Formation of Muslim Community in Manipur during the 17th and 18th Centuries
- Part 3 -

Md. Chingiz Khan *

Id-ul Adha celebration at Changamdhabi under Andro Kendra Majid, Manipur on 7 November 2011 :: Pix - Bullu Raj

Further, in the reign of Paikhomba (1666-1697A.D.), 37 Muslim travellers including Sunarphool, the prince of Makak, Miliya Sheikh, traveller and religious man from Lukhiyaphool, Phuleicha Sandulla Sheikh, Leithou, Sheikh Jali etc. arrived in Manipur who were introduced by Muhammad Shani and made them settlement by giving women as wives when they presented elephants, gold and other precious things to the King of Manipur. There was no official policy of settling the outsiders but when they said simply that they wanted to stay in the state of Manipur, the Maharaj Paikhomba, being pleasure, allowed them to settle by giving land, women and servants (Singh and Khan 1973: 92- 93). In this period also, four Mughal princes along with ten commanders-in-chief came to Manipur who were settled down by giving servants, land and women.

Actually, before entering into the royal Palace and coming with two Mughal princes hand-inhand, Paikhomba, the King of Manipur, entered into the Mughal-Shang (Pangal Shanglen) and latter named as Mangal Khutsham-Shang (Singh and Khan 1973: 104). Some scholars like M.A. Janab Khan hooked up these Mughals to Shah Shuja, the ephemeral brother of Aurangzeb and his followers and they didn't give the reasons behind this but was refuted on the ground that he had already been killed in Arracan by the Maghs as mentioned in the Sir Jadunath Sarkar's book, A Short History of Aurangzeb, which said that "the king of Arracan heard of the plot and planned the assassination of Shah Shuja. Shah Shuja with a few men fled into the jungle. The Maghs ….pursued the poor prince ….…cutting his body into pieces" (Dutch report, February, 1661).

Moreover, Pangals namely Chuki Meihaiba, Huipuba and Singga Khongba working in the Pangal Mall and the Singga Loisang of Manipur visited in Tripura in 1676 A.D. and returned in Manipur in the same year. The arrival of seven Muslim Fakirs (saints) from Cachar in Manipur in April, 1795A.D. was the largest Fakir immigration in which Kashoudin (Kashimuddin) was the leader, Pir Baba of Fakirs, which brought a great impact in the Manipuri Muslim's Islamic way of life. Further, some immigration took place in Manipur in small number which, slowly and gradually, continued till the reign of Chandrakirti (1850-1886A.D.) say, for instance, Sayyids and Pathans from Gujarat came to Manipur in search of fortune (Ali 1979:12).

During the repeated and successive Burmese invasions in Manipur in the 18th century, some Muslim immigrations happened in Manipur say, for instance, during the periods of 1755, 1758-9, 1764, 1770, 1782, Maimu, Pukchao and Tonba from the Sylhet District arrived in Manipur in which the King Bhagyachandra allowed Tonba to serve Wakil Haridas Gosai who was deputed by the King to sign the Anglo-Manipuri Alliance 1762 in favour of Manipur (Hamilton 1940: 80-81). Though there was large number of migration in these two centuries, the population was not increased to a maximum level but increased slowly i.e. microscopic number in the sense that there was no well documented text to give the exact number of population of Manipur in these two centuries. Muslim population in Manipur is still low which, according to some scholars, might be due to the repeated successive Burmese invasions like Seven Years Devastation (1819-1926) or search of livelihood in other states approximately four-fifth of the total population as stated earlier. Really speaking, a greater portion of this community was brought into captivity during the repeated successive Burmese invasions in Manipur (Brown 1975: 15).

For these reasons, Manipuri Muslims were mushrooming in different parts of the world like Cachar (Baskandi, Hilghat, Govindpur (Moijing), Tolen Khun, Lalang, Kanokpur), Tripura (Aalali, Latiyabil, Manikbhandar, Moleiya etc.), Assam (Hojaisalbagan, Sadiya and Bokajan), Nagaland (Nichuged, Semile, Charmile, Kapunpur-14kms from the north of Dimapur), Bangladesh (Shripur, Jalalpur, Ghuramura, Mankhei Makhong, Samser Nagar, Maulvi Bazaar etc.), Burma (Mandalay Chhatra Number) and Saudi Arabia (Tayef, Mecca and Jeddah) (Singh and Khan 1973: 171;Khullakpam 1997: 13-16). After analyzing very briefly over this issue, we come to the conclusion that 1606 A.D. was the major turning point in the history of Manipur because in this time, Muslims came to Manipur despite having some theories for the origin of Manipuri Muslims prior to this period. Indeed, the actual settlement of Muslims in Manipur started from this period after coupling with Meitei women presented by the King of Manipur Khagemba who gave the clans to them on the basis of origin, place of settlement, occupation etc., which, therefore, played a crucial role in the formation of Muslim community in Manipur in the beginning of seventeenth century and it is still important till now for such community.

Their Socio-Cultural Roles for the Formation of Community:

So far the socio-cultural practices drawing from the local majority community called Meitei like Marriage system, Clan system (unknown in the Islamic World), Dresses (Phanek, Khudei, Khwangnum), Belief system, Language (Meiteilon), Food Habits (Uti, Eronba, Chamthong/Kangsoi, Ngari, Singju), Arts and Aesthetics, Recreations, Games and Sports (Mukna, Mukna Kangjei-Wrestling, Yubi Lakpi, Sagol Kangjei-Polo), etc. and their implications for the expansion, settlement and formation of the community during the 17th and 18th centuries are concerned, it is suggested that huge local socio-cultural structure was there in the Muslim's socio-cultural way of life in the fields mentioned above. But one should know that such kind of cross socio-cultural interaction among the Muslims and Meiteis is not a special case not only in Manipur but also taking place in any place of the world.

They started using the local language 'Meiteilon' as their own which was evident from the fact that many books were translated into Manipuri language (Shah 2008: 163-174). They started changing their food habits and the way they lived based on the Manipuri styles. In the belief system like Bhut, Lairen (a form of Python), Heloi, Maiba etc. also, they were changing a lot due to the influence of Meitei community's belief system i.e. it became a traditional social facet of Manipuri Muslims which had been continuing till now since their arrival in Manipur in 1606 A.D. In all spheres of life, some local elements were brought out in Muslim's life styles which did not mean that they were not following the basic teachings of Islam but they held it along with local community's belief system in their activities.

Then, the Marriage (Luhongba in Manipuri language) customs of Manipuri Muslims were influenced exceedingly by the local community's marriage system based on exogamy (Irene 2010: 66-74). Despite having some influence by the local community into the marriage system of Muslims, they always focused on the Qur'anic injunctions and basic teachings of Islam in the sense that they preformed "Nikah" after consulting and bringing an agreement of both the parties.

Its main object was the procreation and legalizing children. A marriage was usually preformed in the way of four forms namely, Hainaba (Engagement), Chenba (Elopement), Chenba Phaba (Capture), Loukhatpa (Recognition of Elopement). Marriage is a civil contract not a sacrament. There can be no marriage without consent. It can be dissolved or separated based on the will of both the parties or operation of law. Marriage without consent is void and a marriage with consent under compulsion is invalid.

Actually, Islamic law was always used in marriage ceremony of Manipuri Muslim though there was some unislamic local elements in the way they performed like Sagei Kwa Yenba, Kwa Khaiba , Panuka Puba, etc. and they strictly followed the tradition of paying of Mohr or Dower by the husband at the time of marriage. At the time of marriage, they performed some traditional dances like Thabal Chongba, Maibi Jagoi, Khullang Esei etc. There was no ceiling on the Awonpot and parents gave the bride with what was deemed essential to start a happily married life.

According to Salam Irene, a charmingful and meaningful custom prevalent among the Manipuri Muslims was the presentation of a copy of the Qur'an by the father to the bride on her wedding day which was a symbolic gesture greatly appreciation. The Muslims started learning the Manipuri language since the days of King Khunjaoba (1652-1666 A.D.) and used it as their mother tongue. Some scholars claimed that not only they used the traditional music but they used also their own music into the soil of Manipur like Ghazals, Kasida, Masnawi written in Urdu which were used during the marriage ceremony. But nowadays, such musical practices are not used in the Manipuri Muslim marriage ceremony.

Read a List of Bibliography for this paper here

To be continued...