A much awaited book, “Naga Village Formation: Oral History and Archaeology” authored by Dr Libemo Kithan, Associate Professor, Department of History, Mount Tiyi College, Wokha, Nagaland, was released today in Bodoland University, Kokrajhar, Assam, during the 44th Session (Conference) of North East India History Association (NEIHA).
It was formally released by Biswajit Daimary, Speaker, Assam Legislative Assembly in the presence of Rabiram Narzary, Executive Member, Bodoland Territorial Council, NEIHA Officials, renowned Professors and hundreds of scholars across the nation.
The book entails a multidisciplinary approach, combining oral history with an archaeological method, to determine the historical validity of the Naga migration and settlement.
The concept of place making, as well as theoretical assemblages, have been used to study the formation of Naga village. The book focused on the Lotha Nagas’ migration routes and settlement patterns, as well as how various sociopolitical and economic factors influenced traditional village formations.
The book reported on archaeological excavations carried out at the study sites to support the oral history of village formation, which greatly aided in gathering information from various scientific lines of inquiry to provide a vivid picture of early sociopolitical and cultural history.
The book reveals the radiocarbon date of the formation of Wokha village, which ranges from 900 to 1265 A.D., with a median probability year of 1103 A.D. This is the first antediluvian/primal discovery of the scientific date associated with village establishment in Nagaland.
The various village functionaries are responsible for the day-to-day administration of traditional villages has been explored. The power and role of the village chief and his subordinates were discussed in order to gain a better understanding of village administration. It has further decolonized the Lotha village administration. The village is an important unit that connects each individual and family to the larger group, so it has investigated the cultural practices, economic activities, and religious life of traditional villages. The major findings have been incorporated into the book’s final chapter.
The ‘Book Forward’ is written by Prof. Tiatoshi Jamir, Department of History & Archaeology, Nagaland University, who is also an Executive Member, World Archaeological Congress.
In his forward, Prof. Tiatoshi jamir mentioned that: Traditional stories relating to village formation and the rise of social complexities have also taken lateral pathways of evolution rather than the conventional unilinear trajectories.
The present book has, therefore, attempted to accommodate these past trajectories seeking perspectives from both oral tradition and archaeology. The enormous effort put into the present work by Libemo Kithan not only offers much more nuanced contours and enhanced understanding of rural history with a sharp focus on the history of village formation but also on the archaeology of Wokha District.
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He initiates a step further and proceeds to offer a diachronic timeline on the Lotha village formation, drawing inspiration from oral tradition and archaeology. This is evident from the few Lotha ancestral sites identification employing oral tradition and test excavations and the efforts made to date some of the important sites. Because of this, we now have a sense of culture-history on the Lotha migration from the lens of archaeology. The author’s work serves as a strong foundational basis from which Naga scholars can derive new theoretical models to study human migrations in prehistory.
The book is a valuable contribution to yet another scholarship by an Indigenous Naga scholar to the ethnohistory of the Nagas, drawing upon the traditional wisdom and knowledge of oral tradition and guided by the methodological principles of archaeology.
‘Opinion’ of the book is written by Prof Amrendra Kumar Thakur, Professor & Former Head, Department of History, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong.
He wrote: “This book by Dr. Libemo Kithan deals with the establishment of the Naga villages, with a focus on Lothas, and the development of social, economic and other aspects of an organized village system in precolonial Naga society. The precolonial pasts of northeast India have not been studied much and Dr. Kithan successfully ventures into the field. He establishes the historicity of the villages through a scientific study of archaeological sources. The wealth of sources consulted and the methodology of research employed are noteworthy and these can provide a model to other scholars.
The book will soon be available for purchase on Amazon.co.in.
