Our elders call it Khongjai Lan and it was a rebellion of sorts incited by a Meitei rebel called Chingakham Sanajaoba, a distant relative of the British appointed King Churachand. Like elsewhere, palace intrigues were quite frequent in Manipur also. There are two important lineages from which Meitei Kings are descended. After the 1891 Battle of Khongjom, the British installed a child who was a distant relation in one of the lineages on the throne of Manipur.
After the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny which swept large parts of the Indian mainland, the British Crown took over the colonies earlier held by the East India Company. When British gained full control of Burma, they decided to take over the princely state of Manipur which had been a buffer state between British India and British Burma. The Crown’s designs through its political agents stationed in Imphal culminated in the 1891 war between British imperialists and the state of Manipur. Some chose to call the 1891 Battle of Khongjom as Manipur’s War of Independence, while some mainland historians have even tried to incorporate it as a part of the larger Indian Independence movement.
Not only Khongjom Lan, some elements are trying to incorporate the revolt of Sana Chahi Ahum or Prince Narendra as a part of 1857 Sepoy Mutiny. All along, Manipuris had been resisting such attempts at incorporation by mainland elements. The Indian state came much later on, while Manipur had a 2000 year old chequered history as an independent nation. Again, Manipur was never a part of the Indian imagination during the days of Indian freedom struggle.
Coming back to Khongjai Lan, it was Chingakham Sanajaoba who incited some Khongjai chiefs to resist the labour duties assigned by the King and payment of House tax as well as the conscription by the British as a part of the Labour force during the First World War. The Khongjais were mostly mercenaries brought over by the British to suppress the Nagas in both Manipur and Nagaland. At the most, it was a minor rebellion which dragged on for a few years due to the war effort.
Anyway, the rebellion was crushed ultimately. The Khongjai leaders of the rebellion also confessed that they were instigated by Chingakham Sanajaoba while seeking forgiveness. After Manipur was brought to heel by the British colonialists, there were a few revolts and uprisings against the British. First among them was the 1904 Nupilal against force labour and again in 1939 against artificial famine. There are also other revolts like that of Haipu Jadonang, besides that of Nikhil Manipuri Mahasabha and Communists. So, one is baffled as to why the neo-Khongjais want to call it as Anglo-Kuki War.
It could best be explained by the ardent desire to be part of the Indian imagination or the larger Indian freedom struggle in their bid to carve out a homeland. The mad rush to please the Indian establishment was apparent in their leaders making the commoners to wave the tricolour, celebrate August 15 resulting in disgracing the tricolour during march-past and screening Hindi films after the onset of the ethnic conflict. Still, there is active disagreement among the brethren which they are trying bring together against the Meiteis. Even as the other tribes continue to object to the term Kuki or Kuki-Zo, the neo-Khongjais still try to assert their hegemony against their own kindred.
(The views expressed are personal)
