 Like all other publications, like this one, rather than this one, present. Tough act to follow, but try my best. Like to inform you that yesterday was the day my book hit the stands. It's called the Publication Day for my book. And this would be actually the first stop ever I would give on the book that I've recently published. And therefore, you have to indulge me with some of the opinions or reflections that I'm going to share with you on this book. I was told by Dolly that I have to share about why I wrote this book. And therefore, in no sequence, I'd like to start by telling you that this is not the first book written on this particular aspect of the Naga Hills, which is the colonial history, let us say, on the Naga Hills. This will not be the first book. However, it will also showcase what has not been addressed properly. And because the due attention has not been given to the narrative of the native, I felt that it was important as a calling to actually write this part of the history that people often neglect or put in the footnotes of everybody's curriculum or the discourse of history in the country. And especially when it comes to war history, colonial history, this part of the region is really foreword. In fact, I've given Chubah Milana and the organizers a recent review which was done by one professor in the country who is also one of the foremost military historians of India. He had written many good things about it, but at the end, the conclusion was something which actually attracted my attention. As a poet, as somebody who studied literature, I another trained historian. Therefore, it was exactly as he pointed out. I would defer from my historian about the conclusions made about this particular chapter of our history. But the point that many people would miss is because they think this is a chapter which is not relevant in today's world. The significance of it is something which I wanted to highlight, and therefore I will engage you in why and how it is significant for me and my people. The title itself is something which starting from my kids to anybody who has heard about it, asked, and usually with a little bit of cynicism and people think what about why you called it East Majesty's heavens. Technically, as a historian, I would say in the chronological order, in 1932, King William IV was on the throne of Britain and therefore when the first foray in the Nagaids by the British Indian companies started, he was at the throne. And again, in 1944, in the Battle of Coima, the throne of England was King George VI, I believe. And therefore, with no particular discrimination, I will say his Majesty's head on the throne, it's a criticism of that here as well, and it starts from the back. The other thing, this is by way of situating the entire framework within a historical context that I would want to share with you. The siege of Coima that shaped our history. There are questions about which siege of Coima. Usually, people in the know of things, especially little about Nordic history, would talk about the Battle of Coima and the Battle of Infa. And it's in 1944. But that is just one of the moments when Coima was attacked. And this time it was the Japanese imperial army. But if you look at the earlier parts of colonial history, especially in the 19th century, you would find that when Coima was made the political administrative headquarter of the British Empire in the Nagaids, there was two attacks on that headquarter of the British Empire by a conglomerate of the Naga villages around India to retake that position. So there are two contrasting stories which needed to be told and which needed to be connected. And the way I wanted to showcase history is through stories. Usually, there are so many scholars here that will tell you. But when we write, especially history, when we write about the past, we work on the shoulder of Japanese. So many people have written. And we are revisiting that particular literature that is available. And this revisiting took place from a native's perspective. And therefore, I felt that because we need to engage the readers, I am of that school of thought which believes that my story should be read by a six standard student and understood by him or her so that our stories are passed on. And if you write too obfuscate and confuse the readers, you will not have achieved the intended ambition or goal that you have in writing. Also because any writer will tell you that it takes time to write. And for me, because I am not a trained historian, I work harder than a historian so that I would be able to present the view and validate my point of view with all the literature available. All the local narratives that I listened to, the oral histories that was handed down to us and also a host of written work that is available on this issue. Having said that, I will now give you some of the details that will sort of illuminate the gist of what this book is about. Let's begin with Emperor Heroin, at that point of time when he was at the height of his power. He wanted, or Japan wanted to replace, after the First World War, Britain as the superpower at least in this region called Asia, and they had this ambition because they were supported by Germany. And globally, the geopolitics of that time was different. And when I tell you this story, I wanted to get back to my main point that the Nagas who were being colonized at that point of time were not aware of this geopolitics. And so happened for more than 100 years. But when the Second World War, and not the Second World War, the Battle of Kwaima was being decided in Tokyo. The powers that we decided that Japan would not attack America or even Europe, but they would come and attack the Southeast Asia, which were ruled by various colonial powers, the Dutch is India Company, the British is India Company, and then the British Empire. The objective was to ensure that the resources available in this region would be captured by them, to be used by them to actually propel themselves to global superpower. And it's an ambition which is well documented. The other factor was that Britain, great Britain, and especially let us use, referred to as the British Empire, had actually, after the First World War, realized that the power was on the wing. And this particular region was then captured by Japan. Burma fell into the hands of Japan. And the fight to retake Japan was a strategy that they came up with, because already Japan as a power was also being challenged in China. So their hold over China was also being challenged. Now, if you look at this global scenario at that point of time, and you look at what was happening in the Netherlands, you would not think of the region in particular about the details within the history of this region. You would only think of the fight between superpowers, and you will miss the point. So in order not to miss the woods for the trees, I wanted to trace back the history of colonialism in the Naga Hills first, before we look at the Battle of Koima. For all of you who are new to this story, many accounts have been put both by British anthropologists or, you know, later-day journalists from the British Journalism, it's about this particular Battle of Koima. But none of them mentions the years it took to first establish a political administrative headquarters in the Naga Hills, which was in Koima. And I hear that tomorrow you are going for a field visit to Koima here only. So this particular region is the first place which in 1832 onwards, when the British came, they established a police outpost. It was this rightly named now, renamed Chumukinima. It was known as Samukini. So at that point of time, when they came, they were not interested in taking control of the Naga Hills, or in fighting the Naga Head Hunters, but they were interested in protecting their farms in the foothills from the raiding of the Naga tribes. The names given were Y, Savage, and Head Hunters, you know, all the names, you see names that you can imagine were given. So I wanted to document all these stories in one book, and I thought again and again about, you know, how best and who should I address this particular book. So all these questions were there when I wrote this book. One, everybody knows the name Koima by now. If you go to Koima, any one of you will know that it's the capital of the state of Mandir now. But in 1832, there was no place for Koima. You know, a lot of names in the Naga Hills were given by the British. And the impact of it is both social and political, given that we simplify our description of what is happening today as spillovers of colonial policies which still today impacts our government and it's our life, our history. But we don't really investigate into how it happened. So some of the stories needs to be told, and therefore I started with what is playing. How was it being? It was actually, there was no name called Koima. Even now there is a place called Koima Village, but that village was also not called Koima Village. So in their own constitution, they will say that the name Koima is derived from the name of a flower called Kevina. So there is a story behind naming of places. For instance, the famous village called Koima. There was no, if you go and ask them, what was the origin of the word Koima? They will say that, you know, when the British came and they took Koima and burned the Koima village several times because it raised the arm of rebellion against the British invasion. And you know, it's known as the, famously, the Anglo-Koima War, because they fought against the British. And the British took 46 years, actually, to subdue another hills at that point of time. Koima, at least derived from a flower called Konuria, is available in abundance in that village. But because the Britishers were very, very, very bad at pronouncing names, they called it Koima. But in the days to come, because they have written about it in official communications and all that and became part of their official parlance, it came to be known as Koima. And the villagers have accepted it as Koima. So a lot of names which are given to us, for instance, I am from the Lotha. The word Lotha is not indigenous to my community. But we have accepted it now also because all these names, there has been institutionalized. I will give you one example. For instance, there is a community called, for instance, the Sumi Nagar. Actually, the constitution of India recognizes the word Sema as a fact. So in your ST's category status, it is Sema. But to them, they want to be known as Sumi and they have accepted that, because that's their original name. Whereas in the constitution of India, it's still Sema. So a lot of things like that exist which are because of the fact that I like to joke about it. I don't want to seriously think about it, but I like to joke about it because it's the violence of naming and renaming people that affects us. It's because they were very bad at pronouncing our names. Having said that, I can also say that their interest was not in getting your name correct. It was not something they were interested in, they were interested in control in power over this particular area. These hills, if you look at it, is seemingly insignificant. But for the Britishers to control the natural resources in Burma and get into trade with China, they had to reach Thamu, which is across Moray and Manipur today. But for that, they'll have to go to Silchar and Maya, Silchar they used to go. They were taking the routes that the abhoms took to come to Assam, the Burmese took to come to Assam. So they wanted to use, they were using that route, but they wanted to use a shorter route. So in search of a shorter route, this national highway that you see, which goes to Guaima and from Guaima to Infa, was the route they sort of surveyed. So the initial survey was done by British East India Company army officials. And this started in 18th century. So from Silchar to Infa, from Infa, they came up via all the Nagahil school, this place, Sama Buddhism. This is Chumukheti. So that route that they surveyed at that point of time changed the powers of the history of Nagahil. So sometimes we like to look at, for instance, the practice of headhunting. What was the philosophy behind it? What was the idea behind headhunting? Why was it a practice that defined the Nagahil culture? All those questions that I wanted to ask, I wanted to address by writing about it. I gave you two chapters. One is Guaima and I think the other one is chapter 9, two weeks. And before we go to even the second world war, you have to understand the whole dynamics of this region. A lot of times we read in national media because of the incident in Manipur, because of the issue in Manipur. We read in national media a lot of interpretations by journalists and a lot of political commentators as well, experts, so to say, on this matter. However, one thing that I see which is common in all their assessment and analysis is that we want to remove history from our assessment of the present. And therefore it is important that if you want to actually understand what is this region, what happened in the past, how did it contribute to the greater ideas of nation-state in this region, you'll have to look at all this aspect of our history. One, when the Britishers came, we were still using towels and spears, which is like a javelin and a towel you would know by now. So this was our weapons, the British actually looked at it with amusement because they had superior weapons. And in their quest to suppress and conquer the so-called savage wild Nagas, they used superior weapons. So superior technology over the native technology, something which I write in my chapter 7 where I say, when guns replace the spears. So a lot of fights happened, a lot of raids happened because for the Nagas, any sort of objection to the way of life was seen as a challenge. I say this because when the Angamin and others went to Chile to Chittaco to treat in slaves and sold, which was the two main items that they treated, they were tormented or stopped and arrested or harassed by the British soldiers. And that was something which was not accepted. So for them, any negotiation, if you look at all the negotiations that happened, all the discussions that happened between the British soldiers and the different Nagas which were in this area, you would find that the negotiations were always temporary. It was always top-cap. But there was no intention from both the sides to actually have an agreement which is permanent, also because maybe there was no such thing as a concept of permanent agreement at that point of time. So I'd like to highlight one of the key factors in the entire history at that point. In 1826, there's a treaty called the Treaty of Vietnam, which was signed between the Burmese and the British. I mean, I'm just simplifying it. It actually ensured the control of British empire of this entire region, north of Bangkok and northeast of Bangkok. And at that point of time, they used a lot of the indigenous, you know, the local rulers here. One of the main characters is Kambir Singh, the Maharaja of Manipur. He was actually supported by the British to raise a navy, an army called Manipur Navy. He was also known as Maharaja Kambir Singh here, of about 500 soldiers. And this was because he was used to drive away the Burmese occupation of Iraq or Manipur at that point. So you know, the geographies of every region has changed over the years. Most independence, a lot of things have changed. Before that, during the colonial period, when the Maharaja was sort of armed, he never had this intention of submitting to the British Empire, but he was using it as an opportunity to strengthen his own army so that he could not only drive away the British Empire, these Burmese rulers. The Burmese had come and occupied Manipur for seven years. It's known as the Year of Devastation in Manipur. Because for seven years, the Métis were tortured, were enslaved, were made to work for the Burmese and they were subjected to inhuman living conditions by the Burmese. So to overthrow that, the Manipuri King, Kambir Singh actually took the help of the British to raise the army and drove them away. So in driving them away, they had an arrangement with the British and I actually have three chapters of it. But why I mentioned Kambir Singh is because having said that, he was known for his efficient administration but as a military strategist, he was not only brilliant strategist but he was a brutal, in terms of his treatment of his captured subjects. He was a brutal military general. So when he came to Coimbra around that time in 1833 and when he sort of captured two khales of Coimbra which I document here he, in the tradition of Métis kings, when you conquer a place actually even in Mandalay, you will find his great grandfather who was called Garib Biwas, had after conquering the place put in, you know, they installed a stage, I mean, I forgot the exact word but they installed a stone, sorry. They installed a stone where above the grave of a, you know they buried a boy alive and they put a stone on top of that. So that's their symbol of, you know, having conquered or defeated a place. So they did that in Coimbra. If you go to Coimbra, you still see that stone in the Coimbra Museum. They say that it was washed away, this is a replica and all that I'd send it to the photo a bit before it gets close. And the tradition that we want to capture is that one. So those dates, at the center of every interaction I think violence was the main agency. I particularly, you know, today if we are to comment on the present day situation the concerns of many Nagas, peacemakers, it's about ending factor studies feelings and bringing about permanent peace and all. So, you know, if you look at it, if you just expand a particular concept those dates, it was one village against the other. Brutal, you know, when a village is ethnic, brutal retaliation was executed. And even this king had shown that, but he was used by the British Empire to actually subject, you know, to try and subject the Nagar tribes in this part of the world. I just wanted to highlight this because I felt that in many of the narratives there is a disconnect between that particular chapter of Naga history in the Allah Hills where the British took about 46 years to actually establish a political headquarters because they were finally convinced of the fact that they have to politically control this area because if they don't do their economic interests in the foothills of Assam and Naga land we'd be, I mean, would not be safeguarded because Nagas would attack their tea gardens, attack their, you know, the fledgling pole and all in mining industry. And this particular aspect is very important because it is based on that particular factor that they inflicted a violent and possibly the most, you know, at that point of time for unacceptable to all the villages the most imposing control over the Naga Hills. Most of the scholars today, especially military scholars, war historians as they call it would like to ignore this particular period because it is not a rosy chapter. A lot of British officers were also killed by Naga warriors and I have documented some of it. There's a place called Bangti, I think, in the red in chapter 9. Yeah, so we're engineers. So where you would find that the villagers had killed a Captain Butler. So in the cover of this book is Captain Butler. I have, this is by Arjun, a company team and who went after the killing of Butler, he actually burned down the granaries in the village and the whole village and he punished the villagers by taking them to Kulaka in Assam to actually take water ponds there as a form of punishment. So the history of that colonial period is a history of violence operation and the other aspect which generally, you know, in our school we don't read about our own history. So if we had read about our own history we would have a sense of, you know, what happened and it's a good place to start, actually, but that was a tough part of our history. So I felt that maybe because we don't have books for, you know, people to read and I should write about it. That part of history, if I look at it, is something which is very significant for all of us. Now then later on, after establishing their reporter, they expanded their control and as our moderator has said, Christianity came only after the colonial administration took over the Naga Hills. And later on in 1944 when the Battle of Guema happened people are actually surprised that the Naga's were surprised by the Britishers, took the sides of the British and not the Japanese. Although the Japanese had come with a lot of promise and, you know, sort of support for a flaking cry of the Naga people for that kind of time and the independence from the British empire. So I think the alignment did not take place at that point of time. Today I have partly highlighted the issue of KZP's of another national leader and Suva Sunderbos and how they supported or they supported the Japanese imperial army in this battle. When you read the review, you will find that the fact that the British Museum considered the Battle of Guema the greatest battle in their history is something which the Naga people also take as a patch of honor. Although there is no critical appraisal to that kind of category or categorization. However, we need to critically think about our history, our past and look at all this history from, you know, the present day problems. As a legislator, I faced a lot of issues in the present state of Naga where I felt that all of this were actually a spillover of the colonial legacy and we are still dealing with and grappling with some of the problems and therefore in order to actually address those problems, not necessarily solve it, we need to go back to our history. So that was one of the reasons why I want to bring out this book and show and also tell that our story was like that and today we are in this position because of that particular aspect of our history which we have forgotten or not cared to read because most of the books that are available are scholarly or sometimes only people are doing PhD read about it and in order to bring and engage the masses we need to tell our stories and I have written in a form of stories as a literature student. I'm interested in storytelling more and writing in 20s so we know that's one of the approach I do. Finally, I would encourage you to see if some of the narrative that I have put across because the nuances of history are many, are acceptable to the present generation whether we should actually debate those issues, those stories and relate it with our present generation's problems. So these are some of the challenges I look into my life because I say that this is the dialogue we want to have. I want to leave it and extend more time with the Q&A. So with this I would like to end my presentation. Thank you so much for having me.