History of Meitei in Manipur

There is no proper information till now when and how did the Meitei people arrive in Manipur.According to some scholars the Meitei came from South West part of China during BC(Before Christ).Apart from that there are few groups from various parts of India who came and settle down in Manipur during 15 AD.

According to ancient Book ‘Puya’ the people came from East side of India is termed as ‘Nongpok Haram’ and the people came from West side is termed as ‘Nongchup Haram’ .

According to British Historian BH Hodgson the Meitei Originated from ‘Tai’ Family of ‘Moy’ Groups. He stated that Meitei Word came from Moy Tai=Moytai=Moitai=Meitei. According to TC Hodgson ‘Mei’ means People or Groups and ‘Tei’ means Separate.

As stated by others ‘Meitei’ word comes from Human after seeing the shadow of God. According to them Me-Shadow and Tei-Idol.So the ‘Meitei’ word means ‘Idol of God’.

During the early part of Manipur History, the ruler period among the prominent namely Meidingu Nouthingkhong(Pakhangba)’s started using of ‘Meitei’ word. There were seven ’Clan’ of Families namely Ningthouja,Moirang,Khuman,Angom,Luwang,Sarang-Laisangthem(Chenglei) and Khaba Taba etc used to control various parts of Manipur.The Family of Ningthouja’s elder Pakhangba initially defeated Khaba-Ngaba’s family elder who used to control Imphal(Kangla) in 33 AD and Pakhangba become first King of Manipur.Later Pakhangba and his inheritance defeated other clan( ancestor) -control areas and extends their family control.

Source: 1. Itihash Gi Mityengda Manipur Page No.128-130 By L Birmangal

               2. Turko Afgan Gi Chad Naoda Page No.55-58 by Kheiruddin Khullakpam