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MANIPUR

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 583 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MANIPUR , a native See also:

state on the See also:north-See also:east frontier of See also:India, in See also:political subordination to the See also:lieutenant-See also:governor of Eastern See also:Bengal and See also:Assam. See also:Area, 8456 sq. m. Pop. (1901), 284,465. It is bounded on the N. by the Naga See also:country and the hills over-looking the Assam valley, on the W. by See also:Cachar See also:district, on the E. by Upper See also:Burma, and on the S. by the Lushai hills. The state consists of a wide valley, estimated at about 65o sq. m., and a large surrounding See also:tract of mountainous country. The See also:hill ranges generally run north and See also:south, with occasional connecting spurs and ridges of See also:lower See also:elevation between. Their greatest See also:altitude is in the north, where they reach to upwards of 8000 ft. above See also:sea-level. The See also:principal See also:geographical feature in the valley is the Logtak See also:lake, an irregular See also:sheet of See also:water of considerable See also:size, but said to be yearly growing smaller. The valley is watered by numerous See also:rivers, the Barak being the most important. The hills are densely clothed with See also:tree See also:jungle and large See also:forest See also:timber. Some See also:silk is produced and there are a few See also:primitive manufacturing See also:industries, e.g. of pottery.

See also:

Rice and forest produce, however, are the principal exports. The road from Manipur to the Assam-Bengal railway at Dimapur is the principal See also:trade route. The See also:kingdom of Manipur, or, as the Burmans See also:call it, Kasse or Kathe, first emerges from obscurity as a See also:neighbour and ally of the Shan kingdom of Pong, which had its See also:capital at Mogaung. The valley appears to have been originally occupied by several tribes which came from different directions. Although their See also:general facial characteristics are Mongolian, there is a See also:great diversity of feature among the Manipuris, some of them showing a regularity approaching the See also:Aryan type. In the valley the See also:people are chiefly See also:Hindus, that See also:religion being of See also:recent introduction. Their own name for themselves is Meithei, and their See also:language is a See also:branch of the Kuki-See also:Chin See also:family, spoken by 273,000 persons in all India in Igo'. One of their peculiarities is the high position enjoyed by See also:women, who conduct most of the trade of the valley. They have a See also:caste See also:system of their own, different from that of India, and chiefly founded on the system of lallup, or forced labour, which has been abolished by the See also:British. Every male between the ages of seventeen and sixty was formerly obliged to See also:place his services at the disposal of the state for a certain number of days each See also:year, and to different classes of the people different employments were assigned. About four See also:hundred See also:Mahommedan families, descendants of settlers from Bengal, reside to the east of the capital. The aboriginal hill-men belong to one of the two great divisions of Nagas and Kukis, and are subdivided into innumerable clans and sections with slight See also:differences in language, customs or See also:dress.

The state is noted for the excellence of its breed of ponies. The See also:

English See also:game of See also:polo was introduced from Manipur, where it forms a great See also:national pastime. The first relations of the British with Manipur date from 1762, when the See also:raja solicited British aid to repel a Burmese invasion, and a treaty was entered into. The force was recalled, and little communication between the two countries took place until 1824, on the outbreak of the first Burmese See also:War. British assistance was again invoked by the raja, and the Burmese were finally expelled from both the Assam and the Manipur valleys. Disputed successions have always been a cause of trouble. The raja, Chandra Kirtti Singh, died in 1886, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Sur Chandra Singh, who appointed his next See also:brother, Kula Chandra Dhuya Singh, jubraj, or See also:heir-apparent. In 1890 another brother, the senapati, or See also:commander-in-See also:chief, Tikendrajit Singh, dethroned the raja, and installed the jubraj as See also:regent, the ex-raja retiring to See also:Calcutta. In See also:March 1891 the chief See also:commissioner of Assam (Quinton) marched to Manipur with 400 Gurkhas, in See also:order to See also:settle the question of See also:succession. His purpose was to recognize the new ruler, but to remove the senapati. After some futile negotiations, Quinton sent an See also:ultimatum, requiring the surrender of the senapati, by the hands of the political See also:resident, F. Grimwood, but no result followed.

An See also:

attempt was then made to See also:arrest the senapati; but after some See also:sharp fighting, in which Lieut. Brackenbury was killed, he escaped; and the Manipuris then attacked the British residency with an overwhelming force. Quinton was compelled to ask for a parley, and he, See also:Colonel See also:Skene, Grimwood, Cossins and Lieut. See also:Simpson, unarmed, went to the fort to negotiate. They were all there treacherously murdered, and when the See also:news arrived the Gurkhas retreated to Cachar, Mrs Grimwood and the wounded being with them. This led to a military expedition, which did not encounter much resistance. The various columns, converging on Manipur, found it deserted; and the regent, senapati, and others were captured during May. After a formal trial the senapati and one of the generals of the See also:rebellion were hanged and the regent was transported to the Andaman Islands. But it was decided to preserve the existence of the state, and a See also:child of the ruling family, named Chura Chand, of the See also:age of five, was nominated raja. He was sent to be educated in the See also:Mayo See also:College at See also:Ajmere, and he afterwards served for two years in the imperial See also:cadet See also:corps. Meanwhile the See also:administration was conducted under British supervision. The opportunity was seized for abolishing See also:slavery and unpaid forced labour, a See also:land See also:revenue of Rs.

2 per See also:

acre being substituted in the valley and a See also:house-tax in the hills. The boundaries of the state were demarcated, disarmament was carried out, and the construction of roads was pushed forward. In 1901 Manipur was visited by See also:Lord Curzon, on his way from Cachar to Burma. In May 1907 the See also:government of the state was handed over to Chura Chand, who was to be assisted by a See also:council of six Manipuris, with a member of the See also:Indian See also:civil service as See also:vice-See also:president. At the same See also:time it was announced that the government of India would support the raja with all its See also:powers and suppress summarily all attempts to displace him. The revenue is £26,000. The capital is See also:Imphal, which is really an overgrown See also:village; pop. (1901), 67,093. See Mrs Ethel St Clair Grimwood, My Three Years in Manipur (1891) ; Manipur State Gazetteer (Calcutta, 1905) ; T. C. See also:Hodson, The Meitheis (19o8).

End of Article: MANIPUR

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MANISA (anc. Magnesia ad Sipylum)

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