The easternmost Himalaya near the 96°E longitude shows a sharp ~90° orogenic bend known as the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis. A complicated configuration of the region and related space problems, combined with extreme vigorous erosion and surface processes makes it difficult to understand the strain release pattern, slip rate on the participating thrust/s, and the seismic potential of the geological structures. To understand the deformation pattern in the region, luminescence and radiocarbon dating methods were used on deformed landforms in the frontal Siang and Mishmi ranges of the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis. We obtained fault slip rates of Late Quaternary period. The Holocene rates range over 7.5 ± 0.2 mm/yr in the northern segment, 1 ± 0.1 to 10.1 ± 1.5 mm/yr in the central segment, and 8 ± 0.5 mm/yr in the southern segment of the Mishmi Thrust, whereas the Late Pleistocene rates are of the order of 1 ± 0.1 mm/yr in the central segment and 0.9 ± 0.1 mm/yr in the southern segment of the Mishmi range. The obtained Late Pleistocene rates are lesser than the Holocene rates, but consistent with exhumation rates reported earlier from the northern segment. Holocene fault slip rates of the range 2–9.1 mm/yr across the Manabhum Anticline suggest foreland strain partitioning due to widening of the fold-thrust belt and the locked zone. A widening of the locking width implies an increase in the seismic potential of the region. We suggest that the Manabhum Thrust is possibly a proto-thrust or else a footwall imbrication of the Mishmi Thrust. Contrastingly, a lesser Holocene fault slip rate of 2.3 ± 0.3 mm/yr obtained from the eastern Siang range along the Main Boundary Thrust indicates considerable strain partitioning in the hinterland. Results demonstrate that in tectonically active regions, representative rates of rock uplift inferred from incised bedrock should be integrated over at least one complete seismic and inter-seismic cycle.