Economic Impact of Raids on the Shifting Cultivators of Tripura

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The shifting cultivators of Tripura were the victims of repeated raids by the Lushais till the late nineteenth century. The monograph analyses the economic impact of Lushai raids on the shifting cultivators of Tripura in the late nineteenth century. It also documents instances of Lushai raids on the shifting cultivators of Tripura, examines the nature of these raids, analyses their causes and records the measures that were taken to ameliorate the economic conditions of the raid-affected shifting cultivators of the state.

The present-day shifting cultivators of Tripura have become the victims of raids by various extremist outfits operating in the state. The monograph also deals with the incidence of extremist raids on the shifting cultivators of Tripura today. The nature, causes and the economic impact of extremist raids on the present-day shifting cultivators of the state are also studied in the monograph. Differences in the nature and causes of raids and in the economic impact of raids on the shifting cultivators of Tripura that are separated by more than a century are highlighted, reasons for these differences are examined and measures for the amelioration of the economic conditions of the raid-affected present-day shifting cultivators of Tripura are suggested, taking a cue from the lessons that can be learnt from history in this regard.

Malabika Das Gupta did her B.A.(Hons) in Economics and Political from Presidency College, Kolkata, M.A. in Economics from Jadavpur University and Ph.D. in Economics from Dalhousie University, Canada where she was an I.W. Killam Scholar.

She has taught in Miranda House and Tripura University and was an Associate at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. She was a Senior Fellow of the Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi from 1997-1999. At present she is an Honorary Associate of the Centre for Urban Economic Studies, Department of Economics, University of Calcutta and a Senior Fellow of the Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi.

Malabika Das Gupta has undertaken research projects funded by The Asiatic Society, ICSSR, the National Commission for Women, Ministry of Forest and Environment and the Department of Land Reforms, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India and has conducted various research studies for the Government of Tripura.

She has authored several books and her articles have appeared in several national and international journals of repute. Most of her research papers deal with issues related to the tribals of the northeast in general and Tripura in particular.

The monograph is a revised version of the report of an Outside Project of the Asiatic Society that was sanctioned in 2002. The final report of the project was submitted to the Society in 2004 and though it was revised for publication, for all practical purposes, the cut-off point for the study remains early 2004, the only exception being the section in Chapter 5, the concluding chapter of the monograph, that deals with the Government of Tripura's post-2004 scheme of regrouping villages.

This book is an important addition to the books written on the areas which comprise Tripura, Mizoram, and parts of Chittagang Hill Tracts. Based on documentary evidence, this work gives a account of the Lushai raids, and raids of modern rebellious groups on the shifting and peaceful cultivators of Tripura from the seventh decade of the Nineteenth Century right up to modern times. The author gives a lucid account of barbarism and cruelty of the worst sort, which has badly affected Tripura's agricultural economy again and again. It is indeed a commentary on the failure of both the British administrators and the so-called "Monarchs" of Tripura State to stop the Lushai raids. In recent times the government of Tripura has achieved some success in containing the militancy of rebellious groups who have meanwhile murdered numerous innocent villagers. The result of the containment of aggression is visible in Tripura's prosperity. At any rate this work is perhaps the first of its kind on a troubled area in Northeastern India. I trust that this book would be useful to the researchers who want to study the history of Mizoram, Tripura, and the Chittagang Hill Tracts.