The tale that before the advent of Hinduism, the Hill-Plain relation was cordial is of an interesting proposition: exchange of gifts between the hill and plain people, mainly between the Naga chiefs and the Rajas is evident from the Royal Chronicles and British accounts of Manipur.

The British political agents were practically concerned with administrative reforms; effective means were deployed for the thorough understanding and better reading for the unaccounted hilly corners of the North-Eastern region of India. Written books on statistical accounts, social anthropology, linguistic surveys, etc. were published for administrative conveniences.

These British writers were all administrators, not scholars or historians, and their first hand impressions or second hand impressions were naturally susceptible to errors and omissions so their writings cannot be taken for granted. Since those writings were more or less reckoners for administrative efficiency only, the scholastic or academic references were without authenticities.

A lot of mistakes can be detected while quoting the British writers. The relevancy is of a serious matter of Manipuri history, culture, literature, religion and ethnology, not playing with the sentiments of a people.

This essay is written without any hatred against a particular tribe or community. The writer may be naive, and he is aware that a subject not meant for the average intelligentsia shouldn’t be abused. Also, he doesn’t claim himself a scholar nor has he ever made a mention of it but this much is true that the inaccurate British accoun-ts surpassing all the Royal Chronicles of the land are refutable, and plenty of sentences are of insidious nature and are regularly incomprehensible.

Books written by the British Political Agents were, of course, not widely circulated fortunately, and those books filled with cobwebs and dusts were buried in the corroded wooden almirahs of the library at Imphal and Asiatic Society at Kolkota. Almost all the original copies which were stored in the Central Library, Imphal were burnt to ashes during the Mayek stir.

Instances of mistakes and nebulousness of ideas are clear to quote Dr. G.A. Grierson (LSI, Vol-III, Part-III, 1904, Page 21.) “Wives are purchased; they are really the slaves of their husbands, and are occasionally sold by them when in debt.

The ill-fated Koireng tribe was given several names such as Kolhen, Kolren and Kolreng when its kindred tribes like Kharam and Mantak were named Karum and Muntuk respectively. The Quoirengs of T.C. Hodson are the Kacha-Nagas: not the Koirengs. Such remarks are now very damaging and misleading to a reader who knows very little about the land and its people.

Substantial clarification about the doubt and an in depth study on the community was made by renowned historian of regional fame, Prof. Gangmumei Kamei way back in 1975 and also later in 1988 in his book on the Koirengs which was released by the then Vice-Chancellor of Manipur University, Prof. K.J. Mahale at G.M. Hall, Imphal. Eminent scholars and historians among others who attended the releasing ceremony of the book included Dr. Nag Choudhuri, the former Vice-Chancellor of J.N. University, New Delhi.

On account of lack of proper understanding and adequate knowledge of the people, the first hand or second hand compilations from hearsay or materials collected from the alien interpreters like Babu Bishwarup and Nathor Nath Baner- jee who were serving in the hill section of Manipur Administration as head clerks, the accou-nts lacked accuracies. Babu Bishwarup went to Kharang Koireng village situated at the foothill west of Phayeng village in about 1858 A.D. where he collected fragmented specimen of Koi-reng dialect and wrong list of clans’ names.

To quote Captain E.W. Dun in his book entitled “The People of Manipur - in Haw- chongba”, “the hill men indulge in feats of strength before the Raja, such as carrying heavy weights, etc. They also indulge in war dances and sham fights. The sports of the day conclude with a feast, at which they are regaled with the flesh of cows, buffaloes, dogs, cats, etc. which may have died in the valley.”

So unmindfully and uncharitably he wrote to project the food habit of the hill men in bad taste. To be truthful, cats and dead animals are taboos for superior clans among the hill men. How was it possible for the overwhelming majority of the clans to regale with the flesh of cats and dead animals?

The Britisher had gone into the detail while depicting the Haochongba festival in the royal palace of Manipur. Any civilized people will be on the brink of nausea to read the line-which may have died in the valley. Even the Lois were awkwardly portrayed by B.C. Allen and others in “Manipur”.

Thus, “The Lois of Manipur are a low caste, not even dignified by the name of Hindus. They are probably descended from one of the hill tribes”. Innate kindness was missing from the hearts of the white men to consider hill men sub-human beings.

From all these accounts, it is clear that the history of the accounted period of Manipur had not been kind to the hill people because what should have been written like names of villages and its chiefs or the origin of the tribes were overlooked.

At the best, the British writers’ range can never go beyond 1800 A.D. and in matters relating to the ancient history of this land, no competent British writer appeared and perhaps it might have been their disinterest or the circumstances under which the impracticability to accomplish so.

For dearth of written materials, although some written materials were available in old Manipuri archaic scripts, the study of which, no Britishers undertook. (LSI -PUJI, Vol.III, Page 21): “The valley of Manipur is inhabited by a people who call themselves Meitei. According to their own traditions, the Maya-sang tribe has come from the South, the Khumals from the East, and the Meitheis proper and the Luyangs from the North-East”.

It is not unlikely that along with the advanced group of civilized plain dwellers, the primitive inhabitants of the hill areas might have been living in the seventh-heaven of their own. It is also very unlikely that the Meiteis of the plain areas in those ages and the hill people might have been of different stocks of origin.

The claim of the Tatar connection or origin of the Meiteis by Pemberton in the 13th and 14th centuries has been renounced by modern scholars of Manipur. If at all the Tatar horde reached Manipur, it would have been another influx during the 13th and 14th centuries, and the said horde might have penetrated through the East Bengal, then Assam and reaching Manipur finally, say by about the beginning of the 15th century.

Then, who were the indigenous tribes of Manipur including the Meiteis? Who were the indigenous tribes residing in the hill areas of Manipur those days? The term “Hao” as commonly known but sarcastic for the hill men to mean the ancient hill tribes of Manipur may at best give a clue to the riddle of our lost antiquity of origin.

Now having much diverged in food, drink, habit and worship, especially, the last Hinduism and Christianity at diametric ends, the feeling of oneness between the hills and the plains is hard-reconciling. In this regard, the people of Manipur have strong reasons to be annoyed against the unkind history of Manipur under the Meitei kingship: the policy of segregation by the then Rajas of Manipur, defying innocent hill people and treating them as untouchables are the cynical aspects of the history of Manipur.

The tribals were defied entering the houses of the Meiteis and they were declared untouchables. Even a minor entry to the Meiteis’ houses was defied and even the slightest touch with the Haos was declared unclean till not so long ago. The Meiteis used to address the Angamis as Ngameis or Awang Hao. Naturally, the sentiments of the tribal people are inclined towards a vengeance once inflicted by the history of Manipur. Surely, the people of Manipur will hate such racial anomalies.

People of all races or sub-races, big or marginal claim themselves to be the best, the holiest and the most perfect ones. Self-esteem is in the minds of every community but to debase others, treating them as inferior and not as real human being is a doom for all mankind and what we retain will be of a grim future. It is a fact that before the coming of the Hinduism in the plains, the advanced community was the Meiteis and the primitive hill tribes were the dominant population of the hills.

In the ancient folklore of Manipur the word Hao was said to be used just to connote a sense of innocence and simplicity of the hill tribes of Manipur, but now it implies something to demean and despise the hill people in their social status. Such was the prevalent social strictures and bindings in Manipur valley. Under the then prevailing Brahma Samaj, the plights of the hill tribes were full of untold miseries.

The coming of Hinduism, the bed-rock of the Brahma Samaj during the rule of Gharib Niwas in the valley had affected Tribal-Meitei relationship severely and afterwards the coming of the Christianity in 1894 A.D. had greatly frozen the love and amity between the hills and the plains.

The only wish that wasn’t fulfilled may be—had the entire population of Manipur been brought within the orbit of Christianity, the history of Manipur would have been one of the most glittering chapters in South East Asia! In that case, contact with the Americans and the entire west would have been easier for the purpose of achieving advanced science and technology and trade and commerce.

In all probability relation between the hills and the plains remained cordial till the coronation of Pamheiba who ascended the throne under the title of Gbarib Niwas in 1709 A.D. To quote Prof J. Roy (Hist. of Manipur, P47), “All the Naga chiefs were invited at the coronation ceremony of the King. The Ministers and officials of Manipur received the Naga chiefs, made friendship and intimacy with them.

The Raja entertained the chiefs with good feasts and wine”. After his conversion to Hinduism, the Raja aimed at introducing Hindu observances in its entirety, and social barriers cropped up. Hill men began shying away from the Meiteis as ceremonial purity and rigidity in customary observation stood in the way.

Now, the literary circles and intelligentsia of Manipur have agreed to accept that the new faith brought in by a wandering fakir called Shanti Das Goswami who landed in the royal palace was responsible for shattering the niceties of the social composition of the hill and plain people of Manipur. Even today, a strong wind of racial prejudice is blowing, and the spirit of untouchability is indubitably rampant in the conservative circles and more dreadfully in rural Manipur, the stumbling block for unity.

Recent assassination of a high profile and top ranking police officer of the State, T. Thangthuam along with his security guard and explosions of land mines planted in the hills had shaken the entire hill districts of Manipur. Stunned and unbelieving, the citizens of CCpur town were enraged minutes after the gruesome assassination of Thangthuan and his personal guard in broad day light at Oinam Bazar where thundering bullets hit them.

Regardless of ethnic differentia, all communities across the hill districts of Manipur grieved their death most. The people of the hill town were impressed so much by the cheerful countenance and pleasant personality of the late IGP (Intelligence) who was deeply attached not only to his family but to his community as well.

Notwithstanding nodding acquaintance one had with him- his manner was more of a blend of friendliness and respect than a crime buster to be feared. He was one of those men who enjoyed immense popularity and fame during their life time. Indeed, it would be more appropriate to say that he has become a living father-figure in Zomi public opinion in particular and Chikim in general. Was it really a conspiracy? And the brain behind it?

The pain is intolerable: it is an irreparable loss not only for a section of the people but for the whole of Manipur. Expeditious and congruous action should be initiated to extinguish those flames of hatred and anger that were seething in the hearts of numerous Thangthuam’s fans and admirers.

Perhaps, the community to which he belongs has suffered a nervous shock over the tragic irony. When the community, ostensibly the epicentre of the most developed hill district of Manipur, drifts into a deeper water of serious emotional complications, the pendulum will then swing to the other extreme.

The case in point here is that if the sentiment of the hill men is also felt among the plain people, the abiding love between the Hills and the Plains can be rebuilt on a firm basis. And again, if a particular community be it Gangte or Mao looks at the other askance, it will be hard to gratify the tie-up.

The big brother is to play a positive role to defuse any eruption or upheaval for a breakthrough even if it is dominant in nature but near-sightedness and completely astute in character will alienate numerically weaker sections of the society from the mainstream. Unfortunately, the state of lawlessness and disorderliness has reached an all-time high in the decade due to the collapse of the state’s machinery and failure of the Government on all fronts giving a crushing blow to societal growth.

It’s nothing but a catastrophic fall. Therefore, the moment calls for a magnanimous and gregarious attitude of the major community towards their hill brethrens to revitalize hill-plain relationship.fusion is the addition of a new language itself into the mainstream education process. We are to adopt a new language and continue our spiritual progress based on that.

While I appreciate the concern of the individuals who are at the back of this move, I must also point out that the manner of introducing such a revolutionary step is sadly despair ridden. There is no technical or educational systematic logic in the adoption of this revolution.

It will lead to further alienation of our small and threatened community into oblivion.