author
John Shakespear
1861–1942
Known for firsthand writing on the Lushai Hills and Manipur, this soldier-administrator turned his years in northeastern India into books that still interest historians and readers of colonial-era travel and ethnography.
1 Audiobook
The Lushei Kuki Clans
by John Shakespear
About the author
Born in India in 1861, John Shakespear was educated at Wellington College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He served in the British Army in India and later worked in the Indian Political Service, becoming the first Superintendent of the British Lushai Hills in the 1890s.
Alongside his administrative career, he wrote about the people and places he knew directly. His best-known works include The Lushei Kuki Clans and History of Upper Assam, Upper Burmah and North-Eastern Frontier, and his writing remains part of the historical record for the region.
He died in 1942. Although his books reflect the attitudes of their time, they are still read today for their detailed, on-the-ground observations and for what they reveal about British rule in northeastern India.