| caption: |
Historical Summary - The Hills Districts |
| caption: |
Mezuma raid and subsequent punishment; decision to move headquarters to Kohima |
| text: |
98. In February 1877 the Angami Nagas of Mezuma raided upon the Arung Naga village of Gumaigaju, in the heart of North Cachar, killing 6 and wounding 2 persons; the cause of the attack was a feud thirty years old. With this exception, no raid had been committed by Angami Nagas within British territory since 1866, although there were numerous complaints of their depredations in Manipur; and their internal feuds were, as always, incessant. The village of Mezuma refused to give up the raiders, and in the cold weather of 1877-78 an expedition was sent against it, by which the village was burned. Mr Carnegy, the Political Officer, was accidentally killed by a sentry of his own party while occupying Mezuma. These events led to a review of the position which we occupied in the hills; and in 1878 it was determined by Colonel Keatinge, after a visit to the country, to abandon Samaguting, a low and unhealthy site on the extreme edge of the Angami country, and to fix the future head-quarters of the Political Officer at Kohima, in the midst of the group of powerful villages which it was specially necessary to control. This selection was approved by the Government of India in March 1878, and by the end of the next cold weather the transfer from Samaguting to Kohima was completed. |
