INTRODUCTION:

Nagaland was created as a separate state from Assam on 1^st December 1963 becoming the 16^th state of Indian Union. It is a home of Nagas consisting of 16 recognized tribes. The rest of the Naga tribes are spread across Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur in India and the north western part of Mynmar. It is the homeland of Naga tribes, is situated in the North-Eastern part of India. It extends from 26^° 6°’ N to 27° 4°’ N latitude and 93 °20°’ E to 95° 15°’ E longitude¹.

Nagaland has a territorial area of 16,579 sq. km with a population of 19, 80,602². Thought the state is comparatively small in size yet because of its diversity in many respect, understanding Naga society becomes quite complicated and confusing for many. It is vital to understand the various social structures of these tribes’ institutions and their intercourses both at inter-tribal level as well as at intra-tribal level. The Naga society evolved as a result of these institutions in order to filter and accommodate the various interest and aspirations of these tribal institutions to a higher level. These institutions are controlled by elites of the tribes at every stages of social maneuvering. The strategic location of the state and her unique society make its importance out of all proportion to its size and population.

This work is an attempt to trace and identify the Naga Elites before and after the creation of Nagaland state. So far, no literature has found on Nagas elites, thereby through observation of various social institutions and personal interviews to these leaders at different levels cutting across communities, the data are collected and analyzed. Five types of Naga elites were traced before the coming of Christianity and eight types of Naga elites were identified particularly in post statehood era.

Theoretical perspective:

The term ‘Nagas’ has been defined by different scholars in different ways without any common acceptance, but it refers to a conglomeration of several tribes inhabiting the North Eastern part of India and north-western part of Myanmar. Nagaland comprises of 16 recognized tribes and many unrecognized tribes within these tribes. These tribes have their own culture, customs, practices and traditions different from each other, making Naga society quite intricate and complicated. It is quite challenging to lead the Naga society as one entity. It requires in-depth understanding of every tribes and their customs and traditions and lots of courage and patience to govern a society like Nagaland. Like every society, Naga society too was governed by the traditional Naga elites even before the coming of this modern parliamentary democratic system under India. This work is confined to the Nagas of Nagaland state.

Oxford Dictionaries defined elite as a select group that is superior in terms of ability or qualities from the rest of a group or society.³ A group or class of people seen as having the most power and influence in a society, especially on account of their wealth or privilege, skills and abilities, the country’s governing elite are look upon by the majority for those qualities. To Nagas, with the birth of Nagaland as a state, the whole component of the modern state machinery was introduced, leading to the transformation of entire social structures which were quite alien to them. This modern governance leads to the erosions of traditional Naga elites the ruling classes to great extend and paved way for the emergence of new institutions and elites among the Nagas from different professions cutting across tribes.

This work is an attempt to trace and identify the main stakeholders the elites of the Naga society before the dawn of Christianity and the emergence of new elites among Nagas particularly after the birth of Nagaland state in 1963.

The decline and the erosion of Traditional Nagas Elites:

Before the outside world came into contact, Nagas were confined in their own villages except some sort of contact to their neighbouring villages to meet their basic need in a form trade and commerce, but not on regular basis. This isolation was due to head hunting practices prevailing in those days among the Nagas cutting across regions and tribes. The state of nature in traditional Naga society was filled with suspicious, fear and insecurity. Activities were confined within the four walls of the village and villages were independent entity. The stake holders of the village community were mainly the elders of the clan. These elders of the clans are great warriors and well informed about the running of the village administration. In a way they are main stake holders, in terms of land and property, administration and the leaders of the village community. They are the power holders of the village polity. The policy decisions for the welfare of the village/community are taken by these people. Age plays a vital role as far as traditional Naga society is concerned, for every activity it is the elders who lead and guide. For Nagas, knowledge is passed from one generation to another through oral, folk songs and folk tales, and it is the elders who are well versed in their customs and traditions and thus lead and help in imparting the knowledge to the coming generations. Thereby, even in traditional Naga society one can identify certain groups of people who are above the ordinary citizens in their own given professions who dominate and lead their groups for the betterment of their community, who according to the definition offered, are classified as elites within them. They can be broadly classified under the following categories;⁴

1. Political Elite:

Political Elite among traditional Nagas are those who are running the affairs of the village community called ruling class. This class comprises a sizeable and coherent group of people who knows every aspect of village affairs and their surrounding villages. These groups of men are behind the formation of the villages for the Nagas. The group comprises of the elderly people drawn from all major clans. The leaders of the clan take control of the clan members. That is how the village affairs are managed and governed smoothly even these days.⁵

2. Military Elite:

The traditional Naga villages do not maintain a regular army; every adult man is trained in the art of warfare from time to time. Every boy after reaching certain age is forced to stay in a Marung (male dormitory). Throughout their stay in Marung, young people are trained in both physical and mental. Physical training mainly the art of warfare and to instilled the qualities of courage, patience, and tolerance to be a responsible citizen of the community. These youth remains in Morung till they get married and performs a multi-task role for the village. They guard the village round the clock and in incase of the attacking or being attack from enemy villages they become the main force of a village. It is only through wars that the great warriors are born and in turn they become the leaders of their community. Generally the people look upon this great warrior to lead them in every aspects of village life. They automatically command that unquestionable respect and recognitions in a society.⁶

3. Economic Elite:

The well being of every society is determined by the kind of economy it possesses. Nagas are no exception. Every Naga village was more or less self reliant, the village in every possible way tries to cultivate food grains sufficient enough to sustain the entire villagers. For that they plant crops of different varieties according to the seasons to last the whole years. Since traditional Nagas economy solely depend on agriculture, people with land controls the village polity .These land owners by way of lease out or farming always having a upper hand in a village life. They are small group but with their economic strength, money or land, enjoy uncontested position among the traditional Naga society. These groups of economic elites are generally the members of the first two elite groups. ⁷

4. Spiritual Elite:

To Nagas, religion plays a very crucial role for the stability of the village community. Every Naga believes in the existence of The Creator/ God. Nagas believe that every provident comes from God, the creator. So for communicating to the creator there are few people from certain clan which differs from village to village who relate to the creator. This people lead into performing different forms of rituals communicating to the creator, seeking permission, pleasing Him and seeking Gods’ blessings for any kind of projects. From the formation of new village, to waging a war, to sowing of seeds, harvesting crops, celebrating festivals, or any kind of events in a village has to be lead by this God’s people. Their role cannot be overlooked and such is the position of this class, which in modern context is nothing short of a spiritual elite.⁸

5. Elderly/Age Elite:

To Nagas age matters and it does matter. Nagas are a nomad. They are always on move. Nothing is certain. They are not a society of letters. Everything is oral. That is why folk songs and folk tales are so important to the Nagas. It is the age that carries their values and ethos in a form of folk songs and folk tales. Their culture and traditions are passed on from one generation to another generation through old and elderly people of the community. For any important issues or disputes it is the elderly people from their experience and past generation experiences passed on from elders, comes handy in bringing solution to the problems. This group of people in modern context is like the intellectuals and the judges. These groups of elderly people carry legitimacy by virtue of being the custodian of culture and tradition. They are the embodiment of wisdom and knowledge and thus enjoy special status and standing in the Naga society across the tribes.⁹

Emergence of Elites in Modern Naga Society:

Nagas believe that individuals are born with different qualities and abilities; and as they grow depending on the kind of family and the social environment around acquire skills and aptitudes, which condition and shape their attitudes. Gradually with time as they become big enough they are fitted to various social set up in a society. Those who excel in their own particular areas automatically become the leaders of that profession. These leaders understand the nature and complexity of their professions and are the masters of it. They understand the problems and know the tentative solutions to the problems that they are encountering within the society. So it is with age and times one learns the knowledge and acquires skills needed to run the society. These groups of people are the leaders of the community. They are characterized by the qualities of knowledge and skills, patience and tolerance and are sincere and hard working, courageous and bold; and are mature physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. These qualities in them compel the common people to acknowledge and command their respect, and legitimize their positions as the leaders of the community. These groups of people are called the ruling elite class in modern Naga context.

Naga society underwent a dramatic change with the advent of outside world particularly with the coming of Christian missionaries. The Nagas who were confined to the four walls of the village due to the head hunting culture had to undergo a drastic change and to be under one umbrella as they embrace Christian faith. The coming of the Christian Baptist Missionaries and the Britishers was followed by the introduction of western education that literally turned the Naga society upside down and changed the landscape of the Naga society all together. Nagas were introduced to new foreign values and ideas, which were far more sophisticated and superior to them. They resisted and fought against these foreign values for long but gradually succumbed, paving ways for this new set of ideas to take root among the Nagas. The Christian missionaries after initial difficulties could take off at very fast pace in spreading the Gospel. Wherever the Gospel goes, changes and transformations follow. This in turn brings lots of questioning and retrospection about the indigenous ethos and values. While there were turmoil and confusions among the villagers, the missionaries were busy streamlining the mechanism and strategy for their church administration. The missionaries unconsciously brought together all the warring enemy villages under one mission through the teaching of the Christ. With missionaries, comes, not only Christianity but also western values, modern system of governance and also scientific temperament among the Nagas for the first time. Christianity enables Nagas to see life and society from totally different perspective. This leads to the transformation and evolution of new set of social order and pattern totally different from the old. This new order has its footing on Christian principles and values, so in line with Christian ethos modern Naga society began to take shape.¹⁰

This was followed by the formation and the growth of various organizations on the tribal background, which later developed in a form of social institutions of the Nagas in line with the pattern of church structure and functioning. Church developed itself into such a prominent institution that one cannot think of Naga society devoid of church. Church is the mother of all social institutions as far as Nagas are concerned.

As various social and cultural institutions were formed and initiated at various tribal levels, people began to participate and lead their people through these institutions. These institutions groomed the leaders as well as shape and give direction to the course of the society. Gradually these institutions not only give directions to the course of the Naga future but also serve as a training ground for the people who want to serve the society at large. With the passage of time, it has become so competitive among the people who are longing to be in public life. At present any person who gets into any of these institutions are a person of competence in terms of knowledge, skills, ability and integrity. These leaders have excelled and mastered in various activities and by virtue of their competent ability they are vying to be in public life.

These successful people are the leaders of that given professions; they are the agent of change in their own respective professions leading to the social transformation towards progress or backward depending on qualities of these few leaders. To Nagas, one has to work and earn to be leader/elite and is determined by their ability and contribution to the society, except for Semas and Konyaks where one’s birth determines one’s position. They are the man of substance and character, and their integrity unquestionable in the society. It is these groups of people who help in maintaining social order and keep the society in harmony. They are superior from the rest because of the superior ability and thereby they command the respect of the people over whom they lead.¹¹

The advent of the Christianity and colonial rule was follow by Indian Independence in 1947 and subsequent creation of Nagaland as a separate state from Assam in 1963. The birth of Nagaland as a separate state has accelerated the growth of these institutions vis-a-vis the Indian Parliamentary Democracy. Understanding the uniqueness of the Naga society, the Government of India, through the Act of Parliament gave special Constitutional Provision Article 371(A), to protect and preserve the social and customary practices of the Nagas. This constitutional provision strengthens the social and cultural institutions of the Nagas even after the statehood under the Indian Union. The state machinery on one hand and these institutions on other, go hand in hand in running the Naga society. Though special constitutional Provision under Article 371(A) was granted to the Nagaland state, yet, every administrative directive was carried out in line with the parliamentary democractic system. The people were compelled to train and tune themselves accordingly in order to catch up with the administrative orders and directives for all developmental activities. With the passage of time the social structures as well as the values of the society too have changed and new ideas and values have evolved leading to the emergence of new groups of people in every field as the leaders of the Naga society. These are the people who guide and control their professions viz. educated people, politicians, church leaders, village elders, bureaucrats, land owners, NGO leaders (Hoho, students, women leaders etc). The leaders of these groups became the main stakeholders of the Naga society. They occupy the decision making bodies and also assert a lot of pressures to tilt the policy in their favours. This elite group plays a vital role in shaping and molding their respective groups which in turn galvanize into bigger and higher social strata in the state. ¹²

Apart from the governmental machinery all other institutions developed within the tribal purview. This led to the emergence of numerous social, religious and cultural institutions among the Nagas. Though Nagaland is a small state yet there are sixteen officially recognized tribes and many unrecognized tribes within these tribes. To understand the intricate and complexity of these institutions better, let’s take the example of one institution say, Church. At the top there is Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) followed by apex tribal church association. Then at area level and at the bottom exist village churches. This goes with every tribe in Nagaland and all other institutions on the same footing. So the members of these many institutions produce leaders from every tribe, and those people who are leading these institutions are supposed to be the most capable persons of that community. They are the persons behind the social movement and they are the leaders or the elites of society.¹³

Thereby the emergence of elites in modern Naga context can be traced from three distinct sources: viz; traditional source, social institutions and from governmental institutions, which can be explain under the following heads.

1. Traditional source;

Elderly Elite

2. Social institutions

i. Spiritual Elite

ii. Social Elite

iii. Educated Elite

3. Governmental institutions

i. Political Elite

ii. Bureaucratic Elite

iii. Economic Elite

iv. National Workers Elite

1. Traditional source;

Elderly Elite:

For Nagas, age plays a very important role in the social stratum since time immemorial and even in the post statehood era age factor has retains as a very important component in a Naga social structure. In the past as the society was governed through elderly persons who are considered the embodiment of knowledge and experience. They carry the knowledge about their traditions and culture through folk songs and folk tales. Elderly people who are well versed and command their own folk songs and folk tales enjoy special place among Nagas in every aspect of life. By virtue of knowledge they acquired and possessed they played the role as the guardian of the society. Every person in Naga society with age are expected to imbibe this qualities of knowledge as one grows in age. Thus age consideration plays a very important role in every social activity among the Nagas. The elderly elites are drawn from every clan of the community.

In the contemporary Naga context this age old tradition of age factor play a crucial role in different aspects of social maneuvering. This aspect can be notice in social and religious gatherings where special seats are reserved for the elderly people and even in any social programme and activity special items are kept for them. The elderly people are respected and revered not because of the age alone but mainly for what they possess in them; the knowledge and the experiences. They are considered to be the embodiment and author of the culture and traditions. They are expected to educate and instill to the younger generations their culture and values of their society. Therefore to Nagas, after attaining certain age group with those qualities in them, they automatically get into that elite groups and do influence and command the respect of the society.¹⁴

2. Social institutions

i. Educated Elite:

The Christian missionary brought along with them the western education, their main weapon for the transformation of the people particularly the newly converts. They realized the problems of the tribals and knew exactly what to do. So, as they started to have a foothold among the Naga Hills, they first initiated a missionary school at Impur in order to impart western education and to teach the word of God. This was the beginning and the main catalyst towards the process of social evolution and transformation. Initiating school at that time was so difficult for so many reasons, getting teachers, materials and infrastructure. But at any cost they needed a school in order to keep the mission growing especially for future. School was the only means through which they can educate the Nagas in order to teach them how to read and understand ‘The Bible’- the word of God. So for the first time Nagas were introduced to modern way of learning through Christian missionary. The pupils who joined this school became the pioneers of education among their own tribes. Students started coming to this missionary school from various regions of the Nagaland and these students became the leaders of their communities in various capacities in the new social strata. With the passage of time many new schools were initiated by the Government in different parts of the state. Those schools which were run by the missionaries were taken over by the government and these schools became the centre of learning particularly Kohima and Mokokchung Government High Schools. Most of the Nagaland first generation bureaucrats are by-products of either Kohima Government High School or Mokokchung Government High School.

With the birth of Nagaland as a state all early educated Nagas were absorbed in the state machinery in various capacities. This educated class irrespective of tribes and regions became the stakeholder of the state machinery and became quite influential at various social strata among the Nagas. These groups of people by virtue of their knowledge and position became economically and socially influential and they began to play a vital role in Naga society at different levels from village level to state level depending on the kind of knowledge and the positions one holds. With the passage of time, except in the remotest places there is hardly any region or village where there is no educated person leading the society? This educated group by virtue of their inherent character that is knowledge and understanding could jell and blend together irrespective of tribes or regions. They are more conscious and concerned about the future social well being of the Nagas. These educated classes of the Nagas think beyond their own villages and tribes, and comprehend the problems holistically as one. They feel and understand the pulse of the people and society as a whole and approach the problem for solutions. ¹⁵

These educated class of the Nagas are drawn from all communities, they are the pioneers of the Nagas society as well as their own tribes. Being the first educationist in the society, they are expected to enlighten and lead the society at different levels in various areas. They took up the responsibility as it came their way and for some it was a compulsion as they were the only person who knows how to read and write in their community. But along with this responsibility they also enjoyed many privileges and positions which raised their living standard notches above the common people. They played a vital role in shaping and molding the present Naga society to where it is today. This group of people drawn from various tribes and regions of Nagaland having that respect and command over the society are being called the educated elites of Naga society. ¹⁶

ii. Spiritual Elite:

To Nagas, religion plays a very important role in every aspect of social, cultural and political life. Whether one is a religious person or not that is secondary, but in every activity religious flavour is a must to complete a job. Before the coming of Christian missionaries, Nagas were animist. But once the Christian missionaries converted some Nagas into Christian faith there was no stopping and gradually almost whole of Nagas became Christians, particularly Nagas of Nagaland. To Nagas, religion was part and parcel of whole social, political and cultural activities. The change in religion does bring a lot of changes in all these institutions. As Jesus Christ became the centre of Christian teachings, every Christian activities goes in consonance with the Jesus teaching. This leads to the evolution of new social order in line with Christian ethos and values, be it political, social and cultural.¹⁷

Within no time Church sprouted in every Naga village, and it became the centre of individual and social reformations. For quite some decades church was the gravity of the village affairs for so many reasons. It was the church that ushered in the spirit of peace and stability among the Nagas. In every church, there are minimum 5 to 6 regular employees with monthly salary and many members are there in committees in various capacities. The pastors or reverend head the church administration with four/five full time workers; viz. associate pastors, youth directors, women leaders, children leaders, etc. depending on the capacity of the church members and its financial status. These full time workers are theologians who are well versed with Bible and trained Christian leaders in the teaching of the gospel and church administration. They are the spiritual leaders of the people and are respected and revered from every sections of the society. These spiritual elites have a tremendous influence over individuals and to the society in general. These spiritual elites are drawn from every communities and regions of Nagaland.

iii. Social Elite:

In every society whether developed or under-developed, there are few groups of people who command the respect of the society and these people do enjoys certain privileges and positions in that society. These groups of people are behind social mobility and change. They are the catalyst of social change characterized by the qualities of knowledge, skills and social etiquettes they possess. Even in the modern Naga society there are people from different walks of life by virtue of their positions and ability, do command and enjoy special status within their own peers or professions. In olden days those who command the knowledge of folk songs and folk tales, great warriors, village chiefs etc. enjoyed this status. At present one notices certain sections of people from different fields who are quite affluent in their own areas as well as others and do have so much influence in society. They are also called the cream of the society or the Social Elites. They emerged generally from those institutions like Hohos, Students’ organizations, women associations etc. from tribal or apex levels.

They are drawn from different professions, and they do influence the policy makers to tilt the policy in certain direction as per the way they perceive the best for the society. The most prominent among them are politicians and spiritual leaders who are dynamic, articulate and quite convincing and persuasive in approach. These social elites can be noticed at every level of social hierarchy, doing the more or less same kind of job. ¹⁸

3. Governmental institutions

i. Political Elite:

The political class began to take shape with the birth of Nagaland State in 1963. Modern Parliamentary Democratic system was quite unknown to the Nagas. It came rather as a cultural shock to the Nagas. Taking the uniqueness of the Naga traditional polity after the statehood special Constitutional Provisions were created under Article 371(A), granting special autonomy to the Nagas in matter of their social and customary practices. This was needed by the Indian Government in order to accommodate the Nagas to the Union of India, and gradually to familiarize and assimilate them with Indian Constitution.¹⁹

The creation of Nagaland State led to periodic elections, where people involved themselves with much reluctance in the initial stages. Those were the period where the Naga Independence Movement was at its peak, and the public were torn in between in most of the cases whether to participate in or boycott the elections. But gradually political situation changed in the state and periodic elections were conducted and various governments were formed and the State was run by the Nagas. Consciously to very few and unconsciously to so many, Nagas started picking up parliamentary democratic values from practical lesson first rather than theory lesson. This is how the parliamentary democracy began among the Nagas, leading to evolution of a new political culture among the Nagas.

Five decades have lapsed since statehood in 1963 and a new political class or group has emerged among the Nagas irrespective of tribes. These people are full time politicians living their life through politics, having enrolled themselves in various political parties and periodically fight elections to control the state government. In the field of politics many thousands are enrolled yet only few are successful. It is this few who has mastered the art of politics both theoretical and practical and control the government. These groups of successful politicians are called political elite. They are not a very big group but this group can feel the pulse of the people and understand the system very well. They are well equipped in terms of knowledge about the system, how it functions and can understand the pulse of the society and can articulate the problems into policy. They are economically stable and politically successful. They are very powerful and influential in state politics.²⁰

ii. Bureaucratic Elite:

The bureaucrats are the by-products of the modern state system who have come to Naga society mainly after the statehood of Nagaland in 1963. Once Nagaland became a state, the component of the state machinery came absorbing the educated Nagas to the state functionary. In the beginning of the statehood there were very few Nagas who could read and write, and any person who has a little formal education were forced to join as government servant in various capacities. There were many tribes and regions in Nagaland where there was hardly any educated person in a community, which the government found it difficult to govern. That was the time when the Naga Independence Movement were at its peak and the Nagas were encouraged not to join the government as they are against the Naga interest, So most of the Naga youth those days were on a run either from the Indian army or the Naga Army.

But with the passage of time this volatile situation subsided and those who attended formal education were absorbed in the state machinery in different capacities in various departments of the Government of Nagaland and were promoted to various levels of bureaucratic hierarchical set up. Those early educated Nagas are even today holding important positions in Nagaland Government. At present getting a job under Nagaland Government has become very competitive and tuff, but those who are getting through Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC), are highly respected and regarded by the public. As the people in the system control and monitor the state developmental programmes, they have tremendous influence over the people. Since fund and development flow through them they are in a way worshipped by the public particularly those departments that are directly dealing with the developmental works and projects. Otherwise also by virtues of being part of the state government they are far above the common people in many areas. One aspect is their knowledge and another economic power. These two are their main source of power through which they consciously and unconsciously control Naga social and political affairs. These new classes drawn from various communities are the cream of their own tribes and possess tremendous influences and control over their own people, who can be termed as bureaucratic elites among the Nagas.²¹

iii. Economic Elite:

The introductions of the statehood and a system of parliamentary democracy to the Nagas have had a far reaching impact on the people. With the state machinery the whole modern component of governance came and that is how the Naga society underwent a drastic transformation leading to the emergence of different groups of people depending on the kind of the job they performed. People who familiarized themselves with the functioning of the state system started to progress and move forward in every aspect of life, enjoying the benefits and privileges of the government. Within a matter of few decades almost every literate Naga was absorbed into state machinery, their living standards were much improved which led to the change in the mind set of the people in general. Irrespective of urban or rural, parents started sending their children to schools and getting government a job became the main target of their education for a better life.²²

With this change in life style, even society too changed from a confined nomad type to the modern free democratic life, no more confined to one’s own village or tribe but everywhere in the state and beyond. This ultimately brought about social and political changes to the Nagas, breaking the rigidness of one’s own social practices to every village and tribes. Earlier there was no paper currency, the only mode of any trade and commerce was through barter system that too in a very limited way. With the introduction of currency notes and the flow of funds in form of aids and grants the whole system of land holding too changed. New economic groups emerged in every profession; government servants, politicians, contractors, businessmen, public leaders etc. These are the new economic class drawn from every tribe and from every profession. They control their own professions and thus indirectly control the government too. They are termed as economic elites among modern Nagas.²³

iv. Neo- Elite (National Workers):

The history of Naga National Movement dates back before the creation of the Nagaland state. The movement has come a long way. At present the leaders may not command that kind of respect which they used to get in the past, yet they cannot be ignored at any important Naga issues. Many split and divisions have occurred among the Naga national workers which lead to formations of many parallel factional groups. As the factions increases the numbers of leaders too increase. There are so many levels of leaders who have come up among the different ranks and files of different factions associated with Naga National Movement.

The role and activities of the national workers associated with Naga National Movement are no longer confined to their own cadres and functionaries within their organizations. The influence of the Naga National Workers in the Naga society is deeply rooted, that no tangible solutions for the Nagas whether political or social be taken without consultation with these groups. Even during elections, no political party can win election without the blessings of these groups. This is the magnitude of their influence in the Naga society. Most of these leaders are quite stable economically and financially thereby have a very high degree of influence at every level of decisions making process; be it social or political. These affluence groups of people of Naga National Workers are called the neo-elites in the Naga society, who are characterized by money and force. Like all elites of the modern Nagas they are also drawn from different communities cutting across different factions of Naga National Workers.²⁴

CONCLUSIONS:

These are the main elites that can be identify and classified in modern Naga society. Nagaland being a tribal society there are so many social institutions that exist from village to the highest state level. Though the state is quite small, yet there exist 16 Government recognized tribes and so many unrecognized tribes within these tribes. As the numbers of tribes are more so the unions and associations too multiply in numbers. There is a hierarchal layers of social institutions among the Naga tribes. For example students union of one tribe will have one apex association at the highest tribal level follow by range/area level and then at the bottom local village students’ unions. Above all these hierarchies lays either Naga Students Federations or Eastern Naga Students Federation which are the two apex students’ organization among the Nagas. This goes with all other social and religious institutions in Nagaland. People who are inducted in these organizations are supposed to be men of integrity and character and they are well known people within the community.²⁵ The elites groups understand and comprehend the community ethos and values. The formation and growth of unions/ associations are common to all Naga tribes; be Churches associations, Hohos, Students’ Organizations, Mother’s associations, Women Organizations etc. Gradually most of these organizations has evolved and developed into a well established religious, social and political institutions becoming the main fabric of the Naga society in modern context. All these organizations mushroom side by side with the introduction of the parliamentary democratic system after the creation of the Nagaland state in 1963.

These multitudes of organizations have emerged, mainly to accommodate the interest and the aspirations of their tribes and then to the higher state level, as each tribe has its own distinct language, culture, customs and practices. The leaders of these institutions try to assert and promote their tribe’s identity and its interest to a higher state level. In the process it trains and grooms leaders at every level, from village to tribal level and then to the state level. This paved way for the emergence of new elite class of people at the tribal levels, who are well inform and well versed about their own community’s customs and practices and the complexity of the Naga as a whole. These inherent differences among the tribes in terms of language, customs and practices make the Nagas society quite unique in nature from the rest. This diversity makes Naga society very fascinating and enthralling, it is like a salad in a bowl, appears so beautiful and appealing yet unless one understand its ingredients and doses it turns out the other way round. It becomes quite tricky and challenging for any leaders to lead the Naga society unless one is well versed and informed over these complexities. The future of Naga society depends on the qualities of these elites, as they are the catalyst of social change for better or for worse.

REFERENCES:

1. Statistical Handbook of Nagaland, Directorate of Economics & Statistics’, Nagaland, (2004). Kohima. p-.1

2. Census of India 2011: Paper 2, Volume II of 2011, Nagaland Series 14, p-20.

3. www.dictionary (accessed on 12/12/16).

4. As stated by Deputy kilonser a senior leader of NNC-FGN, equivalent to deputy minister, one of the factions of Naga freedom fighter, at Tuensang on 15/11/15

5. As cited by Deputy kilonser a senior leader of NNC-FGN, equivalent to deputy minister, one of the factions Naga freedom fighter, at Tuensang on 15/11/15

6. Ibid

7. As cited by senior pastor of Sangtam Baptist Church, Mokokchung, on 12/12/15

8. Ibid

9. As stated by Village Chief of Yingphire on 22/12/2015

10. As cited by Chotsase, elderly man of Yingphire Vill.,who was also a church deacon, well versed on village polity, on 22/12/15

11. As stated by elderly Naga at Mkg on 17/12/15

12. Ibid

13. Ibid

14. Ibid

15. Ibid

16. As stated by retired Dobashi at Zunheboto,on 12/12/15

17. Ibid

18. As stated by Hoho leader of Phom community at Kma on 29/11/15

19. As stated by a season politician at Kma on 29/11/15

20. Ibid

21. Ibid

22. As stated by Subong a retired politician, Kma on 01/12/15

23. Ibid

24. As stated by L. Sangtam, bureaucrat at Kma on 29/11/15

25. Ibid

26. As stated by Tsatongthsi retired teacher on 15/12/15

Received on 27.02.2017 Modified on 10.03.2017

Int. J. Rev. and Res. Social Sci. 5(1): Jan.- Mar., 2017; Page 51-59 .

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2687.2017.00006.5