The present land of Konyaks is situated in the North-East India of Nagaland, surrounded by Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Tuensang District of Nagaland, and North Myanmar. The Konyaks are considered to be the largest tribe of Nagas having a population of 1,21,810 (2001census). They belong to the Tibeto-Burman language family. Unique to the Konyaks, they practiced hereditary Kingship as well as headhunting common to Naga tribes. In such a situation, the British came to Konyak soil in the early part of the nineteenth century. They found the Konyaks advanced in all aspects, particularly in the use of arms. The British found them difficult to subdue. The British opened Opium royals and issued an opium license to the Konyaks. In no time many of them became opium addicts. The normal cultivation of crops and the spread of Education was not encouraged. This is considered one reason why Konyaks have become economically and educationally backward. For the first time, they encountered the Gospel through the American Baptist missionaries in the middle of the nineteenth century but for some reason, Christianity had no impact upon these people. After nearly a century in the middle of the 20th century under the native Evangelists from neighboring tribes, some Konyaks became Christians, resulting in mass conversion thereafter. As a matter of fact, for many years they used some portions of the Scripture translated by pioneer missionaries who belonged to other tribes. Despite the rapid growth of the Christian population, they were deprived of the Bible in their own language. The BSI seeing the need for the Scripture by the Konyaks published the New Testament. The timely distribution of the Scripture harvested a huge turnout in the Christian population. Tens of thousands were exposed to the word of God and subsequently accepted Jesus as the Savior. The Churches are still growing and the demand for the Scripture is considerably impressive. By providing the Scripture, they will be helped to encounter the word of God. The New Testament was published in 1973, the Konyak Bible in 1992, and the Konyak Bible (Revised) in 2011
This translation, published by the Bible Society of India, was published in 2011.
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