A History of Assam c23.47

c23.47

The murder of Mr. Williamson and his party by Abors in 1911, which has already been narrated, following on a long series of outrages by tribes living beyond the Inner Line, led to a complete revision of the system of administration on the northern frontier. Two new charges, known as the Sadiya and Bālipāra frontier tracts, were created and placed under the control of Political Officers. These charges consist partly of settled plains portions of the Lakhimpur and Darrang districts, respectively, in which the administration is practically the same as that obtaining in those districts, and partly of areas beyond the Inner Line inhabited by the border tribes, over whom only loose political control is exercised. The Sadiya Frontier Tract extends on the north and east to the confines of Tibet and touches Burma on the south-east and south. The Bālipāra tract includes the important trade route from Udalguri into Tibet, which is the shortest way from India to Lhassa. As a result of this measure the relations between the hillmen and the people of the plains have greatly improved.