page_title: Hill tribes of Northeast India
section_title: Manipur
hierarchical_section_title: Hill tribes of Northeast India / States / Manipur
context_page_description: The hill tribes of Northeast India are hill people, mostly classified as Scheduled Tribes, who live in the Northeast India region.
  This region has the largest proportion of scheduled tribes in the country.
  Northeast India comprises the former British province of Assam and part or all of the former princely states of Manipur, Tripura and Sikkim.
  There are areas of plains in the modern State of Assam, but otherwise the region is mostly hilly or mountainous. The hills have long been populated with Tibeto-Burman and Sino-Tibetan hill people, some of whom originate in other parts of the Himalayas or of Southeast Asia.
  There are many distinct groups with unique languages, dress, cuisine and culture.
  The British made little effort to integrate the hill people into British India, but governed through a system of village chiefs and headmen. They gave these leaders greater authority than they had traditionally enjoyed.
  In some areas Protestant missionaries converted the people to Christianity and educated an elite. This elite pushed for greater autonomy for the hill people within the state of Assam, and obtained some autonomy at a district level after Indian independence in 1947.
context_section_description: Manipur is bounded by Myanmar to the southeast and east, Nagaland to the north, Assam to the west and Mizoram to the south.
  About 90% of the area is mountainous, surrounding the central valley sloping to the south.
  Forests, mostly open, cover 77.4% of the state.
  Around 70% of the population of Manipur depend on agriculture.
  Handloom weaving is an important cottage industry.
  The history of the Kingdom of Manipur dates back to 33 A.D.
  The British designated Manipur a "subordinate native state" in 1891, and in 1907 stated that the hill people were dependent on the Maharajah of Manipur.
  Manipur was the scene of the Kuki Rebellion 1917–1919 in which the Kukis in the hills conducted a tenacious guerrilla war against the British, and only yielded when the British threatened to completely destroy their settlements.
  In 1947 Manipur adopted a constitution that provided for universal adult suffrage and placed limitations on the king's power.
  Also in 1947 the king signed an Instrument of Accession with India, to take effect in 1949 possibly exceeding his authority under the constitution.
  Hijam Irabot Singh (1896–1951) opposed the merger of Manipur with India and proposed creation of a Purbanchal republic that would comprise Manipur, Tripura, Cachar and the Mizo hills.
  It would also include the Kabaw Valley, which had been ceded to Myanmar.
  On 15 October 1949 Manipur became part of the Indian Union as a part "C" State.
  It became a Union Territory in 1956.
  In 1972 Manipur became a full state.
  Manipur was not included in the Eighth Schedule until 1992.
  The Manipuri people did not see the union with India as providing any benefits.
  As of 2005 about 34.41% of the population were members of scheduled tribes.
  The hill tribes of Manipur included Naga tribes in the areas next to Nagaland, and Kuki and Mizo tribes in areas next to Mizoram.
  The umbrella terms "Naga" and "Kuki" in the first list of schedule tribes were not accepted by the tribes, who insisted on a change to the list in 1965 under which they were designated by their names.
  Only the Thadou tribe retained the Kuki name.
  The Meiteis are the majority ethnic group in Manipur, but occupied only a tenth of the land and were not allowed to buy land in the hill areas.
  By contrast, the hill tribes could buy land, and as scheduled tribes had better opportunities for employment in the public sector.
  Meiteis responded by reviving their traditional culture and religion, protesting the presence and special powers of armed forces in the area, and forming militant separatist groups with links to other such groups in Myanmar and Northeast India.
  These included the United National Liberation Front, Peoples Liberation Army and Peoples Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak, and fought an urban or semi-urban guerrilla war in the Imphal valley.
  Faced with simultaneous uprisings in the plains and by the Kukis of the hill regions, in 2008 the Indian Army signed a Suspension of Operation agreement with eight Kuki groups in the hope that they could be used against the rebel groups in the valley.
  Active groups in Manipur in 2009 included the People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak, the Military Council faction of the Kangleipak Communist Party, the People's United Liberation Front, the People's Liberation Army and the Kuki Revolutionary Army.
  The areas bordering Nagaland were affected by the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM).
caption: Chinglen Nongdrenkhomba (1788–1834), ruler of Manipur
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