Matamgi Manipur

by Professor Gangmumei Kamei (National Fellow, IIAS Shimla) (This paper is a part of the author’s National Fellows Lecture series entitled “The Philosophy of History and the Historiography of Manipur” delivered by him at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study at Shimla on 8th September, 2010.) Source Kangla Online   Manipur was an ancient kingdom with a long history and rich culture. Manipur means the land or city of the gems. Manipur valley is a cradle of human civilization and culture. Different ethnic groups migrated to Manipur in search of land, resources, fame and glory. The Meitei kingdom grew up in the Manipur valley while in the hills, the tribals did not build up polity formation beyond the village polity. The ancient Meiteis develop the knowledge of writing quite early. They possess strong sense of history and as we are all aware historiography is the art of writing history, the historiography of Manipur may be divided into the following categories, Traditi...

The article is a reproduction of the lecture given by Subir Bhaumik at Arambam Somorendra Memorial Lecture on June 10, 2012 at JNMDA, Manipur. It was published by the Imphal Free Press and webcast by Kangla Online. Mr. Chairperson, Prof. W. Nabakumar, Chairman of the Arambam Somorendra Trust, Dr. Lokendra, scholars, friends, ladies and gentlemen, Eleven years ago, on this day, at Imphal’s Khurai Nandeibam Leikai, Arambam Somorendra, a pioneer figure in Manipur’s long saga of political protest and social movements, was killed by suspected militants of a valley-based group, perhaps those who did not agree with his thinking. The murder was an insult to the spirit of free thinking that has been Manipur’s forte and that has produced a plethora of absolute genius in this rather creative society. I am indeed honoured for being invited to deliver a lecture in memory of a man who did not merely establish what would seem to be a separatist organization to free Manipur from India but also a...

The economic blockade in Manipur hits 100th day today This article was published by the Kangla Online ( http://kanglaonline.com/ ) on October 5 2011 at  http://kanglaonline.com/2011/10/highway-blockade-in-manipur/ Another episode, another episodic reaction and noises; it is a déjà vu of frustratingly comical experience of a tragic life. Highway blockades (for more 100 days) again and facts of price rise and simmering communal tension and familiar feudal lords and their subjects crying wolf once again.

by TAOTHINGMANG LUWANGCHA Our social clock is ticking faster than the rattling machine guns in these midnight hours of our collective lives, disturbing every little tranquillity that we supposedly possess as modern human beings. But the irony is, without any hope for a coming dawn, we are getting lost in the darkness — one foot on murky water, another on fleeting, listless time of a lost generation. At this critical moment, we need to make some decisive resolutions and we need to vote for resistance.

By Dr Irengbam Mohendra Singh Kangla Online Aug 24 2011 There is some archaeological evidence that the valley of Manipur was once filled with water. The Meitei Puya also mentions that the water in the valley dried up by draining through Chingninghut i.e., tunnels through the mountain ranges at Tengnoupal in Southwest Manipur. We believe in science because scientists use logic to make conclusions about the things in existence. No other area of expertise has provided us with more knowledge about the universe than has science. There is now definite geological evidence that Manipur along with the whole of the Northeast was once submerged in water. With the tectonic uplift of the Northeast, Manipur was raised from the bottom of the sea as a valley surrounded by hill ranges and filled with water, just like a cup rose from under the water.

By Dr Irengbam Mohendra Singh Kanglaonline May 30, 2011 There is an ongoing tripartite talk to discuss the demand of the UNC for the separation/secession of Naga inhabited areas of Manipur from Manipur itself. I have a gut feeling that whatever the outcome of the talk, the boundary of Manipur is inviolable. ‘Manipur’ is for all the Manipuris while archaic ‘Kangleipak’ is for the Meiteis, incorporating the Imphal valley. It was the water-filled Imphal valley that dried up, not the hills.

By Amar Yumnam Kanglaonline September 1, 2010 “Perhaps the immobility of the things around us is imposed on them by our certitude that they are themselves and nothing else, by the immobility of our thinking about them”. This is a wonderful observation from Marcel Proust, and very significant one in the context of necessity for aesthetics in Asian diplomacy today. I make this statement in the context of the recent Indian hyperbole over rejection of visa to an Indian army general by Chinese authorities. In this context, I would like to point out that as late as July 2010 a Chinese Consul General based in India was denied permission by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs to enter Manipur to deliver a lecture at Manipur University. Well China did not react to this unlike the Indian hyperbolic way. This hyperbolism is true both for Indian state and the Indian media.

Amar Yumnam Kanglaonline J anuary 12, 2011 In a recent function in Manipur University, an ex-Vice Chancellor related a sad and disappointing experience with the Chief Minister of Manipur who held the helm of affairs during the early 1990s. The university was an institution then funded by the provincial government. I would not take name of the Chief Minister, but it was during his reign that the most unlikely and most unthinkable as well as anti-historical Meetei-Meetei Pangal communal riot took place. It was during his reign that the ethnic clashes in the mountains of Manipur started occurring in a very violent way. All these were social incidents which completely negated the cultural ethos of the people of Manipur. This was also the Chief Minister who did not understand the Indian economic reforms initiated in 1991, and so left the State of Manipur completely unprepared and unadjusted to the changed policy environment. This particular politician is now in absolute political oblivi...

By Amar Yumnam Kanglaonline January 27, 2011 The only way to carry the forward movement of a society onward and ensure the sustainability of social coherence is through ensuring the positive quality of contemporary youths forever. We may be enjoying a high social growth at one moment of history because of the adults performing well, but this will be lost in the next period if the youths of the present period are of questionable character. Manipur now stands at a critical historical juncture in so far as this issue is concerned.

By N. Joykumar Singh (Professor, Manipur University) Kanglaonline.com June 10 2010 Change and development are the basic salient features of the history of human civilization. In their long process of history and development the people had an opportunity to witness the activities of various types of events. No doubt these events had a far reaching impact in the future history of human beings. On the other hand they also laid a foundation at base for a drastic change in the course of the historical process. Indeed, the idea for a change in the existing norms may be treated as a kind of barometer of the given particular society. Change always led the society toward a new direction. Only the question is whether it is toward the positive or negative direction. Sometimes change also had produced a significant result against the desire of the people of the society. Therefore, every historical event has got its own importance with the changing perception in the minds of the present generat...