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What is the news?
Deputy Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh has urged the Union Government to declare the Tai Khamti-British war of 1839 as the nation’s first war of independence.
What is the Tai Khamti war?
The Tai Khamti war took place in 1839 between the Tai Khamti people and the British.
The theatre of this war was some 2,400 km east of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh where the mutiny began.
During the war, Tai Khamtis resisted colonization by the British. Some 80 British soldiers, including Col. Adam White, were killed in the resultant conflict.
| Note: Tai Khamti people follow Theravada Buddhism. Their population is a little more than 1,00,000, and they live in areas straddling Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. |
What are the other revolts of Arunachal Pradesh which need recognition?
Arunachal Deputy CM also asked for recognition of battles between other communities of Arunachal Pradesh and the British.
The battles include a series of Anglo-Abor wars from 1858 to 1911 and the Wancho-British war in Tirap district’s Ninu in 1875.
| Note: The Abors, now called Adis, inhabit central Arunachal Pradesh while the Wanchos live in the southern part of Arunachal Pradesh. |
Source: This post is based on the article ‘1839 struggle by Tai Khamti is India’s first war of independence: Arunachal Deputy CM’ published in The Hindu on 25th Dec 2021.
