Manipur: A Case Study On Migration
By Dr Moirangthem Thawanthaba
Introduction: The State of Manipur is located in the north-eastern region of the Indian Union lying between 92°58' to 94°45'E longitudes and 23°50' to 25042'N latitudes. The State is bounded on the north by Nagaland, on the east by Myanmar (Burma), on the south by Mizoram and Myanmar (Burma) and on the west by the State of Assam. The kingdom was lost to the British Empire in 1891 and merged into the Indian Union in 1949. At present, the total geographical area of the State is 22,327 square kilometers. Since time immemorial, the seven clans of the Meitei community and different hill tribe communities inhabited the kingdom. We believed that all these communities belonged to Chin-Burmese region’s Mongoloid stock. The seven clans of Meitei community are: 1) Ningthouja, 2) Angom, 3) Moirang, 4) Luwang, 5) Khuman, 6) Khaba-Nganba, and 7) Sarang Leishangthem (Chenglei). The Meiteis mostly inhabited the areas along the river courses. Ningthoujam, Angom and Khaba-Nganba were settled along the river courses of Nambul, Kongba, hill and upper portion of Imphal. Luwang clan inhabited the areas along the Luwangli, Phumlou, Abalok and Isingda rivers and Khuman clan settled in Thoubal, Wangjing and lower courses of Imphal (Manipur) rivers. Likewise, Moirang clan was dominant along the Maklang, Nambol, Thongjaorok, Khuga, and Moirang rivers. The Sarang Leishangthem (Chenglei) clan was concentrated along the Maklang and Nambol rivers. The 33 Scheduled Tribe communities however were scattered in the ranges and foothills of the surrounding hills. Some tribal communities like the Tangkhuls and Kabuis had had the same status of a clan system. The Tangkhuls are one of the oldest indigenous communities in the kingdom and they have settled in the east and surrounding foothills of the valley. The Kabuis and the Kacha Nagas make their habitation in the west and north-west. It may be mentioned that the Maos, the Marams, the Paomeis, the Purums, etc. have concentrated in the north. The Marings, the Moyons, the Chothes, the Taraos, the Aimols, the Lamgangs, etc have colonized their habitation in the south-east and southern portions of the state. The Chin-Mizo-Kuki groups are mostly settled in the south, south-western and some part of the northern portion of the kingdom. These tribal groups were recorded as old and new groups. Some of them still entered into the Kingdom State. Period of Migration: There are two types of migration found in the kingdom/State. They are - 1) Immigrant - who migrated to the State from the outside, and 2) Emigrant who migrated from the kingdom/state to elsewhere. The migrant peoples of east and west assimilated into the indigenous population of the kingdom. They migrated into the kingdom/state in the either as war captives or war prisoners and immigrants. There are two different migration periods in the kingdom/state. 1) Early period of about 11- 19th Century AD, and 2) Later period of Census Data. Early period upto 19th Century AD: This period is mostly considered either as war captives or war time prisoner. It is very difficult to find the migration pictures due to limited resources and all estimates will be hypothetical. It is also more critical to study about the hilly peoples other than relying on sources such as folk stories and myths. The hill tribes never had a common king, but each tribal village is ruled by a village chief or the Khullakpa. To study the growth of population or migration of the kingdom is basically equal to the study of the Meitei kings. In the beginning of the first century AD, Ningthouja clan king Nongda Lairen Pakhangba founded the Meitei kingdom with the help of the Angom Pureiromba and Luwang Langmaiba and ascended the throne of ‘Kangla’ in 33 AD and ruled upto 154 AD. However, some scholars stated that more than sixty-one kings ruled the kingdom before the Christian era. The Kings of each of the clans fought one another and after the annexation of the Moirang clan in 1435 AD, the Meitei kingdom was consolidated and came under the umbrella of the Ningthouja clan. Between 1278 and 1358 AD, during the reign of King Moramba, Thangbi Lanthaba and Tonaba, Takhels from Tripura migrated and settled at the foothills of the Nongmaijing hill and is known as Takhel village in Imphal East district. During the reign of king Thingkhonba of the Khuman clan, many Muslim war captives (Mayangs) from Tekhao (Assam) started to settle at Mayang Imphal of Imphal West district. King Kyamba (1467-1508 AD) constructed a 600 feet long bridge over the Ningthi River. Kabow Valley, a part of upper Burma was the property of the Meitei kingdom till 1834 AD. The Meiteis and the Awas were frequently locked into war situations and huge numbers of war captives were brought into the kingdom and vice versa. It was also stated that about 18 Brahmins, for the first time entered and assimilated with the Meitei population. During 1523-1597 AD, about six Brahmins also entered the kingdom. Some Kabos (Awas) were also brought as war captives by King Mungyamba (1562-1597 AD) and allowed them to settle at Kabo Leikai, Imphal. In the process of territorial expansion, King Khagemba’s (1597-1652 AD) period was considered very significant as he had brought many war captives from abroad to the region. In 1606 AD he fought with the Cachar rulers and imprisoned about 1000 Muslim sepoys and they were finally settled in the kingdom. King Khagemba’s campaigns against China and Awa kingdom of Burma in 1630 AD also brought many war captives to the kingdom from which the Meiteis adopted the eastern culture. King Khagemba raided Takhel and brought about 200 captives during 1633-34 AD. It also recorded the bringing of 10 Brahmins into the kingdom. New settlements were establish during the reign of King Paikhomba (1666-1697 AD), who cleared the jungles and improved the road network and further continued dragging the Nambul river upto the Heibokching area. About eight Brahmins migrated during his reign. It is also recorded that during King Charairongba (1697-1709 AD) reign about 13 Brahmins also entered the Kingdom. By the end of the 17th Century AD, the Hindu missionaries from Bengal started moving in large numbers when King Garibaniwaz (1709-1748 AD) declared Vaishnavism (Ramandi) as the state religion and subsequently he ordered the subjects to adopt Hindu religion. This had contributed considerably to the political and cultural ethos of the region and somehow encouraged to imprint Hindunisation in settled areas of the kingdom. King Garibaniwaz defeated the Burmese army on several occasions in 1725, 1735, 1738 and 1748-49 AD He also repulsed an army of about 20,000 to 30,000 men (Dun, E.W., 1886). During his reign, we may estimate that the valley population multiplied by third or fourth members to each army men and may be recorded as about 1 lakh population in the valley. This estimation also supported that King Bheighachandra regained the kingdom again from the Burmese troops thereby increasing his Infantry to about 80,000 during 1767-68 AD (Singh, L.J., 1995). Here, we may estimate that the total population of the kingdom at the end of the 18th Century AD was about 1,70,000 including about 50,000 hill men. During 1859-1941 AD altogether about 25 Brahmins were assimilated with the Meiteis. As most of King Bheighachandra’s (1759-62 & 63-98) sons fought amongst themselves for the throne of Kangla, instability was the other name of his kingdom. Taking advantage of such weakness of the King, Burmese troops conquered the Meitei kingdom for about seven years (1819-1825 AD) and this period is known in our history as ‘Chahi Taret Khuntakpa’ (Seven Years Devastation). The population of the kingdom decreased during and after the devastation. It was recorded in 1820 AD that about 30,000 subjects of the kingdom were taken away as war captives by the Burmese troops under Commander Pakhan Woon. Thousands of Meiteis also fled to Tekhao, Takhel, Sylhet and elsewhere to save their skins. Many people died of starvation due to serious famines during 1821-23 AD. It was also stated that about 6,000 people died due to Cholera epidemic in 1840-41 AD (Singh, L.J., 1995). King Gambhir Singh (1825-1833AD) regained his kingdom in 1825 AD with the help of the British. Altogether about 763 Awa and 152 Mayang captives were brought into the kingdom. During the reign of Gambhir Singh, the British Emperor had started to officiate their permanent Political Agency in the kingdom. Colonel McCulloch estimated the population of the valley in 1859 at 50,000 and again in 1868 at 65,000-70,000. The kingdom’s authority, however estimated the population at only 56,000 in 1869. So, McCulloch finally estimated the kingdom’s total population at 1,30,000 including 70,000 Hillman. It was again stated by R. Brown in 1873 that the total population of the kingdom was estimated to be about 1,39,000 (hills-74,000 and valley-65,000). Their estimation was almost low in the valley. It may be observed that the kingdom population was decreased during and after the Seven Years Devastation by about 30,000-50,000 persons. According to E.W.Dun, by 1886, the total population of the kingdom was recorded at 221,070 of which 135,782 were in the valley and 85,288 were in hills. He also further stated that there were 105 Foreigners and 4,881 Muslims in the kingdom. Period of Census Data: The first modern Indian Census was conducted in 1872 but synchronizely in 1881 throughout the Indian state with a 10 year decadal interval. However the kingdom was excluded from the Census record of 1872. The report for 1891 was recorded but it was found destroyed due to Anglo-Manipur War of 1891. During and after the British period and post-independence, many foreigners freely immigrated for business and other trades. The total State population was recorded at 284,465 in 1901 and it is observed that the population of the state showed an increasing trend. From the Census Data, the migrant peoples may be estimated from the four different sources. They are - 1) Place of Birth, 2) Place of Last Residence, 3) Languages (Mother- Tongue), and 4) Religions. Migration by Place of Birth and Last Residence: As per the Census, every person’s place of birth and place of last residence is clearly recorded as district, state, beyond state, country and beyond country. It highlighted the total migrants as per place of birth and place of last residence since 1931 and there were 4,204 persons recorded as born in India but outside the state of Manipur while about 2,078 foreigners migrated into the state in 1951. The total immigrants were recorded at 16,358; 37,548; 33,463; 27,785 and 20,677 in 1961-2001 by place of birth. The persons who are enumerated in the state but their last residence is outside the states of Indian Union and beyond India during the census period were recorded as 31,124; 30,638; 25,041; and 16, 201 in 1971 to 2001. Minor differences are found when we compared the figures of by place of birth and place of last residence. Among the Indian states, Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Mizoram, etc. are the front-running states from where immigrants came from. Many Chin-Kuki groups also migrated from the neighboring states of Mizoram and Myanmar. Foreign countries like Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), Bhutan and China also provided migrant people in the kingdom/State since many years ago. It is clearly mentioned that Burmese (Myanmarese) nationals also migrated from Burma (Myanmar) and were likely to be counted as belonging to the Chin-Kuki groups. Mother-tongue means the language spoken in childhood by the person’s mother to the person. There were other languages selected other than Meiteilon (Manipuri). The total population as per languages (mother-tongue) other than Meiteilon (Manipuri) and tribal languages has steadily increased from 7821 in 1931 to 8422 in 1951; 27,843 in 1961; 70,208 in 1981 and 100,247 in 1991. Bengali speaking population had tremendously increased as we found 2,273 in 1931 and increased to 19,377 in 1991. As per languages, it is observed that Nepalis started to settle in the state starting in 1931 and recorded at 2,705. Their population was found increased to 46,498 in 1991. Hindi speaking population also increased from 1,049 in 1931 to 24,061 in 1991 with the increase rate of 2,194 percent in 60 years. Religions: From the religion records we may also define some selected migrant people in the state. There is also mention of six major Indian religions and other religions. Muslim population is clearly indicated by religion. There were 4,881 Muslims recorded in 1881 and this population increased to 190,939 in 2001 with a growth rate 00,812 percent. Similarly we can also take into account the Sikh and Jain population in the state. Problems on Migration: Generally by increasing migrant population in the state, the natural productions could not be sufficient to feed her subjects and we hardly depended on imported commodities from aboard. Nepalis were one of the responsible groups to make deforestation of the entire northern portion of the State. Around 1980, some people raised the issue of foreigners and torched a number of Nepali houses settled in the Pukhao-Sagolmang side. Such happenings have disturbed the local people both socially and culturally. Most of our manual jobs were also forfeited to outsiders especially migrants from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam. Conclusion: Immigrants were considered mostly in the early period either as war captives or war prisoners and most of them has assimilated with the Meitei community. During the seven years Devastation (1819-1825/26 AD), about 50,000 Manipuris fled to Burma, Takhel, Tekhao, Sylhet and elsewhere. During the British period and post Independence, huge number of Nepalis, Muslims, Bengalis, Biharis, Burmese (Chin-Kuki groups), Mizos and others migrated into the State. The following points are suggested for further studies. 1) To make a population policy on migration, 2) To check Nepali population, 3) To check and divide Muslim population as Meitei Pangal/Muslim and other Muslims, 4) To study the tribe wise population for finding out their growth rate and some hints of migrants should be highlighted, and 5) To give an indigenous Manipuri Citizenship Card.
(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)