MECKLEY / MANIPUR - 1818

The only territory in northeast India that the Britishers tried to Anglicize was Manipur, which they had briefly changed to Meckley or Cathee, which they couldn't. But both Meckley and Cathee are actually local names originated from Mekhala and Kathe, which themselves are two of the many other names for Manipur. This post shall discuss such names and a brief history of the entire Manipur.

Poirei Meitei Leipak and Kangleipak by the local indigenous Manipuri tribes, Kathe or Ponnas by Burmese, Hsiao-Po-lo-mein by the Chinese, Cassay to the Shans (today these people are part of Myanmar), Moglai to the Cacharis (Silchar people) and Bengalis and Mekele to the Assamese. These were the different names by which Manipur was known to its neighbors. The name 'Manipur' or 'Munneypoor' was first introduced in the 18th century itself.

Talking about its boundary, Manipur's present map has remained unchanged more or less since only 1834. The Kabaw Valley (which is now in Myanmar) was an area that was once part of Manipur. At many points in history, the boundary of Manipur has even touched both Tibet and China and even neighbored Bengal and Brahmaputra valley. Basically if there was a power second to the Ahoms in northeast, it was that of the Manipuri kings.

The claim of Kabaw or Kabo Valley as part of Manipur was rejected by the Burmese kings since the demarcation was laid by the British in the 19th century. The Norjeeree and Muyalong Hills on the eastern side of the Ningthi River (today part of Manipur) was the originally claimed area by the kings of Manipur as their eastern boundary. But inspite of these claims, the British took side of Burma and annexed this land to them giving Manipur less importance. Even the first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, had officially gifted the valley to Myanmar in 1949, thus completely neglecting the rightful claims of Manipur.

Today's boundary between Manipur and Nagaland was originally made in 1842. Before this, the boundaries of Manipur extended to Doyeng and Dhunsiri forests (both part of today's Nagaland) in the north. In 1854, the Manipuri Maharaja had even invaded this strap of land which was inhabited by Angami Nagas and threatened to annex the region since Manipur was an independent kingdom by this time.

The boundary between Manipur and Mizoram was demarcated by the British in 1894 before which it extended to Lunglei (today part of Mizoram). It could be seen how the British shrunk a powerful kingdom into a small Princely State that came under their control in 1891. Even after independence, at the first Manipur State Assembly 1948, Maharaja Buddhachandra had mentioned about the boundaries of Manipur stretching from Sibsagar valley in Assam to Chindwin river and Kabaw valley in the east and Chandrapur (Cachar or Silchar) in the west.

For centuries Manipur had their own judicial, administrative and military system. Since the arrival of the British in the northeast and annexation of Assam and creation of boundaries as fit to their needs, the region experienced heavy turmoils, bitter fruits of which the region is still reaping. Only for the purpose of extracting and exploitation of resources to profit British pockets, both East India Company and the Crown mapped the northeast according to their ease, caring least about the local politics and ethnic diversities there. Manipur remained a Princely State and was considered as part of Assam States till independence.

Understanding politics and ethnic diversities of northeast India is crucial as the locals are still subjected to racism and discrimination. One need to understand their history, geography and the reason of their political turbulence. With being culturally, linguistically and religiously different from majority of Indian states, the northeast India needs to be understood and accepted more than questioned and discriminated.

If the northeast India has endured the forceful creation of boundaries by the British, so has it repressed innumerable attacks from the Mughals and Marathas and other Indian empires. If on one side history and politics have been unjust to them, northeast India has one of the highest literacy in the country and a natural habitat overpowering many Indian states. Below here is shown map of the northeast India in 1818, with Manipur in highlight, when it was briefly referred to as Meckley.