THE ABOR VILLAGE OF SILLI BURNED
[ 4 March 1894 ]
In February 1894, a punitive expedition was dispatched against the Abor people (now known as the Adi) living in the Abor Hills of North Eastern India. The intention was to inflict reprisals, as a British newspaper explained, because of an attack on a police patrol in November last, when three native policemen were killed,’ and after which ‘the tribesmen refused to make any compensation.’1 Rather than engage in any police action to arrest those responsible, the decision was taken to burn all villages deemed ‘unfriendly,’ including Silli. No details were given, but a correspondent for the Calcutta based newspaper, the Englishman, reported simply that ‘on the 4th instant after burning Silli we marched on to Bordak.’2
- ‘The Abor Expedition,’ The Witney Gazette, 17 March 1894, p. 6.
- ‘The Abor Expedition,’ The Englishman, 14 March 1894, p. 22.
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