Formation of Nagaland State and districts of Nagaland

A brief history of formation of Nagaland State and  its districts.

Naga Hills District

The major part of what is now Nagaland (excluding its eastern side consisting of Tuensang and Mon Districts) was formerly known as Naga Hills, a District of Assam under the Bengal Presidency under the British Rule.

Naga Hills District = Major Part of Nagaland -(minus){Tuensang & Mon}

1866: The Naga Hills district was created in 1866 by the Government of British India. Its headquarters were located at Samaguting.

The District of Naga Hills was opened in 1866 with its headquarters at Samaguting in the west in the foothills about 15 km away from Dimapur. Later the district headquarters was shifted to Wokha in 1876 and two years later in 1878, the headquarter of the Naga Hills was shifted to Kohima on 14 November 1878.

The first police outpost was established in the Naga Hills at Samaguting in 1866. The police outpost was later shifted to Kohima in 1888, and later upgraded to Police station in 1933.

North-East Frontier Tract (NEFT)

In 1914, some tribal-majority areas were separated from the former Darrang and Lakhimpur districts of Assam Province of British India to form the North-East Frontier Tract (NEFT). The NEFT was initially divided into two sections:
(i) the Central & Eastern Section (made up of the former Dibrugarh Frontier Tract (created in 1884) and some more areas in the South) and (ii) the Western Section. Each section was placed under a political officer.

In 1919, the Central and Eastern Section was renamed the Sadiya Frontier Tract, and the Western Section was renamed the Balipara Frontier Tract.

After the independence of India in 1947, NEFT became a part of Assam state.

First Police Station and SP office in Naga Hills District

1933: The first police outpost was established in the Naga Hills at Samaguting in 1866. The police outpost was later shifted to Kohima in 1888, and later upgraded to Police station in 1933. Thus, the first Police Station established in the Naga Hills was in 1933 at Kohima (the present day North PS). The First Officer-in-Charge was Sub-Inspector I. Chetia.

1939: Police station established in Dimapur.

1953: First Superintendent of Police (SP) Office established in Naga Hills District at Kohima on 28 December 1953 with Shri. Kumar Randip Singh, IPS as the first Superintendent of Police.

North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA)

In 1951, Balipara Frontier Tract, Tirap Frontier Tract, Abor Hills district, Mishmi Hills district and the Naga tribal areas (Tuensang and Mon areas) were together renamed as the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA).

On 26 January 1954 the North-East Frontier Agency was divided into six frontier divisions: Kameng (formerly Sela Sub-Agency), Subansiri (formerly Subansiri area), Tirap (formerly Tirap Frontier Tract), Siang (formerly Abor Hills district), Lohit (formerly Mishmi Hills district) and Tuensang Frontier Division.

Naga Hills-Tuensang Area (NHTA)

On 1 December 1957, Tuensang Frontier Division was separated from NEFA and attached to the newly formed Naga Hills District to form a centrally governed Naga Hills-Tuensang Area with creation of Kohima, Mokokchung and Tuensang districts.

(W.e.f. 1st December, 1957, vide notification No.S.R.O.3843, dated 30111957 Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II Section 3, page 2877} . Ref: THE NAGA HILLS-TUENSANG AREA ACT, 1957

[Tuensang Frontier Division of NEFA] + [Naga Hills District of Assam]
= Naga Hills-Tuensang Area 

NHTA later became Nagaland State in 1963

Formation of Nagaland State

In February 1961, Naga Hills Tuensang Area was renamed to “Nagaland“.

On 1 December 1963, Nagaland became a full fledged state – the 16th state of India as a consequence of the 16th Point Agreement signed between  the Government of India and the Naga People’s Convention on 26 July 1960.

At the time of formation of Nagaland State, there were three districts, namely Kohima, Mokokchung and Tuensang.

Nagaland state police force also came into being with the formation of the state on 1st December 1963.

On 1 August 1965, the administration Nagaland was transferred from the Ministry of External Affairs to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

On 21 January 1972, the remaining North-East Frontier Agency became the Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh. Its administrative headquarters was Shillong (until 1974, when it was transferred to Itanagar). It got the status of State on 20th February, 1987.

Formation of Nagaland districts

Nagaland is a hilly state in the North Eastern corner of India. Nagaland became the 16th state of India on 1st  December 1963.

Nagaland State was formed from the erstwhile Naga Hills Tuensang Area (NHTA) with three districts, namely Kohima, Mokokchung and Tuensang.

1. Kohima (1957)

  • Kohima was also originally known as Kewhira. Kohima was founded in 1878 when the British Empire established its headquarters of the then Naga Hills district of Assam.
  • Kohima as a ‘district’ was formed in 1957 with the formation of Naga Hills-Tuensang Area (NHTA), along with Mokokchung and Tuensang districts.
  • Kohima remained a district when Nagaland state was formed in 1963.
  • Kohima officially became the capital after the state of Nagaland was inaugurated in 1963.
  • Kohima is the first district of Nagaland.

2. Mokokchung (1957)

  • Mokokchung was a sub-division created in 1889 under the Naga Hills District under Assam. It remained a sub-division following India independence in 1947. Naga Hills district remained as a district of Assam until 1957, when Mokokchung and Tuensang Frontier Division of the North-East Frontier Agency (now Arunachal Pradesh) were joined to form the centrally governed Naga Hills Tuensang Area. 
  • Mokokchung as a district was formed in 1957 when NHTA was formed with Kohima, Mokokchung and Tuensang as its districts.
  • When Nagaland state was formed in 1963, Mokokchung remained as one of its districts.
  • Mokokchung is the second district of Nagaland.

3. Tuensang (1957)

  • The area comprising the present District of Tuensang remained totally un-administered in the pre-independence days. The British had declared it as an Excluded Area.
  • In 1948, an administrative center was established at Tuensang and in 1945 the area (including the present Mon, Longleng and Kiphire Districts) was brought under the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) as the Tuensang Frontier Division.
  • In 1957, the Tuensang Frontier Division was merged with the Naga Hills District of Assam to form an administrative unit called the Naga Hills Tuensang Area (NHTA).
  • Tuensang as a district was formed in 1957 when NHTA was formed with Kohima, Mokokchung and Tuensang as its districts.
  • When Nagaland state was formed in 1963, Tuensang remained as one of its districts.
  • Tuensang is the third district of Nagaland.

Kohima, Mokokchung and Tuensang were the first three districts when Nagaland state was formed in 1963. Thereafter, several districts have been created in the State by the Government as listed below.

4 Mon 1973 (carved out of Tuensang)
5 Wokha 1973(carved out of Mokokchung )
6 Phek 1973 (carved out of Kohima)
7 Zunheboto 1973 (carved out of Mokokchung )
8 Dimapur 1997 (carved out of Kohima)
9 Peren 2004 (carved out of Kohima)
10 Kiphire 2004 (carved out of Tuensang)
11 Longleng 2004 (carved out of Tuensang)
12 Noklak 2020 (carved out of Tuensang)
13 Tseminyu 2021 (carved out of Kohima)
14 Niuland 2021 (carved out of Dimapur)
15 Chumoukedima 2021 (carved out of Dimapur)
16 Shamator 2022 (carved out of Tuensang)

 

For more details on the districts of Nagaland, refer Districts of Nagaland page here.


References: