The chronicle Chitharol Kumbaba records that Pamheiba ascended the throne of Manipur in August, 1709 after a gap of forty days of his father's death.

The eldest of the five sons born to the four wives of king Charairongba, Pamheiba was twenty years of age when he took over the reins of administration of the kingdom.

His reign of forty years witnessed dramatic increase in the military and political strength of Manipur which no doubt has been perceived to precipitate a series of crises that eventually led to Manipur's loss of sovereignty and independence. [ 18 ]

Relations with neighbouring kingdom of Ava (Burma), which started deteriorating during Charairongba's reign saw further degeneration with Pamheiba as he made a series of incursions. With rapid strides in military prowess, he soon became a terror for the Burmese.

Huge quantity of literatures - historical religious and creative - supplemented by modern archaeological findings like coins and stone inscription, and numerous references in the contemporary chronicles of Burma [ 19 ] bear testimony of the political and military prowess and achievements of Garibaniwaz who emerged as the most prominent ruler in the eastern frontier of India and Burma.

In fact, no other king in this frontier region and Burma had anything in comparison with Garibaniwaz's military conquest in early 18th century. [ 20 ]

Various Hindu sects made attempts to influence the king's court since Charairongba's time. In 1715, thirty-nine Bairagis reached the capital of Manipur to intensity the proselytization process.

The Cheitharol Kumbaba records that Garibaniwaz took the sacred thread of Vaisnhavite Hinduism from a preceptor called Guru Gopal Das in October 1717. Sanamahi Laikan corroborates this fact.

Prior to the king's initiation to Hinduism, there were no restrictions on the cultural practices, the rituals and festivals associated with traditional Meetei religion.

Eating of meat including beef and consumption of liquor was widespread as earlier. However, October 1717 marked a paradigm shift in terms of proselytization and spread of Hinduism with the despotic monarch declaring it the official religion of the kingdom.

Official sanction witnessed massive patronage to the Brahmin missionaries, the construction of several Hindu shrines and temples and the persecution of those who opposed conversion to Hinduism.

Amongst the shrines and temples constructed in the zeal of religions fervor, mention can be made of the images of Hindu god Krishna and Goddess Kali placed in a tank in 1726 in Kangla as part of the consecration ceremony.

These images were found at the foot of the consecration post in the exact position described in the chronicle Ningthourol Lambuba in 1906 by a British colonial officer. [ 21 ]

Cheitharol Kumbaba mentions the departure of the king's perceptor Guru Gopal Das in 1720. With Gopal Das's return to Bengal, another perceptor by the name of Shanta Das Goswami from Nara Singh Tilla of Sylhet in Bengal took his place and induced Garibaniwaz to execute a series of programmes meant to erase and obliterate the traditional Meetei religion.

Shanta Das was a Brahmin missionary who belonged to the Ramanandi sect of Hinduism in eastern India. Constantly harassed by Aurangazeb's religious policies, these missionaries were compelled to leave their homeland in search for new pastures for missionary activities. [ 22 ]

Brahmins, pilgrims and ascetics entered Manipur in larger members to push forward the proselytization process further. [ 23 ]

Beyond the massive influx of proselytizing missionaries cultural contacts with neighboring Ahom, which had already been Hinduised increased manifold.

Shanta Das's entry marks a significant turning point in the proselytization process. A rigorous thrust towards the use of state power and machineries as instruments to further the propagation of the new faith could be seen henceforth.

The despotic and feudal structure was dexterously exploited to present the alien faith in a grand and aesthetically attractive manner to the common people.

Existing power configuration where the monarch wielded exclusive state power effectively worked as a political force coercing the common masses to submit to the despot's dictat.

Blatant use or abuse of state power could be seen in a series of edicts issued by the king who takes on the Sanskritised title 'Maharaja'. These edicts were aimed at the traditional culture and lifestyles of the people.

The underlying motive was to change the culture and lifestyle of the masses. Edicts proclaimed included prohibition of consumption of meat and liquor, the rearing of poultry and animals like pigs and burial of the dead.

Strict punitive measures were meted out against those who went against Hindu dietary laws. Those who were caught eating beef or any other meat faced severe punishment that even included capital punishment. People who reared livestock other than cows were declared unclean.

They were subsequently outcast from society fined and banished to the far-flung peripheral regions. These outcasts who reared poultry and pigs, ate meat and consumed liquor were called lois.

It is pertinent to note that they still inhabit the fringes and continue with the same lifestyle even today. Many researchers have been able to gain significant insights into the original culture and religious belief of the Meeteis by studying them.

— to be continued