The article examines the ideological framework and the principal concerns and interests that underline the colonial policy towards the hill ‘tribes’ of Northeast India. It elaborates on an argument that the colonial spatial ordering of the region privileges the valleys over the hills. The colonial rule establishes and maintains the structural imbalance of the region by making the plains the centres and by relegating the hills to the peripheral ‘others’, thereby perpetuating the power configuration implicit in the spatial organisation. Emphasis on paternalistic reasoning of the British policy towards the hills has clouded the stamp of indifference and insensitivity that underlay the policies. The policy also ‘excluded’ the hill peoples from access to education, engagement in modern economy, and development of infrastructures. The practice of reading the history of the British policy towards the hills appears to be essentially concerned with the elucidation of the hill peoples’ separatist attitude. By reading the history through the lens of categories such as centre-periphery, power relations and uneven development, the article contends that the colonial policy of segregation charts a historical trajectory, which is at variance with what the hegemonic discourse has established.

中文翻译：

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印度东北部的空间组织：殖民政治、权力结构和丘陵平原关系

本文考察了意识形态框架以及强调针对印度东北部山区“部落”的殖民政策的主要关切和利益。它阐述了一个论点，即该地区的殖民空间秩序优先于山丘上的山谷。殖民统治以平原为中心，将丘陵归为外围的“他者”，从而建立并维持了该地区的结构失衡，从而使空间组织中隐含的权力配置永久化。英国对山丘政策的家长式推理的强调掩盖了这些政策背后的冷漠和麻木不仁的烙印。该政策还“排除”了山区人民接受教育、参与现代经济和发展基础设施的机会。阅读英国对山地政策的历史的做法似乎主要是为了阐明山地人民的分裂主义态度。文章从中心边缘、权力关系、发展不平衡等范畴解读历史，认为种族隔离的殖民政策描绘了一条与霸权话语所确立的历史轨迹相悖的历史轨迹。