The People:
Anthropods, Man had developed his anthrop area, and laboured upon the surrounding environment for his survival first. Later his behavior titled towards exploitation of the natural resources of the biosphere. Therefore, the study of the ekistic elements, heritage and developmental history of a population becomes essential in highlighting the bio-conenoses, working in the pertinent environment system wherein the same population thrives.
Manipur assumes an isolated entity not only in its geographical setting but also in peopling by virtue of the land being the buffer zone between the Caucasoid-Dravidian belt of the west and the oriental Mongoloid belt of the east. Manipur has four main aboriginal ethnic groups viz., the Meiteis of the valley and the Nagas, the Kukis and the Mizos of the surrounding hill tribes. Incidentally, the term "hillmen" has the same connotation with "tribesmenâ€. The "Pangals" (Manipuri Muslims) are the immigrants in the later part of the history of the land. Anthropometrically, the Meiteis and the hillmen are characterised by short stature, mesorrhine, mesocephalic (or brachy cephalic) and leptoproscopic face. The Pangals on the other hand have long face, mesorrhine, dolicho-mesocephalic head forms. The Meiteis are of Mongoloid stock with a high percentage of Aryan blood. The original settlers of the land speak a number of languages and dialects, which have linguistic affinities.
The origin of the Meiteis and other tribes are shrouded with many theories. The Meiteis and the other tribes have been identified with the "Kiratas" of the Vedic literature (Chatterjee, 1950). However, many historians have rejected t`e theory of Hindu origin of the Meitei. Pemberton (1835) considers them to be the descendants of a Tartar Colony from N-W frontiers of China. B.H. Hodson's theory of Tai ground that the Meiteis are Tibeto-Burman Language speakers while the Tais are of Siamese-Chinese linguistic family.
G.A. Grierson put forward another theory that the Tibeto Burman and other Mongolian ethnic groups inhabited the upper courses of the Yangtza and the Hung-Ho rivers in China in pre-historic times. Their kinsmen migrated southwards and settled in the Hukwang Valley of the present land of the Catnips in upper Burma before they moved further down to Manipur valley.
Archaeological findings have revealed that Manipur was inhabited by pre-historic man since stone age. Cultural relics of pre- and post-historic periods are found from many caves and open-air sites. Mention may be made of the discovery of caves at Kangkhui (Ukhrul District), Sangbu (Chandel District), Tharon (Tamenglong District), Nongpok Keithelmanbi (Senapati District), Mongjam (Imphal District) and Wangoo (Bishenpur District). The palaeolithic man lived in caves while the Neolithic lived in open -air sites. Neolithic man reached the Manipur Valley not later than 2000 B.C. Recent archaeological findings at Tharon cave and Napachik etc. in Manipur point to the existence of a Mon-Khmer speaking Australoid-Mongoloid people who migrated to this land before the arrival of the Tibeto-Burman speakers.
When Tai origin is questioned, well-established proto-historic and historic relationships between the Meiteis, Mon-Khmer and the Tai are supposed to have produced Tai influence on the language and culture of the Meiteis.
The Meiteis of today are Tibeto-Burman Mongoloid with Australoid, Aryan and Thai admixture and still blended with some Negrito and Dravidian elements. This racial blending is intimately hooked to the evolution of a distinct civilization in Manipur valley. The ethnonym "Meiteis" was originally applied to the "Ningthouja" salai (clan-dynasty), which was one of the seven salais who ruled seven independent principalities in the valley in the early part of the recorded history. Later on the Ningthouja salai overruled other principalities thereby absorbing the different social groups thereof to form the "Meiteis. Again, Mc Culloch (1859) and Brown (1874) subscribe to the theory of the Naga Kuki origin of the Meiteis. Hodson (1908) was also fully described the Nagas and Kukis of the hills. This ethnic homogeneity facilitated the absorption of many tribes into the Meitei social groups.
Besides, oriental Mongolians consisting of Shans Burmese and Chinese etc. who settled in the valley either as war captives or peaceful immigrants were also observed. The settlement of people from the East continued since the time of king Naothingkhong in the 7th century A.D. till the time of king Maramba in the 18th century A.D.
Absorption of people from the rest of India was rather late. The settlement of these people probably started since the time of king Thangbi Lanthaba (1302-1324 A.D). The amalgamation of the new entrants into the Meitei society was effected by conferring them appropriate Sageis (surnames) and Salai (clans). This "meiteisation" of different migrants gave the Meiteis, not only numerical advantage but also helped in enriching their literature and culture and ultimately evolving into a settled civilization with pristine national heritage of its own long before the Aryans came.
Cultural superiority of the Meiteis was discernible in almost all fields. Their millennia-old political organisation, social set up, religion, language and literature, martial tradition, dance and music and other fine arts etc. each is a class by itself.
Manipur's prehistoric cultural affinity with the Chinese Neolithic culture of second millennium B.C. has been exposed at the 1981 excavation at Napachik. The Chinese records of the second century B.C. by Chang-Kien (Acharyya, 1988), have thrown limelights on Manipur's cultural link with China from the times immemorial.
The beginning of Manipuri literature may go back to 1500-2000 years from now. The Meiteis had a strong sense of historicity and maintained chronicles and numerous records about their genealogy, society, religion, government, astrology, charms and mantras, lexicography, medicine, earth sciences etc. More than one thousand Meitei scripture had already existed before 18th century A.D. Such a rich heritage could be developed and maintained because, the Meiteis probably became literate long back and art of writing was spread extensively as a result of their historic association with the Chinese who were the first literate people on the earth and who invented paper and the art of writing etc. A cultural onslaught occurred when all the archaic Meitei scriptures were destroyed by king Garibiniwaz at the time of proselytization of the Meiteis into Bengali Vaishnavism in the 18th century A.D. Proselytization of the Meiteis into Hinduism and the Tribals into Christianity have brought about a metamorphosis of their original culture to a state of a blend of old and new but not to a replacement of the former by the latter.
The Meiteis had their own system of religion, which had its own myths and legends, Gods and Goddesses, priests and priestesses, rituals and festivals, etc. though it was more or less akin to the animism of the tribals. The Meiteis embraced Hinduism in the 18th century A.D. The tribes of the hills remained unconverted and were relegated by the new Manipuri Hindus to the "degraded heathens". In the later part of the history, when Manipur fell into the hands of British Administrators, missionaries were brought in the hills. The first even conversion of Manipuri tribals to Christianity took place at Ukhrul (in the eastern hills) in 1894. American Baptist mission landed earlier at the Northeast and Southeast hills of Manipur. Roman Catholic mission became active in the 1950's. The Manipuri Muslims or "Meitei Pangals" were settled with their religion in Manipur Valley during the 17th century onwards. They are called "Pangans" as derived from Bengal (Bangan then Pangan) the place where they migrated. Meitei language was adopted as their mother tongue and they became an integral socio-religious component of Manipuri population.
The foregoing lines hint at a pluralistic society in Manipur structured on a multi-lingual base of civilization and culture. Description of all social taboos of different sections of the people will be beyond the scope of this work. Nevertheless, a brief overview of the general social norms of the people is essential. Caste stratification was not featured in the pristine form of Manipuri society. The existence of the seven salais (clans) was exogamous and not endogamous as in the Hindu caste system. Womenfolk enjoyed an equal status with men folk before the advent of Hinduism. "Sati" and "Pardah" systems were unknown. At present, families are patriarchal. Polygamy once common in earlier times has become less prevalent. Child marriage is absent. Widow remarriage is socially permitted. Women are hardworking and are seen in almost every field where men are. Wives are very much loyal to their husbands. Dowry does not constitute an essential feature in marriages.
The seven salais of the Meiteis have further divisions into Sangeis (surnames). The components of Meitei confederacy are:
- Ningthouja (Mangang) (with 125 sageis)
- Moirang (67 sageis)
- Khuman (67 sageis)
- Angom (62 sageis)
- Luwang (58 sageis)
- Chenglei (sarang-Leisangthem ) (35 sageis) and
- Khaba-Nganba (21 sageis)
There are 44 tribes in the state speaking different dialects. Twenty-nine such groups have now become the constitutional categories under the label " Scheduled Tribes". The non-Hindu, Meiteilon speaking population has been placed under the "Scheduled Caste" category. The Meitei Hindus constitute the largest ethnic group of the state.
In a total geographical area of 22,327 sq km, a population of 18,37,149 (1991 census) is distributed at an average density of 82 persons per sq km. However, the distribution pattern is very much skewed in the plains as the density in the valley works out to be 529 pesons per sq km. While it is as low as 32 per sq km in the hills against the all-India average density of 267 people per sq km in 1991. The sex ratio is 978 females for every 1000 males. In the pluralistic ethno-religious complex, the scheduled tribes and scheduled castes constitute 34.41 p.c. and 2.02 p.c. of the total population respectively. The Hindus outnumber other religious groups having a share of 58 p.c. followed by the Christians (34.11 p.c.) and the Muslims (7.26 p.c.). The other religious communities whose migration from other parts of India aflux during the sixties. The Christian population in the state also showed a high growth rate during the decade 1961-71. The population escalation during the last three decades has been helped by the insidious infiltration of illegal foreigners from Nepal, Bangladesh, Burma etc. Among the hill tribes, the Tangkhuls (Naga) of the eastern hills and the Thadous (Kuki) of the North-western and Southern hills constitute the largest tribal groups. The Angamis, Semas and Saltes form insignificant populations in the state. While the hills are the natural demarcated habitats of various tribal groups, their phenomenon of migration towards the plains in the recent years have assumed demographic and socio-economic concern since there is already a demographic imbalance featuring 67.5 p.c. of the people in the valley which is 1/10th of the total area of the state and only 32.5 p.c. live in the Hills comprising as vast an area as 9/10th of the total area. If this is the prognosis of the Nature's disharmony with the heritage bound hill-mode-of-life of the tribals, all concerned need by geared up to ferret out the cause and remedy of it.
