A History of Assam c7.s1.28

c7.s1.28

Apart altogether from external aggression there was a strong internal tendency towards disintegration. There was no strong national spirit or other cohesive element amongst the Mongolian tribes of Assam, and their natural condition was probably that of a number of small communities, each under its own chief or headman, and independent of its neighbours; a state of things, in fact, very similar to that which existed at the time of the British conquest amongst the Gāros, Khāsis and Nāgas, whose organization in many cases was of a distinctly republican type. From time to time a local chief of unusual enterprise and ambition, or possibly some Kshatriya adventurer, would reduce these petty states and make himself master of the whole country. So long as the central administration was young and vigorous, the tribal headmen would be held in check, but as soon as it became weak and effeminate, as usually happened after a few generations, the latter would recover their lost independence, and enjoy it until it was again subverted in the manner already described.