1928.69.1570.2

Collection type

Object

Description

Basket made from woven plant fibre, which contained the 12 notebooks belonging to Rani Gaidinliu [1928.69.1570.3-.14]. For the lid see 1928.69.1570.1.

Long description

Basket made from woven plant fibre, which contained the 12 notebooks belonging to Rani Gaidinliu and in which she wrote her prophetic inscriptions [1928.69.1570.3-.14]. The basket is rectangular and has two crossed strips of cane to strengthen the base. For the lid see 1928.69.1570.1.

Geographical reference

India

Asia > Southern Asia > India

Cultural groups

Rongmei/Kabui Naga

Zeme Naga

Person

Associated person Gaidinliu

Field collector James Philip Mills

PRM source James Philip Mills

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1932

Date collected

March 1932

Acquisition information

Donated: 1932, uncertain

Materials and processes

Material Plant Fibre, Material Cane Plant, Process Basketry, Process Twisted

Dimensions

Width: max 220 mm, Length: max 330 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1928.69.1570.2

Research and responses

Notes on Gaidinliu by Julia Nicholson 2008: In the early 1930s a rebellion spread through the Kacha, Zeliang (Zemi) and Kabui Naga communities based on a new religious movement. Initially this cult was led by a seer named Jadonang and his devoted disciple, a young woman called Gaidinliu. Following Jadonang’s execution by the British (after he was convicted of the murder of four Manipuri traders) Jadonang was succeeded by Gaidinliu. Both Jadonang and Gaidinliu were considered to have special visionary powers and were described by followers as maibas (traditional shamans) who could foretell the future and cure the sick. They were treated as god and goddess and collected large amount of tribute from their followers. The religion they practiced was highly ritualistic and new gods and shrines were established based on Naga animism embellished with a mixture of Hinduism and Christianity. The magical symbols in the Gaidinliu notebooks were an important part of this belief system. The repetitive symbols resemble writing but are of no known language. It is said that Gaidinliu used these pages to enhance her power and they were sent as messages to her followers with the messenger providing a verbal translation. At this time of deprivation for Kacha, Zeliang (Zemi) and Kabui Naga communities, oppression by their Kuki enemies and resentment of the imposition British administration, it was believed by cult followers that adherence to this new set of religious practices would usher in a new era of plenty and the fall of the oppressors. After some years people got tired of the unending demands for tribute for the “goddess” and Gaidinliu was betrayed by one of her people, captured by the British and sentenced to 14 years in jail. Before her arrest Gaidinliu had told her followers that even if she was caught by the police, her real and divine self could not be imprisoned and her spirit would return to the people in a disguise so that her enemies would not recognise her. So the hope that Gaidinliu would return to lead her followers to freedom lived on. An interesting footnote is that in the early days of her fieldwork among the Zeliang (Zemi) in Nagaland, Ursula Graham Bower (Betts) was revered as a reincarnation of Gaidinliu. [JN 06/05/2008] See also pages 161 to 163 of The Nagas: Hillpeoples of Northeast India, by Julian Jacobs and pages 46 to 50 in Messianic Movements in Primitive India by Stephen Fuchs, 1965. [JN 06/05/2008]

Associated publications

See Longkumer, Arkotong (November 2016) "Lines that speak" The Gaidinliu notebooks as language, prophecy, and Textuality, HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 6, pp.123-147 [NC 15/02/2017] [copy in RDF] Illustrated in black and white on page 161 of The Nagas: Hillpeoples of Northeast India, by Julian Jacobs et al (Germany: Staib + Mayer, 1990). Caption (same page) reads: 'Notebooks supposed to be writings of Gaidiliu'. [ZM 01/05/2008]

Search terms: Religion, Basketry, Religious Object, Amulet, Basket, Lid