author
Sir James Johnstone
1841–1895
A British officer and colonial administrator, he is remembered for a vivid firsthand memoir of Manipur and the Naga Hills. His writing offers a close-up view of the northeastern frontier of British India in the late nineteenth century.
1 Audiobook
My Experiences in Manipur and the Naga Hills
by Sir James Johnstone
About the author
Born in 1841 and dying in 1895, Sir James Johnstone is best known today for My Experiences in Manipur and the Naga Hills, published in 1896 after his death. The book presents his account of service in northeastern India and helped preserve a detailed, personal record of the region as seen through a British imperial officer's eyes.
Contemporary editions identify him as Major-General Sir James Johnstone, K.C.S.I. His memoir centers on Manipur and the Naga Hills, where he served in a political and administrative role, combining military experience with observations on local politics, landscape, and society.
Modern readers often come to Johnstone for the historical value of his narrative rather than for a complete picture of the people he wrote about. Like many colonial-era memoirists, he wrote from the viewpoint of the British Empire, but his book remains a notable source for anyone interested in the history of Manipur, the Naga Hills, and the frontier world of nineteenth-century India.