4 MARCH

THE ABOR VILLAGE OF SILLI BURNED

[ 4 March 1894 ]

In February 1894, a punitive expedition was dispatched against the Abor people (now known as the Adi) living in the Abor Hills of North Eastern India. The intention was to inflict reprisals, as a British newspaper explained, because of an attack on a police patrol in November last, when three native policemen were killed,’ and after which ‘the tribesmen refused to make any compensation.’¹ Rather than engage in any police action to arrest those responsible, the decision was taken to burn all villages deemed ‘unfriendly,’ including Silli. No details were given, but a correspondent for the Calcutta based newspaper, the Englishman, reported simply that ‘on the 4th instant after burning Silli we marched on to Bordak.’²

FOOTNOTES

1. ‘The Abor Expedition,’ The Witney Gazette, 17 March 1894, p. 6.
2. ‘The Abor Expedition,’ The Englishman, 14 March 1894, p. 22.

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