The chapter attempts to understand the borderland perspectives through the lens of two indigenous tribal communities residing in the remotest corner of the world. Our study focuses on one of the little-known frontiers, Neh-Tsari. The region is one of the pilgrimage circuits for the Mahayana Buddhist devotes as well as a trade route for tribal communities. which later, turns out to be a battlefield during the Indo-China War in 1962. The chapter hopes to critically analyze the dynamics of the Indo-Tibetan/Indo-China borderland from different aspects such as migration, religion, culture, and trade practices. Through this analysis, we hope to showcase, how Mra and Nah tribal communities were integrated into the Union of India and how these clan-based communities negotiate their identity in contemporary times. Moreover, how Chinese and Indian state negotiate their claim over these two communities residing on the margin. The chapter is based on our ethnographic fieldwork in the Taksing and Lemiking circles of Arunachal Pradesh. Our narratives are based on stories collected from indigenous stakeholders such as storytellers, village headmen, political interpreters, Tibetan interpreters, hunters, spies and porters. Through this chapter, we argue that the idea of borderland is not only a ‘social space’ but also a religious space, cultural space, economic space, indigenous space or sacred space for Nah and Mra indigenous tribal communities.

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Neh-Tsari Frontier: An Ethnographic Study in the Arunachal Pradesh and China Borderlands

  • Sarit Kumar Chaudhuri,
  • Anand Gupta,
  • Homngai Mossang,
  • Arindam Chakrabarty,
  • Md. Asghar

摘要

The chapter attempts to understand the borderland perspectives through the lens of two indigenous tribal communities residing in the remotest corner of the world. Our study focuses on one of the little-known frontiers, Neh-Tsari. The region is one of the pilgrimage circuits for the Mahayana Buddhist devotes as well as a trade route for tribal communities. which later, turns out to be a battlefield during the Indo-China War in 1962. The chapter hopes to critically analyze the dynamics of the Indo-Tibetan/Indo-China borderland from different aspects such as migration, religion, culture, and trade practices. Through this analysis, we hope to showcase, how Mra and Nah tribal communities were integrated into the Union of India and how these clan-based communities negotiate their identity in contemporary times. Moreover, how Chinese and Indian state negotiate their claim over these two communities residing on the margin. The chapter is based on our ethnographic fieldwork in the Taksing and Lemiking circles of Arunachal Pradesh. Our narratives are based on stories collected from indigenous stakeholders such as storytellers, village headmen, political interpreters, Tibetan interpreters, hunters, spies and porters. Through this chapter, we argue that the idea of borderland is not only a ‘social space’ but also a religious space, cultural space, economic space, indigenous space or sacred space for Nah and Mra indigenous tribal communities.