The author traces, chronologically, the advent of British influence in this region (eighteenth century), the establishment of British power in 1826, and its import and consequences on the post-independent political situation. This revised edition carries a chapter on post-reorganisation in the northeast, commenting on the situation as contemporary as the recently concluded elections in Manipur.

The questions that inspired this study are central to contemporary research within environmental anthropology, political ecology, and environmental history: How does the introduction of a modern, capitalist, resource regime affect the livelihood of indigenous peoples? Can sustainable resource management be achieved in a situation of radical commodification> of land and other aspects of nature? Focusing on conflicts relating to forest management, mining, and land rights, the author offers an insightful account of present-day challenges for indigenous people to accommodate aspirations for ethnic sovereignty and development.

Revised version of papers read in a seminar in Shillong on 4th-5th July 1977, organised jointly by Anthropological Survey of India and North-East India Council for Social Science Research.

The study is aimed to formulate a regional geopolitical framework based on neogeopolitical ideas and tried to examine the correlation between geography, economic resources, ethnicity and politics.