The Manipuri Nation
- II
By Waikhom Damodar Singh
The mixed formation of the people so resulted was preceded by a series of struggles for supremacy amongst the several sections of tribes or clans of the Mongoloid people who migrated to the land in different 'hordes' and at different 'times' from south-west and north-east directions - the immigration of the different hordes to the virgin land began after the great 'flood' occurred some 5000 years before Christ when it had dried up in course of time and became habitable for human beings - the event known as the 'great deluge' of Manipur in her history. Thus war had been the 'seista' of Manipur. This reared up her people into a war-like nature which was in the long run, shaped into deep love for freedom for their land, Manipuris could pledge their lives for independence and therefore they became once a 'terror' to their neighbors.
Thus, Manipur though small in size is really a unique land in the South-East Asia having a very long and distinct political history of her own with many glorious and chivalrous records as an independent sovereign country beginning actually from centuries before Christ under Nonglen, Kuptreng etc., and mythologically from the times of the sylvan gods - Marjing, Thangjing, Wangbrel, Khoriphaba etc.
Chronology is the 'soul' of history. An aggregation of facts only without specific dates comes simply under the category of story and myth. The history of Manipur of the medieval period perhaps still remains somehow obscure and disputable. However, it is no denying the fact that a chronologically well established history of Manipur begins clearly from the time of Pakhangba who ruled the kingdom as the first formally coronated king with Laisra as his consort queen from 33 AD. For some 120 years with subjects crystallized as a whole or fused together into a bigger and much stronger group of people from all the heterogeneous elements who migrated to the land as described earlier. It is believed that Pakhangba belonged to the Chakkya (Satya) tribe (Emperor Asoka's tribe) born by one Yabi-Rcka, a Lei-hou mother, and therefore it is in this context that the 'Tangkhuls' are said to have a very close ancestral relationship with the Meiteis. It is to show the indispensability in the relationship that the Meiteis still continue to include the Tangkhul-pattern cloth (the Tangkhul-Leirum Phi) as a compulsory and symbolic item amongst the clothing given to their 'brides' as a part of their marriage gifts or dowry.
The successors of the Pakhangba's ruling dynasty numbers some 68 kings - the last being Bodhachandra Singh, the eldest son of Maharaj Sir Churchand Singh, KCSI CBE (K night Commander State of India, Commander British Empire) who assumed charge of the State administration on September 30, 1941 on the abdication of the throne by his father on health grounds. A Kharita (proclamation) from the Crown representative recognizing his succession to the royal 'gaddi' was formally presented by Christopher Gimpson, Esq, ICS, the then Political Agent of Manipur on April 18, 1942.
Bodhachandra Singh went through the traditional ceremonies for the royal coronation (Phambal Tongba) held at sacred Kangla as required to be performed for a Manipur ruler in December, 1944 accompanied by his second consort-queen, Kamalabati Devi (Sangai Devi) both dressed in the 'traditional tribal dresses' – the queen of Manipur at that time was Ishwari Devi, daughter of General Shamsher Jung Bahadur of Nepal who should have been seated on the left of the king during the coronation ceremony but she was not available as she had gone to Nepal at that time. The coronation ceremony which was followed by a Royal procession from the Kangla Fort upto the Imphal Palace led by a large armed and mixed contingents including even the tanks of the Allied Forces of the 14th Army of General Slim was indeed a grand and most spectacular and an
unprecedented event in the history of Manipur.
The reign of Maharaja Bodhachandra Singh as the last king of Pakhangba's dynasty came to an end quite abruptly parting away the 'age-old' sovereignty of Manipur as the State was forcibly merged with India on October 21, 1949 though he had already and honorably handed over the 'administrative power' to the people well ahead of the ending of the British rule over the State. Under his keen initiative a people's elected Government had soon been established with her own Constitution duly framed which became fully operative with effect from October 18, 1948.
In fact, from the midnight of August 14,1947 onwards along with the ending of the paramountcy of the British, Manipur became again the 'de facto' independent State with a king who remained only as a Constitutional head, and as a mark of it the Red color Royal Flag of Manipur bearing Pakhangba's insignia began to fly freely at the historic Fort Kangla in place of the British Union Jack which had since been flying high there from the time of the defeat of Manipur in the hands of the British in the year 1891. Maharaja Bodhachandra Singh addressed the House on its First seating with his very sincere and highly emotional proclamation which is reproduced as below:
"This is the first time I as a representative of Manipur Crown and monarchy unbroken and safeguard with blood of my forefather for about two thousand years, address the first Assembly of the Manipur State on this historic day after the modern method and British style. I consider myself fortunate to see the birth of an Assembly in the State during my time and again I feel proud to be able to place on record and make it known to the rest of India has, just as the sun rises earlier in the east, taken the lead in the direction of democratic Government based on 'adult franchise' and joint electorate in the line of which India is soon following. I take more pride, in that though in countries like England responsible Government has been the outcome of the blood of some persons, there has been in my State no bloodshed since I took initiatives here.
To
be continued..
(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)
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