A need to rethink Meitei in sub-section of Chin group in Myanmar census code 402
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Maheshsana Rajkumar
Contd from previous issue
The kingdom of Manipur was Tainized/Shanized by the dominant Tai ethnic with other ethnicities living in Manipur from ancient period.
The settlements of Tai/Shan in ancient Manipur had an overwhelming influence and impact on the various aspects of her culture. The Tai people brought wet rice cultivation technology known as ‘Na’ culture from Yunnan. My communication with renowned Shan scholar Dr. Sai San Aik of Yangon, yielded valuable information on Manipur and has thrown much light on Tai/Shan Meitei (Tai Moy/Kassay), in his words Kassay (Manipur) was greatly influenced by Thai Lanna (present Chiangmai) of Northern Thailand since 6th century CE and Tai Khamti/Khamti Shan (once Tai Mao) started in 14th century CE also left much influence on Kassay and Tai Phake.
Now looking at the relevant history of Chin people migration in Mizoram, India it is mentioned in the writings of Mizo scholar Lalrimawia (1981: 28-31) as follows:
Khampat in Myanmar/Burma is believed to be the oldest Mizo town, where an earthen rampart is still visible. Mizo lore recalls that famine compelled their ancestors to migrate the Indo-Burmese hill tracts a.k.a. the Chin hills in the 14th century AD. Some early settlements from this period are still in existence, e.g. Seipui, Suaipui Saihmun, Bochung, all toponyms which are actually also clan names. In the 16th century, the Mizo arrived at present-day Mizoram after crossing the Tiau River. This last wave of migrants from the Chin Hills is also called Lushai. In fact, such dispersal may have been the inevitable result of a lifestyle in which jhum cultivation played a central role.
The settlements of old Kukis could be traced in Manipur from the time of King Gariba Niwaza (Pamheiba) in the first half of the 18th century. Sir Athelstane Baines in his report “Ethnography (Castes and Tribes), 1912, writes:
In 1720, the then Chief, called by the Muslim title of Gharib Navaz, was persuaded by some Brahmans at his court that he and his subjects were Ksatriya of the Lunar race. The monarch thereupon embraced their creed and was invested with the sacred thread, and with him a large number of his people. Since then, not only have most of the Meithei become Ksatriya, but the rank has been conferred by the Chief upon a plentiful supply of recruits from the surrounding Kuki and Naga tribes. The result is that at the Census only 33 of the inhabitants of the State returned the tribal name, whilst the 33, 000 Manipuri found on the record are Bengali enumerated in Kacar and its vicinity.
The great sovereign monarch of Southeast Asia Manipur King Gariba Niwaza, as a state policy had put different ethnicities of Manipur under one umbrella after adoption of Ramanandi Vaishnavism thereby encouraging Manipuri nationalism of the erstwhile kingdom. Sir Athelstane Baines wrote on the adoption of Brahmanism by a large portion of the Mongoloid population of Manipur, the chief and his military retainers passed into the rank of Ksatriya, and to the number of about 1, 80,000, appear under that title in the last census returns.
The men’s were enlisted in the Manipur royal army and the ranks were conferred by the Chief to draw military strength to counter the religious warfare of Theravada Buddhism religion of the mighty Burmese empire. The nation building tasks involved changing the country name from Kassay/Kathe to Manipur. The Burmese royal book namely Lokyabyuha-kyam mentioned the name Manipur was only adopted when a faction of the Manipur court openly favored the changes promoted by the immigrant Bengal Brahmins in 1742.
The much awaited time has come now to revisit the relevant histories of India particularly Manipur and Myanmar and bring rightful solution even at the cost of amending constitutions of the respective countries if required. The divide and rule policies of the British and legacies left in the form of draconian colonial laws had done great injustice to the Meitei people of Manipur. The history won’t forgive the greatest blunder committed by British, the treacherous act of transfer of Kabaw Valley to Burma (Myanmar) for 1 million pounds sterling war indemnity and the subsequent loss of ancestral boundary Ningthee River (Chindwin River) the dividing marker between both the kingdoms of Manipur and Burma hence resulting in the loss of economic lifeline of the ancient kingdom of Manipur.
The writer is an independent researcher & joint author of “The Political Monument: Footfalls of Manipuri History”. He worked in Nepal and Myanmar (2013-16) in the hydro and renewable energy space. He is a MBA from University of Technology Sydney, Australia and graduated in B.A. Political Science Major from St. Xavier’s College, University of Mumbai.
Contd from previous issue
The kingdom of Manipur was Tainized/Shanized by the dominant Tai ethnic with other ethnicities living in Manipur from ancient period.
The settlements of Tai/Shan in ancient Manipur had an overwhelming influence and impact on the various aspects of her culture. The Tai people brought wet rice cultivation technology known as ‘Na’ culture from Yunnan. My communication with renowned Shan scholar Dr. Sai San Aik of Yangon, yielded valuable information on Manipur and has thrown much light on Tai/Shan Meitei (Tai Moy/Kassay), in his words Kassay (Manipur) was greatly influenced by Thai Lanna (present Chiangmai) of Northern Thailand since 6th century CE and Tai Khamti/Khamti Shan (once Tai Mao) started in 14th century CE also left much influence on Kassay and Tai Phake.
Now looking at the relevant history of Chin people migration in Mizoram, India it is mentioned in the writings of Mizo scholar Lalrimawia (1981: 28-31) as follows:
Khampat in Myanmar/Burma is believed to be the oldest Mizo town, where an earthen rampart is still visible. Mizo lore recalls that famine compelled their ancestors to migrate the Indo-Burmese hill tracts a.k.a. the Chin hills in the 14th century AD. Some early settlements from this period are still in existence, e.g. Seipui, Suaipui Saihmun, Bochung, all toponyms which are actually also clan names. In the 16th century, the Mizo arrived at present-day Mizoram after crossing the Tiau River. This last wave of migrants from the Chin Hills is also called Lushai. In fact, such dispersal may have been the inevitable result of a lifestyle in which jhum cultivation played a central role.
The settlements of old Kukis could be traced in Manipur from the time of King Gariba Niwaza (Pamheiba) in the first half of the 18th century. Sir Athelstane Baines in his report “Ethnography (Castes and Tribes), 1912, writes:
In 1720, the then Chief, called by the Muslim title of Gharib Navaz, was persuaded by some Brahmans at his court that he and his subjects were Ksatriya of the Lunar race. The monarch thereupon embraced their creed and was invested with the sacred thread, and with him a large number of his people. Since then, not only have most of the Meithei become Ksatriya, but the rank has been conferred by the Chief upon a plentiful supply of recruits from the surrounding Kuki and Naga tribes. The result is that at the Census only 33 of the inhabitants of the State returned the tribal name, whilst the 33, 000 Manipuri found on the record are Bengali enumerated in Kacar and its vicinity.
The great sovereign monarch of Southeast Asia Manipur King Gariba Niwaza, as a state policy had put different ethnicities of Manipur under one umbrella after adoption of Ramanandi Vaishnavism thereby encouraging Manipuri nationalism of the erstwhile kingdom. Sir Athelstane Baines wrote on the adoption of Brahmanism by a large portion of the Mongoloid population of Manipur, the chief and his military retainers passed into the rank of Ksatriya, and to the number of about 1, 80,000, appear under that title in the last census returns.
The men’s were enlisted in the Manipur royal army and the ranks were conferred by the Chief to draw military strength to counter the religious warfare of Theravada Buddhism religion of the mighty Burmese empire. The nation building tasks involved changing the country name from Kassay/Kathe to Manipur. The Burmese royal book namely Lokyabyuha-kyam mentioned the name Manipur was only adopted when a faction of the Manipur court openly favored the changes promoted by the immigrant Bengal Brahmins in 1742.
The much awaited time has come now to revisit the relevant histories of India particularly Manipur and Myanmar and bring rightful solution even at the cost of amending constitutions of the respective countries if required. The divide and rule policies of the British and legacies left in the form of draconian colonial laws had done great injustice to the Meitei people of Manipur. The history won’t forgive the greatest blunder committed by British, the treacherous act of transfer of Kabaw Valley to Burma (Myanmar) for 1 million pounds sterling war indemnity and the subsequent loss of ancestral boundary Ningthee River (Chindwin River) the dividing marker between both the kingdoms of Manipur and Burma hence resulting in the loss of economic lifeline of the ancient kingdom of Manipur.
The writer is an independent researcher & joint author of “The Political Monument: Footfalls of Manipuri History”. He worked in Nepal and Myanmar (2013-16) in the hydro and renewable energy space. He is a MBA from University of Technology Sydney, Australia and graduated in B.A. Political Science Major from St. Xavier’s College, University of Mumbai.