Over 24 years ago, in 1999, when a millennium was about to turn, the late lamented Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Assam cadre (1979 Batch), Vinay Sheel Oberoi asked me if I knew about Vijaynagar. Quintessentially tucked away in the easternmost extremity of India, Vijaynagar is a place “shrouded in mystery and seclusion”. Perched in the northeastern part of the Miao subdivision in the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh, Vijaynagar was for those who had even heard about it – Shangri-La. Few, even from the Northeast, were aware of this sleepy salient.
Vinay had written the entire script for my TV documentary series North East Focus in 1997 and had probably fathomed the idea that — in the late 1990s — the apprentice-ridden mind in me, staggering between a wannabe conflict theorist, author and chronicler was eager to learn more about the innards of the Northeast. Muli, as his friends used to affectionately address him, once asked, “Jaideep, would you like to do a documentary on the first place that the sun would greet India on January 1, 2000?”
It was in his Defence Colony house in New Delhi where I was a frequent invitee. Muli had, I think, been the joint secretary (defence), Government of India, in one of the preceding years. But, his quest for the unknown in the Northeast that he ably served until his sad demise some years ago is unmatched. In any event, Muli’s query about Vijaynagar remained an intrigue.
It was only about a year later, in 2001, when I visited the Assam Rifles’ 25 Sector in Lekhapani for a briefing and onward patrolling into the sector’s interiors that I understood the wondrous imperative of the salient. In any event, Vijaynagar continues to be perched where it is. Tales about the Chinese seeking it out in search of the fabled musk deer and the manner in which it earned its name were heir to only a few.
The Assam Rifles and its director-general, Lt Gen PC Nair must be congratulated for producing a coffee table book titled Discovery of Vijaynagar. The book lays threadbare the clouded history of Vijaynagar. Nine smart chapters unfold the story of the discovery.
It is not unusual for the Indian Army or the Assam Rifles to chronicle far-flung places in its areas of responsibility. Indeed, a plethora of books and articles have come to the fore about the 1962 border clash with China. Sundry other officers have sought to pen scholarly works about the region and even about the history of the Assam Rifles. However, the latest offering by the Assam Rifles on Vijaynagar, mentored by Lt Gen Nair, is exceptional.
The difference is one of style and approach. Replete with rare photographs, sketches and maps, the coffee table book is a veritable cornucopia of knowledge about a place that most of India does not even know exists. The history of the land and people of Vijaynagar comes alive in the pages of this very rare book.
The manner in which Vijaynagar’s existence in India is painted is no less than that of the flourish of a Husain or even Gauguin. Readers will not only turn the pages of this wonderful work with eagerness, but would, methinks, make efforts to search out Vijaynagar for themselves.
Lt Gen Nair, director-general, Assam Rifles and his able team must be complimented for Discovery of Vijaynagar.
(Jaideep Saikia is a conflict theorist and best-selling author. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views)
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