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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.[2] Writing by Meiteis is assumed to go back to the Kingdom of Kangleipak in the early 12th century.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]
Ancient Meitei literature
Chada Laihui
The Chada Laihui (Meitei: ꯆꯥꯗꯥ ꯂꯥꯢꯍꯨꯢ) is a historical document (puya), about the genealogy of the Meitei kings from their mothers' sides.[6][7] It traces the genealogical account of the kings' mothers' lineage.[6][7][8][9] It is a supplementary document to the Cheitharol Kumbaba, the foremost royal chronicle of Manipur.[6]
Moirang Ningthourol Lambuba
"Moirang Ningthourol Lambuba" (Meitei: ꯃꯣꯢꯔꯥꯡ ꯅꯤꯡꯊꯧꯔꯣꯜ ꯂꯝꯕꯨꯕ) is a historical document (puya), which served as the court chronicle of the rulers of the kingdom in Ancient Moirang. It records the genealogy of the kings of the Moirang dynasty.[10][11][12]
The chronicle also slightly mentioned about the history of the Zeliangrong people.[13]
Medieval Meitei literature
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Modern Meitei literature
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Puyas
Puyas[14] are Meitei manuscripts written in Meitei script. They encompass a wide variety of topics such as religion, mythology, chronicle, folk medicine of Meitei people, history etc.[15] Archaic Meitei script which consist of 18 alphabets is derived from Wakoklon Puya[16][17][18] Puya manuscripts have been discovered by scholars, beginning in the 1930s.[19][20] The chronicles of puya state that Hindus arrived from the Indian subcontinent with royal marriages by the 14th century, from what are now modern Assam, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Dravidian kingdoms, and other regions.[20] Another manuscript suggests that Muslims arrived in Manipur in the 17th century, from what is now Bangladesh, during the reign of king Khagemba.[20] Cheitharol kumbaba and other puya such as Ningthourol Lambuba documents the persistent and devastating Manipur–Burma wars.[21]
Depiction of the Puya Mei Thaba (Burning of the Meitei texts) believed to have been ordered by king Pamheiba (Garib Niwaj)
After the adoption of Hinduism as state religion under Gharib Nawaz (Meitei: Pamheiba) (1717), the Puyas were "burnt completely" at Kangla Uttra under royal orders, in either 1729[25] or in 1732.[26]
The Puya manuscripts discovered in the 20th century at best have a tenuous connection with the texts burned under Gharib Nawaz.[26] Like the Hindu and Jain Puranas, the extant Puyas contain cosmology, genealogies of gods and goddesses, and royal chronicles.[26]
The Numit Kappa ("Shooting the Sun") is a mythological text in narrative verse. It was published in English translation by T.C. Hodson (1908).[27] A translation into modern Meitei was published in 1908.[28]
Ougri (also known as Leiroi Ngongloi Eshei) is a poem written in archaic Meitei.[29]
The Ningthourol Shingkak is a work written under Gharib Nawaz (Meitei: Pamheiba), written in the mode of "predictions" made during the rule of Khagemba (r. 1597–1652) and thus foretelling the birth and reign of Gharib Nawaz and his religious reforms. The Cheitharol Kumbaba or "Royal Chronicle" is a text written down in the early 19th century, under Jai Singh, the puppet king installed after the Burmese invasion, purportedly based on an older copy which was no longer available. It contains day-to-day transactions and occurrences the state.[31]
The Meitei scriptures are texts regarding the Meitei religion (Sanamahism) as well as Meitei mythology. They are the sacred literature to the followers of the Meitei religion.[32] Some of the puyas are regarded as scriptures, but not all of them.[33]
^Naorem Sanajaoba, Manipur Treaties and Documents-Vol I,1993, New Delhi. Book I: "Twelfth Century Meetei Constitution To Pemberton Report".
^According to K.B. Singh, The Meiteis of Manipur (1989 [1962]), p. 157, an archaic form of the script had developed by the 11th century, and it was in use until the early 18th century, when it was replaced by the Bengali script. By contrast, O.Tomba, The Need to rewrite Manipuri History, Imphal, 1993, claims that the script is a development of c. 1930, with all supposedly older documents being deliberate forgeries (Frans Welman, Out of Isolation – Exploring a Forgotten World (2011), 468f.)
^Singha, Komol (2012). "Nexus between Conflict and Development in India: A Case of Manipur"(PDF). International Journal of Humanities and Applied Sciences. 1 (5): 142–143. Retrieved 18 June 2015. Further, as an effort to popularise Hinduism and to make it as a state religion, on a full moon day of October (Wakching in Meitei), in 1729 AD, he collected all the Holy books (Puya) related to Sanna-Mahi religion and burnt them completely, devastated the ancient Meitei scriptures and cultural history.
^T.C. Hodson, The Meitheis, 1908, London. Appendix II, page 180.
^Chanam Hemchandra, Numit Kappa, translated and rendered into modern Meeteilon, 2008, Imphal, Manipur.
^Ningthoujongjam Khelchandra, History of Ancient Manipuri Literature, Pub-Manipuri Sahitya Parishad, 1969.
^Oinam, Bhagat; Sadokpam, Dhiren A. (11 May 2018). Northeast India: A Reader. Taylor & Francis. pp. 236, 237. ISBN978-0-429-95320-0. The epics of the seven incarnations Apart from several other works based on the theme of love, mention may be made of the literature coming from the Moirang region of Manipur. A civilization situated on the magnificent Loktak Lake, the culture of the Moirang clan has been noted. Numerous manuscripts of the Moirang region dwell on the theme of love. One of the most popular stories refers to the seven pairs of lovers who are regarded as incarnations of the same souls in different generations or ages. The seven cycles are Akongjamba (hero) and Phouoibi (heroine): Henjunaha (hero) and Leima Lairuklembi (heroine); Khuyol Haoba (hero) and Yaithing Konu (heroine); Kadeng Thangjahanba (hero) and Tonu Laijinglembi (heroine); Ura Naha Khongjomba (hero) and Pidonnu (heroine); Wanglen Pungdingheiba (hero) and Sappa Chanu Silheibi (heroine); Khamba (hero) and Thoibi (heroine).
^"The manuscripts collected by W. Yumjao Singh consist of literary, historical, astronomical, astrological and miscellaneous other works of which mention may be made of Cheitharon Kumbaba, the Ningthourol Shingkak, the Poireiton Khunthokpa, Dharani Samhita, Srimat Bhagabat. The Cheitharol Kumbaba or the royal chronicle has been the most valuable for historical investigations, as it professes to record all the important daily transactions and occurrences of the State.... By orders of Jai Singh this book was rewritten as the former copy was no more available then". "The Nigthourol Shingkak is a work written in the way of prediction. It professes to predict all important events that would happen from the time of Khagemba downward. It, therefore, professes to be a work of the early 17th century. It is an anonymous work, and in this book, we see for the first time Gharib Niwaz's having had some Naga connection in his childhood." Jyotirmoy Roy, History of Manipur, 1958, p. 8.
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