On the Edge of Empire: Four British Plans for North East India, 1941–1947

In the closing years of the British rule in India, a secret plan was conceived and discussed at the highest circles for a crown colony comprising the hill areas of North East India and the tribal areas of Burma. The plan could not be implemented largely because it came up for discussion in the closing years of the British rule over India. The plan has been referred to in many publications. What was of concern was that scholars have made reference to the Crown Colony Plan/Protectorate without reading the actual texts.  For too long, secondary references have been used in writing about these plans as the original documents were not easily available for research. This book compiles the four British plans into a single volume. There is a connection between the four plans of Reid, Clow, Mills and Adams. All four were members of the Indian Civil Service, all four served in various capacities in the region and all officers left their accounts/notes perhaps not mindful that even if these were not implemented the notes would come up for discussion many years after their departure. 

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgements Introduction - David R Syiemlieh A Note on the Future of the Present Excluded, Partially Excluded and Tribal Areas of Assam - Sir Robert N Reid A Note on the Future of the Hill Tribes of Assam and the Adjoining Hills in a Self-governing India - James P Mills The Future Government of the Assam Tribal Peoples - Sir Andrew G Clow Some Notes on a Policy for the Hill Tribes of Assam - Philip F Adams

About the Author :
David R. Syiemlieh joined the Department of History, North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) in 1979. He was the Head of the Department of History, 2002–2005. He was Honorary Director of the Indian Council of Social Science Research–North Eastern Regional Centre (ICSSR-NERC). A member and for many years treasurer and secretary of the North East India History Association, he was nominated in 2005 as Council Member of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), New Delhi and served two terms as Member of the ICHR. Professor Syiemlieh is also former Vice-Chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi University. He has won numerous awards and scholarships such as J.J.M. Nichols- Roy Award; National Scholarship; Jawaharlal Nehru Book Award and NEHU Gold Medal for First Position in MA; Charles Wallace India Trust Grant; India-France Cultural Exchange Programme; and Senior Fulbright Fellowship at Notre Dame University, USA. Professor Syiemlieh has edited numerous books including volumes of Proceedings of the North East India History Association. With numerous published articles in journals/edited volumes, some of his authored books include British Administration in Meghalaya (1989), A Brief History of the Catholic Church in Nagaland (1990), They Dared to Hope (1999) and Survey of Research in History on North East India 1970–1990 (2000). Professor Syiemlieh was Member and Chairman, Union Public Service Commission. He demitted office in January 2018.

Review :
A great work for those who are interested in tribal development and more specifically the development of the northeast of India...indeed an eye-opener...[The authors'] painstaking efforts to bring out all the important documents from the concealed vaults and let them speak for themselves are really laudable...the notes contained in this volume show this can really be done with real love. -- The Hindu Syiemlieh's painstaking scholarly effort will provide scholars with materials for rethinking the politics and economy of this region and eventually empower the subjects of history...the book is a must read for not only intellectuals and policy makers of this region but for those social and political groups who claim to vice the aspirations of ethnic communities in the region...through such a project Prof. Syiemlieh has and will strengthen the ground for doing alternative history. -- Man and Society