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999			_c528996 _d528996
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100			_aThejalhoukho _950599
245			_a An elusive line in an elusive frontier: Delineating the historical trajectory of the inner line in India’s Northeast
260			_aThe Indian Economic and Social History Review
300			_a61(4), Oct-Dec, 2024: p.521-540
520			_aThe Inner Line remains one of the most contentious yet enduring legacies of colonial rule in the erstwhile British India’s northeast frontier. However, there is a major disconnect between the popular conception of the Inner Line as a legal shield protecting ‘vulnerable’ communities, and the scholarly deconstruction of the Inner Line as a colonial instrument designed for the exploitation of resources and the policing of hill communities. This article traces the historical trajectory of the Inner Line in India’s northeast and highlights the significant moments when the Inner Line was subjected to varying interpretations. It argues that the history of the Inner Line was characterised by flexibility and instability not only in its physical manifestation as a geographical marker but more particularly in its perceived intent and purpose. Delineating the shifts in the roles and functions that were ascribed to the Inner Line at different historical junctures, this article attempts to reconcile the varied and even contradictory understandings of the Inner Line that continue to persist in postcolonial Northeast India.- Reproduced https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00194646241285363
650			_aInner line, Northeast, Frontier, Exclusions, Naga hills, Lushai Hills, Undesirables, Hutton. _950600
773			_aThe Indian Economic and Social History Review
942			_cAR