Nagaland, state of India, lying in the hills and mountains of the northeastern part of the country. It is one of the smaller states of India. Nagaland is bounded by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the northeast, Manipur to the south, and Assam to the west and northwest and the country of Myanmar (Burma) to the east. The state capital is Kohima, located in the southern part of Nagaland. Area 6,401 square miles (16,579 square km). Pop (2008 est.) 2,187,000.


Relief and drainage

Nearly all of Nagaland is mountainous. In the north the Naga Hills rise abruptly from the Brahmaputra valley to about 2,000 feet (610 metres) and then increase in elevation toward the southeast to more than 6,000 feet (1,830 metres). The mountains merge with the Patkai Range, part of the Arakan system, along the Myanmar border, reaching a maximum height of 12,552 feet (3,826 metres) at Mount Saramati. The region is deeply dissected by rivers: the Doyang and Dikhu in the north, the Barak in the southwest, and the tributaries of the Chindwin River (in Myanmar) in the southeast.


Nagaland has a monsoonal (wet-dry) climate. Annual rainfall averages between 70 and 100 inches (1,800 and 2,500 mm) and is concentrated in the months of the southwest monsoon (May to September). Average temperatures decrease with greater elevation; in the summer temperatures range from the low 70s F (about 21–23 °C) to the low 100s F (about 38–40 °C), while in the winter they rarely drop below 40 °F (4 °C), though frost is common at higher elevations. Humidity levels are generally high throughout the state.

Plant and animal life

Forests cover about one-sixth of Nagaland. Below 4,000 feet (1,220 metres) are tropical and subtropical evergreen forests, containing palms, rattan, and bamboo, as well as valuable timber species (notably mahogany). Coniferous forests are found at higher elevations. Areas cleared for jhum (shifting cultivation) have a secondary growth of high grass, reeds, and scrub jungle.

Elephants, tigers, leopards, bears, several kinds of monkeys, sambar deer, buffalo, wild oxen, and the occasional rhinoceros live in the lower hills. Porcupines, pangolins (scaly anteaters), wild dogs, foxes, civet cats, and mongooses also are found in the state. The longtail feathers of the great Indian hornbill are treasured for use in traditional ceremonial dress.


Population composition

The Nagas, an Indo-Asiatic people, form more than 20 tribes, as well as numerous subtribes, and each one has a specific geographic distribution. Though they share many cultural traits, the tribes have maintained a high degree of isolation and lack cohesion as a single people. The Konyaks are the largest tribe, followed by the Aos, Tangkhuls, Semas, and Angamis. Other tribes include the Lothas, Sangtams, Phoms, Changs, Khiemnungams, Yimchungres, Zeliangs, Chakhesangs (Chokri), and Rengmas.

The Naga tribes lack a common language; there are about 60 spoken dialects, all belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. In some areas dialects vary even from village to village. Intertribal conversation generally is carried on through broken Assamese, and many Nagas speak Hindi and English. English is the official language of the state.

The traditional Naga religion is animistic, though conceptions of a supreme creator and an afterlife exist. Nature is believed to be alive with invisible forces, minor deities, and spirits with which priests and medicine men mediate. In the 19th century, with the advent of British rule, Christianity was introduced, and Baptist missionaries became especially active in the region. As a result, the population is about two-thirds Christian, with Hindus and Muslims following in numbers of adherents. (Remains of the Hindu kingdom that was destroyed by the Ahom in the 16th century are at Dimapur [the ancient Kachari capital], on the eastern border of Nagaland facing Assam.)

Settlement patterns

Nagaland is a rural state. More than four-fifths of the population lives in small isolated villages. Built on the most prominent points along the ridges of the hills, these villages were once stockaded, with massive wooden gates approached by narrow sunken paths. The villages are usually divided into khels, or quarters, each with its own headmen and administration. Dimapur and Kohima are the only urban centres with more than 50,000 people.



Agriculture employs about nine-tenths of the population. Rice, corn (maize), small millets, pulses (legumes), oilseeds, fibres, sugarcane, potato, and tobacco are the principal crops. Nagaland, however, still has to depend on imports of food from neighbouring states. The widespread practice of jhum has led to soil erosion and loss of soil fertility. Only the Angamis and Chakhesangs of the southern regions of Kohima use terracing and irrigation techniques. Traditional implements include the light hoe, the dao (a multipurpose heavy knife), and the sickle; except in the plains, the plow is not used. Forestry is also a primary source of income and employment.

Resources and power

Chromium, nickel, cobalt, iron ore, and limestone are found in Nagaland, but only low-grade coal deposits are mined at present. Boreholes drilled in the western district of Wokha have yielded oil, and seepages in the Dikhu valley, near Assam, suggest the presence of exploitable oil reserves.



Until the early 1970s, only cottage industries (e.g., weaving, woodwork, basketry, and pottery) existed in the state. Poor transport and communications and a lack of raw materials, financial resources, and power hindered industrial growth. Dimapur, the state’s leading industrial centre, has a sugar mill and distillery, a brick factory, and a television assembly plant. Other industries in the state include the manufacture of khandsari (molasses), foodstuffs, paper, plywood, and furniture products.


Nagaland depends mostly on roads for transportation. A national highway runs from Dimapur to Kohima and then on to Imphal in Manipur. Another main road links Mokokchung with Amguri in Assam state. A short stretch of the Northeast Frontier Railway passing through Dimapur from Assam is the only rail link with the rest of India. Air service is available from Dimapur to Guwahati in Assam and to Kolkata (Calcutta) in West Bengal state.

Government and society

Constitutional framework

Nagaland is governed by a Council of Ministers, headed by a chief minister, which is responsible to the 60-member Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha). The constitutional head of state is the governor, appointed by the president of India. The state is divided into seven administrative districts.

Unlike other Indian states, Nagaland has granted a large degree of autonomy to its various tribal communities. Each tribe has a hierarchy of councils (at the village, range, and tribal levels) to deal with disputes involving breaches of customary laws and usages. Appeals of such cases are made to the Naga Tribunal. Special administrative provisions were made for the Tuensang district, which was put under a regional council elected by all the tribes within the district’s boundaries.

Health, welfare, and education



Cultural life

Tribal organization varies from the autocratic angs (chiefs) of the Konyaks and hereditary chieftainships of the Semas and Changs to the democratic structures of the Angamis, Aos, Lothas, and Rengmas. A prominent village institution is the morung (a communal house or dormitory for young unmarried men), where skulls and other trophies of war formerly were hung. The pillars are still carved with striking representations of tigers, hornbills, and human and other figures. Women hold a relatively high and honourable position in Naga society. They work in the fields on equal terms with men and have considerable influence in the tribal councils. A central feature of Naga life is the Feast of Merit, a series of ceremonies culminating with the sacrifice of a mithan (a domesticated guar). Each tribe has its gennas, or festivals, and Naga dance, music, song, and folklore all express an exuberant concern for life.


Nagaland has no early written history, although medieval chronicles of the neighbouring Ahom kingdom of Assam tell of the Naga tribes, their economy, and their customs. The 1816 invasion of Assam by Burmans from Myanmar led to oppressive Burman rule from 1819 until the establishment of British rule over Assam in 1826. The advent of British administration, which by 1892 encompassed the whole of Naga territory (except the rugged Tuensang area in the northeast), ended the practices of headhunting and intervillage raids and brought relative peace to the region.

After India became independent in 1947, the Naga territory initially remained a part of Assam. However, a strong nationalist movement began seeking a political union of the Naga tribes, and extremists demanded outright secession from the Indian union. This movement led to a number of violent incidents, and in 1955 the Indian army was called in to restore order. In 1957, after an agreement was reached between Naga leaders and the Indian government, the Naga Hills region of Assam and the Tuensang frontier division to the northeast were brought together under a single unit directly administered by the Indian government. Despite the agreement, unrest continued in the form of noncooperation with the Indian government, nonpayment of taxes, sabotage, and attacks on the army. A further accord reached at the Naga People’s Convention meeting of July 1960 resolved that Nagaland should become a constituent state of the Indian union. Nagaland achieved statehood in 1963, and a democratically elected government took office in 1964.

Rebel activity continued, however, increasingly assuming the form of banditry and often motivated more by tribal rivalry and personal vendetta than by political aspiration. Cease-fires and negotiations did little to stop the insurgency, and in March 1975 direct presidential rule was imposed on the state. Although leaders of the underground agreed in November 1975 to lay down their arms and accept the Indian constitution, a small group of hard-core extremists continued to agitate for Naga independence.
