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| Meitei literature (Manipuri literature) | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The Numit Kappa, a Classical Meitei epic text written during the 1st century, based on ancient Meitei mythology and religion (Sanamahism) | |
| Stylistic origins | Meitei culture |
| Cultural origins | Meitei culture |
| Subgenres | |
| Related topics | |
| Puya (Meitei texts) Puya Meithaba (Libricide of the PuYas) | |
| Part of a series on |
| Meitei people |
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| Indian literature |
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| Ancient |
| Early Medieval |
| Medieval to early Modern |
Meitei literature, also known as Manipuri literature, is literature written in the Meitei language of Manipur. An ancient institution of learning, the Luwang Nonghumsang, later known as the Pandit Loishang, collected sources of indigenous Meitei knowledge and philosophy until the 18th century.[2] Writing by Meiteis is assumed to go back to the Kingdom of Kangleipak in the early 12th century.[3] The Meitei script is a Brahmic abugida. It is known only from the Puya manuscripts discovered in the first half of the 20th century. Manuscripts of the 18th and 19th centuries were written using the Bengali alphabet. The existence of the Meitei script in the 15th-century hinges on the authenticity of an inscription dated to the reign of Senbi Kiyamba.[4] The first printed Manipuri book, Manipurer Itihas, appeared in 1890 from the Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta. Though the kings of Manipur had established contact with the British from the middle of the eighteenth century onward the real impact of the contact came much later. Johnstone Middle English School, based on the western system of education, was started in 1885 at Imphal, and in 1891 Manipur lost its independence to the British. British domination facilitated the introduction of new systems in the civil, political and educational spheres, which hastened the process of modernization in Manipur, exposed as it was to new ideas and influences.[5]
- ^ Folk-Lore/Volume 23/Meithei Literature
- ^ "Akademi | Hasta in Manipuri – Part 1". Akademi. 2 June 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
- ^ Naorem Sanajaoba, Manipur Treaties and Documents-Vol I,1993, New Delhi. Book I: "Twelfth Century Meetei Constitution To Pemberton Report".
- ^ According to K.B. Singh, The Meiteis of Manipur (1989 [1962]), p. 157, an archaic form of the script had developed by the 11th century, and it was in use until the early 18th century, when it was replaced by the Bengali script. By contrast, O.Tomba, The Need to rewrite Manipuri History, Imphal, 1993, claims that the script is a development of c. 1930, with all supposedly older documents being deliberate forgeries (Frans Welman, Out of Isolation – Exploring a Forgotten World (2011), 468f.)
- ^ George, K. M. (1992). Modern Indian Literature, an Anthology: Surveys and poems. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 978-81-7201-324-0.
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