A Shakespear in the Naga Hills, 1900
In the days of the British Empire, North-East India provided temporary homes to a handful of European women, all with a common fascination for the Naga people. The Nagas are a group of indigenous hill people, of Mongoloid origin, speaking diverse languages who shared a warrior culture prior to the imposition of the British administration.
Apart from the American Baptist missionary, Mary Mead Clark, these women were linked to British government representatives, military or political. Some left written accounts, the best known being the books of Ursula Graham Bower. These accounts cover events and comment on the people amongst whom they lived. As such they have a historical and ethnographic value. One of these is the diary of Connie Shakespear. She writes of her time in the Naga Hills in 1900-1902 and includes photographs. The world of amateur photography had just dawned; hand-held cameras were now available. She and her husband captured traditional village culture in the Naga Hills, hardly altered for centuries, before the great social and cultural changes brought about by Baptist missions. This unique record sets Connie’s work apart.
'Gwasen and his protege. Themakodima village. February 1902’ – image copyright of author
Connie comments on graves, dress, custom and ‘court proceedings’. Examples of her observation and description abound, such as:
‘… the unfailing good temper of the people. I have never yet seen any exhibition of bad temper among them, no children quarrelling or fighting, no angry mothers scolding or cuffing their children, nor, as I say, any quarrelling at all, nothing but good temper and good will’.
'Mithun and group at Ghuckia's village' January 1901 – image copyright of author
Another example: ‘The Judge was a fine old fellow who standing up was haranguing the Court, (lines of men seated opposite him on the opposite bank of the street) and pointing each period of his speech by a violent dig of the spear he held in his hand into the mud in the middle of the street’.
Although Connie held the imperial mindset of her time, her ability to interact with Naga villagers, and with some individuals particularly, show a respect and a feeling for shared humanity.
Ayo and Impi -– image copyright of author
Bidding farewell to Ayo from Tamlu she writes: ‘It was quite touching. He explained how, having his photo I should go into many countries but could always look at this and say “this is Ayo”. He expressed his regret in many quaint little ways, and then finally laying one hand on my shoulder, and the other on my chest, with this sort of embrace he turned away, and we went our several ways’.
Moimang and Ayo, Lengta Nagas, Tamlu, February 1902 – image copyright of author
Although not in the same bracket as her cousin John Shakespear (1774–1858), who wrote on the peoples of the Lushai Hills, Connie’s photographs and writing are interesting for what they tell us of the lives of the Naga people then. Her diary shows her love for the Naga Hills and enduring respect and feelings for the Naga people which she shared with the other ladies, notably Ursula Graham Bower, Mildred Archer and Mary Clark.
CC-BY
Nigel Shakespear
The Highland Institute, Fellow
Creative Commons Attribution licence
Further reading:
Connie Shakespear, The Diary of Connie Shakespear The Naga Hills 1900-1902 (Highlander Press, 2021)
Ursula Graham Bower, Naga Path (John Murray, 1950)
Mary Mead Clark, A Corner in India (American Baptist Publication Society, 1907)