Meitei, officially known as Manipuri, is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur, as well as one of the 22 official languages of the Indian Republic, included in the 8th Schedule to the Indian Constitution. It is one of the advanced literary languages, recognised by Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters. It serves as one of the recognised educational and literary languages in Assam and Tripura. Native to the Meitei people, it has around 3 million total speakers, and is used as L1 by around 1.8 million people, predominantly in the state of Manipur, and as L2 by different ethnic groups, in different parts of India, Myanmar and Bangladesh. It was used as a court language in the historic Manipur Kingdom, in accordance to the Manipur State Constitution Act 1947.
Hmar is a Kuki ethnic group living in Northeast Indian state of Manipur, Mizoram, Assam and western Myanmar (Burma) and eastern Bangladesh. They use Meitei language as their second language (L2) in Manipur. They speak Mizo language as their L1 in Mizoram.
The Hmar language belongs to the Mizo language branch of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. The speakers of this language use Mizo language as their second language (L2).
Churachandpur District, is one of the 16 districts of the Indian state of Manipur populated mainly by Kuki-Zo people. The name honours former Maharaja Sir Churachand Singh of Manipur. The district headquarters is located in the Churachandpur town, which is also locally known by the name Lamka.
The Paite people are an ethnic group in Northeast India, mainly living in Manipur and Mizoram. The Paites are recognized as a scheduled tribe in these two states. They are not regarded as part of the Kuki group, but may be considered part of the wider "Lushai" or Zomi group. "Guite" is a major clan of the Paite people.
The Kuki people are an ethnic group in the Northeastern Indian states of Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, as well as the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Myanmar. The Kuki constitute one of several hill tribes within India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. In Northeast India, they are present in all states except Arunachal Pradesh.
Bishnupur district or Bishenpur district, is a district of Manipur state in northeastern India.
Chandel district is one of the 16 districts of Manipur state in northeastern India. Its headquarters is the town of Chandel. In December 2016, a part of the district was split to establish the new Tengnoupal district. The district is mainly populated by Kuki-Zo and Old Kuki/Naga tribal people.
The Zou people Is a Kuki ethnic group, that is an indigenous community living along the frontier of India and Burma, they are a sub-group of the Kuki people/Zo people. In India, they live with and are similar in language and habits to the Thadou people and Paite and the Simte peoples. In Burma, the Zou are counted among the Chin people. They are a hill people, "Zou" may plainly means "Hills" denoting the Zous are "people of the hills" or "of the hills", and "Zou" has also a different meaning in Zou language that is "complete" or another word for it is "finish". But, the Zou people believed that they incepted the name 'Zou' from their forefather 'Zou' or 'Zo', believed to be the progenitor of the broad Chin-Kuki-Mizo people.
Zo is a Northern Kuki-Chin-Mizo language originating in western Burma and spoken also in Mizoram in northeastern India.
Thadou or Thado Chin is a Sino-Tibetan language of the Northern Kuki-Chin-Mizo sub-branch. It is spoken by the Boipu/Boinu/Boipi or boi(servant) people collectively in Myanmar and in Mizoram, Nagaland and Assam And bordering Myanmar(Myanmar Origin). The speakers of this language use Burmeese language as their second language (L2) according to the Ethnologue.
According to J. Shakespear, 'Lamleia, the progenitor of Guite was born from an incestuous intercourse between Dongel and his elder sister. Making Thado his older brother. Guite is the progenitor clan of Zomi people. According to Zam, Lamleia Guite is the Older Brother of Thadou progenitor of the Thadou people. Mostly the Guite clan speak Paite language. Some known as Zomi and few also as Kuki in India and as Chin in Myanmar (Burma). Depending on local pronunciation, the clan was also called differently such as Nguite, Vuite, and was also recorded even as Gwete, Gwite, Nwite,Paihte by the Lushei. In accord with the claim of their solar origin, the Guite clan has been called nampi, meaning noble or major or even dominant people, of the region in local dialect in the past.
The Kuki–Paite Conflict, also called Kuki–Zomi Conflict, was an ethnic conflict during 1997–1998 between tribal communities in Churachandpur district in Manipur, India. The cause of the conflict may be regarded as the desire for leadership within the tribes, pitting one group that subscribed to the Kuki label against another group that subscribed to the Zomi label, the latter being led by the Paites. The conflict started in June 1997 and lasted for over year, during which 352 people died, thousands of homes were destroyed and over 13,000 people were displaced. The Government of India sent in the Indian Army to attempt to stop the violence, but peace was restored in September–October 1998 only with the initiative of the Church.
The Zo people is a term to denote all the speakers of the Kuki-Chin languages who inhabit areas of India, Myanmar and the Chittagong hill tracts of Bangladesh. The Mizo, Chin, and Kuki-Zomi people are the main ethnic groups.
Vaiphei is a Sino-Tibetan language belonging to the Kuki-Chin linguistic subbranch of the Tibeto-Burman group of languages. It is spoken mainly in the Myanmar minutely in Manipur-KukiZogam,Mizoram, Assam, Meghalaya, and Tripura. The dialect spoken in Myanmar exhibits a least partial mutual intelligibility with the other Mizo/Kukish dialects of the area including Thadou, Hmar, Paite, Simte, Kom and Gangte languages.
Gangte is a Sino-Tibetan language of Kuki-Chin linguistic sub branch of Northeastern India. Its speakers primarily live in Manipur and the adjacent areas of Meghalaya and Assam. The language appears to be homogeneous with no known dialectal variation and exhibits at least partial mutual intelligibility with the other Chin-Kuki-Mizo dialects of the area including Thadou, Hmar, Vaiphei, Simte, Kom and Paite languages. The speakers of this language use Meitei language as their second language (L2) according to the Ethnologue.
Simte is a Kuki-Chin language of India. It is spoken primarily by the Simte in Northeastern India, who are concentrated in Manipur and adjacent areas of Mizoram and Assam. The dialect spoken in Manipur exhibits partial mutual intelligibility with the other Kuki-Chin dialects of the area including Thadou, Hmar, Vaiphei, Paite, Kom and Gangte. It is written in Latin script.
The Neihsial is an ethnic group found in northeastern India and parts of Myanmar. Members of this group are largely concentrated in the Churachandpur, Senapati, Chandel District and Tamenglong district of the Indian state of Manipur. There is also a sizable population in the neighboring Chin State of Myanmar.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Manipur:
The Hmar languages or Hmaric languages are a subbranch of the Kukish branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family which comprises Hmar proper, Biate, Hrangkhol, Sakachep, Zote, Darlong, Thiek, Saihriem (Faihriem) and others. The Hmar languages are often treated as dialects of a single language, since differences between them are reportedly minor. The speakers of the language are also known as Hmar.
