Nagaland (Nag)

‘Land of the Nagas’.

Fom Bur/Kch: no, ‘ear’; and ka, ‘pierced’: ‘(people with) pierced ears’.

This is a common, albeit controversial, derivation: others suggest derivations from Skt: nāga, ‘serpent’; naga, ‘mountain’; or nagna, ‘naked’.

Naga is an umbrella term for 16 distinct tribes, most of whom lived in splendid isolation with little or no contact with outsiders until the arrival of the British.

Nagaland has been plagued by civil war and ethnic conflict since Independence. It tried to declare independence in 1947, and continued to fight for autonomy.

It became a separate region in 1957 (breaking off from Assam) and a separate state in 1963.

Nagaland can claim to be the ‘Baptist Church of India’: 45% of the country is Baptist and it is one of only three Christian majority states in India (with Meghalaya and Mizoram).

For more on Indian place names and history, see Toponymy on the Ashoka Express and Nagaland: ‘Land of the Nagas’

For a journey through tribal India and Sri Lanka, see Headhunting with Marguerite

Nagaland in the North East Region (NER)