Economy

Government and society

Cultural life

Polo and field hockey are popular sports. Polo as a sport is known to have originated from the traditional game of sagol kangjei. Manipur has given birth to an indigenous form of classical dance known as manipuri. Unlike other Indian dance forms, hand movements are used decoratively rather than as pantomime, bells are not accentuated, and both men and women perform communally. The dance dramas, interpreted by a narrator, are a part of religious life. Themes are generally taken from the life of Krishna, the pastoral god of Hinduism. Long an isolated art form, manipuri dance was introduced to the rest of India by the poet Rabindranath Tagore in 1917.

History

Cheitharol Kumbaba, the royal chronicle of Manipur, lists historical events of Manipur starting from the time of Nongda Lairen Pakhangba, the first king (33–154 ce; some sources mention a much shorter reign, from 33 to 54 ce), to Bodhachandra Singh (1941–49), whose rule came to an end in 1949, after the princely state of Manipur was absorbed by the government of India. An important period in Manipur’s more recent history dates from 1762, when raja Jai Singh concluded a treaty with the British to repel an invasion of Burmans from Myanmar (Burma). Further communication was minimal until 1824, when the British were again requested to expel the Burmans. Disputed successions were a continual source of political turmoil until Chura Chand, a five-year-old member of the ruling family, was nominated raja in 1891. For the next eight years the administration was conducted under British supervision; slavery and forced labor were abolished, and roads were constructed.

In 1907 the government was assumed by the raja and the durbar, or council, whose vice president was a member of the (British) Indian civil service. Subsequently, the administration was transferred to the raja, and the vice president of the durbar became its president. After an uprising of the Kuki hill tribes against the British government in 1917, a new system of government was adopted; the region was divided into three subdivisions, each headed by an officer from the neighboring government of Assam.

With the accession of Manipur to India in 1947, the political agency exercised by Assam was abolished. Two years later Manipur “merged” with the Indian union and became a somewhat diminished “Part C” state, governed by the center through a chief commissioner after raja Bodhachandra reluctantly signed a merger agreement. Manipur was made a union territory in 1956, and a newly constituted territorial council was given some administrative powers, which were again transferred to the chief commissioner after the abolishment of the council in 1963. Manipur became a constituent state of the Indian union with its own elected legislature on January 21, 1972.

One of the last northeastern states to be given statehood, Manipur has continued to witness strife since its integration with India in 1949. The period between the 1950s and ’90s saw demands from militant Naga and Kuki groups for separate autonomous homelands. The dominant Meitei community, which also formed militant groups in the 1960s, sought to defend the territorial integrity of the state and demanded separation from India because it opposed the 1949 merger. Land rights and power have been at the heart of the disputes between the Meiteis, Nagas, and Kukis. The Meiteis mostly live in the valley and have traditionally enjoyed higher political representation in the state; the Nagas and the Kukis inhabit the hill tracts and are recognized by the state as “Scheduled Tribes” (the official government designation applied to Indigenous peoples who fall outside the predominant Indian social hierarchy), therefore benefiting from affirmative action policies. Incidentally, the Nagas and the Kukis have also had a history of fighting for land ownership in the hilly areas. Illegal immigration and participation of militant groups from neighboring Myanmar, especially after the military coup in 2021, is perceived to have further intensified the conflict in the region.

To curb the various insurgent groups, the central government declared parts of the state a “disturbed area” and imposed the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in 1958. This gave the military forces sweeping rights, including the power to enter a property and arrest someone without a warrant. Human rights groups have highlighted how this period of insurgency and the AFSPA left deep mistrust in the civilian population, further alienating them and heightening ethnic conflicts and insurgency. Despite socioeconomic development programs and ceasefire deals between the government and insurgent groups, long-term peace and stability have been elusive.

Since 2023 Manipur has witnessed a resurgence of ethnic clashes between the Meiteis and the Kukis over land rights and a Scheduled Tribe status demanded by the Meitei community, which could give them ownership rights over land traditionally under Naga and Kuki control. Mob attacks, abductions, more than 250 deaths (by state government accounts), and thousands of people displaced have been reported during this period of clashes. The AFSPA was imposed once again in a large part of the state in 2024, and president’s rule was implemented in the state in February 2025 in an attempt to restore law and order.