Naga Polity

Foreign writers have sincerely attempted various studies of the multifaceted subject of Naga people and their territory and have succeeded in gathering enough obvious information. But they have found it well nigh impossible to treat at length any one aspect of it. This is not surprising as even today, among the Nagas themselves, no reliable information about the history of their race is available. This is so because there is a dearth of relevant records and, also, the legends, traditions, culture, history and literature are preserved orally. This work is intended to contribute towards the knowledge of early Naga political institutions which are basically unchanged even today. In order to study Naga polity one has to begin with the study of the family, the village and the customary laws. These factors are very closely associated with the Naga polity. The author, a Tangkhul Naga himself, has made a comprehensive study of the polity of three Naga tribes -Ao, Angami and Tangkhul. He has also studied some other Naga tribes -Mao, Chake-sang, Rangma, Kabul, Lotha, Sema, Konyak, Chang and Sangtam. While previous studies on Nagas have dealth with the generalities of their life and culture. They have predictably suffered from lack of indigenous touch. The present book is a valuable new document as it has been authored by a son of the soil.