The British army took nearly half a century to subdue the notoriously warlike Nagas of the northeast. In the end, it was Bibles rather than bullets that undermined the tribes’ fierce guerrilla resistance to colonial rule, after Baptist missionaries convinced them to give up head hunting and start building churches.

Today, the state is said to more fervently Baptist than Mississippi, and the old way of life has all but disappeared. However, touring more remote Naga villages you’ll see some fabulous traditional architecture, clothes, weaving, facial tattoos and headgear, especially during festivals.