Kangleipak Kingdom

The Kangleipak Kingdom (Meitei: ꯅꯤꯡꯊꯧꯒꯤ ꯂꯩꯄꯥꯛ ꯀꯪꯂꯩꯄꯥꯛ, romanized: Ningthou gee Leipaak Kangleipaak), was an ancient kingdom of Antique Kangleipak (now Manipur).^[1][2] They were also known as Meckley by the British.^[3][4] The Kingdom was ruled by the Ningthouja dynasty historically.^[5][6] But, it was also invaded by the Burmese kingdom at many times.^[7][8] The kingdom became a dominion under the British East India Company in 1824 primarily due to the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-1826) and the following British involvement in the region,^[9][10] and became a princely state of the British Raj in 1891 after the Anglo-Manipur War.^[11][12] The kingdom bordered Ahom Kingdom in the west, and the Burmese kingdom in the east.^[13][14] The kingdom was at its greatest extend during the reign of King Pamheiba (Gharib Niwaz) in 18th century.^[15][16] By the 20th century after it became a princely state, the land area was 22,327 square kilometres (8,621 sq. mile).^[17] The capital was Kangla historically,^[a] but it was changed to Imphal after Maharaj Churachand became the king in the very late 19th century.^[18][19]

Long before Kangleipak kingdom was formally founded in 1110 CE by King Loiyumba, the Ningthouja dynasty ruled over the region.^[20] The Ningthouja dynasty dates back to 33 CE, began with Nongda Lairen Pakhangba, the first recorded king of Manipur.^[21] The Ningthouja dynasty is of great importance in Manipur's history and to the origins of centralized kingship and royal chronicle of the kings of Manipur.^[22][23]

After some expansions in power and authority, slowly absorbing other important clans even though they were allowed to have independent identity.^[24][25] During the reign of King Loiyumba in the 11th-12th century, the Ningthouja dynasty formalized the process of kingship through the Loiyumba Silyel (the earliest known written constitution of Kangleipak), the Kingdom of Manipur was born and polity has been ruled throughout history by the Ningthouja royal house.^[26][27]

The early history of Manipur is full of many narratives. The area where the Kangla Fort is situated on the banks of the Imphal River. This is believed to be the place where Nongda Lairen Pakhangba built his first palace.^[28]

The Loiyumba Silyel, which is the first written constitution of Manipur, was written by King Loiyumba, who ruled Kangleipak from 1074 CE to 1122 CE in 1110 CE. ^[29]He consolidated the kingdom by bringing together most of the principalities in the surrounding hills.^[30] After conquering all the villages in their valley, the Kangleipak kings grew stronger and began to expand beyond their territory. In 1443 CE, King Ningthoukhomba raided Akla, which is present-day Tamu in Myanmar. This area was ruled by the Shan people, and the raid started Manipuri claims to the nearby Kabaw Valley.^[30] The raiding of Kabaw Valley was further expanded by King Senbi Kiyamba. He took the name Kiyamba meaning "Conqueror of Kyang", after conquering the Shan kingdom in the Kabaw Valley in alliance with King Choupha Khe Khomba of Pong in 1470 CE.^[31][32] The height of the Kangleipak State occurred under King Khagemba from 1597 CE to 1652 CE. Khagemba's brother, Prince Sanongba, was unhappy with Khagemba's leadership, so he fled to the Taraf and formed an alliance with local Bengali Muslim leaders. With a group of Bengali Muslim soldiers led by Muhammad Sani, Sanongba attempted to invade Manipur. However, the soldiers were captured and forced to work as laborers in Manipur. These soldiers married local Meitei women and learned the Meitei language. They brought the hookah to Manipur and established the Meitei Pangals, the Manipuri Muslim community.^[33] It is said that Manipur learned how to make gunpowder from Chinese merchants who visited the state around 1630 and began producing rockets called Meikappi by the early 18th century.^[34]

In 1714 CE, Pamheiba announced Vaishnavism as the state religion of Manipur with the initiation by Santidas Gosai, a Bengali Hindu from Sylhet. He also replaced the Meitei script with the Bengali script, destroying and burning many documents of Meitei language written in Meitei script. After that, he changed his name to Gharib Niwaz. In 1724 CE, he changed the name of the state from Kangleipak to Manipur (lit: Land of Jewels), which resulted in it being epoyomous with Manipura (Mahabharata). Gharib Niwaz made several invasions on the Burmese kingdom but made no conquests on it. After the death of Gharib Niwaz in 1751 CE, Manipur was under the Burmese kingdom. Bhagyachandra (alias Ching-Thang Khomba) sought help from the British but, did not receive the help. After that, Bhagyachandra asked for help from the Ahom king Rajeshwar Singha who sent a force of 40,000 under Haranath Senapati Phukan to free Manipur.

After the Seven Years Devastation of Manipur and Assam by the Burmese, the British