Maharaja Garib Niwaz : Builder of Manipuri civilisation

Maheshsana Rajkumar
Contd from previous issue
The intersection of Hindu and Buddhist prohibitions on certain kinds of meats worked together to influence a drive among Lower Chindwin monks to establish animal sanctuaries throughout the region.”
Garib Nawaz following the order of Hindu religious customs excavated the burial grounds for the predecessor kings, his fore- fathers and burnt the remains on the bank of Ningthee River.
Ningthee River (Chindwin River) was considered a sacred river of the Manipuri people. The last rite of King Garib Nawaz (Pamheiba) was performed at Tomphang Hiden at the bank of Ningthee River. The ashti of the king was immersed in Ningthee River.
The name “Manipur” is derived from Sanskrit name and it is noteworthy to pay some attention to important changes like how the name Manipur was coined in Garib Nawaz’s reign. According to Jacques P. Leider it is only in the eighteenth century that Manipur became Hinduized by Brah- mins coming from Bengal. The Burmese call the country “Kassay” and the author of the Lokabyuha-kyam states that the name “Mani-pura” was only adopted when a faction of the Manipuri court openly favored the changes promoted by the immigrant Bengal Brahmins in 1742.
Michael W. Charney emphasized the contributions of Manipuri Brahmins who played a significant role in shaping the perspectives of and cooperating in the literary activities of Chindwin- based Buddhist scholars and lay people in a powerful literary culture which existed from mid 17th century to 19th century known as “Chindwin Literary Culture” in Burma-Manipur Frontier.
Gharib Niwaz selected the Chindwin River areas of Burma-Manipur Frontier and patronized the intellectual exchange among South Asian and Southeast Asian scholars.
In fact, Chindwin River basin was the common borderland respected by both Manipur and Burma from the time of inception of their monarchies. Particularly, this borderland had been the lifeline to generate economy for Manipur. The Burmese and Manipuri Courts both attempted to mark out the division of their territory in the area using both the rivers (Chindwin and Irrawaddy), which were held sacred by the Manipuris at least, and temples which would seem to indicate a religious border.
During Gharib Niwaz’s reign, the newly built Kow-mawdaw Pagaoda at Sagaing with Irrawaddy River was established as the dividing marker between the two realms. Between these two poles, the royal Courts, the Chindwin appears as a transborder region culturally not completely dominated by one or the other, certainly by neither of the royal courts. The Chindwin area remained ethnically diverse, towns and other places known by different names by Burmese, Manipuris, and other groups, such as the Shan and Kadu.
The missionary dynamism of Gharib Newaz influenced Chindwin Buddhist monastics and the young prince who later became King Bodawpaya of Burma thus may provide an example of the orientation between literary culture and religious culture moving across communities, although other factors, such as longstanding disputes regarding the value of physically distancing oneself for meditative purposes from the everyday world and other doctrinal disputes over interpretation of the Vinaya would also have been at work in the latter case.
Nevertheless, Mani-puri Hindu zeal may have provided a model for Buddhist monastics in the Chindwin to follow.
(To be contd)