Introduction

From the British colonial period, hill areas in present day State of Manipur, India, were administered separately. Traditional laws and customs of the different tribes were the basis of administration in the hill areas and this continued with some modifications for all intents and purpose, even after India gained independence.

With the introduction of the Government of India Act 1935, the then principality of Manipur immediately joined the negotiation for hammering out the terms of federation with the Government of India. One of the main subjects of the controversy was the administration of the Hills which cover over 7,000 square miles out of the State’s total area of about 8,000 square miles. The British adjudged it unsafe to leave the administration of the hill areas within the jurisdiction of the then Manipur Durbar. After a lengthy negotiation, on 21 July 1939, the Maharajah of Manipur agreed “to federate on terms which covered the exclusion of the Hills from his direct control.”[i] The signing of the Standstill Agreement and The Instrument of Accession both on the same day 11 Aug 1947, and the Merger Agreement on 21st September 1949, through which the Manipur principality became part of the Indian Republic, did not change this scheme of governance.