Over centuries, the people inhabiting what is presently called Manipur experienced numerous upheavals as a result of clashes with different cultures and powers.
Known as Kathe to the Burmese, Meklee to the Assamese, Mooglie to the Cacharies, Cassey to the Shans, the people of this ancient Asiatic Kingdom, have witnessed three major epoch-making encounters in the vicissitudes of its history.
Based on these encounters, the paper seeks to scrutinize certain aspects of Manipuri literature as it unfolds during the travails of its growth and development, and its engagements with the changing realities.
Even though signs of Manipur's contact with Hinduism can be traced to King Charairongba's reign in the 17th century, it was King Pamheiba's ascension to the throne in 1709 that saw the brutal imposition of Hinduism. The ensuing clash between the indigenous Meetei faith and the alien Hindu faith was essentially an encounter between two traditional cultures and worldviews.
The second has been the encounter with the Western civilization vis-à-vis the British conquest of Manipur in 1891 though its contact with the British was established much earlier.
The impact of the encounter with the British immediately followed by the two World Wars brought about a massive change in the collective experience and consciousness reflected in terms of cultural values being rendered more open, liberal, equalitarian and humanistic.
The second encounter also brought far-reaching political changes in the wake of the swelling tide of decolonisation that swept Asia, Africa and Latin America. Manipur eventually became free from British control in 1947 and remained a sovereign democratic state till its 'integration' with the newly independent State of India on the 15th October 1949.
The third encounter comes with this contact with India. It presents a queer picture of an encounter with another not too dissimilar entity.[1] With its own logic, the society and culture of this ancient Asiatic land has experienced the dynamics of these encounters.
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* Thingnam Kishan Singh wrote this article for Eastern Quarterly.
This article was webcasted on May 29th, 2007.
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