Colonial policy and practice in Manipur
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Gangmumei Kamei
Contd from previous issue
Award of K.C.S.I (1934)
Viceroy Lord Irwin accompanied by Lady Irwin and his daughter Miss Anneewood visited
Manipur. He was given a great reception by the Maharaja of Manipur. Lord Irwin was an intelligent British statesman. He described the state of Manipur as the ‘Switzerland of the east’. In 1934 the Maharaja was awarded the title of K.C.S.I. (Knight Commander of the Star of India). It was the climax of Maharaja Churachand’s rule.
Maharaja Churachand Singh was a patron of modern education and western sports in Manipur. He encouraged establishment of schools and provided scholarships to the bright Manipur students for education outside the state. They were educated at Gauhati, Sylhet, Dacca, Calcutta and Benaras. He regarded himself as a patron of Vaishnavism in Manipur. He presided over the Brahma Sabha consisting of many learned Brahmin scholars who were conversant with Hindu scriptures. He also tried to unite the Manipuris into a pan Manipuri forum known as Akhil Manipuri Hindu Maha Sabha to deal with the Manipuri National question. He also built up a fraternal relation with the hill tribes particularly, the Kabuis, the Tangkhuls and Kukis.
Difference between the Maharaja and the Colonial authorities
In his last days, the Maharaja faced troubles with the rising elite leadership. He fell out with the Nikhil Manipuri Maha Sabha. He utilized the services of the conservative and orthodox Brahma Sabha to collect religious fines on Hindu out castes. He had to deal with the women agitation of 1939 which was originally an agitation of market women against the policy of rice exports monopolized by the Marwari community which was converted to a demand for political reforms. The British were against introduction of democratic system in Manipur.
The greatest political upheaval faced by Maharaja Churachand Singh and British colonial authorities was this women agitation. The market women of Manipur initiated the protest movement which lasted 15 months. This protest movement is known in the history of Manipur as the ‘Great Second Women Agitation of Manipur’ popularly known as ‘Nupi Lan’ (Women’s War, 1939-40). It was an anti feudal, anti monopoly and anti colonial movement. The women agitation succeeded in banning the export of rice to outside Manipur but due to the intervention of Nikhil Mani- puri Mahasabha particularly its popular leader Hijam Irabot Singh, it was converted into a movement for democratic reform. The agitation died down after the imprisonment of Irabot Singh in 1940 and outbreak of World War II which stopped all talks about Constitutional reforms in Manipur. The ailing Maharaja Sir Churachand Singh thought of abdicating the throne; he spent his last days in Nabadwip in Bengal. And his son Jubraj Bodhchandra Singh was appointed the succeeding Maharaja of Manipur in 1941. Maharaja Churachand Singh extended help to the British in the early years of the World War II but he could not do much due to his death at the age of 55 in November, 1941.
His son Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh extended the needed help to the British and the allied powers during the great battle of Imphal of 1944. Maharaja Bodh Chandra’s assistance to the British was acknowledged by King Emperor George VI by the exemption of the annual tribute of Rs. 50,000/- payable to the British Empire. The British government also extended relief measures for the reconstruction of Mani-pur State. The British un- derstood that there were political movements launched by different political parties particularly, the Manipur State Congress and Manipur Krishak Sabha for the introduction of responsible government in the State.
Maharaja Bodh Chandra Singh who was a member of the Chamber of Indian Princes was advised by Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten and fellow princes to join the Dominion of India in the eventual declaration of independence of India. Advised by the Chamber of Princes, Maharaja Bodh Chandra signed two significant agreements namely, the Stand Still Agreement and the Instrument of Accession on 11th August, 1947. Thus 4 days before the declaration of independence of India, the Maharaja acceded the State of Manipur to the Dominion of India according to which he agreed to hand over subjects of defence, external affairs , finance including coinage and currency and communication. After the war, the British supported the Maharaja for the introduction of a Constitutional monarchy in the state. The Maharaja promulgated two important laws for the state; the Manipur State Constitution Act 1947 and the Manipur Hill People Regulation 1947. Power was transferred by the British to the Maharaja Bodh Chandra Singh on 15th August, 1947.
The British rule in Manipur lasted for 56 years; the policy they desire was put in to practice in the first phase of their rule. Their Indirect Rule both in the valley and in the hills was fraught with troubles. They brought British liberal ideas, European technology and western education which formed the basis of modernization of Manipur.
Footnotes:
1. The formulation is based on Gangmumei Kamei’s, “Colonialism and Colonial Policy” in Ethnicity and Social Change (An Anthology of essays) New Delhi, 2008. Further references are
2. John Hurd II was an American Professor of Oakland University. He wrote ‘the Economic Consequences of Indirect Rule in India’ which was published in the Indian Economic and Social History Review, 1975 Vol.2.
3. Ibid
4. Mrs Grimwoods’s book, “My Three Years in Manipur” and Mano Mohan Ghose’s “Did Manipuri Princes obtain a fair trial?” published in the same year 1891, further publicized action of Govt of India and the justice of their policy.
5. The history of British Rule in Manipur is widely discussed by British historians in the colonial period; John Shakespeare’s, Mani-pur under direct British management (1907) and Robert Reid’s History of Areas bordering Assam.
Contd from previous issue
Award of K.C.S.I (1934)
Viceroy Lord Irwin accompanied by Lady Irwin and his daughter Miss Anneewood visited
Manipur. He was given a great reception by the Maharaja of Manipur. Lord Irwin was an intelligent British statesman. He described the state of Manipur as the ‘Switzerland of the east’. In 1934 the Maharaja was awarded the title of K.C.S.I. (Knight Commander of the Star of India). It was the climax of Maharaja Churachand’s rule.
Maharaja Churachand Singh was a patron of modern education and western sports in Manipur. He encouraged establishment of schools and provided scholarships to the bright Manipur students for education outside the state. They were educated at Gauhati, Sylhet, Dacca, Calcutta and Benaras. He regarded himself as a patron of Vaishnavism in Manipur. He presided over the Brahma Sabha consisting of many learned Brahmin scholars who were conversant with Hindu scriptures. He also tried to unite the Manipuris into a pan Manipuri forum known as Akhil Manipuri Hindu Maha Sabha to deal with the Manipuri National question. He also built up a fraternal relation with the hill tribes particularly, the Kabuis, the Tangkhuls and Kukis.
Difference between the Maharaja and the Colonial authorities
In his last days, the Maharaja faced troubles with the rising elite leadership. He fell out with the Nikhil Manipuri Maha Sabha. He utilized the services of the conservative and orthodox Brahma Sabha to collect religious fines on Hindu out castes. He had to deal with the women agitation of 1939 which was originally an agitation of market women against the policy of rice exports monopolized by the Marwari community which was converted to a demand for political reforms. The British were against introduction of democratic system in Manipur.
The greatest political upheaval faced by Maharaja Churachand Singh and British colonial authorities was this women agitation. The market women of Manipur initiated the protest movement which lasted 15 months. This protest movement is known in the history of Manipur as the ‘Great Second Women Agitation of Manipur’ popularly known as ‘Nupi Lan’ (Women’s War, 1939-40). It was an anti feudal, anti monopoly and anti colonial movement. The women agitation succeeded in banning the export of rice to outside Manipur but due to the intervention of Nikhil Mani- puri Mahasabha particularly its popular leader Hijam Irabot Singh, it was converted into a movement for democratic reform. The agitation died down after the imprisonment of Irabot Singh in 1940 and outbreak of World War II which stopped all talks about Constitutional reforms in Manipur. The ailing Maharaja Sir Churachand Singh thought of abdicating the throne; he spent his last days in Nabadwip in Bengal. And his son Jubraj Bodhchandra Singh was appointed the succeeding Maharaja of Manipur in 1941. Maharaja Churachand Singh extended help to the British in the early years of the World War II but he could not do much due to his death at the age of 55 in November, 1941.
His son Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh extended the needed help to the British and the allied powers during the great battle of Imphal of 1944. Maharaja Bodh Chandra’s assistance to the British was acknowledged by King Emperor George VI by the exemption of the annual tribute of Rs. 50,000/- payable to the British Empire. The British government also extended relief measures for the reconstruction of Mani-pur State. The British un- derstood that there were political movements launched by different political parties particularly, the Manipur State Congress and Manipur Krishak Sabha for the introduction of responsible government in the State.
Maharaja Bodh Chandra Singh who was a member of the Chamber of Indian Princes was advised by Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten and fellow princes to join the Dominion of India in the eventual declaration of independence of India. Advised by the Chamber of Princes, Maharaja Bodh Chandra signed two significant agreements namely, the Stand Still Agreement and the Instrument of Accession on 11th August, 1947. Thus 4 days before the declaration of independence of India, the Maharaja acceded the State of Manipur to the Dominion of India according to which he agreed to hand over subjects of defence, external affairs , finance including coinage and currency and communication. After the war, the British supported the Maharaja for the introduction of a Constitutional monarchy in the state. The Maharaja promulgated two important laws for the state; the Manipur State Constitution Act 1947 and the Manipur Hill People Regulation 1947. Power was transferred by the British to the Maharaja Bodh Chandra Singh on 15th August, 1947.
The British rule in Manipur lasted for 56 years; the policy they desire was put in to practice in the first phase of their rule. Their Indirect Rule both in the valley and in the hills was fraught with troubles. They brought British liberal ideas, European technology and western education which formed the basis of modernization of Manipur.
Footnotes:
1. The formulation is based on Gangmumei Kamei’s, “Colonialism and Colonial Policy” in Ethnicity and Social Change (An Anthology of essays) New Delhi, 2008. Further references are
2. John Hurd II was an American Professor of Oakland University. He wrote ‘the Economic Consequences of Indirect Rule in India’ which was published in the Indian Economic and Social History Review, 1975 Vol.2.
3. Ibid
4. Mrs Grimwoods’s book, “My Three Years in Manipur” and Mano Mohan Ghose’s “Did Manipuri Princes obtain a fair trial?” published in the same year 1891, further publicized action of Govt of India and the justice of their policy.
5. The history of British Rule in Manipur is widely discussed by British historians in the colonial period; John Shakespeare’s, Mani-pur under direct British management (1907) and Robert Reid’s History of Areas bordering Assam.