SHILLONG, June 3: It was a necessity for former bureaucrat and author of many popular books, KK Muktan, to write about the Nepali folks who settled in the Northeastern region of India. Muktan thus came up with a three-volume book titled ‘The Comprehensive History of the Nepalis in North East India’, capturing the yesteryears of the Nepalis in India, also known as the Gorkhas.
The book was released recently by famed Historian and the former Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission of India, David Reid Syiemlieh here.
Two years is how long it took Muktan to complete the three volumes of the book, while the press took two more agonising years to publish it.
The 92-year-old author of the book, Muktan, said, “There is a saying that necessity is the mother of invention. There is no Nepali history book so far written by anybody here. So many Nepali people have been here for more than 20 years but none wrote a book on them”.
The nonagenarian reminisced how the Nepali people have achieved so much but there has been no mention about it. “…it was a pinching voice in my heart that I must write something,” he added.
The author said that the Nepali people arrived in India over 200 years ago
“Now in 1815, the first recruitment of the Gorkhas was done by the British. Since then, they started coming every year because the British discovered that they were courageous and experts in fighting”.
On retirement, the British encouraged them to settle down wherever they were stationed, whether it was Assam, Meghalaya or any other place, Muktan said. They also gave jobs to the retired person such as clerks, chowkidars, etc., in British establishments, he added.
“Since then Nepalis began settling down and, at the same time, the British also encouraged the Nepali soldiers to bring their families to India with the idea that their children will be available for recruitment because there was want of recruitment and the government of Nepal was not ready to supply so many Nepali gorkhas for recruitment, so the British encouraged them to come and settle and this is how the Nepali population increased,” he said.
Today, this community can be found all over India. “…one good thing about them is that wherever they have settled, they have adopted the language of the place and also customs and traditions. That is how they were loved by all and mutually they stayed in different places,” he said.
Elaborating on his book, Muktan said ‘The Comprehensive History of the Nepalis in North East India’ consists of three parts. “…I have divided the 200 hundred years of Nepalis here into three different periods. The first period is from 1800-1920, when the Neplais first came to Assam in connection with Burmese war.”
“The Gorkhas drove away the Burmese from Assam and they brought peace and tranquility in Assam. Finding this, the British gave them land to settle down everywhere in Assam. They reared cattle, did agriculture and many other professions,” he said.
The second volume begins from 1921 up to 1947 and the third part begins from 1948 till date.
Informing that there is no exact census figure of Nepalis so far, Muktan, however, said that there should be not less than 20 lakh Nepalis all over the Northeast.
Renowned historian David Reid Syiemlieh spoke about how Muktan turned his attention to writing history after his retirement. “I am fascinated with the word history because it is something that I have taught for the last 40 years and it will continue to do so. But Muktan making a transition from economics to history is awesome. He did a marvellous job and many will be there in fascination reading his texts,” he said.
Recalling the many number of books Muktan had written, Syiemlieh said, “He has in detail provided us the connection of the Gorkhas in the army and that was in support of the colonial raj and they (Gorkhas) did a splendid job …whether fighting in India or abroad.”
“We are thankful to the text available that gives us these details because history cannot be by-passed, history is truth. It has to be established and it was established that the Gorkhas played a marvellous role in the defence and the growth of the empire,” he added.
Reminding that recently there was almost a direction that the lesser-known fighters of the country be emulated and brought into the readership of young students and scholars, Syiemlieh said, “I wish the volume which has been released today could have come a little earlier because somebody would have taken up the role of the Gorkhas in the freedom struggle”.
He went on to suggest that a portion may be developed into an article or given to the press to tell the story of many others who fought for the freedom of their own state just like the Gorkhas played their roles as mentioned in the book.
Syiemlieh said, “These volumes trace the history of the Nepalis in the Northeast starting from their earliest migration and settlement including the socio-cultural and economic and political welfare over time and these volumes are a testimony of the commitment of the author to his people and the contribution to making the region so multi-cultural.”
He also informed that Muktan’s many books are available in the best of the libraries and reputed universities across the world and that he is sure a copy or two will be in the national library at Kolkata.
KK Muktan was born on January 31, 1931. He did his graduation in Economics from St. Anthony’s College, Shillong, in 1953 and M.A. in Economics from Allahabad University.
He joined Assam Civil Service (ACS) in 1960, and when Meghalaya got its statehood, his cadre was changed into the Meghalaya Civil Service (MCS) cadre in 1975. He had the opportunity to serve the people of Meghalaya from the very initial stages of statehood as the Block Development Officer at Mairang, Mawsynram and Pynursla, and thereafter in Garo Hills as Additional Deputy Commissioner and at Shillong as Director and OSD, Agriculture and Veterinary and Fisheries department.
