Descent of the Scion of Sorarel on the Earth: Book Review

James Oinam *

Title: Descent of the Scion of Sorarel on the Earth
Translator and Editor: Konsam Manikchand Singh
Publisher: Konsam Imo Singh, Advocate, Khurai Konsam Leikai, Imphal
First Edition: 2014
No. of Pages: 117
Availability: With the author and leading bookstores in Imphal

The book is a free translation of the manuscript ‘Sorarel Machana Khulkumpa’. The book has three parts.

The English translation of the manuscript is provided in the first part, along with scanned images of the manuscript in Meitei script. (I must quickly add here it is my guess as I belong to the older generation who cannot read and write Meitei script.)

A detailed account of the mythological origin of the kings of Shan states (Pong kingdom) is given here. How does a king gain the authority to rule the people? How does a king annex and subjugate various other kings or chieftains into his dominion? According to the author, two princes who descended from the highlands (of China?) and conquered the lowlands (of Burma?) claimed themselves to be the children of god (Sorarel).

Thus, divine origin was invoked by the kings to gain the authority to rule the common people. According to the manuscript, god Sorarel sent his two sons down to the earth to rule. It was against the wishes of the princes as lifespan on earth was short and there were diseases. The sons of the god came down with thousands of retinue using a golden ladder to bring stability to the country, which was reeling in chaos.

The god also gave these princes powerful and magical weapons to subdue recalcitrant chieftains and a gift (a fowl) whose head was to be eaten by the king to give him intelligence and the body of the fowl was to be eaten by others to give them strength. Thus, the kings’ authority was reinforced.

The narrative is written in folklore form and ends somewhere when the kingdom disintegrates with the Meitei Kingdom occupying the Kabo Valley and other parts getting integrated with China and the Ava (Burma). This part of the book has helpful footnotes explaining old Manipuri words and their etymology.

The second part of the book provides the narrative in Bengali script. I skipped this part as my Bengali is rusty. Many people might find this part a bit odd to read as it is written in old Manipuri tone.

The third part of the book is the appendix, consisting of scanned images of relevant pages from ‘Report on the Eastern Frontier of British India’ by Pemberton, covering the ‘Kingdom of Pong’, and extracts from ‘Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States’ by J. George Scott.

Pemberton’s account sticks to the facts more closely compared to the other two (the Manipuri manuscript and Scott’s accounts). Scott indirectly uses a ‘Hindu moonshi’ for his source and the Hindu (Buddhist) influence in the narration of the Pong kingdom is apparent just as Meitei influence can be seen the above-mentioned manuscript.

The book reveals how history-writing is employed as a means of expanding and consolidating an empire. By putting together the three narratives in this small work, the author has done a great job of inviting the readers to form their own conclusions.

Do we want to know the past exactly as it happened or do we want the revised version that aids and abets the state-building? Should history be studied like a science or not? Reading the narratives might help the readers make a choice.