Disrupted Traditional Agricultural Practices: The Tangkhul Economy

It is a paper that attempts to explore the traditional agricultural practices of the Tangkhul Naga and its socio- economic significance to the tribe. Agriculture have always been and still the main source of livelihood of the Tangkhuls. The terrace and Jhum cultivation had produced sufficient to meet the basic needs of the community even though it was at the subsistence level. A village was an independent republic governed by a chief and a group of elders of the clans and all economic-social activities were governed by the traditional beliefs and practices. The centre of learning was the dormitory system through which every member has to go through to be trained the political, social and economic skills and values of the society. These ancestral practices were disrupted by various external factors which have drastically changed the socio- economic narrative of the Tangkhul especially the agricultural practices and perspectives.