Nagaland is a constituent state of the Indian Union, formally inaugurated on December 1, 1963, as the 16th state of India, with Kohima as its capital. Its creation was a political solution to a long-standing Naga nationalist movement and armed insurgency that sought a separate political identity after India's independence. The state was carved out of the former Naga Hills Tuensang Area (NHTA), which itself was formed in 1957 by merging the Naga Hills district of Assam and the Tuensang frontier division.
The state's formation was a direct result of the 16-Point Agreement signed in July 1960 between the Naga People's Convention (NPC) and the Government of India. This agreement paved the way for the enactment of The State of Nagaland Act, 1962, and the insertion of Article 371A into the Constitution of India via the Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act, 1962.
Article 371A grants Nagaland a special constitutional status, embodying the principle of asymmetric federalism. Its key mechanism is a safeguard that stipulates no Act of Parliament concerning the religious or social practices of the Nagas, Naga customary law and procedure, administration of civil and criminal justice involving customary law, or the ownership and transfer of land and its resources shall apply to Nagaland unless the Nagaland Legislative Assembly passes a resolution to that effect. This provision connects directly to the protection of Naga identity and customary laws. Historically, the article also included special provisions for the then-Tuensang district, which had a Regional Council for a period of ten years, a mechanism that was abolished in 1973. The core provisions of Article 371A remain the fundamental mechanism governing the state's autonomy.