01Jadonang’s Heraka
She was born at Nungkao in the Tamenglong hills of Manipur, of the Rongmei people. At thirteen she joined the movement of her cousin Haipou Jadonang, who called the Zeliangrong Nagas back to their ancestral faith, the worship of Tingkao Ragwang, against conversion and against British taxes and forced labour. The British hanged Jadonang on 29 August 1931. Gaidinliu, sixteen, took his place. She told the villages to pay no house tax, and her followers fought the Assam Rifles. A reward was put on her head.
02Fifteen years in prison
She was captured at Pulomi village on 17 October 1932 and sentenced to life imprisonment. She was held in jails at Guwahati, Shillong, Aizawl and Tura. Jawaharlal Nehru met her in Shillong jail in 1937, called her the Rani of the Nagas and pressed for her release, which came only after Independence in 1947. She went on working for the Heraka faith and for the Zeliangrong people within India. She received the Tamra Patra for freedom fighters in 1972 and the Padma Bhushan in 1982, and died at Longkao on 17 February 1993.
