# Kangpokpi district

Kangpokpi district (Meitei pronunciation: /kāng-pōk-pī/) is one of the 16 districts in the Indian state of Manipur. It was created in December 2016 from areas in the Sadar Hills region which were previously part of Senapati District.
The district headquarters is located in Kangpokpi. The district was formed from three sub-divisions of Senapati District: Sadar Hills West, Sadar Hills East and Saitu–Gamphazol.

## History

After its merger into the Republic of India, the Manipur state was administered as a single district. It was divided into eight subdivisions, of which the Sadar subdivision (central subdivision) constituted the region around the Imphal city. By 1961, the Sadar subdivision was replaced by two plains subdivisions, Imphal West and Imphal East, while the surrounding hill regions were added to the Mao subdivision in the north to form a combined "Mao and Sadar Hills" subdivision.
In 1969, the single district of Manipur was divided into five districts, with Mao and Sadar Hills becoming one of them. It was also called the "Manipur North" district, with a headquarters at Karong. It had three subdivisions: Mao West, Mao East and Sadar Hills.
During the late 1950s and 1960s, the Kuki tribes living in the northern hills of Manipur faced large-scale displacement, as a result of the activism of the Naga National Council attempting to homogenise the population in those areas. The displaced Kuki tribes moved inwards into the state and occupied regions in the Sadar Hills subdivision. This gave the Sadar Hills subdivision a distinct character.
In 1976, the district headquarters was shifted to the town of Senapati, and the district itself came to be called the Senapati district. In 1981, there were three subdivisions in the district: Mao-Maram, based at Tadubi, Sadar Hills West, based at Kangpokpi and Sadar Hills East, based at Saikul. Efforts made by successive governments of Manipur to separate the Sadar Hills subdivisions into an independent district failed.

### District demand movement

The Sadar Hills Kuki Chiefs' Zonal Council resolved in 1970 to demand a separate district for Sadar Hills, and submitted a memorandum to the Union Home Minister K. C. Pant. In 1971, shortly before Manipur became a full-fledged state, the Government of India enacted the Manipur (Hill Areas) District Council Act, 1971, granting autonomous district councils (ADCs) for the hill regions. Two separate ADCs, for Sadar Hills and Manipur North, were established in 1972. However, due to opposition from the Nagas, Sadar Hills was not made into a separate district, and continued as part of Manipur North.
Demands continued to be made by the Sadar Hills District Demand Committee (SHDDC) formed in 1974. In 1982, Richard Keishing's government took a cabinet decision to form the district, an ordinance was issued declaring it as district, before it was withdrawn. Efforts were made again during the Ranbir Singh government in 1990–91, Dorendro Singh government and Nipamacha Singh government in 1997.
During the Kuki–Naga clashes of the 1990s, further displacement of Kukis occurred into the Sadar Hills region and perhaps also displacement of Nagas out of the region. Multiple protests and demonstrations were held by the local populace causing several deaths. In 2011, the Kuki community held a 92-day economic blockade of the state along the national highways NH-2 and NH-37. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the SHDDC and the state government agreeing on a plan of action. The next day, the United Naga Council (UNC) and the All-Naga Students Association of Manipur (ANSAM) imposed a 78-hour shutdown to protest the decision, after which the issue was again put into cold storage.
Finally, in 2016, the Okram Ibobi Singh government, in one of its last acts before the legislative assembly election, formed seven new districts by bifurcating existing districts, with Sadar Hills being one of them. It was named the Kangpokpi district with a headquarters at Kangpokpi. The United Naga Council conducted a five-month blockade in the Naga districts of Manipur to protest the creation of the new districts. As of 2024 the UNC continues its opposition to the new districts, calling their creation "arbitrary".

## Geography

The Kangpokpi district consists of the hilly region surrounding the northern part of the Imphal Valley on three sides, west, north and east. The region crosses several river valleys, the Imphal River valley in the northwest, which contains the Kangpokpi town, the Iril River valley in the north, which contains the Saikul town, the Yaingangpokpi valley in the northeast, and the Thoubal River valley in the east. The district border along all these valleys is contentious, and shows considerable variation over the decades. The border is subject to the distinction between "Valley Areas" and "Hill Areas" in Manipur and is frequently disputed. In September 2023, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) wrote to the state government stating that the definition of "Hill Areas" was as per the First Schedule of the Manipur Legislative Assembly (Hill Areas Committee) Order, 1972, and that all boundary disputes had to be settled as per this definition.
In addition to the surrounding hills, the Nongmaiching Hill range, which is within the geographical precincts of the Imphal East district, was transferred to the Saikul subdivision of the Senapati district between 1991 and 2001. This is confirmed by the District Census Handbook, which states that it is "administratively under the Senapati district". However, news reports continue to describe it as being in the Imphal East district. Most of the area of the hill range is a reserved forest.
To the west of the Imphal Valley, Mount Koubru, considered historically sacred by the Meitei community, lies in the Saitu-Gamphazol subdivision of the Kangpokpi district. A portion of the eastern slope of the Koubru hills range has been designated as a reserved forest in 1968, called Kanglatombi–Kangpokpi Reserved Forest. It has been reported that four villages lie inside the reserved forest area, and 25 villages on the periphery.

## Demographics

Religions in Kangpokpi district (2011) :
| Religion | Religion | Percent | Percent |
| Christianity | Christianity | 79.90% | 79.90% |
| Hinduism | Hinduism | 17.68% | 17.68% |
| Buddhism | Buddhism | 0.92% | 0.92% |
| Islam | Islam | 0.45% | 0.45% |
| Other or not stated | Other or not stated | 1.05% | 1.05% |
Languages in Kangpokpi district (2011)
At the time of the 2011 census, Kangpokpi district had a population of 193,744. Kangpokpi district had a sex ratio of 959 females per 1000 males and had a literacy rate of 85% - 89% for males and 80.34% for females. 3.86% of the population lived in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes made up 0.37% and 79.76% of the population respectively.

### Religion

Christianity is the dominant religion in the district. Almost all tribals are Christian. The non-tribals, mainly Gorkhas (Nepali) are primarily Hindus, with there being some Buddhist Gorkhas.

### Languages

At the time of the 2011 census, Languages percentages are 52.85% of the population spoke Thadou, 15.96% Nepali, 5.08% Vaiphei, 5.02% Tangkhul, 3.56% Liangmei, 2.64% Chirr, 2.35% Kom, 2.11% Kabui, 1.42% Maring, 1.13% Mao and 1.03% Hindi as their first language.