Hijacking History? How the Arambai Tenggols Abuse Khongjom Day to Show Their Strength

In Manipur, the 23rd of April is observed every year as a State Holiday on account of Khongjom Day. Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of Manipur’s history, or those born and brought up in the state, is aware of its significance.

The Khongjom Lan (Khongjom War) which unfolded against the backdrop of confrontations between the British and the Manipuri royal family stemmed from a palace revolt led by Tikendrajit Singh on 21st September, 1890. The revolt aimed to depose Maharaja Surchandra Singh and install Kulachandra Singh as the ruler.

Surachandra initially agreed to abdicate the throne but soon sought British assistance, resulting in the execution of Chief Commissioner Quinton and his party, including Grimwood. This event led to the Battle of Khongjom on 23rd April 1891 (although some historians are of the opinion that the Battle was fought on 25th April). In the Battle of Khongjom, 2 British soldiers were killed and 11 injured, while over 128 Manipuris, including high- ranking officials like Major Paona Brajabasi, Heirang Kongja, and Chinglensana, lost their lives. Subsequently, Bir Tikendrajit and Thangal General were also hanged in public on 13th August which is now being observed as Patriots’ Day in the state.

It may also be noted that following the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26), the British aided the prince of Manipur, Gambhir Singh, in reclaiming his kingdom from Burmese occupation. Subsequently, a British Political Agent was stationed in Imphal from 1835 to look after the affairs of the administration of the princely state.

Dr. Pum Khan Pau (Strategic Analysis, 36 (5), 2012: 776–86) recorded that, “Manipur then became a British protectorate although final annexation was only to take place in 1891. “However, since there was no treaty between the British and Manipur, the Manipuris tended to regard themselves as an independent state. Noted Indian Historian R.C. Majumdar (British Paramountcy and Indian Renaissance, Part I, 2002: 732–3) stated that “[The Treaty of Yandabo] leaves vague and undefined the exact status of the Manipur State, and there is no subsequent treaty to indicate that it was a vassal State, either of Burma or of the British.” According to Prof. N. Lokendra Singh (The Unquiet Valley, 1998: 26–7), “Legally, however, Manipur never acknowledged the suzerainty of the British Government.”

To cut a long story short, the Manipuri soldiers faced a humiliating defeat in the Battle of Khongjom and thereby Manipur lost its status as an independent political entity. This was mainly because the British soldiers were armed with the most advanced weapons of the time including .303 Rifles and Cannons, whereas the Manipuri soldiers depend only on their cavalry and foot soldiers who were armed with bows and arrows, spears, and swords. Some scholars hinted that they might also use Arambai, a dart weapon attached with an iron arrow head and feathers of peacocks as the tail, used by the Meitei cavalry mounted on Manipuri Ponies.

According to Meitei historians including Maj. (Dr.) Bhabananda Singh Takhellambam, the Manipuri soldiers were not even aware of the kind of weapons the British soldiers used. They thought they would be able to defend themselves from the bullets fired by the British soldiers by simply swinging their swords, and that no harm would be incurred since their priests (Maibi-Maibas) had performed war rituals for them. However, when the British soldiers actually started firing their Rifles, they were clueless and had to run for life. Some even opined that most of the Manipuri soldiers were killed while trying to escape from the battle and not in the battlefield itself.

This kind of narration, though appearing to be disrespectful of the martyrs who made supreme sacrifices, says something about the true picture of the battle and the degree to which the war was glorified by historians. Keeping aside how the sequence of events in the Battle of Khongjom, or the Anglo-Manipuri War 1891, unfolds, it is a historical fact that it was a very short armed conflict between the British Empire and the Manipur Kingdom.

However, Meitei historians like Yumkhaibam Shyam Singh, writing for a predatory journal (Journal of Positive School Psychology, 6(8), 2022: 4471–8) argued that among the famous battles fought at Thoubal, Kakching and Khongjom in the eastern front of the war, the “Battle of Khongjom was the most horrific.” Some historians also argued that the Anglo-Manipuri War lasted from 31st March, the day the British declared war, till 27th April 1891.

Apart from this, some Meitei historians also often portrayed the event as a war fought basically by the Manipuris (Meiteis) alone leaving aside the role played by other communities including the Meitei- Pangals and the tribals. Whereas glorification of one’s history is common in every community, the manner in which the Meitei soldiers were almost exclusively glorified even after 75 years of India’s independence shows the “exclusivist attitude” of the dominant community. Surprisingly, even Thangal General is frequently portrayed as a Meitei hero! As such, the absence of critical minds in the [re]interpretation of the past events shows the lack of academic zeal among the scholars of the state, not to forget the controversy surrounding the date of Khongjom Battle.

What is worse is the manner in which the newly formed militia groups, which many including Dr.A. Bimol Akoijam termed as private militias, exploit such important historical events for their personal interests presumably to get moral support from the innocent Meitei masses. In fact, since last year, Khongjom Day has become more of a show of strength for these radicalized Meitei groups rather than a day to show respect to the fallen heroes of 1891. The 23rd April 2023 was notably the first day a State Level program had been hijacked by the Arambai Tenggols to capture the socio-political space in Imphal. Since then they have been portraying themselves as some form of nationalist organisation to take charge of defending their beloved Kangleipak Kingdom as the valiant Manipuri soldiers did back in 1891.

This is not only a grave injustice to the souls of those brave soldiers who fought the mighty British but is also morally unethical. In fact the humiliating defeat of the Manipuri soldiers in the hands of the British was one of the reasons why the Kukis once again rose against the colonial power two decades later in the “Anglo-Kuki War, 1917-1919.”