Meitei, also known as Manipuri, is a Tibeto-Burman language of north-eastern India. It is spoken by around 1.8 million people, predominantly in the state of Manipur, but also by smaller communities in the rest of the country and in parts of neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh. It is native to the Meitei people, and within Manipur it serves as an official language and a lingua franca. It was used as a court language in the historic Manipur Kingdom and is presently included among the 22 scheduled languages of India.
The Meitei people, also known as the Manipuri people, is the predominant ethnic group of Manipur in Northeast India. They speak Meitei language, one of the 22 official languages of the Indian Republic and the sole official language of Manipur. The Meiteis primarily settled in the Imphal Valley region in modern-day Manipur, though a sizable population has settled in the other Indian states of Assam, Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya, and Mizoram. There is also a notable presence of Meitei in the neighboring countries of Myanmar and Bangladesh. The Meitei ethnic group represents about 53% of Manipur's population.
The Meitei script (ꯃꯩꯇꯩ ꯃꯌꯦꯛ) or the Meetei script is an abugida used for the Meitei language, the official language of Manipur state of India. Its earliest known evidence of existence dates back to the 6th century AD coins, engraving the Meitei letters, 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 has experienced a resurgence, and is again being used. Starting from the year 2021, Meitei script was officially used by the Government of Manipur, along with the Bengali script, to write the Meitei language, as per "The Manipur Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2021".
Gharib Nawaz was a Meetei king of Manipur, ruling from c. 1709 until his death. He introduced Hinduism as the state religion of his kingdom (1717) and changed the name of the kingdom to the Sanskrit Manipur (1724). He changed his royal name from his birth name Pamheipa to the Persianate Gharib Nawaz.
Ningthou Ching-Thang Khomba (1748–1799) was a Meitei monarch of the 18th century CE. The inventor of the Manipuri Raas Leela dance, with his daughter Shija Lailoibi playing as Radha at the first performance, he is a popular figure in Manipur, and much of his actions as King had been mythologized. He is also credited with spreading Vaishnavism in Manipur State after his grandfather Pamheiba made Hinduism the official religion and for creating a unified Manipur.
Chinglen Nongdrenkhomba (1788–1834), also known as Raja Gambhir Singh, was a ruler of the Manipur Kingdom.
Huyen langlon is an Indian martial art from Manipur. In the Meitei language, huyen means war while langlon or langlong can mean net, knowledge or art. Huyen langlon consists of two main components: thang-ta and sarit sarak. The primary weapons of huyen langlon are the thang (sword) and ta (spear). The spear can be used in its non-missile form while in close or thrown from afar. Other weapons include the shield and the axe. Unarmed combat incorporates hand strikes, kicks, and grappling (mukna). Because of Manipur's cultural similarity and geographical proximity with Myanmar, huyen langlon is closely related to Burmese bando and banshay.
Manipuri Vaishnavism, also known as Meitei Vaishnavism, is a regional variant of Gaudiya Vaishnavism with a culture-forming role in the north-eastern Indian state of Manipur.
Meitei literature, also known as Manipuri literature, refers to the literature written in Meitei language, one of the 22 official languages of the Republic of India and the sole official language of Manipur state. An ancient institution of learning named the Luwang Nonghumsang, later known as the Pandit Loishang, collected the sources of indigenous Meitei knowledge and philosophy until the 18th century. The presence of writing among the Meiteis is assumed to go back to the Kangleipak state under king Loiyumba 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 century used 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.
In Meetei society, the sagei or family name is known as Yumnak in Meetei Language. Pronounced "yoom-naak". Ethnic yumnaks are used in the Meetei /Meitei community including the Meitei Pangal and Meitei Bamon. The Meitei community lie largely in the Northeast India, mainly in Manipur, Next in Assam, Tripura and a few in Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya. Some live in Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Cheitharol Kumbaba, also spelled Cheithalon Kumpapa, is the court chronicle of the kings of Manipur. The oldest extant version was copied in the early 19th century, under Jai Singh, the puppet king installed after the Burmese invasion, as "the former copy was no more available". It is the main source for the list of pre-modern kings of Manipur, tracing the genealogy of the ruling Ningthouja dynasty back to a ruler named Nongda Lairen Pakhangba, said to have ruled for more than a century, from 33–154 CE. It is to the Meiteis what the Buranji is to the Assamese and the Yazawin to the Burmese.
Nara Singh also known as Chingthanglen Pamheiba and Meetingu Lairen Nonglen Sendreng Manik Khomba, was a ruler of the Kingdom of Manipur. He ruled first as regent from 1834 to 1844 and then as king for a period of six years from 1844 to 1850. His subjects called him ‘Eningthou Nungsiba’ or ‘our beloved king’.
The Ningthouja dynasty, also known as Mangang dynasty, comprises the descendants of the kings of Manipur. Ningthouja literally means progeny of King. It has 125 extended families. It was apparently founded by King Nongda Lairen Pakhangba in 33 CE.
Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh was an Indian writer, lexicographer and historian, known as the author of Manipuri to Manipuri and English, the first modern general dictionary in Meitei language, which was published in 1964. He was a fellow of the Sahitya Akademi and Sangeet Natak Akademi. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of Padma Shri in 1987.
Laininthou Sanamahee is the Supreme Guardian God of mankind and the supreme deity of the household in Meetei religion and mythology. He originated from the ancient kingdom of Kangleipak (Manipur). He is regarded as the most popular and significant divinity of Sanamahism. He is the brother of Pakhangba and Nongshaba. He is the eldest son of Creator God Saalailel Sitapa and Leimalel Sitapee, the protector of the Universe in Meetei mythology and philosophy and Mother Earth goddess Leimarel Sidabi.
Nongshaba, also spelled as Nongsaba, is a Lion God in Meitei religion (Sanamahism) and mythology. He is also regarded as a king of the gods. He is credited with producing light in the primordial universe and is regarded as the maker of the sun. He is worshipped by the people of both the Ningthouja clans as well as the Moirang clans. God Nongshaba was worshipped by the people of Moirang clan as a lineage deity and regarded as the father of God Thangching (Thangjing). He is the greatest of the Umang Lais in Ancient Kangleipak but he made his only son Thangching (Thangjing) the chief deity of Moirang.
Meitei inscriptions are epigraphy written in Meitei language. They are the major sources of study of ancient history of Meitei people and the kingdom of Kangleipak. Meitei inscriptions mainly occur in the stone slabs and rock edicts. They are mainly found in the hills as well as the plain of the present day Manipur. They were written in either Meitei script or Bengali script.
Hinduism is one of the religions practiced in the state of Manipur, India. Hinduism is concentrated in the Imphal Valley and other plain districts of Manipur located in the regions neighbouring Assam state. Hinduism is practiced mostly among the Meitei people, who are the predominant ethnic group of Manipur. Whilst the proportion of Manipur's population that practices Hinduism is roughly 41%, in the Manipur valley region Hindus constitute as much as 67-74% of the population.
Puya Meithaba refers to the annual commemoration of a legendary 18th-century scripture burning in post-colonial Manipur or to the original libricide in itself. Organised by the Meitei National Front since 1979, the event has been a critical tool in the spread of Meitei nationalism and has mainstreamed a particular reconstruction of history, which has come to be uncritically reproduced even in academic publications.
