Seven Sisters of India

S evening Sister States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation, search For the allow by Aglaja Stirn and Peter Van Ham, see The Seven Sisters of India. The Seven Sister States of India The Seven Sister States be a region in northeastern India, comprising the contiguous states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura. The region had a population of 38. 6 million in 2000, about 3. 8 percent of Indias total. There is great ethnic and religious diversity deep down the seven states.For most of their history, they were independent, and their complete integration with India came about only during the British Raj. Most of the seven sister states are on the Eurasian Plate. (Excluding Southwest Meghalaya and the uttermost(prenominal) west of Assam) 1 Contentshide * 1 The Seven States * 2 History * 3 Ethnic and religious theme * 4 Natural resources * 5 Interdependence * 6 argument of the sobriquet * 7 See also * 8 References * 9 Ext ernal links edit The Seven States State Capital Arunachal Pradesh ItanagarAssam Dispur Manipur Imphal Meghalaya Shillong Mizoram Aizawl Nagaland Kohima Tripura Agartala edit History When India became independent from the United body politic in 1947, only three states covered the area. Manipur and Tripura were princely states, while a much larger Assam Province was under direct British rule. Its capital was Dispur. quartette new states were carved out of the original territory of Assam in the decades following independence, in line with the policy of the Indian government of reorganizing the states along ethnic and linguistic lines.Accordingly, Nagaland became a separate state in 1963, followed by Meghalaya in 1972. Mizoram became a Union Territory in 1972, and achieved statehood along with Arunachal Pradesh in 1987. edit Ethnic and religious composition Except for Assam, where the major languages are Assamese and Bengali, and Tripura, where the major language is Bengali, the reg ion has a dominantly tribal population that speak numerous Tibeto-Burman and Austro-Asiatic languages. Hinduism and Christianity are the predominant religions in this region.The proliferation of Christianity among the Seven Sister States sets it apart from the rest of India. The work of Christian missionaries in the area has led to large scale conversion of the tribal population. Christians right away comprise the majority of the population in Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya and sizeable minority in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. The bigger states of Assam and Tripura, however, have remained predominantly Hindu, with a sizeable Muslim minority in Assam. edit Natural resourcesMain industries in the region are tea-based, crude oil and natural gas, silk, bamboo and handicrafts. The states are heavily forested and have plentiful rainfall. There are beautiful wildlife sanctuaries, tea-estates and mighty rivers like Brahmaputra. The region is home to one-horned rhinoceros, elephants and other endangered wildlife. For security reasons, including inter-tribal tensions, widespread insurgencies, and disputed borders with neighbouring China, there are restrictions on foreigners visiting the area, hampering the emergence of the potentially profitable tourism industry. edit Interdependence The landlocked Northeastern region of the country comprises seven separate states whose geographical and practical needs of development emphasize their need to thrive and work together. A compact geographical unit, the Northeast is isolated from the rest of India except through the Siliguri Corridor, a slender and vulnerable corridor, flanked by alien territories. Assam is the gateway through which the sister states are connected to the mainland. Tripura, a virtual enclave almost surrounded by Bangladesh, strongly depends on Assam.Nagaland, Meghalaya and Arunachal depend on Assam for their internal communications. Manipur and Mizorams contacts with the main body of India are through Assams Barak Valley. Raw material requirements also make the states mutually dependent. All rivers in Assams plains originate in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and western Meghalaya. Manipurs rivers have their sources in Nagaland and Mizoram the hills also have rich mineral and forest resources. Petroleum is found in the plains.The plains depend on the hills also on critical questions like flood control. A correct strategy to control floods in the plains calls for soil conservation and afforestation in the hills. The hills depend on the plains for markets for their produce. They depend on the plains even for food grains because of limited cultivable land in the hills. To provide a forum for collaboration towards common objectives, the Indian government established the North east Council in 1971. Each state is represented by its Governor and Chief Minister.The Council has enabled the Seven Sister States to work together on numerous matters, including the provision of educational faci lities and electric supplies to the region. edit Origin of the sobriquet The sobriquet, the Land of Seven Sisters, had been originally coined, coinciding with the inauguration of the new states in January, 1972, by Jyoti Prasad Saikia, a journalist in Tripura in course of a radio talk. Saikia later compiled a book on the interdependence and commonness of the Seven Sister States, and named it the Land of Seven Sisters. It has been primarily because of this takings that the sobriquet has caught on.