Indian literature refers to the literature produced on the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic of India thereafter. The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India has 22 officially recognised languages. Sahitya Akademi, India's highest literary body, also has 24 recognised literary languages.
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 one of the official languages 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 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. Most of these, or 1.52 million, are found in the state of Manipur, where they represent 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 people, Meetei, Manipuri people is an ethnic group native to Manipur. They form the largest and dominant ethnic group of Manipur in Northeast India. They speak the Meitei language, one of the 22 official languages of the Indian Republic and the sole official language of Government of Manipur. The Meiteis primarily settled in the Imphal Valley region in modern-day Manipur, though a sizeable population has settled in the other Indian states of Assam, Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya, and Mizoram. There is also a notable presence of Meitei people in the neighbouring countries of Myanmar and Bangladesh. The Meitei ethnic group represents about 53% of Manipur's population.
Charairongba - Old manipuri "Chalai-Longpa" also known as "Eningthou Ningthem Charairongba" was the Meitei king and the ruler of Kangleipak from 1697 to 1709.
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.
Pakhangba is a primordial deity, often represented in the form of a dragon, in Meitei mythology and Sanamahism, the indigenous religion of Manipur. He is depicted in the heraldry of Manipur kingdom, which originated in paphal, mythical illustrations of the deity. It is believed that the ancestor of one of the Meitei clans manifested himself as the Pakhangba.
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.
Panthoibi, also known as Nongpok Leima, is a goddess associated with civilization, courage, fertility, handicraft, love, victory, warfare and wisdom in the mythology and religion of Ancient Kangleipak. She is a consort of the God Nongpok Ningthou. She is considered to be one of the divine incarnations of Leimarel Sidabi and is also identified as a form of Goddess Nongthang Leima. She is worshipped mainly by the Meitei people in Manipur, Assam, Tripura, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Nongshaba is a lion god in Sanamahism and Meitei 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. Nongshaba was worshipped by the people of Moirang clan as a lineage deity and regarded as the father of the god Thangching. He is the greatest of the Umang Lais but he made his only son Thangching the chief deity of Moirang.
Nongpok Ningthou, also known as the Sovereign of the East or King of the East, is a deity in Sanamahism, the indigenous religion of Manipur. He is the ruling guardian deity of the eastern direction. Legend says Nongpok Ningthou and his consort Panthoibi were united in the Nongmaiching Ching mountains. Later, they were worshipped as the civilization giving deities in Meitei religion.
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.
Phouoibi or Phouleima is the goddess and the female personification of the agriculture, crops, fertility, grains, harvest, paddy, rice and wealth in Meitei mythology and religion of Ancient Kangleipak . She is the lover of Akongjamba, a hero in ancient legends. But fate does not permit the lovers to unite. So, Phouoibi and Akongjamba reincarnated in the legends. She was sent by Thangching to Moirang) kingdom to make the human world prosperous. The legends of her love with Akongjamba were believed to be enacted by Thangching as a part of the Moirang Saiyon legends.
Leima Lainaotabi is a goddess in Sanamahism, the indigenous religion of Manipur. She is the youngest wife of God Thongalel of the underworld kingdom. Thongalel sent her to be the wife of Poireiton, her brother-in-law. Lainaotabi gave birth to a son with Poireiton. Her legend says she made the first clay pot. She was worshipped by the people of Ashangbam clan.
Nongda Lairen Pakhangba, was the first Meitei monarch of the Ningthouja dynasty, who ascended the throne of the Kangla of Kangleipak realm) in 33 AD, after the withdrawal of the mainstream powers of the Khabas. Before the reign of king Nongda Lairen Pakhangba, the clans, or salais were already in existence.
The ancient legend of Khamba and Thoibi is a classic, as well as one of the epic cycles of incarnations of Meitei mythology and folklore, that is originated from Ancient Moirang kingdom of Ancient Kangleipak . It is referred to as the "National Romantic Legend of Manipur" by Padma Vibhushan awardee Indian scholar Suniti Kumar Chatterjee.
The Nongmaiching Ching, also known as the Selloi Langmai Ching, is a mountain in Imphal Valley, Manipur. It has an altitude of around 5,133 feet (1,565 m). It is a holy pilgrimage site for the Meitei people. In Meitei mythology and religion (Sanamahism), it is a sacred mountain and the abode of God Nongpok Ningthou and Goddess Panthoibi. In Meitei folklore, the Nongmaiching is described as the hill that produces "the seven days of a week".
The culture of Meitei civilization evolved over thousands of years, beginning in Ancient Kangleipak, continuing most notably into Medieval Kangleipak, while influencing the neighboring states and kingdoms, till present times.
The Panthoibi Khonggul, often misspelled as Panthoibi Khongul, is an ancient Meitei language text, narrating about the quest of deified Meitei princess Panthoibi. The text highlights the love story of Panthoibi and her ultimate lover Nongpok Ningthou, after leaving her former husband's house. It is traditionally attributed to be written by Akoijam Tombi, during the reign of Meitei King Khongtekcha Yoiremba in c. 763 AD.
The Loiyumpa Silyel, also termed as the Loyumpa Silyel or the Loiyumpa Shilyel or the Loyumpa Shilyel or the Loyumba Sinyen, is an 11th-12th century ancient Meitei language written constitution, regulated in the Ancient Kangleipak during the rule of King Loiyumba. In 1110 CE, its format was finalised from a promulgation of the proto-constitution, drafted in 429 CE by King Naophangba. Historically, it is the first written constitution, and one of the well recorded Ancient Meitei language texts of the kingdom. It was replaced by the Manipur State Constitution Act 1947, that was functional until Manipur was merged into Republic of India on October 15, 1949.
The cultural heritages of Meitei civilization has classicism in diverse traditions of cinemas, dances, language, literature, music, theatre, etc.
