Kangla, the capital of Khaba Dynasty
Khuraijam Jibankumar *
Historians prefer to neglect the dynasty that established the Kangla fort, the fort which has served as power house of the Manipur kingdom till 19th century. Histories are written by dominant group but neglecting the history beyond their dynasty is a clear sign of cowardness.
Entire history book of the kingdom was burnt down leaving only the history of the kingdom of Ningthoujas. Not a single word on the Khaba dynasty that established the Kangla fort appeared on the history book nor on the stone sculpture inside the fort depicting the history of Kangla.
Historians or the Government of the state seem to forget or didn’t read literature Panthoibi Khongkul. There are still many names, incidents and literature which remind us of the great Khaba dynasty.
The present Sanjenthong (San=cattle, thong=bridge), the bridge on the Imphal river which is located at the east side of the Kangla fort was named and built during Khaba Dynasty. The fort was capital of the Kingdom (the present northern portion of Imphal Valley).
If there have not been well established administration and army of Khabas at Kangla, whether the Ningthoujas would have glorified history is still a big question?
The present Khabas were compelled to neglect or forget their glorious history due to the over dominance of the Ningthoujas. Government of Manipur should devote some space for Khabas in the fort remembering the Khaba Dynasty and Khaba Kings. History can be neglected but cannot be vanished in thin air.
Men are born on this earth to leave their foot prints. The time has come to write another history, the history beyond 33 AD.
* Khuraijam Jibankumar wrote this article for e-pao.net
The writer is Founder, For a Better Manipur (FBM) and can be contacted at khuraijam(at)neceer(dot)org(dot)in
This article was posted on June 16, 2012 .
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