Nagas

   An ethnic nationality living in the mountainous region between the valley of the Irrawaddy (Ayeyarwady) River and the basin of the Brahmaputra River in northeastern India. The majority of Nagas live in India, but there is also a significant population located principally in Sagaing Division, and also in Chin and Kachin States, along the Burma-India border. Naga sources estimate the total population at 3.5 million. Nagalim, a term that the Nagas frequently use to refer to their homeland, encompasses parts of both India and Burma.

   The Nagas speak Tibeto-Burman languages and are subdivided into 42 tribal groups. In broad contours, their history, beliefs, and customs resemble those of other Tibeto-Burman upland groups such as the Chins and the Kachins. They were never controlled by lowland Burman (Bamar) or Indian states, and adhered to animistic beliefs until a majority of Nagas were converted to Christianity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Living in mountainous areas, they traditionally practiced slash-and-burn or swidden agriculture and had no unifying political institutions above the village level. Intervillage raids, including head hunting, were frequent. The village center was the morung (men's association), which was decorated with human skulls, taken to enhance the fertility of Naga fields and as a proof of manhood by young warriors. The British colonial government imposed effective control over the Burmese Nagas only in 1940. Naga levies fought alongside the British during World War II. In part because of the activities of the Christian missionaries, the Nagas developed a strong national consciousness and demanded their own state on the eve of India's independence from Britain in 1947. The major armed group claiming to represent the Nagas is the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), which has operated primarily in India, but also in Burma.