In fact, the history of Manipur, when it is traced or looked back to many centuries earlier, is according to the findings of many learned historians, the history of a unique and hoary land which came into existence after a great "deluge" had taken place, and after which formed a mountainous country of a valley surrounded all around by ranges of high mountains standing all around like high walls protecting the valley, on which (on the mountains) arrived hordes and streams of immigrants of different groups of Mongoloid stock of peoples and began to settle.

These hordes of immigrants came down from far away places of Mongolia, China, Tibet via accessible routes of the great Hima-layan ranges and also came up from south-east Asian regions, namely Cambodia, Thailand (previously Siam) and even from Malaysian islands via the routes along Mekong or Lancang Jiang or Lan-ts'ang major river of south-east Asia, 4184 km or 2600 miles long rising in Tibet and flowing down southwards through China, Laos, Kampuchea and Vietnam joining finally the South China Sea.

The main groups of the immigrants so arrived and settled beginning from the hills were the Poireis, the Khu-mans, the Lei-Nungs, Lei-Hous from whom sprang out the so called, Seven-salais (clans) which formed the groups - the Meiteis, the Tangkhuls, the Kabuis, the Marams, the Maos, the Marings, the Chothes, the Chirus, the Anals, the Koms, the Koirengs and all other indigenous tribes who had been since living in the most ancient land very peacefully as the inseparable brethren of a big family of people having all the similarities and identical characteristics in their customs, cultures, styles and habits of living, and all more importantly, linguistically because of which there is the "love" and good "understanding" amongst them all of being the oneness of a people who stemmed out from the same Mongoloid stock.

It is because of the presence of a good deal of elements of the Khumans, Lei-nungs and Lei-hous amongst the Meiteis and the Tangkhul tribes, in particular, that there has been a strong claim of very close blood-relationship in between them.

it is said that the dynastic god of the Meiteis and all their cognate tribes, Pakhangba, was born of a Lei-hou mother, Yabiroka, daughter of a Lei-hou chief along with other sons who had been left over in the hills under the care of their maternal grand-father when the group of the former came down and settled in the valley.

The brothers of Pakhangba who had been so left in the hills were the ones who became the Tangkhuls etc.

It is in the context of the above highlighted glaring facts that one would like to very frankly 'disagree' with the claim that "the non-Kuki tribes", numbering only some three lakhs in total as against a total of more than 4 lakhs of the Kukis of the entire hills of Manipur, who came under the umbrella of very recently adopted "appellation - Naga", which is actually a very superficial and artificial nomenclature introduced by the British administrators to suit their purpose of the "divide and rule" policy, have their "own separate and unique history" as one unified people from the beginning of their primeval descent or appearance on the hoary land.

The figures of population quoted as above are the figures given in the letter of the Kuki Movement for Human Rights and Kuki Students' Organisation written to the Union Minister for Human Rights Development, Arjun Singh on 6th August 2006.

In their letter they also strongly asserted the fact that no district in Manipur is exclusively inhabited by a single ethnic group or community, and that the Districts were created within the State only for the convenience of administration and not at all for serving any communal purpose.

To sum up, it is to be said that the Kingdom of Manipur had been existing since time immemorial ever constituted by its hills and the valley inseparably with its indigenous subjects of peoples categorised under two names, the Tammis (the people who settled in the valley) and the Chingmis or the Haos (the people of all the groups irrespective of their indigenous ethnic divisions settled or remained in the hills).

Therefore it really tantamount quite "mischievous and flagrant, and not at all a "feasible plan", to make the ethnic and territorial "disintegration" on the basis of only one "plank" of community by "sowing" seeds of 'hatredness" amongst the innocent people of both the sects who should not delay to "wake up to realise" fully the ill and most fearful consequences that they will disastrously face as a result of such 'an ethnic and territorial break-up', if happens to take place at all.

— Concluded -