Meitei also known as Manipuri, is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur and an additional official language in four districts of Assam. It is one of the constitutionally scheduled official languages of the Indian Republic. Meitei is the most widely-spoken Tibeto-Burman language of India and the third most widely spoken language of northeast India after Assamese and Bengali. There are 1.76 million Meitei native speakers in India according to the 2011 census, 1.52 million of whom are found in the state of Manipur, where they represent the majority of its population. There are smaller communities in neighbouring Indian states, such as Assam (168,000), Tripura (24,000), Nagaland (9,500), and elsewhere in the country (37,500). The language is also spoken by smaller groups in neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh.
The Meitei script, also known as the Kanglei script or the Kok Sam Lai script, after its first three letters is an abugida in the Brahmic scripts family used to write the Meitei language, the official language of Manipur, Assam and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is first known from engravings on 6th century CE coins and copper plate inscriptions. as verified by the various publications of the National Sahitya Akademi. It was used until the 18th century, when it was replaced by the Bengali alphabet. A few manuscripts survive. In the 20th century, the script was revived and is again being used. Beginning in 2021, the Government of Manipur began to use the Meitei alongside the Bengali-Assamese script, per the Manipur Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2021.
Sanamahism, also known as Meiteism, or Lainingthouism is an ethnic religion of the Meitei people of Manipur, in Northeast India. It is a polytheistic religion and is named after Lainingthou Sanamahi, one of the most important deities of the Meitei faith. Sanamahi is the eldest son of the supreme god Sidaba Mapu and the supreme goddess Leimarel Sidabi. Traditionally every Meitei household, irrespective of the religion, worships Sanamahi and Leimarel Sidabi. Sanamahism does not have a religious head but has a body, the Maru Loishang, that oversees the main religious activities and governs all affairs of the religion, including the conduct of priest and priestess. The Maru Loishang also acts a court for religious disputes. There are three main departments under the Manu Loishang, namely, the Amaiba Loishang, the Pena Asheiba Loishang, and the Amaibi Loishang. These departments have existed since the reign of King Meidingu Hongnemyoi Khunjao Naothingkhong of Manipur in 662 AD. Sanamahi is the eldest son of the supreme god Sidaba Mapu and the supreme goddess Leimarel Sidabi.
Meitei literature, also known as Manipuri literature, is literature written in the Meitei language of Manipur. An ancient institution of learning, the Luwang Nonghumsang, later known as the Pandit Loishang, collected sources of indigenous Meitei knowledge and philosophy until the 18th century. Writing by Meiteis is assumed to go back to the Kingdom of Kangleipak in the early 12th century. The Meitei script is a Brahmic abugida. It is known only from the Puya manuscripts discovered in the first half of the 20th century. Manuscripts of the 18th and 19th centuries were written using the Bengali alphabet. The existence of the Meitei script in the 15th-century hinges on the authenticity of an inscription dated to the reign of Senbi Kiyamba. The first printed Manipuri book, Manipurer Itihas, appeared in 1890 from the Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta. Though the kings of Manipur had established contact with the British from the middle of the eighteenth century onward the real impact of the contact came much later. Johnstone Middle English School, based on the western system of education, was started in 1885 at Imphal, and in 1891 Manipur lost its independence to the British. British domination facilitated the introduction of new systems in the civil, political and educational spheres, which hastened the process of modernization in Manipur, exposed as it was to new ideas and influences.
The Apokpa Marup is a religious institution dedicated to the practice and propagation of Apokpa Laining, a traditional Meitei religious concept. Founded on April 13, 1930, by Laininghan Naoriya Phulo, Apokpa Marup has played a significant role in reviving and preserving ancient Meetei religious traditions and cultural heritage. It was founded in the goal of reviving the suppressed old paganism of the Meitei ethnicity in the then Manipur.
Puya Meithaba, or Lairik Meithaba, refers to the annual commemoration of a legendary 18th-century scripture burning in post-colonial Manipur by a neo-convert Vaishnavite King, or to the original libricide of Puyas itself. There is no historical evidence that the libricide happened. Nonetheless, the commemoration, organised by the Meitei National Front and others since 1979, has been a critical tool in the spread of Meitei nationalism and has mainstreamed a particular reconstruction of premodern Manipur, which has come to be uncritically reproduced even in academic publications.
Meitei input methods are the methods that allow users of computers to input texts in the Meitei script, systematically for Meitei language.
The social movement of Meitei language to attain linguistic purism is advocated by literary, political, social associations and organisations as well as notable individual personalities of Bangladesh, Myanmar and Northeast India.
Meitei script movement, also called Meetei script movement, is a series of cultural wars and campaigns, undertaken by various cultural and sociopolitical associations and organisations as well as notable individual personalities, against the Government of Manipur and other authorities concerned, regarding the revivalism and the development of the Meitei script.
The Meitei language, also known as the Manipuri language, is one of the seven officially declared minority languages, recognised by the Government of Tripura. Its promotion and development are done by the Directorate of Kokborok & Other Minority Languages, established in August 2012.
Events in the year 2022 in Manipur
Laininghan Naoriya Phulo was a Meitei religious, social and political leader and the founder of the antique Meitei religion revivalist school of Apokpa Marup. According to Meitei doctrines, he was regarded as a prophet who was born to preserve and revive the suppressed ancient paganism of the Meitei ethnicity. He is seen as an example for all Meiteis to follow. He invented a modern script to write Meitei language and its numerals taking help from the old script which he discovered from the Shakok Salai Thiren, based on the cosmic evolution of the Meitei mythology. Still today, people celebrate his birthday on the month of Thawan (August) according to Meitei calendar both in Assam and Manipur.
Meitei language, officially and formally known as Manipuri language, is one of the official languages of the state government of Assam. It serves as the additional official language in all the three districts of the Barak Valley as well as in the Hojai district of Assam.
2022 in Meitei culture, including but not limited to Meitei architecture, Meitei cinema, Meitei cuisine, Meitei dances, Meitei festivals, Meitei language, Meitei literature, Meitei music, Meitei religion, Meitei script, etc.
2021 in Meitei culture, including but not limited to Meitei architecture, Meitei cinema, Meitei cuisine, Meitei dances, Meitei festivals, Meitei language, Meitei literature, Meitei music, Meitei religion, Meitei script, etc.
Meetei Erol Eyek Loinasillol Apunba Lup, shortly known as the MEELAL, is a group that works for the development of Meitei language and Meitei script. It is one of the groups that spearhead the historic Meitei script movement against the Government of Manipur.
The Meitei people, also called Manipuri people, is one of the minority ethnic groups in Assam. They are referred to as Mekhlee, Mekhelee, Meckley, Monipuri, Monipuriya, Magalu, Mogolu, Moglie, Moglai, among many other names dedicated to them by the other people of Assam. Meiteis call Assam as "Tekhao" or "Tekhau" or "Tekhaw". In October 2020 their population was estimated 168,127 with its population, the Meitei tribe is a fairly large ethnic minority in Assam and Meitei culture can be found in everywhere places.
Marup is an Indian Meitei language newspaper, circulated mainly in the Northeast Indian state of Tripura. It started its publication works in the year 1969. It is published in Agartala. It is recognised by the Information and Cultural Department of the Government of Tripura.
The Manipur Official Language Act is an act (document) that declares the official language of the State of Manipur. It was passed by the Manipur Legislative Assembly, approved by the Governor of Manipur. It makes Meitei language as the official language of the Government of Manipur. It was initially enacted in 1979 but later amended in 2021, to replace Bengali script's sole usage by the concurrent usage of both Meitei script and Bengali script, for writing the Meitei language.
