Product Description
In the years before Indian Independence in 1947, the Nagas of Northeast India came to exemplify an exotic society. Peoples of the Hills, radically different in culture and beliefs from the better-known Hindu peoples of the plans, they were renowned for their fierce resistance to British rule and for their former practice of head-taking. The Nagas possess a vibrant material culture, generously illustrated here in colour photographs displaying their textiles, basketry, jewelry, weapons, metalwork and carvings. The artefacts are examined in their full historical and anthropological context. An examination of the development of Naga identity and nationalism, supplemented by documentary field photographs and writings produced by European observers during the British Raj, offer a look at the Hill peoples of northeast India.