Arunachal Pradesh is a mountainous Frontier State sharing its international borders with Myanmar, Bhutan and China and inhabited by 26 major tribes and over 110 sub-tribes. Each one of them has its distinct identity and cultural milieu. However, all of them identify themselves as Arunachalees and greet visitors with “Jai Hind� and with pride. In Arunachal Pradesh, both Hindi and Assamese are lingua francas.
        Till 1947, when India became Independent, tribal habitations, people and their economic and cultural space were secluded from rest of the world. The prevailing principle of their development was to segregate them in some kind of reservation and leave them on their own. The Eastern Frontier Regulation Act, 1873 enacted by the British, restricted the entry of people from rest of India in Arunachal Pradesh
(the then NEFA) without the permission of the Government.
        With the passage of time, some Arunachalee tribes inhabiting villages near Assam border came in contact with soldiers, a few explorers and British land survey parties and some traders.