Khodao Yanthan


Khodao Yanthan was a Naga liberation leader and a member of the Naga National Council. He was popularly called, “the grand old man of Naga political struggle”.

Early life

He was born to Nthîo Yanthan on 25 August 1923 at Lakhuti village in the erstwhile Naga Hills District. He was the second eldest amongst five male siblings. He attended the village Morung until he went to formal school in Jorhat at the age of eight. In 1943, he joined the Mission High School in Jorhat.
Yanthan's grandfather, Moyuthung Yanthan, was the last chief of the Kyong tribe. During the Second World War, he joined the Naga Labour Corps as a Quartermaster in 1942 and worked to combat the advancing Japanese forces in Northeast India. Initially, he was posted in Tamu, Myanmar. When still in Class 9, ETD Lambert visited his school and asked for volunteers who could speak English. He along with three other Lotha Naga police constables helped the 14th Division of the British Army to reach the Naga Hill from Mariani, Jorhat transerving through tea gardens and forests.
After the war, he finished his matriculation from Jorhat Mission School and proceeded to Serampore College for his Intermediate Arts. In March 1951, he took up a teaching position at the Wokha High School.

Political life

In 1951, Yanthan was elected President of the Lotha Tribal Council. He was a member of the central executive body of the NNC.
When the Shillong Accord lost its legitimacy among the Naga people, the NNC split into two groups: one under the leadership of Yanthan and another under Adino Phizo.