PROBIZ International - Vol-1 Probiz File final | Page 55

NAGALAND (Capital: Kohima)
This remote and hilly state shares a border with
Burma with Kohima as was built by the British as a
centre. Strategically locatea, auringzne WWII, the
Japanese planned to follow in their advance into
India. The Nagas are farmers, who, it is believed,
came originally from Tibet. Sixteen main groups
exist in the area, each with its own dialect, though
a standardized Nagamese has been developed.
MANIPUR (Capital: Imphal)
This low lying state, located on the border with Burma,
is home to more than 20 different tribal, groups,
primarily the Meitheis, or Kukis. During World War
Il this area was a significant area of confrontation
between Japan and British India. Manipur became part
of India after its war with Burma in 1826 and became
a part of British India towards the end of that century.
Irnphal, with a population of just under 150,000, is the
state’s capital.
ASSAM (Capital: Dispur)
Assam is the source of over 50% of India’s tea, grown
on hundreds of tea plantations first established by the
British. From here also comes a large part of the small
amount of oil that India produces. The state runs for
seven hundred kilometres along the wide Brahmaputra
River, with the mountains of the Himalayas on its
northern side and a plateau to the south. It is a fertile
state with large areas of grassland which are home to
the one-horned rhino, almost extinct at the beginning
of the last century but now with a population of more
than a thousand, most of them living in Assam’s
430 sq km Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary. Guwahati,
a metroplis is a transportation hub for the small
numbers of people that come to the region, as it
is here that all flights land. The city has a large tea
auction centre, which brings buyers to the area. Dispur
is the capital of Assam.
TRIPURA (Capital: Agartala)
Ruled for centuries by the Manikya dynasty until overpowered by the Moghuls,
this state, particularly the city of Udaipur, displays architecture that reveals
both influences. Though eventually becoming part of British India, it was Bengal
which in the end had the heaviest influence on the area. The last Manikya king,
who took the throne in 1870, was a friend of Bengali artists and intellectuals,
including Rabindranath Tagore, and felt such an affinity for the culture of
Bengal that he made Bengali his own court language. That, and a large influx of
Bengalis into Tripura in the 1900s has meant that Bengali culture and language
has come to dominate the state, though in the northeast there are still
pockets where the struggle for independence is kept alive.
August 2018
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