The Tagins were never under the colonial rules. They were independent and were determined to retain their independence. The society was self regulated society without assigning regulatory authority to any individual. Their customs, social norms and tradition regulated their life. Because of their determination to protect their independence and hostility shown to the intruders, the colonial ruler had to retreat during the Miri Mission exploration of the 1911-12 and never made further attempt to penetrate into the Tagin’s territory. So, the Tagin’s territory remained till the last to be explored. Soon after independence, in order to asses its sovereignty, the Government of India extended its administration in the name of administering justice by sending the political interpreters, political Jemadars and Gams from Adi area to the lower territory to arrest those whom they viewed as criminals and to award them punishment. However, Chinese military activities along the McMahon line gradually drew the consciousness of the Government of India about the geo-political importance of the northern frontier along the McMahon line. So, immediately the Government of India launched forward policy to push the administration into the interior of the hills and to bring the entire hitherto non-administered territory unto the McMahon line under regular administration. In order to tame the Tagins the government quickened the process of establishment of administrative centres in the entire Tagin area and started developmental schemes. This process was followed by other forces like education, culture, religions, etc. Therefore, an attempt has been made in this work to study the nature of the Tagins’ traditional institutions: social, economic, political, culture and religion, how the introduction of present administration triggered the process of change and what are the forces that are responsible for it.
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