North-East region, a vital entity of great Indian land has been in the limelight in spite of being geographically in the extreme corner of the country. In the recent times by virtue of being a major source of oil, tea, forest produce and medicinal herbs, the region has acquired special importance for India. Dominantly mountainous, North-East forms natural walls separating India from adjacent lands. The mighty river Brahmaputra with several tributaries, apart from being a great gift of fertility and civilization for India has also proved a great integrating force uniting North-East with national mainstream.

Here is a book that gives fair account of origin, history, rich cultural heritage, customs, traditions and beliefs of various tribes now settled in different parts of. North-East. The author has paid well deserved attention to various segments of the region and concentrated on past researches, the life, economic conditions, occupational patterns, arts and crafts, traditional dormitories and inherent concepts, dresses, entertainment and rapidly changing cultural and economic scene of the North-East.

With supporting photographs these accounts will enrich the knowledge and delight the readers as they derive their authenticity from personal observations of the author.

Lalita Prasad Vidyarthi was an internationally known Anthropologist and Ethnologist. He was actively associated with several institutions and professional bodies in India and the world over. Professor Vidyarthi was the President of International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES): Chairman, IUAES Commission on Development; Director, UGC, Department of Special Assistance in Anthropology; Editor, International Journal of Asian Studies and Distinguished Science Awardee (USA). He was Professor and Head, Department of Anthropology, Ranchi University when he died in 1985.

Art and Culture of North-East India is his posthumous publication. It is an outcome of his longstanding field work and research in North- Eastern Himalayan communities.

The Himalayas and the Culture of Himalayan region have always fascinated me, and it was in 1964 that I did my first fieldwork in the different parts of Western, Central and North-Eastern Himalayas. Since then I have been paying frequent visits and conducting field researches. My interest culminated in the establishment of the Centre of Himalayan studies at Ranchi in 1979, under the aegis of which two National Symposia were also organised, one at Ranchi in 1981 and the other at Dehradun in 1982 on Himalavan Ecology, Economy and Religion.

**Contents and Sample Pages**