INTRODUCTION
Christianity was in part the cause of the expansion of European peoples. At times,
the Christian missionary was the pioneer of the white man's penetration. However,
it is indisputable that Christianity was an important element in the new nations of
European blood which arose from the expansion of European peoples and that it
modified profoundly the impact of Europeans upon non- Europeans. The new
nations which came into being in the nineteenth century under a leadership were
pre-dominantly white.
Usually the introduction of Christianity contributed to the disintegration of the old
culture. At times harm followed. In general, however. Christian missionaries
fought exploitation of non-Europeans by non-missionary whites. In this way they
were supported by the consciences of many of their fellow-country men, made
sensitive and active by the Christian faith. The nineteenth century witnessed
number of Christian missionary's activities in many parts of the countries. The
primitive peoples adapted themselves to the new world by creating for them
schools after the white man's pattern, teaching them appropriate handicrafts,
introducing plants and better methods of agriculture, and applying the new
medical skill in the latter part of the 19'^ century to the healing and prevention of
disease. Moreover, as the 19 century progressed, the attitude crystallized in the
phrase "the white man's burden" became an increasing characteristic of empirebuilders and colonial administrators. The white man's rule, as maintained, should
be for the benefit of the governed. Much of this varied activity for the well-being
of races subject to the white man was directly and clearly traceable to Christianity.
Much of it arose from a widespread humanitarianism which was not so
demonstrably from Christizmity but which seems to have been indebted to it. We
must remember, however, that neither Christianity nor nineteenth-century
humanitarianism
completely
prevented
the selfish
and at times colossal
exploitation of non-European peoples or fully annulled the suffering which
accompanied the cultural dislocation brought by the impinging white civilization.
Christianity partly allayed the agony and eventually abolished or reduced some of
the more palpable evils. It did not succeed in making the coming of the white man
an unmixed blessing.
Its course was more rapid not only because of the religious awakenings in Europe
and America which gave to it impulse and renewed vigor but also because it was
borne by
an extensive migration
of professedly
Christian
peoples and
accompanied the impact of a powerful advanced civilization upon primitive
cultures which offered brief but in adequate resistance. By 1914, Christianity's
numerical gains in much of Asia were being greatly accelerated and the affects
upon Asiatic cultures were rapidly mounting. In Asia as in the Americas, the
Pacific, and Africa the period from 1815 to 1914 was the great century'.
It was by the end of the century what is called the 'modem missionary movement'
began in England, the U.S. A, and other countries of the west. In the last decade of
the eighteenth century and the first two decades of the nineteenth century, under a
fresh impulse of missionary zeal a number of other societies were founded, such
as: the Baptist Missionary Society in America, the London Missionary Society, the
church Wesleyan Society etc. The idea spread to all the principal denominations of
Protestantism, and in each one of them an organization was formed for mission
work in non-Christian lands. Thus, just at the time when the British power in India
was being consolidated the newly formed missionary societies were eager to begin
work .
Missionaries did not come to India as travelers. Theirs was a commitment, at least
forth eir working Jives, to the subcontinent. Upholding the Christian doctrine: 'go
ye therefore and teach all nations' the Christian missionaries with a strong
conviction of the absoluteness of Christ came and worked among the Indians.
Indeed they condemned the heathen to hell-fire for their worship of idolatry and
disbelief, and they preached that they could be saved through spiritual
enlightenment, which they could be achieved only after conversion to Christianity.
The Christian missions, no matter from which denominations or missionary
societies they come from, all considered themselves 'superior' and consistently
maintained an elusive attitude towards the natives religion jind culture. They came
with a strong view to conquer 'other world' by Christian faith. Conversion was
understood in terms of replacement of the old ways of life which included
rejection of one's culture and value. The fact was that, the Christian missionaries
had the notion that they were 'superior' and it was undisputed thought that
Christian faith which had developed in the west is the 'only true religion,
unchanging truth for all ages and for all contexts, and should be accepted without
any question'. In this context native cultures and values were never considered
valuable.
Whatever is the case, the nature of religious conversion covers an issue of central
debating to which nothing absolute what conversion actually are still to be known,
owing to its complexities and divergent views and opinions? Yet, some scholarly
debated views of what conversion to Christianity is are: For the Utilitarian and
evangelicals agreed that the religious institutions of India needed to be dismantled
and replaced by Christian civilization. They disagreed, however, on how to bring
civilization to the natives. Religious neutrality was seen as essential first for
trading pu/poses and later for British rule in India. The company continued to
resist direct support for missionary projects. Serious missionary activity among the
natives originated only in the nineteenth century outside the company's neutrality,
however, did nothing to prevent attempts to reform Indian society through
education, an endeavor fully supported by the Utilitarian Anglicists. This however
turned out to be a field in which missionaries were extremely active.
Whatever, the debates between evangelicals and utilitarians- and they were
considered-none of them would have denied that civil society and the forms of
knowledge on which it was based were ultimately part and parcel of Christian
civilization. Gauri Viswanathan has argued forcefully that the teachings of
"secular" English literature, as recommended in Macaulay's minute, amounts to
relocation of cultural value from belief and dogma to language, experience, and
history. This opinion is found to be entirely true because we find several instances
of the lost of culture values and beliefs among the native newly converts .
Bengal, which was the main seat of British power in India, had gradually became
the 'nerve centre of political, commercial and intellectual developments' in the
early nineteenth century, and the city of Calcutta was the 'focus and symbol' of
the interaction between 'traditional India and alien western ideas'. Along with the
Indian reformers, the work of protestant missionaries was instrumental in causing
a 'revolution' in nineteenth-century Bengal, which eventually led to an Indian
renaissance. However, as the issue of religious conversion arose, the relationship
between the Hindu leaders and the missionaries soured, and this was expressed
through intense public debates on conversion in Bengal, which continued
throughout the period.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy openly criticized orthodox Hinduism for the practice of
idolatry, which he saw as a corruption of Hindu philosophy. Through the
interaction with western thought, he came to see morality as the essence of
religion and believed that reason should merely serve to purify. In the light of his
new understanding, he campaigned for the reform of Hinduism. He was greatly
attracted to the teachings of Jesus, but saw the Christian doctrines built around
them as corruption of the religion of Jesus. This view faced serious opposition
from Serampore Baptist missionaries, who argued that Roy was misrepresenting
the gospel by neglecting the deity of Jesus and the atonement. The debate was first
started by Joshua Marshman, in his editorial in the Friend of India, described Roy
as 'an intelligent Heathen' whose work might 'greatly injure the cause of truth'.
He was concerned that Roy was treating Jesus as merely a teacher or founder of a
religious movement not as 'Lord of all" or "Redeemer of men. Sovereign Judge of
quick and dead". Through out, Roy stressed the sufficiency of following the
teachings of Jesus for Christian salvation and attacked the Christian doctrine of
deity of Jesus.
The debate has been seen first £ind foremost as a failure of missionary response
towards an Indian attempt to interpret Christianity. According to Stephen Neill,
the missionaries were 'strategically right but tactically wrong and Roy was
'mistaken' in thinkmg that the precepts of Jesus could be separated from Christian
doctrines, so that 'neither convinced the other''*. We find the debates between Roy
and Marshman has divergent views about Christian doctrines, Roy found the truth
which is one of the main doctrines that can be obtained without conversion to
Christianity, and on the other hand Marshan believed that truth and salvation can
be attained only after conversion to Christianity.
As high-caste conversion was felt in the Hindus community and as conversion of
Hindus was seen as the ultimate motive of the missionaries, the debates became
even more clearly focused on the issues of the legitimacy of conversion and the
universal claim of the Christian religion. John Muir, a Scottish civil servant and
orientalist stated 'Hindu resistance to Christianity is intellectual rather than
religious or ethical'. In response to this, the pandits started to respond publicly to
Christianity. We find the debates between Muir and the pandits focused on the
universal claim of Christianity and the use of reason to establish truth. While Muir
claimed that Christian faith has universal implications for all human beings,
regardless of their race and caste, on the basis of God's universal grace, the
pandits on the other hand argued for the particularity of all religions, including
Hinduism, on the basis of dharma. Muir argued that conversion is required
because only Christianity is a 'true' religion by which one must obtain salvation.
Muir's 'test of reason' for true religion was based on the western notion of
rationality, as shaped by the Enlightenment, and according to that standard, he
described Hinduism as a failing. But claimed that, Christianity was deficient and
its doctrines were false. According to their philosophy, Christianity was an inferior
dharma and they thus called for 'standing faithfully by one's ovm
E.Stanley Jones stressed that Christians presented a Christ to India who is not a
western import but was there in India before them. He said that the aim of his
mission w£is 'to produce Christ like character', but not to westernize India .
While Gandhi argued against conversion by applying the principle of swadeshi,
Jone's argument was based on human rights. They also differed over the nature of
religious identity. Gandhi considered that, since religion was embodied in the
religious heritage of one's forefathers one needs to reform it rather than to
conversion to another religion. While Jone believed that religion, like ideology or
scientific facts, could be separated from one's socio-cultural heritage. Therefore it
is the right of individual to select a religion of their choice. Gandhi insisted that
just as a nation has a right to impose its ideology and power on another, so the
missionaries had no right to impose their religious convictions .
Following the mass conversion especially among the depressed classes created
tension with Hindu leaders, and the relationship between Azariah (Bishop) and
Gandhi soured. Azariah made his position clear by stating that: 'Christianity has
a/ways stood for conversion and for changing people from one society to another'
which means 'breaking with the old fellowship and joining a new fellowship'. The
difference between Azariah and Gandhi hinged on the nature of conversion;
Gandhi asserted that conversion takes legitimately only in the spiritual realm of
the individual, whereas Azariah concluded that it also embraced socio-political
realms of human community .
It is clearly evident that, a relatively historiographical debate on Indian conversion
has been developed. One common notion about the conversion of the Indian to
Christianity was merely in the context of economy or materialism. It was thought
that, conversion would opened up better job prospects, be it in the missionary
organizations themselves, or putatively, though this was to be some time coming,
in the company administration. But on the contrary, there is no evidence that
becoming a Christian in any way enhanced employment prospects in the civil
administration . Perhaps this could be one important reason that attracted the
Indians especially the depressed classes towards Christianity. Evangelism was thus
the main objective of the missionaries, and by which they meant the presentation
of Christ to all human being without any bias with a view to their conversion
Insofar as missionary work in NEI was done increasingingly among the tribal
peoples of the region, the conversion issues in that area were quite different from
those in other parts of India. As for the Nagas, the issue on conversion is very
much different from their other counter parts of India. The teaching of Christianity
that is equality of human beings is found to be well suited with the Nagas.
Equality was clearly emphasized by the early Nagas, there was no class
stratification, no status, no discrimination, all these qualities clearly resembles
with the teachings of Christianity. It is clear that conversion of the Nagas to
Christianity generally occurred at the expense of village cohesiveness and
classless society. However, it may be noted that, conversion did not take place as
easy as one thought. Initially, the Nagas resented and opposed the activities of the
Christian missionaries. But slowly and gradually through the humanitarian and
medical missions many hearts were won to Christianity. It is proved that Christian
conversion movement for the Nagas were to become one of the largest mass
movements to Christianity in Asia.
At the end of the eighteenth century the only missionaries in Bengal were the
Baptists, who had been able to establish themselves under the Danish protection at
Serampore. But the word of their achievements spread far and wide in the west,
and the years between 1794 and 1833 were marked by steady increase in interest
in the missionary cause and in willingness on the part of young people to offer for
missionary service.
All the missionaries of the time agreed that the aim of missionary work must be
the conversion of the non-Christians. The preaching of the Gospel must be the
major part of missionary activity. But during the first third of the nineteenth
century there was a steadily growing consensus of the opinion that preaching is
not enough. Inveterate prejudice had made the minds of Hindus and Muslims alike
singularly unreceptive of the Christian message; a kind of softening process must
go on, and for that the only available instrument was education . This eventually
led to the opening of schools in many places where ever the missionaries went.
The impression of many people in the world is that in contemporary India women
have played an important role in public life. They have not only reached the
highest position of power-the prime minister ship, joined highest rank of
administration where they have acquitted themselves with distinction. While
behind this impression is the fact that there has been improvement in the political,
social and economic of women, it is nevertheless true that their status is still not
equal to that of men. Indian society in general is male-dominated, with the
women's place being mainly confined to the home. Her role is limited to
procreation, upbringing of children and catering to the needs of the creature
comforts of the men.
A number of social and religious customs, taboos, inhibitions, rituals, etc, prevail
in Indian society which came in the way of women's freedom to be educated or
work outside of the home.
Though tribal often affirm that their women enjoy
equal status with men, in fact the situation among the Lothas is similar to that
elsewhere in main land India.
For a long time the Lotha Nagas were isolated from the rest of the country. They
lived a simple village life and kept their traditional social customs and cultures
essentially unchanged. With the coming of the Christianity into their society, and
with the imposition of the alien British administration, a changed begins to take
place .
Christian proselytization in the Naga Hills grew apace with and under the umbrella
of the British Raj. The area's first district officer. Captain John stone, later recalled
that in 1875, "I pointed out that the Nagas had no religion, that they were highly
intelligent and capable of receiving civilization; that they would want a religion,
and that we might just as well give them our own, and make them in that way a
source of strength, by thus mutually attaching them to us... I cannot be doubted,
that a large population of Christian hill men between Assam and Burma, would be
a valuable prop to the state. Although John stone had recommended that a
"competent clergyman of the Church of England" be deputed to the Hills; it was
ultimately American Baptists who were allotted the region for proselytization.
10
Although the American Baptist Mission which entered the area in the later
nineteenth century did not differ with the assertions of the ethnographers like. J.
P.Mills, J.Butler, J.H. Hutton, they found on the other hand the society too open as
far liberty to the women were concerned and on the other hand repressive to the
tribal women. There was no empowerment, no healthcare or concept of basic
hygiene for women. The society actually was carried on the shoulder of its women
yet there were no entitlement or empowerment in terms of property rights, social
position or economic liberties. Hence they sought to influence the women folk
through
education,
healthcare, childcare
and
security
in
marriage.
The
evangelization was thus accompanied by a gender empowerment.
The Christian missionary endeavor in north east India, like every where else was
to introduce the civilizing narrative of modernity in a specific cultural milieu.
While the colonial state was averse to interfering in the existing dominjint social
structures, the missionaries were forthcoming in their response to perceived and
mythical savagery. Christianity became the medium for the extension of
modem ity in the peripheral north east. The enterprise was not based in a context of
subordination and oppression but from savagery to civility as means of
emancipation of soul. Emancipation entailed not just the male headhunters of the
tribes but also their women who saw headhunting as symbol of masculinity. Hence
it was not just the men folk but also the tribal women who needed to be civilized.
Civilization in missionary perspective was to introduce the institutionalized
religion of Christianity. But Christianity was not a religion. It was an embodiment
of western values, culture and civilization. The missionaries were therefore not
just the agents of a religion but the medium of westernization as well. The
missionaries thus concentrated not just in converting the tribal into Christianity but
also transform their lives as well. This transformation entailed the change in not
just the faith, but looks, food, dress, housing, values, ethics, morality, social
institutions, economic and even domestic life. Since women were an important
11
component of the tribal social life the nnissionaries could not ignore them But
influencing the tribal women was not an easy task as they belonged to the mner
domain of the society. Hence the missionaries mostly involved their women both
wives of the missionaries and single ladies.
Many of the women missionaries who served in the North East India were sent by
missionary
societies established by American Baptist women, who were
eventually consolidated under a single society, the Woman's Baptist Foreign
Missionary Society (WBFMS). The WBFMS was one of a number of women's
missionary societies established in the second half of the nineteenth century for the
specific purpose of enabling women to serve the needs of women. This eventually
led to the coming of more women missionaries to North East India in the
nineteenth century. This new development became reflected in their missionary
activities and programs they emphasized. The selected women's issues which
became their concern were education, evangelism, literary work and medical
mission.
Another sphere in which American Baptist women missionaries, both wives and
unmarried, were very active was in the establishment of women's organization
within the churches and associations that came into existence as a result of the
mission's work. The missionary wives were thus among the most active in
promoting this work. These organizations provided women with the first
experience of leadership outside the domestic sphere, proving them skills in public
administration and decision making that could not develop within the pre-colonial
Naga society.
. The Christian missionaries saw education as the main instrument for uplifting the
status of women in Naga society. They recognized the practical necessity of nonformal educational and vocational-oriented education for the girls as means of
12
preparing themselves for the life that most of them would be leading. In all the
Christian mission hostefs, girls were taught sewing, knitting, how to keep the
bodies clean, how to cook, how to keep a dignified life etc. However, as there was
no regular Christian missionary for the Lotha Naga tribe, female education was
not in much progress until 1949. It was only after the coming of Mr. & Mrs.
Howard Houston, a Baptist missionary couple in 1949, the real education for the
Lotha Naga girls was started.
In retrospection, it was found how successfully it counteracted the prevailing view
prohibiting the education of women. In this aspect we may say that, the Christian
missionaries were the first to emphasis the role of education through formal and
non-formal in equipping women to build a new social order. Girls were being
educated for more than being simple house wives, so that they would also become
agents of change in the society, based though they might be in the home. Without
doubt, the Christian girls who have received education in the Christian institutions
have been first among Naga women in Naga Hills to take out of home,
employment of all kind and made them economically independent and selfsupported.
It is essential to undertalce an zuialytical study of the missionary perspectives of
both 'savagery' and 'civilization' employed in this enterprise. It also propose to
study the vicissitudes and hurdles they faced and the results that the missionaries
achieved. It is hoped that this study will contribute to a better understanding of the
activities of the Christian missionaries, and in doing so provide into the influence
and impact they had upon the Lotha Naga women of North East India.
The study has been undertaken mainly on the basis of primary source materials
following historical method of investigation. Unfortunately the scarcity of sources
makes it impossible to determine in any detail the missionaries' activities for
13
Lotha Naga women due to the absence of permanent Christian missionaries in
Lotha Naga area until 1949.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
A glaringly negligible number of studies have been made on the Lotha Nagas
more so on the women. There has been no previous research on the specific
problem being investigated. However, there have been studies that have been
bearing on the subject. The Lotha Nagas who have been randomly mentioned in
the works of earlier writers have rich cultural heritage of their own, unique in
many ways. With the exception of the book written by J.P.Mills 'The Lotha
Nagas' the work which was rather a pioneering work dealt mainly with the social
system of the Lotha Nagas and generalities of their life, thus, no serious study on
the aspects especially Christian mission perspectives on women has been done till
date. Therefore, the study assumes important for analytical study of the role of
women in pre-Christian society and impact of Christianity and education, their
changing status and their role in the present day world.
The 19* century was a great landmark for the Lotha Nagas and more so for the
women folk. The century witnessed a transitional period from traditional to
modernity with the introduction of modem education and Christianity. Many
changes took place in this period. All these need to be studied.
The proposed study span over the coming of the American Baptist Missionaries in
Naga Hills and the beginning of the American Baptist Mission in Lotha Naga area
in 1885 till the departure of the American Baptist Missionaries from the Naga
Hills in 1950.
14
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:
The main objectives of the proposed research are:
1. To study the Pre-Colonial Lotha Naga society.
2. To study the coming of the American Baptist Missionaries and their views
about the Lotha Naga women.
3. To study the Missionary endeavor on female education.
4. To study the missionaries endeavor on healthcare.
5. To study the important changes taken place in Lotha Naga society with the
coming Christianity.
6. To study the impact of female education and the nature of empowerment
that the missionaries earned for the Lotha Naga women.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The literature on the problem studied is essentially of two categories. In the first
categories there are works of some local and foreign writers on the activities of the
missionaries. Besides these books works on Naga culture with special reference to
the Lotha Nagas has been looked into J.P.Mills' book 'The Lotha Nagas' remains
only detail account of the Lotha Nagas by earlier writers. However J.P.Mills has
little to say on the women. The study deals with their habits, social customs,
occupations, weapons, ornaments and dresses, their physical traits and general
characteristic including domestic life, laws and manners, their popular beliefs and
folk tales etc.
Christoph Von Fure-Haimendorf s "The Naked
Nagas'(1939).
'Return to the Naked Nagas '(1976), gives a good account of the various Naga
tribes on their physique, habits, customs, manners, beliefs, statures etc. However
informative the book might be, it has little to say on the women. Verrier Elwin's
'T/ie Nagas in the Nineteenth Century' (1959), give good account on the various
Naga tribes. He looked into details about the Nagas especially the festivals and
15
dances and their personal appearance, domestic life, social organization, religion,
customs etc. The importance of his work is the comparative point of view from
which he has approached his subject. However, the author has nothing to say on
the women. Thus, most of the earlier works hardly deal on the women.
Major works on the subject was by Fredrick Downs, Essays on Christianity in
North East India, edited by Milton Sangma and D.R.Syiemlieh (1994). The work
has useful references to the subject. Fredrick Downs also has specifically dealt
with the tribal women in his "^Women and Christianity' (1998). Another work of
Fredrick Downs is 'Christianity in North East India: Historical
Perspectives'
((1983, ''The Mighty works of God: A brief History of the Council of Baptist
Churches in NEI, the Mission Period 1836-J950 (1971). Besides these there are
works by Milton Sangma, History of the American Baptist Mission in North East
India, two volumes (1987), and Victor Hugo Sword, 'Baptist in Assam: A century
of Missionary service, 1836-1936 (1935), P.T.Philip, The Growth of Baptist
churches in Nagaland (19760,Lal Dena, Christian Mission and Colonialism: A
study of Missionary movement with particular reference to Manipur and Lushai
Hills, 1894-1947 (1998), Joseph Puthenpurakal, Baptist Mission in Nagaland: A
study in Historical and Ecumenical Perspectives (1984). AW these works focused
on the church rather than the mission. Most of these did not give extensive
attention to women issues.
Some of the books written by local writers which contained material that shed
light on the impact of Christianity are: A.Bendangyabang
Ao, History of
Christianity of Christianity in Nagaland, A source material (1998), and, A History
of Christianity in Nagaland: The Ao Naga Tribal Christian Mission
Enterprise,
1872-1972 (2002), these books contain relevant information about the advent of
Christianity in Nagaland.O.L.Snaitang, Christianity and social change in North
East India (1977) Angelina Lx)tsuro, "The Nagas: A Missionary
Challenge'
16
(2000), gives an account on Christian missionary activities and its impact on Naga
society. Zanao Mozhui, The impact of Christianity on the Naga people (2004),
contains the impact of Christianity on the Nagas. In addition to pubhshed books
there are number of thesis written from this perspective that contains some useful
contextual material. Some of the theses are: Vihuli Sema's work entitled
Ihe
work of the American Baptist Mission in Naga Hills 1836-1950, a PhD thesis,
NEHU, ShilJong looks into the activities of the missionaries in Nagaland. Ezamo
Murry's, The introduction and growth of Christianity in the Lotha Area of
Pageland, B.D Thesis, UTC (1976), are works on the growth of churches and
Christian Ministry in Nagaland. Narola Imchen, Role of women in the Ao Baptist
church (1992), was written from a different perspective but has some relevance,
Aphuno Chase-Roy's M.Th book. Attitudes
Missionaries
of American
Baptist
women
to Selected women's issues in the North East India, 1836-1950
(1993), concentrates more on missionary working in the plains areas.
In addition to the above mentioned books, there are some books that highlight the
role of women in Naga society and impact of Christianity. These include books
like Mary Mead Clark, Ao Naga Women (1896), Women in Naga Society (1998),
edited by Lucy Zehol, Narola Imchen, Women in church and Society: The story of
Ao Naga women (2001), Imtilemla Longchar, Portrayal of women in Drama
(1999), No More Sorrow in God's Garden of Justice: Tribal women Doing
Theology (2007), edited by Limatula Longkumer, Adino Vitso, Customary Law
and Women: The Chakesang Nagas (2003), Lichilo NguUy, An Evaluation of (he
traditional and custom ofKyong (Lotha), Unpublished B.D. Thesis (1995).
Apart from the above-mentioned books there are several missionary reports,
letters, journals etc. that provided useful theoretical sources to my study. Thus,
while there are a number of writings that are useful for providing insights into the
subject of research, and other writings that are similar in nature but studying
17
missionary role in transforming the Lotha Naga women in North East India,
nothing has done thus so far with the proposed subject of research.
METHODOLOGY
In view of pursuing the objectives of this research primarily the archival method
of Historiography has been followed. The data preserved in the state and regional
archives in various parts of India has been scanned and collected. The data in
relation to this subject is preserved in two categories of archives.
1. The Government archives based in New Delhi and state archives of
Guwahati, Calcutta, Shillong, and Kohima.
2. The Mission archives based in Guwahati, Jorhat, Kohima, Mokokchung,
Wokha, and Bangalore.
Such archival data has been supplemented by oral sources. The sources of oral
historians are reminisce, hearsay or eyewitness accounts about events that are
temporary, that is, which occurred during the life time of the informants. In the
present work, the latter method was employed. Besides these archival materials,
memoirs, reports, journals etc. of the American Baptist Missionaries have been
used to reconstruct the complete study. For this purpose, the researcher visited the
library of Eastern Theological College, the archives of the Council of Baptist
Churches of North East India (CBCNEI) in Guwahati, and made extensive use of
all available materials on the subject found in books, and the reports of the
missionaries, as well as of the mission societies, the personal journals and official
correspondence of the American Baptist women missionaries were made available
to the researcher.
18
ORGANISATION OF THE CHAPTERS
The work is organized into different but connected chapters. The entire study is
organized into seven chapters including an introductory and conclusive chapter.
CHAPTER ONE: Pre- Colonial Lotha Naga Society
Chapter one discusses the structure of the Pre-Christian Lotha Naga
society and the role of women in the society.
CHAPTER TWO: Coming of the American Baptist Missionaries
Chapter two examines the history of the American Baptist Missionary society and
it further examined the missionaries' views about Lotha Naga women.
CHAPTER THREE: Missionaries Endeavor on Female Education
Chapter four discusses the efforts of Christian missionaries in the field of female
education.
CHAPTER FOUR: Missionaries Endeavor on Healthcare
Chapter four studies the activities of the missionaries in the field of healthcare and
medical missions.
CHAPTER FIVE: Changes
Chapter five analyses the changes that took place in Lotha Naga Society. It also
deals with the vital issue of traditional marriage and its replacement by Christian
marriage with an objective of ensuring security to women in the institution of
marriage. It further studies the changes in cultural values, dress, and material
aspects
19
CHAPTER SIX: Empowerment
Chapter six examines the empowerment of Lotha Naga women which was made
possible through education
CHAPTER SEVEN; Conclusion.
Chapter seven is the conclusion, which briefly summaries the conclusion reached
as a result of the study.
Endnote and References:
' Kenneth Scott Latourette, 7he Great Century: The Americas, Australia and Africa
(1800-1914), Zonder Van Cep Edition, 1970. P.466-469.
^ C.B. Firth, y4M introduction to Indian History, ISPCK, Delhi, 2007.
17. Peter Van Der Veer Imperial Encounters, religions and Modernity in India and
Britain, Permanent Black, Oxford Apartment, New Delhi, 2001, p.42,
'' Sebastian C.H.Kim. In search of Identity, Debates on Religious Conversion in India.
Oxford University press, 2006, 14-17.t
' Ibid, p.25-27.
*^ Ibid, p.29.
V A / ^ , p. 34,35.
* Anthony Copley. Religions in Conflict: Ideology, Cultural Contact and conversion in
iMte Colonial India. Oxford university press 1997, p. 54.
^ Stephen Neill,y4 History of Christianity in India 1707-1858, Cambridge University
Press, 1985.
'" Sahibdeen Maurya, Women in India, (1988), p. 6-7.
'' S. Chubasangla Ao, "The Influence of Christian teaching on the life and Status of
women in Ao area ". An Unpublished B. D. Thesis, (1977), p. 21