MANIPUR  , a native

state on the north-east frontier of India, in political subordination to the lieutenant-governor of Eastern Bengal and Assam . Area, 8456 sq. m . Pop . (1901), 284,465 . It is bounded on the N. by the Naga country and the hills over-looking the Assam valley, on the W. by Cachar district, on the E. by Upper Burma, and on the S. by the Lushai hills . The state consists of a wide valley, estimated at about 65o sq. m., and a large surrounding tract of mountainous country . The hill ranges generally run north and south, with occasional connecting spurs and ridges of lower elevation between . Their greatest altitude is in the north, where they reach to upwards of 8000 ft. above sea-level . The principal geographical feature in the valley is the Logtak lake, an irregular sheet of water of considerable size, but said to be yearly growing smaller . The valley is watered by numerous rivers, the Barak being the most important . The hills are densely clothed with tree jungle and large forest timber . Some silk is produced and there are a few primitive manufacturing industries, e.g. of pottery .

Rice and forest produce, however, are the principal exports . The road from Manipur to the Assam-Bengal railway at Dimapur is the principal trade route . The kingdom of Manipur, or, as the Burmans call it, Kasse or Kathe, first emerges from obscurity as a neighbour and ally of the Shan kingdom of Pong, which had its capital at Mogaung . The valley appears to have been originally occupied by several tribes which came from different directions . Although their general facial characteristics are Mongolian, there is a great diversity of feature among the Manipuris, some of them showing a regularity approaching the Aryan type . In the valley the people are chiefly Hindus, that religion being of recent introduction . Their own name for themselves is Meithei, and their language is a branch of the Kuki-Chin family, spoken by 273,000 persons in all India in Igo' . One of their peculiarities is the high position enjoyed by women, who conduct most of the trade of the valley . They have a caste system of their own, different from that of India, and chiefly founded on the system of lallup, or forced labour, which has been abolished by the British . Every male between the ages of seventeen and sixty was formerly obliged to place his services at the disposal of the state for a certain number of days each year, and to different classes of the people different employments were assigned . About four hundred Mahommedan families, descendants of settlers from Bengal, reside to the east of the capital . The aboriginal hill-men belong to one of the two great divisions of Nagas and Kukis, and are subdivided into innumerable clans and sections with slight differences in language, customs or dress .

The state is noted for the excellence of its breed of ponies . The

English game of polo was introduced from Manipur, where it forms a great national pastime . The first relations of the British with Manipur date from 1762, when the raja solicited British aid to repel a Burmese invasion, and a treaty was entered into . The force was recalled, and little communication between the two countries took place until 1824, on the outbreak of the first Burmese War . British assistance was again invoked by the raja, and the Burmese were finally expelled from both the Assam and the Manipur valleys . Disputed successions have always been a cause of trouble . The raja, Chandra Kirtti Singh, died in 1886, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Sur Chandra Singh, who appointed his next brother, Kula Chandra Dhuya Singh, jubraj, or heir-apparent . In 1890 another brother, the senapati, or commander-in-chief, Tikendrajit Singh, dethroned the raja, and installed the jubraj as regent, the ex-raja retiring to Calcutta . In March 1891 the chief commissioner of Assam (Quinton) marched to Manipur with 400 Gurkhas, in order to settle the question of succession . His purpose was to recognize the new ruler, but to remove the senapati . After some futile negotiations, Quinton sent an ultimatum, requiring the surrender of the senapati, by the hands of the political resident, F . Grimwood, but no result followed .

An

attempt was then made to arrest the senapati; but after some sharp fighting, in which Lieut . Brackenbury was killed, he escaped; and the Manipuris then attacked the British residency with an overwhelming force . Quinton was compelled to ask for a parley, and he, Colonel Skene, Grimwood, Cossins and Lieut . Simpson, unarmed, went to the fort to negotiate . They were all there treacherously murdered, and when the news arrived the Gurkhas retreated to Cachar, Mrs Grimwood and the wounded being with them . This led to a military expedition, which did not encounter much resistance . The various columns, converging on Manipur, found it deserted; and the regent, senapati, and others were captured during May . After a formal trial the senapati and one of the generals of the rebellion were hanged and the regent was transported to the Andaman Islands . But it was decided to preserve the existence of the state, and a child of the ruling family, named Chura Chand, of the age of five, was nominated raja . He was sent to be educated in the Mayo College at Ajmere, and he afterwards served for two years in the imperial cadet corps . Meanwhile the administration was conducted under British supervision . The opportunity was seized for abolishing slavery and unpaid forced labour, a land revenue of Rs .

2 per

acre being substituted in the valley and a house-tax in the hills . The boundaries of the state were demarcated, disarmament was carried out, and the construction of roads was pushed forward . In 1901 Manipur was visited by Lord Curzon, on his way from Cachar to Burma . In May 1907 the government of the state was handed over to Chura Chand, who was to be assisted by a council of six Manipuris, with a member of the Indian civil service as vice-president . At the same time it was announced that the government of India would support the raja with all its powers and suppress summarily all attempts to displace him . The revenue is £26,000 . The capital is Imphal, which is really an overgrown village; pop . (1901), 67,093 . See Mrs Ethel St Clair Grimwood, My Three Years in Manipur (1891) ; Manipur State Gazetteer (Calcutta, 1905) ; T . C . Hodson, The Meitheis (19o8) .