THE BLACK HILL

by Mamang Dai

Category: Award-winners, Fiction
Price: Rs. 395

Set in the mid-nineteenth century, the action takes place in the Northeast—the region that spreads from Assam to Arunachal today. The East India Company is seeking to make inroads into the region and the local people—in particular the Abor and Mishmee tribes—fear their coming and are doing all they can to keep them out of their territories. The author takes a recorded historical event—the mysterious disappearance of a French priest, Father Nicolas Krick in the 1850s and the execution of Kajinsha from the Mishmee tribe for his murder—and woven a gripping, densely imagined work of fiction around it. And, even as the novel tells the story of an impossible journey and an elopement, it explores the themes of the lure of unknown worlds, the love people have for each other and their land and the forces of history.

Gimur, a girl from the Abor tribe, runs away with Kajinsha from the Mishmee tribe, and they settle down on his land near the Tibetan border. Father Krick’s attempts to reach Tibet to set up a Jesuit mission are foiled repeatedly by the local people not because of any personal animus towards the priests or their work, but because they feel—rightly—that once the priests come, the British, with their guns and their garrisons will follow. The story revolves around events in Gimur’s and Kajinsha’s villages and is also seen from the point of view of Father Krick, a gentle, intelligent man, devout but no bigot, whose determination to reach Tibet no matter what the cost, impacts tragically on all those who encounter him.

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About the Author

Mamang Dai is a poet, novelist and journalist based in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh. Her poetry, fiction and articles have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. Her published works include a poetry collection, River Poems; a book of interlinked stories, The Legends of Pensam and a novella Stupid Cupid. She received the Verrier Elwin Award in 2003 for her book Arunachal Pradesh: The Hidden Land and was awarded the Padma Shri in 2011 in recognition of her contributions in the fields of literature and education.

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