Manipur, its People and History

Manipur, its People and History

Manipur itself was a small state located between the Naga Hills to the north, Cachar to the west, Burma to the east and the Lushai Hills to the south. At the time of 1891 expedition, the British estimated the state to cover an area of over 8,450 square miles, through which ran a fertile valley that was protected by surrounding mountainous terrain; these mountains effectively kept the people of Manipur in near isolation from their neighbours. The valley itself, which is 2,600 feet above sea-level, was similarly estimated to be about thirty miles long and twenty wide, being characterised by rice fields, swamps, muddy rivers and low barren hills.

Although there were a number of small villages, the only sizeable settlement was that of Imphal – also sometimes called Manipur -, which was in reality a collection of villages built around the Maharaja’s pât, which was a type of enclosure. The typical dwelling in this town was constructed using reeds which were then plastered with mud to form the walls, the roof then being thatched before the whole was enclosed by an outer wall. To get to Imphal there were three roads that led out of the valley and beyond Manipur’s borders, these included: a cart road over the Naga Hills; a bridle-path that led towards the Assam-Bengal Railway at Dimapur; another bridle-path to Cachar; and yet another that took the traveller to the Chindwin Valley in modern-day Myanmar.

In the late Victorian period, the population of Manipur was believed to be around 285,000, who were said to be religious and unwilling to consume alcohol or use drugs. The majority of the population was employed in agriculture, but they also maintained a small army, the roots of which can be traced to the Manipur Levy, a force of 500 men raised by Maharaja Gambhir Singh at the request of the Government of India in 1824. In subsequent years, this levy was increased to 2,000 men and several British officers were sent to train and supervise the men, although by 1853 these were withdrawn. However, the Manipur army continued to grow, although the quality of the troops was said to have declined, to 6,200 by 1889, which included both regulars and irregulars. All these were infantry – for they possessed no cavalry – although it was believed that they had retained eight obsolete 3-pounder brass cannons.

Although contact between the inhabitants of Manipur and the British in India had first been made many years before, it would during the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26) that the British set about arming the Manipuris to assist them in their fight against the Burmese. Manipur had been occupied by Burma since 1762, and British help not only ejected the occupiers but the Manipuris were also able to launch a limited invasion of Burma by occupying the Kubo Valley. Following the end of the war, a British resident was installed in Manipur in 1835, and thus the little state enjoyed a modicum of protection from the Honourable East India Company.

Unfortunately, internal politics would ensure that there was little lasting peace within Manipur following its liberation from Burmese rule. The ruling-elite of the state began to squabble over the rights to power; yet they still assisted the British in 1879 during the Naga War by supplying troops under the command of a British officer, Lieutenant-Colonel James Johnstone. In return, the British gifted the maharaja a large number of weapons and ammunition, and again the Manipuris supplied troops to the British in 1885 during the Third Anglo-Burmese War. Anglo-Manipur relations seemed good, but that was soon to change.

The Road to War

From 1886, Sur Chandra Singh has been the maharaja of Manipur but, on 21 September 1890, Kula Chandra Singh, his younger brother, instigated a revolt which forced the maharaja to abdicate and flee to Cachar. Sur Chandra appealed to Lord Landsdowne, the viceroy of India, for assistance in the matter, but since he had technically abdicated voluntarily the Indian Government chose to recognise Kula Chandra as the rightful regent. However, the Indian authorities knew that the main instigator of the revolution was in fact Tekendrajit, the chief officer of the Manipuri army. As such, it was deemed necessary to remove Tekendrajit from Manipur territory in order to ensure a lasting peace.

To enforce this, James Wallace Quinton, the chief commissioner of Assam, was instructed to advance on Manipur with 400 sepoys of the 42nd and 44th Gurkha Rifles, both under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Skene, as a show of force. This little expedition duly arrived at Imphal on 22 March 1891, where the commissioner was received with the usual warm welcome. However, Tekendrajit failed to turn up at the pre-arranged durbar, citing ill-health as the reason for his absence. The meeting was, therefore, adjourned and re-arranged for the following day. Again the military chief failed to show, and so Quinton informed Kula Chandra, in the form of an ultimatum, that he would lose support of the Indian Government if he did not had over Tekendrajit.

The demand was declined and so, at 06:00 hours on 24th, the Gurkhas were instructed to surround Tekendrajit’s home. As they did so they were quickly confronted by a large number of Manipuri troops and a serious engagement between the two took place, during which Lieutenant Lionel Wilhelm Brackenbury was to be mortally wounded. Eventually the sepoys got inside the house, where they found Tekendrajit had long since gone, and the firing between the two sides continued well into the evening. By 20:00 hours, Quinton, sensing his precarious position, asked the Manipuri troops to ceasefire and begin talks for an armistice. In response to this request, Tekendrajit invited Quinton to meet with him outside the residency to talk. The commissioner accepted the invite and, in company with four other officers, exited the building. However, all five men were seized and beheaded after being taken inside the nearby fort.

Quinton’s demise was unknown to the sepoys still inside the residency, but at about midnight a voice was heard to say ‘The Chief Commissioner will not return’, after which the fire on the residency resumed. The Gurkhas, realising the five men were indeed unlikely to return, decided the best course of action was to conduct a retirement to Cachar; the withdrawal being harassed most of the way. However, on 26th, Captain Cowley and 200 men of the 43rd Gurkhas from Cachar encountered the retreating sepoys at Laimatak, which forced their pursuers to break off and head back to Imphal.

Source: http://marksimner.me.uk/category/articles/