Naga is the name given a number of tribes occupying the Naga hills on the borders of India and Burma (now Myanmar). These tribes speak related Tibeto-Burman languages (see Sino-Tibetan languages); their populations totaled nearly 1.5 million in the 1990s.
The traditional economy of the Naga depended on shifting cultivation, although a few groups also practiced irrigated rice cultivation on hill terraces. The Naga trace descent in the male line, and relations between various lineages were traditionally ordered in terms of complex rules concerning marriage. Alongside such marital relations, feuds also existed between lineages and often involved the practice of head-hunting.
Between 1865 and 1880 the Naga hills were taken over by the British, and practices such as head-hunting were banned. Since then the traditional culture of the Naga has been in decline, and most of the Naga have converted to Christianity, particularly to the Baptist church.
In recent years the Naga have been involved in various attempts to gain independence from Indian rule, and a series of military uprisings have occurred. In response to these pressures, the Indian government established the state of Nagaland in 1963.
Demands for the creation of an independent Naga nation continued, however, and talks between the Indian government and the main separatist group, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), have made little progress.
In 2003, after Burmese soldiers destroyed the headquarters of a breakaway NSCN group in the Patkai mountains, India sealed the border between Myanmar and the states of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh to prevent the rebels from entering India.
Naga in northern Manipur state have frequently resorted to violence in their quest for the integration into Nagaland of four districts inhabited mostly by Naga tribes; their demands have been rejected by the federal government.
The traditional economy of the Naga depended on shifting cultivation, although a few groups also practiced irrigated rice cultivation on hill terraces. The Naga trace descent in the male line, and relations between various lineages were traditionally ordered in terms of complex rules concerning marriage. Alongside such marital relations, feuds also existed between lineages and often involved the practice of head-hunting.
Between 1865 and 1880 the Naga hills were taken over by the British, and practices such as head-hunting were banned. Since then the traditional culture of the Naga has been in decline, and most of the Naga have converted to Christianity, particularly to the Baptist church.
In recent years the Naga have been involved in various attempts to gain independence from Indian rule, and a series of military uprisings have occurred. In response to these pressures, the Indian government established the state of Nagaland in 1963.
Demands for the creation of an independent Naga nation continued, however, and talks between the Indian government and the main separatist group, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), have made little progress.
In 2003, after Burmese soldiers destroyed the headquarters of a breakaway NSCN group in the Patkai mountains, India sealed the border between Myanmar and the states of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh to prevent the rebels from entering India.
Naga in northern Manipur state have frequently resorted to violence in their quest for the integration into Nagaland of four districts inhabited mostly by Naga tribes; their demands have been rejected by the federal government.
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