S. L.

, & Prescott

J. R. V.

(1992). Aboriginal frontiers and boundaries in Australia . Melbourne University Press.

Godwin-Austen

H. H.

(1873). Tour Journal, November 1872–April 1873 . The Nagas: Hill Peoples of Northeast India. The Naga Data Base. Retrieved from October 28, 2020, from https://wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk/nagas/coll/43/records/detail/all/index.html

Helleland

(2012). Place names and identities. In Ore

C. E.

& Wikstrom

(Eds.), Names and identities (pp. 95–116). University of Oslo.

Johnstone

(1896). My experiences in Manipur and the Naga Hills . S. Low Marston and Company Limited (October 24, 2011) Retrieved October 30, 2020, from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37839/37839-h/37839-h.htm

10.

Nolan

, Taylor

, Rao

, Eissenstat

, Kim

E.-J.

, Glaser

, Akaha

, Paasi

, Houtum

H. V.

, Schofield

, Katz

, & Arnett

(2013). The Big Question: Setting boundaries: How should borders be drawn? World Policy Journal , 30(1), 3–8.

11.

Pemberton

R. B.

(1835). Report on the eastern frontier of British India . (Supreme) Government of India.

12.

Roy

(1973). History of Manipur . Eastlight Book House.

13.

Sema

(1986). Emergence of Nagaland: Socio-economic and political transformation and the future . Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.

14.

Singh

R. K. R.

(2018). Issues surrounding the boundary of Manipur. The Sangai Express , 21 July.

Cartographic Lines,Oral Narratives and Linguistic Contours in Northeast (India) Borders: A Case of Manipur–Nagaland Border Site

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References