Colonial administration aims at maximum economic exploitation of the resources of the colony with minimum investment for the welfare of its people. Accordingly, Cachar plains of Assam were colonised by the British with a motive of exploitation and economic benefits to themselves. By contrast, the British had colonised the Mizo Hills without such motive but to subjugate traditional Mizo chiefs who conducted intermittent raids on the plains areas of Cachar where the economic exploitation of resources by the British was taking place. Being convinced by the non-availability of any resources for economic exploitation in Mizoram, the colonial rulers chd not like to invest huge capital for running their administration in the area. What the colonial administration wanted was nothing but to keep the frontier quiet with minimum investment over the people in Mizoram. Accordingly, the colonial administration decided to maintain stringent bureaucratic control over the colonial people through their traditional chiefs and hence demanded strict observance of their orders by the Mizo chiefs. As the colonial administration was not interested in uplifting the Mizo tribes, it gave a ‘carte blanche’ to the christian missionaries to shape and guide the life of the people. In brief many of the unfavourable developments that had taken place in the subsequent years in Mizoram could be attributed to the absence of proper guidance for the people from the colonial administration.
