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Manipur
Manipur History
Manipur and Assam became involved in the disputes between
Thailand and Burma, and Manipur took advantage of a
Burmese invasion of Thailand to raid deep into its western
frontier. This triggered the Burmese invasion of Manipur
and Assam, which sucked in the British, ruling
neighbouring Bengal.
The British, to safeguard their position against the
Burmese, intervened, defeated Burma and took over Assam,
and brought Manipur under British paramountcy in 1891.
During the Second World War, Manipur was the scene of many
fierce battles between the Japanese and Allied forces. The
Japanese swept over East Asia and came up to Manipur. They
were beaten back before they could enter Imphal and this
proved to be one of the turning points of the War.
There are two cemeteries maintained by the British War
Graves Commission in Manipur, which are the final resting
places of several Indian and allied soldiers who died
here.
In 1947, with British Parliament's repeal of British
Paramountcy, in preparation for Indian independence,
Manipur became an independent kingdom once again.
The King, Maharaja Budhachandra, began a process of
democratisation of the state, enacting the Manipur
Constitution Act, 1947, which established a democratic
form of government with the Maharaja as the Executive Head
and an elected legislature.
In 1949, the King Budhachandra was invited to Shillong,
capital of the Indian province of Assam, where he signed
an agreement for merging the kingdom into India.
Some feel that this signing was under pressure, although
no force was used. The King had already signed the
Instrument of Accession with the Indian Dominion in 1947.
Once Manipur became part of the Indian Union, India
dissolved the State's Constitution Assembly in October,
1949, and made it into a part C state. Lateron it was
further degraded to the status of the union territory from
1956 onwards.
In 1972, Manipur was elevated to the status of a state (or
province). |
