Evangelising the Nation examines the extent to which a particular articulation of Christianity mediated the formation of national identity among the Nagas who inhabit the hill tracts between the Brahmaputra River in India and the Chindwin River in Burma (now Myanmar). This revised second edition revisits the defining attributes of this process and brings to forefront the agential role of religion in shaping modern political identities.
This book, based on meticulous archival research, tracks the transmutations of Protestantism from the United States to the hill tracts of Northeast India, and its impact on the form and content of the nation that was imagined and longed for by the Nagas. It also examines how missionaries, local church leaders, and the colonial and post-colonial state mediated nationalist aspirations among the Nagas during the twentieth century.
Part of Transitions in Northeastern India series, this lucidly written book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of South Asian history, religion, political science, sociology and social anthropology, and particularly those concerned with Northeast India.
By:
John Thomas
Imprint: Routledge India
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: 2nd edition
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781041027560
ISBN 10: 1041027567
Series: Transition in Northeastern India
Pages: 202
Publication Date: 22 September 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
Foreword to the Second Edition. Preface to the Second Edition. Preface to the First Edition. Acknowledgements. List of abbreviations. Introduction 1. The original sin 2. Sending out the spears 3. War, nationalism and conversions 4. Peace, crusades and pacification 5. Church, politics and the limits of theology Conclusion. Postscript. Bibliography. Index.
John Thomas is Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, Assam, India.
