What is in a name – Northeast India

Unlike North or South India, Northeast India is an officially constituted and named region. On the eve of Indian Independence, it comprised three administrative units: the state of Assam and the Union Territories of Manipur and Tripura. In the 1970s, the Indira Gandhi government made a conscious effort to organize these units into what came to be formally known as the “Northeast region.” However, this was not the first time the term “Northeast” was used. This directional name has its roots in the colonial policy and referred to different geographical spaces at different moments in history.

This write-up has three parts. The first traces how the British occupied Assam and surrounding areas and how the term “Northeast” evolved—from describing a frontier, to naming a province, and finally to identifying a specific administrative tract. The second explains how post-Independence security concerns pushed the Indian government to introduce new policies that eventually led to the formal creation of the Northeast as a region. The final section discusses how migration from the Northeast to metropolitan cities has given the category “Northeast” new social and political meanings.

British Presence in the Northeast

In 1764, the East India Company won the Battle of Buxar and, the following year, signed the Treaty of Allahabad. Under this treaty, the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II granted the Company Diwani—the right to collect revenue—in the Bengal subah, which roughly corresponds to present-day Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha. This territory bordered the Ahom kingdom of Assam.

During the early nineteenth century, internal conflicts within the Ahom royal family and Burmese intervention in Assam and Manipur created an opportunity for the Company to expand. Disrupted by Burmese incursions, Ahom nobles sought British assistance. Fearing Burmese expansion and the possibility that internal rivals might gain Burmese support, the Company agreed to intervene. British forces fought the Burmese and defeated them, leading to the Treaty of Yandabo in 1826 after the First Anglo-Burmese War. Under this treaty, Burma renounced its claims over Assam, Manipur, and adjoining areas.

Soon after, the British began exploring the region for purposes of territorial expansion, commercial gain, and border management. In 1835, R.B. Pemberton wrote A Report on the Eastern Frontier of British India, focusing on frontier tribes. Later, in 1866, Alexander Mackenzie—then in charge of political correspondence in the Bengal Presidency—produced History of the Relations of the Government with the Hill Tribes of the North-East Frontier of Bengal. This appears to be one of the earliest uses of the term “North-East.” At this time, the “frontier” included Himalayan kingdoms and hill tribes located north, east, and south of the Assam Valley, stretching between Bengal and independent Burma. Although these areas were technically outside British rule, they functioned as buffer zones—or a cordon sanitaire—around British India.

Assam became a Chief Commissioner’s Province in 1874, and over time several Naga and Lushai (Mizo) territories were annexed into it. Following the Partition of Bengal in 1905, the British merged Assam with Eastern Bengal to form a single province. Initially, they proposed calling it the “North-Eastern Province,” but eventually settled on “Eastern Bengal and Assam,” partly due to pressure from European tea planters who wanted Assam’s name retained. This arrangement was short-lived, and in 1912, Assam was restored to its earlier status and boundaries. Under the Government of India Act, 1919, Assam was upgraded to a Governor’s Province in 1921.

Despite these changes, large areas between Assam and the international borders remained unadministered. While the British initially avoided interfering in local customs, this position did not last. In 1914, the Assam Frontier Tract Regulation of 1880 was extended to hill areas inhabited by the Abors, Mishmis, and others. These areas were brought under limited administration and named the North-East Frontier Tract (NEFT). Located between Assam’s settled districts and the borders with Tibet and Burma, the NEFT was later reorganized. In 1951, its plains were transferred to Assam, and in 1954, the remaining areas—along with the Naga Tribal Area—were reconstituted as the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA).

The Northeast in Post-Colonial India

Independence and Partition profoundly reshaped the region. Unlike Punjab and Bengal, only the Bengali-speaking Sylhet district of Assam was transferred to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). However, the long-term effects of Partition were far-reaching. The transformation of colonial frontiers—such as the McMahon Line with Tibet and the Indo-Burma border—into international boundaries effectively landlocked the region in 1947. These new borders divided tribal communities across sovereign states, restricted movement, and disrupted long-standing economic and cultural ties.

The 1960s were especially turbulent. India fought wars with China in 1962 and Pakistan in 1965. At the same time, the Naga movement was already active, and a Mizo rebellion began in 1966. China and East Pakistan were reportedly providing support to these insurgent movements. With nearly 98 percent of the region’s borders being international, and access to the rest of India limited to the narrow Siliguri Corridor, the Indian state grew increasingly anxious. As Sanjib Baruah notes, fears of internal insurgency combining with external threats created a deep sense of insecurity.

In response, the government introduced new policies and institutional arrangements. In December 1971—just days after India’s war with Pakistan on its eastern front—the Parliament passed two key laws: the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act and the North Eastern Council Act.

The first Act reorganized the region by creating new states and Union Territories, with the aim of fostering local political participation and extending state authority into peripheral areas. Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura emerged as states or Union Territories, while Nagaland had already been created in 1963.

The second Act established the North Eastern Council to coordinate development and security planning. Comprising Chief Ministers, Governors, and Union government officials, the Council gives the Centre considerable influence over regional planning. Given the heavy financial dependence of Northeast states on central grants, security concerns often shape development priorities, leaving state governments with limited autonomy.

Once institutionalized, “Northeast” became a widely used category among policymakers, academics, media, and civil society. Ministries, universities, research centres, and organizations adopted the term, from the Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region and North Eastern Hill University to academic associations, student bodies, church organizations, and even football clubs.

Migration and New Meanings of “Northeast”

Migration from the Northeast to mainland cities is not new. Earlier, it was largely limited to elites seeking central government jobs, civil services training, or higher education. Since the 1990s, however, migration has expanded across class backgrounds. Changing aspirations, limited local employment, ongoing conflicts, and better connectivity have encouraged young people to move to metropolitan centres.

As migrants formed community networks, employers and labour recruiters began actively recruiting from the region, particularly for service-sector jobs in call centres, hotels, and retail. Employers often value migrants from the Northeast for their English-language skills and distinctive appearance. Yet outside workplaces and commercial spaces, many face racism, discrimination, and harassment in everyday life.

Several incidents in the early 2010s brought these issues into national focus. The murder of Loitam Richard and the mass departure of Northeast migrants from cities like Bengaluru and Pune in 2012, following rumours of attacks, sparked rare public debates on racism. In 2014, protests over the murder of Nido Tania in Delhi led the central government to appoint a committee headed by M.P. Bezbaruah to address the concerns of Northeast migrants. Its report, submitted in July 2014, recommended both immediate and long-term measures to combat racial discrimination.

In this context, “Northeast” has also become a collective identity used by migrants to distinguish themselves from the “mainland,” mobilize against discrimination, and express solidarity. At the same time, the category remains internally diverse and contested, and cannot fully capture the region’s social and cultural differences.

Over time, the term “Northeast India” has accumulated multiple meanings. What began as a colonial frontier designation, and later an administrative category, is now also used to describe people, identities, and cultures. Ongoing debates among scholars from the region reflect continuing uncertainty over whether “Northeast” and “Northeasterner” can adequately represent this diversity.

Note: This post was originally written for The Armchair Journal and published on Aug 11, 2020. You can read the original here. This reproduced version is slightly revised.