Tangkhuls Are Not Naked Tribes

The Meetei goddess, Nongpok Ireima is a Tangkhul women. She was married to a Meetei king Tabungba. Today, Meetei worships the Tangkhul woman as a Goddess and presence of Tangkhul brothers and sisters is a mandatory during Lai Haraoba of Ima Nongpok Ireima.

Irengba married the daughter of  Tangkhul Chief  Khayingba, Pidongnu Nuphabi. which is known as Haoreima  Tamheibi by the Meetei.

The leirum  (Tangkhul phee)  which is an important gift in every Meetei marriage is her father's (gift) to the Meetei king.

Interestingly the Chingdai Khullakpa (headman)  Khayingba was the second son of Thingol Likmaba of the Khuman principality. He went up to the hill to become a hillman and later became the chief of Chingdai village.

King Paikhomba married  Ingallei (Matrimei), daughter of Maram Khullakpa. The last royal blood of King Pakhangba, Charairongba was their son.

Tangkhul women performing dance during the Luira Phanit festival

The romantic relationship between the Meetei king Paikhomba and Maram tribal woman Ingallei, and the tragic end of Ingallei are soul stirring episodes in the personal relation of a  Meetei king with the hill people. The abode of Ingallei is still located at the Langol hill, and the deity of the abode is known as Tarung Lairembi in the Imphal West district.

King Charairongba too married a Chothe women.

All these suggest Manipur is a land for the Meetei, Tangkhul, Maram, Chothe, Anal, Thangal, Kabui and various other tribes. The land is not for Kuki or Naga.

We have to sit together and read history and keep that bonding intact who are trying to break the land with vested interest only.

The word "Naga" and the new religion "Christianity" came only 200 years ago. We have to read and understand history beyond this period!

When the colonial administrators and missionaries first visited the Naga Hills, the tribals used to identity themselves with a particular tribe and not as a Naga. The name "Naga" was given to them by the people of the Assam plains and in the last century was used indiscriminately for the Abhors and Daflas as well as for the Nagas themselves.

The word, Naga and Nagamese came into vogue at the same time in the closing years of the Nineteenth century. Nagamese, a form of Assamese enlived by tribal words, is what the Nagas spoke with the plains people of Assam for centuries, which later on became the lingua franca over a loosely defined territory.

Definition and the probable meaning of the term Naga was defined by Prof Gangmumei Kamei in his book "History of Manipur (Pre Colonial Period) as a derivatives from Sanskrit word Nag (snake) or Nagalogae or Nagalog, which signifies Naked.  Another view from the Myanmar side supported that the word Naga is derived from the Ear piercing tribes.

More researchers are of the opinion that the term Naga is mostly suitable for Naked people who lived in the forest where no one can entered.  Further studies by the Britishers shows there were still naked people living in the Naga Hills.

Our study reveals that there are no naked tribes in Manipur. We have a rich civilizations and tribes living in the hills of Manipur had different clothes which are colourful and have symbolic meaning.  Although, British missionaries came along with Bible, they have not brought the dress and culture in the land.

Dress worn by the Tangkhuls were beautifully woven and crafted over the ages. Haora and Changkhom of the Tangkhul tribe is filled with their own distinct design and pattern. How can we called them Naga (naked) tribe if the above definition of Prof Gangmumei Kamei is confirmed as the  only legitimate meaning of Naga? So, Tangkhuls are not naked tribes.

(Excerpt from the forthcoming book TANGKHULS ARE MEETEI TRIBE)

5 things every Khongjai (Kukis) parents should tell their children in Manipur

1) Meeteis controlled an area that extended from the Nou Kian river of Tibet in the North to Aracan in the South; from the Garo Hills and bengal in the West to the Yunan province of China in the east. (for reference see An accurate map of Hindoostan or India,by Mathew Carey,  Series no 57, page 53, published in Carey's Geral Atlas, Phiadelphia, 1814)

2) When Burmese (Awa) invaded the land during the reign of King Paikhomba in 1693, the Meetei soldier fought the battle on the bank of Ningthi river (now in Myanmar). Two Meetei soldiers were died in the battle and successful in repelling the invading Awa.  If Meetei land as claimed by today's half brain historians as Imphal Valley only, this battle could be fought near Kangjeibung in the Imphal district or khongjom in Thoubal district. In 1693, the term Kukis or kookis are not created.

3)Department of Hill Affairs (Haomacha Loisang) was establish in Meetei Kingdom during the reign of King Irengba (984-1074). If Meetei land, as claimed by some history and political students of JNU or DU (admitted through ST quotas from Manipur) belong to Imphal Valley only, what was the point of establishing such Hill Affairs Department some 1000 years ago when terms like Kukis and Nagas are not created in the political history of the World?

4) Meetei kings, on several occasions went for military expeditions in the hills. Don't confuse this as war or invasion to a foreign land. Meetei kings have many feudal chief as well as tributary chiefs who resides in the hills of Meetei Kingdom.  What was the necessary of military expeditions against his own subjects? Those were  to prevent raids by one village to  another village; to collect tributaries from those chiefs who tried to go rebel against the Kings; to subjugate the rebellious chiefs or khullakpas; to reassert supremacy of the Meetei Kingdom and to impose Lanlup (tributaries paid to Meetei King by defeated Chiefs of Hills) systems.

Chothe Chief was given the responsibility of controlling Hills of Manipur by Maharaj Chandrakirti (present day Kuki areas  for good administration of the Manipur  Kingdom (Image Courtesy - Google/E-pao)

5) Maharaj Chandrakirti created the Kuki Hills in  1852. After Meetei King got alliance with the British, the word "Kuki" was created. As per the records of "Khul Koun Ho Thusim", the Meetei King gave the duties of controlling hills of Meetei Kingdom to four feudal chiefs, namely Shairing Chothe, Sokhojam Singson, Lamhao and Paosuol. These feudal chiefs went to collect taxes and suppress rebellious chiefs who tried to work against the Meetei king and controlled the affairs of newly created Kuki hills. Later in 1921, the present town named as Churachandpur came up. The place was previously known as Songpi. There was a Sub Divison office in Songpi area. It was renamed into Churachandpur to honour the Chief Guest, Maharaj Churachand in a welcome function of Labour Corps who were sent to Europe. In the newly established Churachandpur Sub Division (erstwhile Songpi Sub Division), few villages namely  Khopibung, Gelmol, Bijang, Teiseng and Songpi are included. The Lamka which present residents of CCpur are claiming was more than 15 kms away from the Churachandpur Sub Division. If the land was not under the Meetei Maharaj Churachand, there was no question of inviting a foreign King by British SDO. Nor they have the right to rename a SDO into some alien name.

So, please educate and tell the history of Manipur in the positive tone, rather than creating a separate history and political domains. These 5 points are just a broad explanations of how Meetei Kingdom was spreading in a vast areas (much larger than present State of Manipur) and controlling hundreds of Village chiefs as tributaries of Meetei Kings for the last 2000 years. Let us not influence by Western thoughts to divide the State, rather know your forefathers roots and work towards peace and development to benefit the South East Asian Corridors, once independently owned by the Kingdom of Manipur.