Manipur

FIGURES AND FACTS OF MANIPUR :

Area : 8,621 sq.mi,
Capital :Imphal,
Largest City :Imphal,
Districts :9,
Population :2,388,634(22nd),
Density :277 / sq.mi,
Languages :Meiteilon.

HISTORY OF MANIPUR :

The history of Manipur dates back to 33 A.D.It has been ruled by a total of more than 109 kings and known by different names at various periods in its history, such as, Tilli-Koktong, Poirei-Lam, Sanna-Leipak, Mitei-Leipak, Meitrabak or Manipur (present day). The legendary first King of Manipur who made Kangla his capital was Lord Pakhangba who ruled the kingdom from 33 A.D.
Maharaja Bhagyachandra (1762 - 1798 A.D.), is another famous king of Manipur. He had to fight off the Burmese several times, once running away to seek refuge with the Ahoms. He started the Ras Lila dance. He is also credited with spreading Vaishnavism in Manipur after his grandfather Pamheiba Rajah made Hinduism the official religion and for creating a unified Manipur.
Manipur and Assam became involved in the disputes between Thailand and Burma, and Manipur took advantage of a Burmese invasion of Thailand to raid deep into its western frontier. This triggered the Burmese invasion of Manipur and Assam, which pulled in the British, ruling neighbouring Bengal. The British, to safeguard their position against the Burmese, intervened, defeated Burma and took over Assam, and brought Manipur under British paramountcy in 1891. Thus in 1891 AD, after the defeat of Manipur by the British in the Anglo-Manipuri war of Khongjom, Manipur's sovereignty for more than two millennia was lost.
During the Second World War, Manipur was the scene of many fierce battles between the Japanese and Allied forces in the so-called Burma Campaign. The Japanese swept over East Asia and came up to Manipur. They and factions of Indian National Army under command of Subhas Chandra Bose were beaten back by the Allies before they could enter Imphal, proving to be one of the turning points of the War (Central Front 1943/44).
There are two cemeteries maintained by the British War Graves Commission in Manipur, which are the final resting places of several Indian and allied soldiers who died here.
On August 28,1947, with British Parliament's repeal of British Paramountcy, in preparation for Indian independence, Manipur became an independent kingdom once again but not for long.
The King, Maharaja Budhachandra, began a process of democratization of the state, enacting the Manipur Constitution Act, 1947, which established a democratic form of government with the Maharaja as the Executive Head and an elected legislature.
In 1949, the King Budhachandra was invited to Shillong, the capital of the Indian province of Assam, where, after an intense negotiations, he was convinced to sign an agreement for annexation of the kingdom into India (Arunkumar 2005). The King had already signed a Standstill Agreement with the Indian Dominion in 1947; the Standstill Agreement froze the status quo, i.e., the Indian Union as the de facto Paramount Power over and above the King.
Once Manipur became part of the Indian Union, India dissolved the State's Constitution Assembly in October, 1949, and made it into a part C state. Later on it was further degraded to the status of a union territory from 1956 onwards.
In 1972, Manipur was elevated to the status of a state.

MANIPURI PEOPLE :

The Meiteis are themselves divided in the Meitei (the natives in the valley), Bamon (originally of Bengali-Brahmin) and Meitei Pangans (originally migrants from Bangladesh). All speak Meitei. In addition to Meiteis, the valley is also inhabited by Nepalis, Bengalis, Marwaris and people from other Indian communities. At present several peoples from the hills have also migrated and settled in the valley.
The Naga group consists of Zeliangrong (composed of three related tribes, namely, Rongmei or Kabui, and Liangmei and Zemei or Kacha Nagas), Tangkhul, Poumai, Mao, Maram, and Tarao. The Chin-Kuki group consists of Tedim Chin (officially recognised by the Indian Union as Sukte) Gangte, Hmar, Paite, Thadou, Vaiphei, Zou, Aimol, Chiru, Koireng, Kom, Anal, Chothe, Lamgang, Koirao, Thangal, Moyon, Maring and Monsang. In recent times, several Chin-Kuki communities have identified themselves as Nagas e.g. Anal,Chiru, Kom, Thangal, etc. depending on socio-economic and geo-political advantages to the tribes. The term Chin is used for the people in the neighboring Chin state of Myanmar. Other groups like Paite, Vaiphei, Zou, Simte, Gangte and Tedim Chin (Sukte) identify themselves as Zomi and have distanced themselves from the name, Kuki. Thadous remain the major Kuki population in this Chin-Kuki group while Hmar identify themselves more closely with the Mizo or Lushai group.
The majority religion in Manipur is Hinduism practiced by 46.0% of the population. Christianity forms a very large minority with 34.0% of population adhering to the faith. Muslims make up 8.8% of the population and Others (such as animist beliefs) make up 10.9%.

PROBLEM FACING MANIPUR :

The implementation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in 1958 resulted in the designation of Manipur as a "disturbed area" . There have been some minor border disputes with Myanmar (formerly Burma), which were resolved through treaty of Yandaboo. Manipur is also involved in a border dispute with Nagaland.
There have been many social upheavals in the recent past, resulting in mounting tensions between the Meiteis (the valley people) and the so called Nagas residing in Manipur.
Some steps have been taken by the central government to appease the Manipuris. The long-standing demand to include the Meitei language in the 8th schedule was finally granted by the 71st amendment of the Constitution in 1992.
November 20, 2004 was a landmark date in the history of Manipur when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh fulfilled a long-standing demand of the Manipuri people. He officially handed over the historic Kangla Fort to Manipur state government, which issued an ordinance taking over the administration and control. It had been the headquarters of the paramilitary force, the Assam Rifles, since 1915. It was finally opened to the general public after nearly 114 years.
The Prime Minister also upgraded Manipur University into a Central University and laid the foundation stone for a 97.9 km long, Jiribam - Imphal, broad gauge rail line project. The line ends at Tupul, 25 km away from Imphal.
United National Liberation Front (UNLF), one of the largest and most powerful terror organisations, has resorted to violence to achieve its goal of an independent Manipur.
"We are fighting for Manipur,"Sovereign, independent Manipur. You see, Manipur was never part of India." says a freedom fighter of UNLF.
Ordinary Manipuris are growing tired of the rebels' influence. Several insurgent groups increasingly issue diktats and rulings on moral and social behaviour, enforced with the threat of violence. Extortion is also rampant in Manipur. Most professions are forced to pay the rebels regular sums of money that are locally called 'tax'.

ECONOMY :

This is a chart of trend of gross state domestic product of Manipur at market prices estimated by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.
Manipur's gross state domestic product for 2004 is estimated at $1.2 billion in current prices.