‘Small Wars’ and State-Building

Abstract

The Lushai Hills of North-East India has been home to hill communities like Chin-Kuki-Lushai. After the English East India Company was granted diwani rights in 1765, they ventured into areas beyond East and North Bengal to resist the Burmese aggression. It was then that they discovered the economic and geopolitical significance of North-East India. Containing the incessant raids by these hill communities in the region became imperative for the company and later, the Raj. Survey operations in the Lushai country threatened the hill communities’ traditional worldview and society who rose up in arms. Innumerable unconventional wars took place between the British authorities and the non-state hill communities as a consequence. Following Charles Callwell’s appellation, those can be termed as ‘small wars.’ This chapter, by delving into such wars in the Lushai country, problematises the notion that British pacification followed a ‘minimum force’ policy. Based on archival sources collected from the national and various state archives of India, and following ‘War, Armed Forces and Society’ approach, this chapter investigates the different facets of British expeditions and state-building practices in the region to explain the nature of the British colonial state in this ‘frontier.’