Manipur
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Manipur | |
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| Time zone: IST (UTC+5:30) | |
| Country |  India |
| District(s) | 9 |
| Established | 1972-01-21 |
| Capital | Imphal |
| Largest city | Imphal |
| Governor | Gurbachan Jagat |
| Chief Minister | Okram Ibobi Singh |
| Legislature (seats) | Unicameral (60) |
| Population • Density |
2,388,634 (22nd) • 107 /km2 (277 /sq mi) |
| Language(s) | Meiteilon |
| Area | 22,347 km² (8,628 sq mi) |
| ISO 3166-2 | IN-MN |
| Website: manipur.nic.in | |
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Manipur 
pronunciation (help·info) (mnipur in Meitei Mayek) is a state in northeastern India, making its capital in the city of Imphal. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders the country of Myanmar to the east.An area of 8,628 sq mi (22,347 km²).
The Meiteis, who live primarily in the state's valley region, are one of the primary ethnic groups. Their language, Meiteilon (also known as Manipuri), is also the lingua franca in the state, and was recognized as one of India's national languages in 1992. The Kukis and Nagas live in the hills of the state. Manipur is considered a sensitive border state. Foreigners entering Manipur (including foreign citizens born in Manipur) must possess a Restricted Area Permit, which can be obtained from the Foreigners’ Regional Registration Office in the "metros" (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai) or certain other state government offices. Permits are valid for only 10 days, and visitors must travel only on tours arranged by authorised travel agents, in groups of four. Furthermore, they may come to Imphal only by air and are not permitted to travel outside the capital.
[edit] History
Manipur came under British rule as a princely state in 1891. This ended the independent status of the Kingdom of Manipur, the last kingdom to be incorporated into British India.
During the Second World War, Manipur was the scene of many fierce battles between the Japanese and Allied forces. The Japanese were beaten back before they could enter Imphal, and this proved to be one of the turning points of the War.
After the War, the Manipur Constitution Act, 1947, established a democratic form of government with the Maharaja as the Executive Head and an elected legislature. In 1949, Maharaja Bodhchandra was summoned to Shillong, capital of the then Indian province of Assam. He signed a Treaty of Accession, merging the kingdom into India. The legislative assembly was dissolved on the integration of the state with the republic of India in October 1949. Manipur was a union territory from 1956 and later became a full-fledged state in 1972.
Maharaja Bhagyachandra, king of Manipur from 1759–98, is a legendary figure in Manipur. The inventor of the Ras Lila dance,[1] he is also credited with spreading Vaishnavism in Manipur after his grandfather Pamheiba Rajah made Hinduism the official religion and for creating a unified Manipur.[2]
Merger Of Manipur With The Dominion Of India Before the British came to India, the land was a very much divided country, a land then not existing under a unified or unitary sovereign Government but a vast land of conglomeration of different domains and principalities called kingdoms and states (later on named native states), big and small, with so many culturally, ethnically and linguistically varied and divided groups of indigenous peoples under their own hereditary rules and chiefs, in the names of Maharajas, Rajas, Nawabs, Dewans, Zamindars, Jagirdars and Emperor.
The British landed in India in the year 1608 AD firstly at Surat, one of the richest sea ports on its west coast, as ordinary traders, in the name of 'British East India Company' who had been granted on 31 December 1600 by Queen Elizabeth I a charter with rights of exclusive trading for 15 years to the 'Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies'.
The British people who so landed as very ordinary traders initially consolidated their power in due course of time, and with their better skill and supremacy in arms and diplomacy, became the overlords and invincible rulers of the vast and much divided country by expanding their power gradually for which they took the fullest advantage of the 'disunity' that were there amongst the indigenous peoples, who by then, were living not as a unified and strong nation as such, though majority of them had been somehow brought under the rising great Mughal power established at Delhi from the times of Babur and his son, Akbar, the great during the 16th/17th centuries till it came to an end from 1707 AD onwards with the death of their last and weak Emperor, Aurangazeb.
The power so established by the British East India Company in the vast and much divided land during the period of some two and half centuries came under the direct control of the British crown by an Act passed in the British Parliament with effect from August 2, 1858 under the name 'The Government of India Act', with full power and responsibilities for the Government and Revenues of India vested on one of Her Majesty's secretaries of States due to the effect of a great and widespread 'Indian Revolt' known as 'Sepoy Mutiny of 1857' that had flared up against the misruling of the company over several aspects.
The great frustrations and discontent of the people had been accumulating for long which culminated at the aforesaid time with a violent burst. The British Government thus continued to rule over the vast country directly under their crown in the name of 'British India', including that of the land of a large area in the east annexed by them on 1 January 1886 known as the kingdom of Burma (now Myanmar) ruled by king Thibaw, till year 1935-36 when it was separated as a different unit (Dominion) under their rule.
The direct ruling of the British Crown over the country was done through a representative known as the Viceroy of India with his capital shifted to New Delhi from being earlier at Calcutta (now Kolkata), founded by Job Charnock of the company in the year 1696 on the 'marshy village called Sutanati' after the failure of the company to take nearby port Chittagong by force in 1686. The British thus had been ruling over the country with unchallengeable mighty powers, for the establishment of which the credit really goes to Robert Clive, who began his service in the East India Company as a mere clerk but who subsequently rose to higher military ranks by his hard works and exemplary valors displayed in the crucial battles taken place between the force of the company and the outnumbering local force and ultimately became the Governor of the Presidency of Bengal annexed and ruled by the Company.
However, they (the British) had to part with their paramount power so acquired quite dearly, as was inevitably compelled to do so under the rapidly rising national and international political heavy pressures that had been exerting on them since 1929/30s which reached the highest peaks in the year 1946 and 1947 i.e. immediately after the end of the Second World War.
Therefore, as a result of an Act passed in the British Parliament under the Premiership of Clement Richard Attlee of the Labor Party under the name 'the Indian Independence Act, 1947' they ultimately relinquished their 'imperial power' at midnight of the 14th August by handing over to the interim Government headed by a Governor-General, Lord Louis Mountbatten, later on succeeded soon by CR Rajagopalachari under an interim Constituent Assembly which soon enacted and adopted a new Constitution for the independent country and it became a Republic from the day of the 26th January 1950 onwards with Dr Rajendra Prasad elected as its first President and Jawaharlal Nehru as the first Prime Minister.
The handling over of the Sovereign power to the interim Government was done at midnight of the 14th August 1947 as it was considered to be a day more auspicious than the day of the 15th of August 1947, a day and date for the occasion recommended by Mountbatten and approved by the British Prime Minister, CR Attlee.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the leader of the interim Constituent Assembly thus hit upon a compromise by calling the sitting of the Constituent Assembly in the midnight and thus took over the power immediately after the 'zero hour' of the day thus serving both the purposes of observing the 'auspiciousness' of the day as fixed by the learned Hindu astrologers according to Hindu calendar, and also fully conforming to the date fixed by the British authorities, for the British system the day of the 15th August 1947 begins immediately after the midnight of the 14th of August 1947 which, for the Indian system, continues to be the day of it still till the 'Suryaudai' - the 'Sun-rise' of the 15th morning.
While the people of the land rejoiced on their becoming a nation of a free and independent sovereign country it was shrouded in deep feelings of great sadness because the great land, which was once existing as a vast domain of a singular country, known as 'Bharat-Varsha' had been divided into two separate dominions of independent countries named, India and Pakistan, the former being a 'Secular State' and the later a country purely of Muslim religion. To the Pakistanis they prefer India to be called always by the name 'Hindustan', most probably with an aim to subvert its well laid down spirit of being always a secular country.
The two independent Dominions of Countries were so born as an immediate outcome or result of the Act passed in the British Parliament under the name of Indian Independence Act, 1947 as had been mentioned earlier. Their creations were done as per provision laid down in the first para of the Act of which the 'seeds for the division' had already been 'sown' from the time of Viceroy, Minto of the much earlier period (from November 1905 to November 1910), according to whose reforms introduced under an Act known as Government of India Act, 1909 separate electorates from the Muslims in the country had been provided to serve the purpose of 'divide and rule' policy of the British for weakening the 'oneness' of the Indian people for their going against them for achieving their demand of 'full independence' for the country as one.
The Act so passed allowed all the Native States, some 500-600 in number, then existing in semi-independent status, till then to 'opt' for joining with 'Either' of the two dominions by merging along with their contiguous neighboring provinces, or to remain as a separate state within the dominion, if considered 'viable' to do so from the political, financial and other essential points of views, and as such all of them at once joined and merged in the Dominion of India smoothly and quite peacefully by absorbing into their contiguous neighboring provinces except the States of Hyderabad, Kashmir, Benares, Tripura and Manipur.
In the case of the former two giant States, they were merged after they were forced to do so as a result of swift and unchallengeable military actions taken by the mighty Indian Army in the pretext of taking internal police actions, in the case of Hyderabad, and in the case of Kashmir, after a brief spell of war taken place with Pakistan who most aggressively intruded and assisted their tribesmen in their sudden raid carried out on the State, which by then was under the independent ruling of a Hindu King over a vast majority of Muslim subjects and the king who, greatly alarmed by their rapid aggression fully backed by Pakistan Army, at once 'acceded' his kingdom to the Indian Union and sought the immediate military assistance of the Government of India and thus the action of the Indian Army had been taken till it was stopped by an intervention directed from the United Nations after which the State became recognized as a fully merged State within the Dominion of India minus a large area on the western sector that had been forcibly occupied by Pakistan as a part of their Dominion being known as the 'occupied Kashmir' for which the dispute between the two dominions of India and Pakistan is still dragging on unsettled.
In fact, the dispute very adamantly raised still by Pakistan is on the issue of claiming the entire State of Kashmir to be acceded to her on the basis of having its vast majority of Muslim population like that of having a majority of Hindu population in the case of Hyderabad under a Muslim ruler, the Nizam.
The accession of Kashmir done by its Hindu Maharaja was immediately ratified by Sheikh Abdullah, leader of the All Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, an organization who enjoyed popular support. Sheikh Abdullah became the Prime Minister, a special status, of the merged State of Kashmir and in November 1956 its Constituent Assembly legalized her status as being the 'de facto' integral part of the dominion of India. Had it not been due to the timely, swift and highly commendable service and action of the gallant troops of the Indian army, particularly of the Air-borne troops under the command of the most able and well know, Brigadier Thimaya, Kashmir would have been, perhaps in the map of Pakistan by now, and in that case what could have been the actual 'scenario' of relationship in between the two countries by now, particularly in their spirits of 'hostilities' is the 'billion dollar' question that keeps everyone highly guessing and wondering.
The accession of Hyderabad, the biggest State in India, with the India union, was not effected without bloodshed. The State with a Muslim ruler and a large majority of Hindu population, just the opposite to that of Kashmir, entered into a year's stand-still agreement with the Indian Union on 29 November, 1947. As a result of the Agreement, Indian troops were withdrawn, but the Hyderabad police force and the local Razakar troops under Syed Kasim Razvi took complete control over the civil population.
Moreover, the Nizam demanded an outlet to the sea and the port of his choice was Goa. The Government of India tried to persuade Hyderabad to immediately accede to the Indian Union and accordingly prepared a Draft Agreement for that purpose. The growing violence of the Razakar troops in Hyderabad and smuggling of arms from foreign Governments precipitated a great crisis. The Government of India demanded the immediate disbandment of the Razakar troops and the deployment of the Indian troops at Secunderabad. But the Nizam, who had sought intervention of the United Nations, refused to accept these terms.
Consequently, the Indian troops under Major General JN Choudhury of the cavalry marched into Hyderabad on 13 Sept, 1948 and had very ably and promptly diffused the critical situation that was developing quite alarmingly. The Government of India declared that it was not an act of 'war' but purely a 'police action', intended to restore peace and order in the State. Kasim Razvi was arrested, the Razakar organization was dissolved, and the Nizam submitted. Eventually Hyderabad acceded to India in November 1949. As for the two small States, namely Benares and Tripura, they quite tamely came in within the Dominion of India with effect from 15 October, 1949 along with Manipur for which they had already and smoothly signed the merger agreement on 5 and 9 September respectively.
Thus Manipur, though small in her physical territory, was the last native State which remained unsettled, just as she was the last native State conquered by the Mighty British, as she had presented some but quite delicate issue and problems in regard to her smooth and immediate merger to the newly established independent Congress led Government of India under the Premiership of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallavbhai Patel as the Union Home Minister. The then King of the State, Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh, the eldest son of Maharaja Sir Churachand Singh, KSCI CBE Knight Commander Star of India Commander British Empire) took over the 'reins' of the independent sovereign power from GP Stewart, the Political Agent who was earlier President Manipur State Darbar (Chief Minister's rank) under the Maharaja and succeeded Christopher Gimson, ICS of the erstwhile British Government, signed the withdrawal and handling over document on behalf of the British Crown and handed over to Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh on the 14th of August 1947 at midnight at the official room of the Imphal British Residency, now the Imphal Raj Bhavan.
In this regard, there is an interesting episode happened, in that when Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh was conveyed of a message from the Political Agent for his (the Maharaja) coming over to the British residency for the little ceremony of the historic event to be performed, Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh, being of quite an adamant and obstinate character of not tolerating such insubordinate attitudes forthcoming from the subordinate types of authorities, at first was quite annoyed with and flatly refused to go to the British residency to keep-up his royal dignity of being the King of the State but later on, has been well convinced by the Political Agent who himself rushed up to the Imphal palace and offered his honest explanation saying that he could not carry out the power handling and taking over ceremony or function at the palace since he had to do it on behalf of the Viceroy and His Majesty, the King of the British Empire, and it was only after that Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh, fully convinced of the very delicate situation faced by the Political Agent, went to the British residency and took over the power from the political agent, GP Stewart who, of course, immediately after the short function was over, resumed paying his normal courtesies to the king of Manipur, which became again an independent kingdom as before from that very midnight of the 14th of August 1947 for which a very befitting function was organized at Kangla in the next morning of the 15th of August, 1947 with hoisting of Pakhangba embedded Manipur's Royal Flag in place of the British Union Jack Flag which had since been flying high till that time at the Kangla Fort since the year 1891, April 27 when the State was compelled to come under the mighty British power as a result of its defeat suffered at their hands in the main battle taken place at Khongjom and its nearby areas where many of the heroes and great generals of Manipur, Yaiskul Lakpa along with his young son, Sengoi Sana, Paona Braja Bashi, Chongtham Mia, Yengkhoiba, Wangkhei Meiraba, Chinglen Sana etc most heroically sacrificed their lives for the defense of the integrity of their beloved age-old independent mother-land country.
Thus Manipur being free from the yoke of the British Power and had attained again the status of an Independent Sovereign States began in the right earnest to run her own administration, and in doing so, the first and immediate step that was very thoughtfully and rightly taken up was that the administration of the State was carried out in a 'democratic line' for which an Act named as the Manipur Constitution Act, 1947 was immediately drafted and got approved and according to which, in April 1948, the Manipur State Election Rules, 1948, was also adopted and accordingly election on the basis of 'universal adult franchise' for 53 Manipur State Assembly seats consisting of 30 for general, 18 for Hills, 3 for Mohammedans, 1 for Educational interest and 1 for Commercial interest was carried out in which were elected 14 from the Manipur State Congress, 18 independents from the Hills, 12 from the Manipur Praja Santi Sabha, 5 from the Manipur Krishak Sabha and 3 from the Socialist Party, and a new Council of Ministers comprised of Maharaj Kumar Priya Brata Singh as the Chief Minister and Home and Revenue portfolios, Arambam Ibotomcha Singh as the Finance Minister, Ayekpam Gourabidhu Singh, as Commerce and Industries Minister, Major R Khating, MBE, MC as Minister, Hill areas, Teba Kilong as Forest and Agriculture Minister and Md Alimuddin of Lilong as Jail and Medical Minister started functioning.
They recited the words 'Chatloko hey! athouba, pukphaba, dharmac- henba, iningthou, nahakna chatkhibadi khunai asigi aroiba nummit takhib- anido etc' - 'hey noble and religious and courageous king of Manipur! we all bid 'adieu' to you on your great soul's departure for the journey to heaven. Your departure from us do mark, indeed, the setting of the last monarchical sun of this hoary land'.
The cremation of Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh was delayed from the early morning to late dark evening quite unusually as the decision of the Government of India for his immediate successor was awaited which could not be decided and given by the then Chief Commissioner of Manipur, PC Matthew, ICS. The decision of succession came however in the late afternoon from New Delhi in a “crash” wireless message flashed selecting his 'legitimate eldest young son, Okendrajit Singh of some 5 years old, the younger brother of Princes Tamphasana Devi to succeed his late father as was decided and recommended in a decision taken in a very prolonged meeting held at the Chief Commissioner’s House after examining very thoroughly and carefully all the “nooks and corners” of the very very delicate issue that had come up in between the Chief Commissioner, PC Matthew, Maharaj Kumar Priya Brata Singh, ex-Chief Minister and Customs Secretary to His Highness the Maharaja, Waikhom Chaoba Singh, former Darbar Member (Minister) and was also the “guardian-tutor” of Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh during the time of his yubrajship.
The Rajmata, Kamlavati Devi (Sangai Devi), the second Rani of Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh had been also made the “regent” of the young and minor king duly assisted by a 'court of ward” headed by late Salam Tombi Singh, Member of the then Manipur Territorial Council and later on became Speaker of the Manipur Legislative Assembly and a Minister, for as per standing tradition of Manipur in regard to royal cremations, it cannot be carried out unless the name of a successor of the deceased king is announced and made publicly known. The queen of Manipur then was Nepali princess, Iswari Devi, eldest daughter of Prince Ramraja of Ramnagar of the then United Provinces and a cousin of His Majesty Maharaja Dhiraj, the king of Nepal. Iswari Devi was also a grand daughter of His Highness the Maharaja (then Prime Minister) of Nepal, and also a cousin sister of Nepali Brigadier, Kali Bahadur of the Royal Nepal Army whose brigade of warrior Gorkhas was in Manipur during 1942/43 participating in the fighting of the British against the Japanese as one of its loyal Allies. Maharani Iswari Devi had no issue. Actually, the third Oriya daughter of Raja of Bodo Khimdi in Ganjam district of the erstwhile Madras Presidency, Ram Priya Devi whom Maharaja Bodhachandra Singh married in 1929 when he was the Yubraj should have been the Queen of Manipur had she not been untimely divorced in 1941 due to a ‘point of no return’ very strained relationship developed in between the father king of Manipur, Maharaja Sir Churachand Singh and the Raja of Bodo Khimdi on the issue of much less unexpected “royal dowry” received by the former from the latter.
Of course, as had been mentioned earlier the option on the part of Manipur was either to merge with the Dominion of India or with the Dominion of Pakistan. Considering her very unfavorable geographical and other political considerations, and also cultural and religious conditions, in particular, joining with the Dominion of Pakistan by Manipur was straightaway very much out of question and hence Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh very thoughtfully and rightly “paved the way” for finally merging with the Dominion of India by his signing during the early stage in the so called instrument of Accession and the Standstill Agreement on 11 August, 1947.
In fact, the British Government had already given their green signal in the year 1935 to Maharaja Sir Churachand Singh for the State of Manipur to join with the Dominion of Burma (now Myanmar) when it was being carved out by separating it from the British India if he was willing to do so to which, the Maharaja, farsightedly was thoughtful in his thinking or otherwise, had kept “mum” on the very tricky issue - the seemingly generous offer of the British Government was actually nothing but for keeping the most strategic State of Manipur as a “buffer state” on the eastern most fringe of India for serving their interest. Had Manipur joined with Burma, as was very much desired and worked upto the last for last for it by Neta Hijam Irabot Singh much later on, what would have been the conditions of the State - could they have been politically and economically in a much better off state or in a much worsened condition than the present one which is very much like living in a “big frying cauldron” placed above a very violently burning fire? Really it is also a billion dollar question that may not be very easily answered even by a political 'genius'.
While such far-sighted views of the kings of Manipur are something very much appreciable the hasty and highly dictating manner on the part of the then Government of India adopted in forcing the helpless king, Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh to sign the Merger Agreement on 21 September 1949 at Governor’s House at Shillong without the due approval of his Cabinet is still considered by many, particularly by the legal experts, to be very “untactful” and “undemocratic” act on the part of the Government of India.
The feelings of great sadness are still there in the humble minds of the people of Manipur of the high-handed act of the then Government of India, particularly of the Union Home Minister, Sardar Vallavbhai Patel by which the king of Manipur and his party were put under some sort of a House arrest as some war “captives at the royal residency at Red Lands, Shillong from 18 to 20 September, 1949 and of the unbearable news of humiliations underwent by the highly religious and very peaceful king. Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh at the hands of the Governor of Assam, Prakasa and his Advisor, Nari K Rustomji.
Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh became so desperate by the unexpected humiliations done to him that he became almost “insane” at one point of time and had secretly and most unbelievably told his private Secretary late Sanasam Gourahari Singh of Singjamei Makha who accompanied in the royal journey to be ready even to murder the Governor and his Advisor, Nari K Rustomji when they meet them again on the next day of 19.9.1949 for further negotiation to be carried out by shooting the former by the Maharaja and the latter by Gourahari Singh and then both Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh and the private secretary Gourahari Singh to end their lives then and there in the Governor’s House Shillong by shooting each other for the sake of keeping up the age-old prestige and territorial integrity of their beloved mother land, independent, Manipur”.
Anyway, it was God’s kindness that no untoward incident in this regard had happened and that Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh regained his good and calm senses and finally signed the Merger Agreement on 21 September, 1949 and it was after that Manipur was merged with the Dominion of India with effect from 15 October 1949, though in a very petty status of a mere part “C” State (third class status) reducing her to a mere State under the ruling of a petty officer of the rank of Chief Commissioner - what a downfall brought by the then Political leaders of Manipur, very much unlike that of the neighboring State of Nagaland whose leaders lifted their land from the mere status of a district to a full-fledged State (first class status) by dint of their far sighted and very bold policies adopted. For the stunning anti-climatic downfall in the status of the State which had been once indomitably existing as an independent State and age-old kingdom the sulking of the people still continues, and according to many legal experts the merger agreement so carried out under “duress” is highly unconstitutional and illegal ‘ab initio’- which is very much “impugnable or refutable” from the point of existing laws, particularly of the International ones.
In this regard, it may be of quite an interesting piece for the readers to find, an extract of points of the analytical comments of Lt. CoI (retired) and an ex-Minister, Haobam Bhuban Singh of Singjamei Chingamathak given in his book written and entitled, The Merger of Manipur. He says, in page 133, that even a big State like Hyderabad could not withstand the Indian Military Action of September 1949, how could a tiny State, Manipur face the violent music that was to be played by India against it in case she had made efforts for going against her merger with the former, and to remain as an independent State of her own. He says further that there is no Native State either in India or in Pakistan which declared independent and remained of her own.
He however very boldly criticized the Government of India for being not 'tactful and patient enough', while handling the merger issue of Manipur as in page 138. Also he denounced the treacherous act of India carried out at Shillong by which all the insurgents of Manipur are made still angry - page 139. He also highly praises Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh for his sincere spirit of being a thorough nationalist and not an arrogant autocrat though he could have been so as he could have exercised very wide autocratic powers immediately after the withdrawal of the British paramount powers from the State - page 140.
Now to continue the writing as its last part, it may be said that - whatever happened has happened, nothing could be done now to reel back to the days gone-bye and get back the things that had occurred and had been destroyed in an eternally lost nature, due to the great “blunders and narrow sights of the leaders”, just as nothing can be done to retrieve the milk in bulk that has been splashed on the ground or the glass that has been smashed and broken into pieces except to remain calmly and thoughtfully in 'solace' by believing to the divine saying that all things of events in the world do happen or ordained to happen due to God, Almighty’s doings for the ultimate good and welfare of men and also due to their destined fates - such was a quick answer given by witty Birbal to Emperor, Akbar when he got a serious cut-injury in one of his fingers and profusely bleeding to the great alarm of all the royal companions except Birbal during a hunting expedition, and because of that cut suffered with a mark left on the emperor’s finger he was saved later on from being sacrificed before deity goddess by human sacrificers (chandalas) who caught him and carried him away overpowered while he happened to be in an all alone and helpless situation as he was separated from his entire party suddenly due to loss of way in the mist of the thick jungle during a subsequent outing for hunting - had it not been for the cut mark bored on the finger of Akbar he would not have been saved from the human sacrifice that was to be done by the priest of the deity's temple who on seeing his cut mark suddenly refused the sacrifice and released him immediately - the event so happened was really a mysterious and absolutely unbelievable one to the great emperor but it did make him good to realize of the naked truth spoken earlier by his most-trusted and witty companion Minister, Birbal who was well rewarded by the emperor instead of sulking further on him for his “couldn’t care attitude” shown earlier at the time of occurrence of the serious injury to the emperor.
So also had it not been due to the precious loss of life of Thangjam Manorama Devi occurred in the year 2004 on 11 July for which, of course, the majority of the people of Manipur deeply share the profound grief of her parents, family members and close friends, the people of Manipur would not have, perhaps, got back still their most sacred place, Kangla.
Whatever may be the drawbacks and faults that may be there in the merger of Manipur with the Dominion of India the best part that lies in its “Merger Agreement” signed most trustfully on 21st September 1949 by both the sides is the “safe-guard” that may be said to have been laid down in respect of its jurisdiction i.e. the territory of Manipur comprising of both the hills and the valley which had been “ceded-enbloc” by Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh to the Dominion of India as mentioned at the outset as the first and foremost of the instrument of the Merger Agreement under Article I, which is a term of trustful agreement that may not be violated or set aside now by the present Government of India merely for fulfilling their partisan politics of appeasing only a few highly communal sections of people who are very adamantly insisting and threatening time and again for causing an ethnic-disintegration and also disintegration of the “age-old” territory of the hoary land of Manipur, the existence of which, even though say, it becomes the so called south-Nagaland, cannot be “dreamt of at all” without the “peaceful co-existence” of both the peoples of the hills and the plain as one as had been so from time immemorial - “Chingda taba mahaige, tamda taba mahaige, wakon tanoi noi...” “be it the settlers of the hills, be it the settlers of the valley, both are one from the same primeval stock” - this is how the Manipuri Lai Haraoba (merriment of gods, the progenitors of all the indigenous people) folk song sings in the very ancient and primeval tune indicating of the ever inseparable oneness relationship existing in between the two groups of people.
Actually, it was only from the time of the British rule that the seeds of feelings of division in between the two indigenous blood-related groups of people were “sown” for carrying out a “divide and rule” policy for strengthening their position taking the full advantage of the inferior treatment done by the plains’ people, the Meiteis, to the people of the Hills as if they were of some alien and untouchable peoples by virtue of the former’s becoming orthodox Hindus at the much later stage, and also by their having a much better and advanced living conditions - it is the very fruit of the seeds of division so sown by the British for achieving their partisan goal that is being “reaped” now by both the sects of people of the hills and the plain of Manipur, in particular the Meiteis, by which is made all of them living presently under a very very uncertain and uneasy atmosphere with quite a unpeaceful and ever fearful “psyche”.
In case the present Government of India happens to violate or discard the agreement so trustfully signed earlier unduly subverting it under their unchallengeable powers provided in Article 3(a) of the Constitution, which are powers actually meant to be exercised very sparingly and rarely as very special cases related to solving only the problems of highly administrative inconveniences that happen to be faced by two or more states, and not “sweetly” otherwise simply for serving “communal or religious” purposes destroying the very spirit of “Secularism” and “non-Communalism”, on the basis of which the great country had been founded and built up and is smoothly carrying on till date - the people who may be aggrieved then, of course, should have every right to fight it out taking the due course of law”.
In fact, the history of Manipur, when it is traced or looked back to many centuries earlier, is according to the findings of many learned historians, the history of a unique and hoary land which came into existence after a great “deluge” had taken place, and after which formed a mountainous country of a valley surrounded all around by ranges of high mountains standing all around like high walls protecting the valley, on which (on the mountains) arrived hordes and streams of immigrants of different groups of Mongoloid stock of peoples and began to settle.
These hordes of immigrants came down from far away places of Mongolia, China, Tibet via accessible routes of the great Himalayan ranges and also came up from south-east Asian regions, namely Cambodia, Thailand (previously Siam) and even from Malaysian islands via the routes along Mekong or Lancang Jiang or Lan-ts’ang major river of south-east Asia, 4184 km or 2,600 miles (4,200 km) long rising in Tibet and flowing down southwards through China, Laos, Kampuchea and Vietnam joining finally the South China Sea.
The main groups of the immigrants so arrived and settled beginning from the hills were the Poireis, the Khumans, the Lei-Nungs, Lei-Hous from whom sprang out the so called, Seven-salais (clans) which formed the groups - the Meiteis, the Tangkhuls, the Kabuis, the Marams, the Maos, the Marings, the Chothes, the Chirus, the Anals, the Koms, the Koirengs and all other indigenous tribes who had been since living in the most ancient land very peacefully as the inseparable brethren of a big family of people having all the similarities and identical characteristics in their customs, cultures, styles and habits of living, and all more importantly, linguistically because of which there is the “love” and good “understanding” amongst them all of being the oneness of a people who stemmed out from the same Mongoloid stock.
It is because of the presence of a good deal of elements of the Khumans, Leinungs and Leihous amongst the Meiteis and the Tangkhul tribes, in particular, that there has been a strong claim of very close blood-relationship in between them. It is said that the dynastic god of the Meiteis and all their cognate tribes, Pakhangba, was born of a Leihou mother, Yabiroka, daughter of a Leihou chief along with other sons who had been left over in the hills under the care of their maternal grand-father when the group of the former came down and settled in the valley. The brothers of Pakhangba who had been so left in the hills were the ones who became the Tangkhuls etc.
It is in the context of the above highlighted glaring facts that one would like to very frankly 'disagree' with the claim that “the non-Kuki tribes”, numbering only some three lakhs in total as against a total of more than 4 lakhs of the Kukis of the entire hills of Manipur, who came under the umbrella of very recently adopted “appellation - Naga”, which is actually a very superficial and artificial nomenclature introduced by the British administrators to suit their purpose of the “divide and rule” policy, have their “own separate and unique history” as one unified people from the beginning of their primeval descent or appearance on the hoary land.
The figures of population quoted as above are the figures given in the letter of the Kuki Movement for Human Rights and Kuki Students’ Organization written to the Union Minister for Human Rights Development, Arjun Singh on 6.8.2006.
In their letter they also strongly asserted the fact that no district in Manipur is exclusively inhabited by a single ethnic group or community, and that the Districts were created within the State only for the convenience of administration and not at all for serving any communal purpose.
To sum up, it is to be said that the Kingdom of Manipur had been existing since time immemorial ever constituted by its hills and the valley inseparably with its indigenous subjects of peoples categorized under two names, the Tammis (the people who settled in the valley) and the Chingmis or the Haos (the people of all the groups irrespective of their indigenous ethnic divisions settled or remained in the hills).
therefore it really tantamount quite “mischievous and flagrant, and not at all a “feasible plan”, to make the ethnic and territorial “disintegration” on the basis of only one “plank” of community by “sowing” seeds of ‘hatredness” amongst the innocent people of both the sects who should not delay to “wake up to realize” fully the ill and most fearful consequences that they will disastrously face as a result of such ‘an ethnic and territorial break-up’, if happens to take place at all.
(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)
[edit] Manipur- The State Of Militancy
Any prospects of peace dawning on Manipur in 2006 have rapidly receded, with 18 reported fatalities in the first week of the New Year, while the last day of 2005 saw the brutal killing of the state's IG Police (Intelligence) summing up the year gone by.
On December 31, 2005, Manipur Inspector General of Police (Intelligence), T. Thangthuam, was killed along with a constable in an ambush by People’s Liberation Army (PLA) militants in Manipur's Bishnupur District. In an audacious display of power, heavily-armed militants in a truck overtook the police officer’s vehicle in the Oinam Bazaar area, 25 kilometers south of capital Imphal, and fired indiscriminately, killing the two on the spot. The officer was reportedly returning to Imphal from Churachandpur District along National Highway 153, when his convoy was attacked. The incident, occurring on the last day of the year, summed up the security situation in the state, where the lives of common citizens as well as of those responsible for protecting them, stand equally threatened.
With 331 insurgency related fatalities (138 civilians, 50 security force personnel and 143 militants) in 2005, Manipur ranked second among states worst affected by militancy in the country, behind Jammu & Kashmir, where 1,739 lives were lost. In the fragile northeastern region, over 46 per cent of the total insurgency-related fatalities was reported from Manipur, which accounts for just 6.3 per cent of the population, and 8.52 per cent of the land mass of the region. Manipur’s share of civilian fatalities in the Northeast was 42 per cent, and 46 per cent of militant fatalities also came from this state. But fatalities among the security forces accounted for a staggering 72 per cent of all SF fatalities in the region, making it the most unsafe place for the troops. These lives were lost in sustained violence throughout the year, with an astonishingly uniform distribution through the year. Thus, the first, second and fourth quarters of the year recorded 83 deaths each, whereas the third quarter (July-September) recorded 82 deaths.
The geographical distribution of the violence was, however, substantially skewed. The four Valley Districts, Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal and Bishnupur, with just 11.14 per cent of Manipur’s total area, accounted for 55 per cent of the fatalities, while the five Hill Districts, Chandel, Churachandpur, Tamenglong, Senapati and Ukhrul witnessed 149 of the 331 deaths (45 per cent). However, while violence in the Valley Districts was evenly spread, the two Hill Districts of Churachandpur and Tamenglong, sharing their borders with Nagaland, Assam and Mizoram, were the worst affected, accounting for 99 of the 149 deaths. Churachandpur remained the most violent district of the state, with 69 deaths, followed by Imphal East, with 50 deaths. Senapati, inhabited by the Naga and Kuki tribes, was the least violent, accounting for 12 deaths in the year.
The situation has worsened considerably as compared to 2004, with civilian fatalities in 2005 a full 176 per cent higher than the 2004 figure, and total fatalities up by 52 per cent. Fatalities have risen steadily over the past five years, and year 2005 recorded the highest numbers since 1997.
Synchronized counter-insurgency operations have remained central to the area-domination exercises by Army in the state, as it competes for tactical control against the militant groups over vast stretches of ‘liberated zones’. Several such operations were launched during the year, including Operation Stinger in October 2005, against militants holed up in the Karang island of Bishnupur District; and Operation Tornado in November to clear the Belcra bowl in the Jiribam area of Imphal East District. In October, Assam Rifles personnel also launched another operation in the Chassad area of Ukhrul District.
In terms of individual losses suffered by the militant groupings, the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) suffered the maximum, losing 92 cadres (52 killed and 40 arrested); the PLA lost 80 (26 killed and 54 arrested); and the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) 68 (33 killed and 35 arrested) cadres. However, the total neutralization of 449 militants (143 killed and 306 arrested) in 2005 had little impact on the militancy, with 15 active outfits operating in the state with an estimated combined strength of 10,000 cadres. The scale, intensity and focus of the militancy were evident in the following major attacks through 2005.
On January 16, UNLF killed six security force (SF) personnel during an attack at a place between Tuilaphai and Sijon village in Churachandpur District.
On April 25, two Assam Rifles personnel were killed and four others sustained injuries during an ambush by UNLF militants on their vehicle at Sonapur under Jiribam police station in the Imphal East District.
On July 10, three Assam Rifles personnel were killed and seven persons, including two civilians, were injured as PLA militants triggered a powerful bomb explosion and subsequently ambushed an SF patrol in the Waithou Area of Thoubal District.
On September 19, 10 SF personnel were killed in an attack by KYKL militants at upper Ngaryan Hills range in the Bishnupur District.
On September 21, two BSF personnel were killed in an ambush by the PLA at Kumbi-Khodrak Road under the Kumbi Police Station in Bishnupur District.
On November 8, twenty-one persons, including 13 women, were injured in an explosion at the Thangal market area in Imphal city. Two persons subsequently succumbed to their injuries.
On November 13, three CRPF personnel were killed and two others sustained injuries in an ambush by the UNLF at a spot between Kaimai and Sibilong, under Nungba police station in the Tamenglong District.
The reign of terror manifests in other forms as well, as the rule of militants combines with a complete retreat of civil governance. The militants continue to terrorize and extort with impunity, and people have little option but to abide by their diktats. Refusal to ‘cooperate’ is rare, and invites immediate and extreme penalties. On March 2, 2005, unidentified militants shot at and injured Th. Kulachandra, Principal of the Manipur Institute of Technology, Takyelpat, at Mongsangei in the Imphal West District for refusing to meet an extortion demand of INR 500,000. On August 25, the Taxation Wing of the state government ceased functioning for a day following en masse leave taken by the employees following threats from several militant groups. On October 25 and again on November 26, 3000 employees of the Manipur government posted in Thoubal District took out a silent rally at the District Headquarters to protest against extortion demands by militant outfits and the abduction of persons for non-payment of ‘dues’. In the months of June and July, the Kuki Movement for Human Rights (KMHR) petitioned the Prime Minister to take steps to stop the National Socialist Council of Nagaland – Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) extortion from Kuki villagers in the Tamenglong District.
Militant power, evident in the numerous decrees passed during the previous years, was further consolidated through new demands and decrees in 2005:
On January 6, the KYKL decreed that girl students of classes IX and X must wear eeyongphi phanek (the traditional local dress) to school.
In February, the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) banned government doctors from working in private clinics.
On March 1, the KYKL banned ‘cabin restaurants’ in the state, terming them a ‘major factor in the moral degeneration of society".
In May, the PLA banned the sale and consumption of tobacco products in Imphal.
On June 21, the KYKL asked civilians not to attend or take part in the civic action programs of the Security Forces.
On September 16, the KCP banned shooting and exhibition of digital movies and music albums for a year.
In November first week, the KYKL banned local fairs in the state, describing them as the "bed rock of immorality, obscenity and drug abuse".
Though there were some attempts by the marginalized civil society to raise murmurs of protest, the militants continue to hold sway and browbeat all opposition into submission. As a result, vast stretches of the state’s territory, including some areas in the immediate neighborhood of the state capital, continue to remain out of the control of the state machinery and are traversable only under substantial armed escorts.
The situation has taken a particular turn for the worse, and the Army’s image has taken a severe beating, since the alleged rape and custodial killing of Manorama Devi, whom the Army described as a PLA militant, on July 11, 2004, in the Leipharok Maring village in Imphal East District. Since then, the demand for the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has been interspersed with demands for the complete withdrawal of the Army from the state. While the latter demand has been rejected as impossible to meet by the union government, its vacillation on the continuation of the AFSPA has attracted severe criticism in the state. The Jeevan Reddy Committee appointed to look into the working of the AFSPA submitted its report in June 2005 recommending its withdrawal. A good six months thereafter, Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee, on December 27, 2005, remarked ambivalently, "The recommendations of the high powered review committee have been discussed with the Home Minister and a decision would be taken by the government soon." Further, the Ministry of Home Affairs, in the first week of January 2006, stated that the Act was being "amended and relaxed", in view of the Army’s opposition to its complete withdrawal. It is not clear whether the Army will be able to operate effectively under the diluted Act, particularly where the majority opinion within the state supports the demand that it be scrapped in its entirety.
Peace remains elusive in the state despite some political initiatives. On March 7, Chief Minister Ibobi Singh said that his government has received proposals for peace talks from two militant groups in the state. Two weeks later, on March 21, the Chief Minister was talking of ‘sending feelers’ to the UNLF. On July 15, the state Legislative Assembly passed a resolution urging the union government to initiate peace talks with the militant outfits. Policy makers and potential ‘negotiators’, however, had little to offer, in the face of the total indifference demonstrated by militant groups. Even though the union government managed to affect cessation of hostility with eight minor Kuki militant groups in September 2005, the non-involvement of and subsequent opposition by the state government created an avoidable and unwelcome schism between the security setup and the state government.
In any event, peace deals with the fragmented and marginalized Kuki groups had little operational value; in the year 2005 the eight outfits had been responsible for the death of just five civilians and one SF personnel. Major groups such as the UNLF, on the other hand, either rebuffed intermittent appeals for peace or prevaricated with fanciful demands, such as UN mediation.
Evidence of a nexus between the political classes and the insurgents continued to pile up. Revelations by Outlook in December, quoting the Army Chief J.J. Singh, claimed that Chief Minister Ibobi Singh has contributed INR 15 million to two insurgent groups operating in the state, revived the persistent question of political collusion and infirmity in the history of insurgency in the state. Earlier, on August 26, CRPF personnel seized a vehicle being used by the Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA), which belonged to the Chairman of the Manipur Assembly’s Hills Areas Committee. In both the cases, the accused denied charges.
The imposed isolation of Manipur from rest of the country through blockades, which intensified after the Manorama Devi episode in 2004, took a new turn when, reacting to the state government’s decision to observe June 18 as ‘state Integrity Day’, the influential All Naga Students Association of Manipur (ANSAM) imposed a month and half-long economic blockade . The state government was trapped in a vicious dilemma of either easing the economic hardships of the people by taking back its decision, or protecting the demands of ultra-regional civil society organizations, and the blockade on National Highway 39, apparently blessed by the NSCN-IM under its objective to create a greater ‘Nagalim’, dragged on till it was eventually lifted following appeals from different forums and a series of meetings between the state government and ANSAM representatives. In fact, the unresolved Naga conflict continues to reverberate constantly in Manipur. The NSCN-IM enjoys a free run in the Naga dominated Hill Districts of Manipur, with the help of sympathetic Manipuri Naga organizations like the ANSAM and the Naga Students Federation, internally polarizing the state between the majority Meiteis, who live in the Valley, and the Nagas and Kukis, in the Hills.
Any prospects of peace dawning on Manipur in 2006 have rapidly receded, with 18 reported fatalities in the first week of the New Year. While other states in the region are showing sustained signs of improvement and some significant steps towards peace, Manipur appears to be spiraling into the abyss. Astonishingly, the union government continues to pay scant attention to the rising anarchy that is Manipur.
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- The article was originally published at www.satp.org affiliated to the Institute for Conflict Management.
- The article has been published with due permission from the Institute for Conflict Management (ICM).
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[edit] Geography, Vegetation and Climate
[edit] Geography
Manipur is one of the eight states of Northeast India, and one of the Seven Sister States. The state is bounded by Nagaland in the North, Mizoram in the South, Assam in the west, and by the borders of the country Myanmar in the east as well as in the south. The state capital of Manipur is Imphal. The state lies at latitude of 23°83’N - 25°68’N and longitude of 93°03’E - 94°78’E. The total area covered by the state is 22,327 km². The capital lies in an oval shaped valley of approximately 700 sq.miles surrounded by blue mountains and is at an elevation of 790 metres above the sea level. The slope of the valley is from north to south. The presence of the mountain ranges not only prevents the cold winds from the north from reaching the valley but also acts as a barrier to the cyclonic storms originating from the Bay of Bengal. Within the State of Manipur, there are two major river basins, viz. the Barak River Basin (Barak Valley) and the Manipur River Basin. The total water resources of the two basins have been estimated to be 18.487 cubic kilometres in the form of annual yield. The Barak river, the largest river of Manipur, originates from the northern hills and is joined by a number of tributaries such as Irang, Maku, Tuivai, etc. and thereafter enters Cachar District of Assam. The Manipur river basin has eight major rivers such as Imphal, Iril, Nambul, Sekmai, Chakpi, Thoubal and Khuga. All these rivers originate from the surrounding hills. Almost all the rivers in the valley area are in the mature stage and, therefore, deposit the load in the Loktak lake.The rivers draining the Manipur Hill Area are comparatively young due to the hilly terrain through which they flow. These rivers are corrosive in nature and assume turbulent form in rainy season. Important rivers draining the western area include Maku, Barak River, Jiri, Irang and Leimatak. Rivers draining the eastern part of the State include Chamu, Khunou and other short streams.
Physiographically, Manipur may be characterised in two distinct physical regions - an outlying area of rugged hills and narrow valleys and the inner area represents the features of flat plain topography with all associated land forms. These two areas are not only distinct in respect of physical features but are also conspicuous with regard to various floras and faunas.The valley region would have been a monotonous, featureless plain but for a number of hills and mounds rising above the flat surface. The Loktak lake is an important geographic feature of the central plain area. The total area occupied by all the lakes is about 600 km². The altitude ranges from 40 m at Jiribam to as high as 2,994 m at Mt.Iso Peak near Mao above MSL.
The soil cover can be divided into two broad types, viz. the red ferruginous soil in the hill area and the alluvium in the valley. The soil generally contains small rock fragments, sand and sandy clay and are of varieties. The top soil on the steep slopes are very thin. In the plain areas, especially flood plains and deltas, the soil is of considerable thickness. Soil on the steep hill slopes is subjected to high erosion resulting into formation of sheets and gullies and barren rock slopes. The normal pH value ranges from 5.4 to 6.8.
[edit] Districts
Manipur has currently nine administrative districts.
| District | Area | Population | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishnupur | 496 | 208368 | Bishnupur |
| Churachandpur | 4570 | 227905 | Churachandpur |
| Chandel | 3313 | 118327 | Chandel |
| Imphal East | 709 | 394876 | Porompat |
| Imphal West | 519 | 444382 | Lamphel |
| Senapati | 3271 | 283621 | Senapati |
| Tamenglong | 4391 | 111499 | Tamenglong |
| Thoubal | 514 | 364140 | Thoubal |
| Ukhrul | 4544 | 140778 | Ukhrul |
[edit] Vegetation
The natural vegetation occupies an area of about 14,365 km². which is nearly 64% of the total geographical area of the State. The vegetation consists of a large variety of plants ranging from short and tall grasses, reeds and bamboos to trees of various species. Broadly, there are four types of forests below:
Teak, Pine, Oak, Uningthou, Leihao, Bamboo, Cane, etc. are important forest resources growing in plenty. In addition, rubber, tea, coffee, orange, cardamom, etc. are also, grown in hill areas.Food and cash crops occupy the main vegetation cover in the valley.
[edit] Climate
The climate of Manipur is largely influenced by the topography of this hilly region which defines the geography of Manipur. Situated at an elevation of 790 meters above the sea level, the state of Manipur is wedged between hills from all sides. This north eastern corner of India is blessed with a generally amiable climate though the winters can be a little chilly.The maximum temperature recorded in the summer months of Manipur is 32 degree Celsius. In winter the mercury often falls to sub zero temperature making it frosty in the wintertime.Snowfall sometimes occurs in some hilly regions due to the Western Disturbance. The coldest month in Manipur is January and July experiences the maximum summer temperature. The ideal time for tourism in the state, in terms of the climate of Manipur, is from the months of October till February, when the weather remains bright and sunny without the scorch of the sun.The hilly state is drenched in rains from the months of May and continues till the middle of October. It receives an average rainfall of 1467.5 mm, annually. However, the rain distribution varies from 933 mm in Imphal to 2593 mm in Tamenglong. The downpour ranges from light drizzles to heavy showers.The normal rainfall of Manipur enriches the soil and helps in agricultural processes and irrigation. The South Westerly Monsoon picks up moisture from the Bay of Bengal and heads towards Manipur, hits the Eastern Himalaya ranges and produces a massive amount of rain in the state.
[edit] Population
| Population Growth | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1951 | 578,000 |
|
|
| 1961 | 780,000 | 34.9% | |
| 1971 | 1,073,000 | 37.6% | |
| 1981 | 1,421,000 | 32.4% | |
| 1991 | 1,837,000 | 29.3% | |
| 2001 | 2,294,000 | 24.9% | |
| Source:Census of India[3] | |||
Manipur has a population of 23.88 lakhs (2001 Census). Of the total population, 58.9% live in the valley and the remaining 41.1% are in the hill areas. The hills are inhabited mainly by the tribals and the valley by the Meiteis (including Meitei Muslims known as Meitei Pangal or Pangal). The distribution of area, population and density, literacy rate, etc. as per the 2001 Census provisional figures are as below:
| Demographics of Manipur | |
|---|---|
| Total Population | 23,88,634 |
| Male Population | 12,07,338 |
| Female Population | 11,81,296 |
| Rural Population | 18,18,224 |
| Urban Population | 5,70,410 |
| Sex Ratio | 978 |
| Density (per km²) | 107 |
| Literacy | 14,29,656 (68.87%) |
| Towns | 33 |
[edit] Language
The official languages of the state are Manipuri and English.
[edit] Manipuri language (Meiteilon)
Meiteilon, the official language of Manipur, has a long history. Courses on Manipuri Language and Literature are offered as a subject up to M.A. level in both Central and State Universities.[citation needed] It is the main language of communication among all different tribes and people inhabiting Manipur. English Language is also slowly gaining ground as a common language of communication here. Meithei has been recognized as the Manipuri language by the Indian Union and has been included in the list of scheduled languages (included in the 8th schedule by the 71st amendment of the constitution in 1992). Meithei is taught as a subject up to the Post-graduate level (Ph.D.) in Universities of India, apart from being a medium of instruction up to the undergraduate level in Manipur.
[edit] Meetei Mayek (Manipuri script)
Meetei Mayek is a script, commonly referred as Mayek, which is being used since the ancient times. Though it was not in vogue for a certain period, its revival in recent past has gained popularity.
[edit] Tribal Languages
There are 29 different dialects spoken in Manipur. Six main tribal dialects recognised by Government of Manipur for medium of instruction & examination up to class V are :
- Tangkhul, language of Tangkhul people
- Hmar, language of Hmar people
- Paite, language of Paite people
- Lushai, language of Lushai people
- Thadou/Kuki, language of Kuki people
- Mao, language of Mao People
[edit] Economic History Of Manipur (1826-1891)
The Meiteis have been living in the Manipur Valley at least since the beginning of the first millennium. What was initially a small clan principality grew into a powerful monarchal state comprising the valley of Manipur and the surrounding hills inhabited by the Nagas (there were no Nagas in those years, the name came into existence with the British. They were referred to according to their tribes such as Angami, Tangkhul, Ao, Kabi) and the Kukis including a few other small ethnic groups. The Meiteis have a rich cultural heritage. Their written language and literature have a long history. In 1110 AD a written constitution was promulgated by the ruling king. It codified the customary laws, codes, conventions and defined Meitei polity embodying the concept of absolute monarchy. The kingdom was divided into six pannas for facilitating the organization of the lallup system under which every citizen with a few exceptions from the age 17 to 60 years was required to work for the king for 10 days in every forty without any wages. But each lallup worker was given 1 pura (roughly 3 acres) of land for cultivation on payment of the usual land revenue to the Raja. Manipuri men had indomitable martial spirit; they were skilled horse riders and could fight as fierce cavalrymen in wars. Men could keep on fighting wars being away from for prolonged periods because the women were industrious, enterprising, business-minded, adept in weaving, agriculture and horticultural farming and selling and buying of goods inn the market. The favorable aspects of Meitei character combined with a strong political structure and economy placed them quite ahead of the other ethnic groups living in the surrounding hills in terms of social, political, economic and cultural developments. Therefore they succeeded in dominating over the hill people. But over the centuries there has occurred the fusion of certain traits of Meitei culture and that of the hill-dwellers. Ultimately the kingdom of Manipur emerged as one distinct political entity with the territorial spread encompassing the Manipur valley and the surrounding hills.
Everyday Life of Manipur People
In the pre-industrial and pre-capitalist economy material life of people represents 'the informal other half of economic activity, the world of self-sufficiency and barter of goods and services within a very small radius'(Braudel 1986:24). Destruction of the material life is something like 'weighing up of the world' and comprehending the limits of what was possible in the pre-industrial world. The material life of the people was possible in the pre-industrial world. The material life of the people was manifested in the images of daily life'.
1. Manipuri's daily bread: rice, fish, and dal
2. Varieties and mode of rice cultivation: nineteen varieties: a few were early and many late varieties of higher yield. Late varieties cultivated by following the method of transport
3. The importance of rice: Culture of rice growing influences the socio-political and economic life and institutions of the people.
4. Salt: Manipur depended on the natural salt wells for indigenously producing salt.
5. Meiteis balanced diet: rice, fish, pulses, beans, vegetables and seasonal fruits.
6. Stimulants and drugs
7. Dwelling houses
8. Economics of the housing sector: it manifested as essential element of Manipuri's self-sufficient economy
9. Dress and fashion: reflected the spirit of plain living
10. Hillmen's economy: The Nagas practiced both shifting and settled cultivation. The Naga villages having locational stability could follow land use planning in accordance with the communities’ perception of sustainable use of land. Kuki villages were not stable as the Kukis continued to migrate farther northward. The art of settled cultivation was not acquired by them. The Kuki village chief was very powerful. The hillmen's economy was not an insular subsistence economy. They produced cash crops like oilseeds, cotton, pepper, ginger, etc.; parts of such produces were traded with the Manipuris to procure salt, iron tools, agricultural implements, fire-arms, glass beads, utensils, ornaments, livestock, Manipuri quilts and cloth etc. The hillmen also exported to the plains forest products and few household industry products like cloth mats baskets, etc.
11. Sources of energy: (I) Animal power, (II) heat energy
12. Transport system
13. Manufactures: (I) cotton textiles, (II) silk textiles (II) iron tools manufacture (III) leather manufactures (V) pottery (VI) jewelry
14. Professional skills of the Manipuris
15. Money and exchange
Political Scenario under the rule of the Rajas
Economic performance of a society is influenced by the structure of its economy comprising 'the political and economic institutions, technology, demography and ideology. Until the occupation by the British in 1891, Manipur was constitutionally a monarchal state. The Raja enjoyed almost absolute power of rule. He dictated and enforced the terms and conditions of enjoyment of civil liberty and of property rights by his subjects on the different inputs of production, such as, labor supply including self-labor, land and other natural resources, outputs turn out by them as well as on different items of immovable and moveable assets as individuals and groups of individuals. The nature, extent and effectiveness of enjoyment of property rights largely determined the people’s incentives to produce beyond the subsistence level. The king benefited from increased volume of production of goods and services as his monopoly rent thereby went up. He devised the administrative, bureaucratic and military structure for keeping the system going and for maximizing the extraction of monopoly rent in cash and /or kind, such as, in the form of land revenue, taxes, duties, levies and free labor services etc.
The absolute power of the king was limited by certain factors, three important ones were: (1) He had to appoint agents- administrators, judicial, and military functionaries to run the state structure and realizes taxes, labor services, etc. on the king's behalf. It could not be possible for any king to constrain his agents fully where interests did not completely coincide with that of their master. No wonder, at times the king's agent colluded with the subjects to divide up some of the monopoly rents.
Secondly, the monopoly power of the king was limited by the threat of invasion by neighboring states and/or potential rulers within his own state.
Thirdly, in every state, the role of the civil society that is, peoples' collective will in protecting at least by some measuring civil, political and economic rights of the individuals acts as a limitation on the powers of the state authority. Burmese invasion from 1819 to 1826 severely disturbed the internal organization of the state. After becoming the king of Manipur in 1826 Gambhir Singh had to rebuild the system, of course, without any marked deviation from the traditional system
1. The system of lallup 2. The Lois, the Kei-roi-thou 3. Slavery 4. Singlup(wood club) or village panchayat 5. Land system 6. The role of civil society in regulation the land system 7. Position of Women in society, economy and civil society 8. Property rights, debt settlement, etc 9. Ideology 10. Deficiencies of the political-economic institutional structure
Economic Growth and Recovery after 1826
Manipur's economic recovery after the end of the Burmese occupation in 1826 proceeded along with streamlining of the administrative structure and some liberalization of modus operandi of economic transactions as carried out under the British influence and even mild pressure at times. The British policy vis-à-vis Manipur was shaped by the objective of putting on Manipur as a strong defensive base against aggressive designs of Burma. They also sought to use the territory of Manipur to open up an overland trade route to Burma and there from to Yunnan Province of China. In pursuance of these objectives in nurturing closer political and military ties with the king of Manipur and making agreements with him to facilitate and promote flow of trade between British India and Manipur and Burma with Manipur's co-operation.
1. British Manipur Trade and defense agreement of 1833 2. Manipur's parting with Kabaw Valley under British pressure 3. Posting of British Political agent in Manipur, 1835 4. Signs of growth since 1826
Eight years of peace and stability during the reign of Gambhir Singh were the years of reconstruction of Manipur's economy. Many of those who fled Manipur returned to their homeland, increasing areas of land were reclaimed for cultivation by clearing weeds, grass etc. The damaged roads were constructed, old markets reopened and new markets opened, trade flow between Cachar and Manipur and that between Manipur and Burma increased in volume as some of the trade restrictions were withdrawn. The Nagas were freely allowed to bring down again their cash crops like ginger, cotton, pepper, etc for exchanging with goods of their needs in some designated markets. Construction activities were undertaken on a wide scale as the destroyed villages were rebuilt. A new capital at Langthabal about 8 km south of Impala was built.
The signs of the growth were manifested in the growth of population, increased degree of specialization and diversification of productive activities, raising of new crops, increasing volume of monetization of transactions, commercialization of agricultural production, increasing volumes of internal and external trade etc.
[edit] Transportation
Tulihal Airport, the airport of Imphal, connects the state capital with Delhi, Calcutta and Guwahati. National Highway NH-39 links Manipur with the rest of the country through the railway stations at Dimapur in Nagaland at a distance of 215 km. from Imphal. Highway NH-53 connects Manipur with another railway station at Silchar in Assam, which is 269 km. away from Imphal. Road network of Manipur, having a length of 7170 km, connects all the important towns and far off villages.
[edit] Religion
The people of Manipur follow several faiths and religions which can be traced down to its unique historical past. Manipur preserved an ancient indigenous religion rich in mythology and colorful in ritual, known today as the Sanamahi. Sanamahi worshiped is concentrated around Sidaba Mapu, the one God. The Manipuri copper plates dates Saka year 721 issued by King Khomtekcha, ruler of Manipur from 763 AD to 773 AD, mention worship of Sanamahi.[4] Early Manipuris were the devotees of a Supreme deity "Lainingthou Soralel" following the footprint of their Godly ancestors. That particular kind of ancestor worship and animism, with the central focus of worship on Umang Lai - that is, local governing deities worshipped in sacred groves. Some of the local gods (Lais) they worship are Atiya Sidaba, Pakhangba, Sanamahi, Leimaren, Oknarel, Panganba, Thangjing, Marjing, Wangbaren, Koubru. The religious life of the people, even when they adopted mainstream Hinduism, retained many characteristics inherited from their prehistoric ancestors. The essentials of this religion remain recognizable to the present day. Hinduism has a long tradition in Manipur, however Vaisnavism penetrated Manipur during the reign of King Kyamba and King Khagemba in the 15th century. Towards the end of the 17th century and at the advent of the 18th century, a great force of Gaudiya Vaishnavism came and spread in Manipur. Over the last couple of decades there has been a revival of Sanamahi religion and this is evident in the significant growth of the 'other' religion category in the 2001 census. Around 10% of the population identified themselves under this category. Sanamahi religion is the original religion of the Meitei people living in Manipur. Due to the changing demographic profile of the state, Sanamahi will now be included in the next Government of India population census in 2011.[5].
Other religions prevalent in the region are:
Christianity
Christianity in the hill tracts of north-eastern region spread as a result of the British religious policy in the area. At present almost all of the hill tribal population is Christian. All groups of Nagas and Kukis of Manipur have adopted Christianity. The Bible is available in Tangkhul, Thadou, Lushai and Meitei dialects. Christianity is the second largest religion in the state accounting for 35% of the population.
Islam
Most of the Muslims in Manipur are descendants of Bengali immigrants and are commonly referred to as Pangans. Muslims form about 8% of the population.
[edit] Culture of Manipur
