STAYINFORMED!

CONNECTWITHIC
subscribetoournewsletter

16758
7400+
IndigenousPeoplesArchiveMeitei

LATESTARTICLES

Meitei

TheMeeteisorMeiteisarethemajorityethnicgroupofManipur,India,andbecauseof
thisaresometimesreferredtoasManipuris.Generallyspeaking,Meiteiisanendonym
andManipuriisanexonym.TheMeiteipeoplearemadeupofsevenclans,whotrace
theirwrittenhistorybackto33AD.
Meiteisoccupyonly10%ofthetotalgeographicalareasofthepresentdayManipur
State.ItissituatedinthefarEasternpartofIndia,borderingMyanmarintheEastand
SouthEast.ThemajorityofthepeopleofManipuraretheMeiteiswhomainlyinhabit

intheplainswhichisroughlyonlyabout10%ofthetotalgeographicalareas(2238
km2)whereastheNagasandKukisdominatethehillyareaswhichformtherest90%of
theland(20089km2).ThevalleypeoplewereruledbytheirMeiteikingsbuttheirruled
neverextendedbeyondtheValleyandtheHillareasremainsundervariouschieftainof
theTribes.MeiteiisalsowrittenasMeetei.
TheMeiteisocietyhassharedwiththeNagasandKukis,theothertwodominant
communitiessettledmainlyinthehills.ThesevenclansoftheMeiteisruledindifferent
principalities,mainlyinthevalley.TheMeiteifeudalkingdomstartedin33ADwhen
KingPakhangbaoftheNingthoujaDynastyunitedallthesevenclansandascendedthe
throne.ThetermMeiteinowreferstofivesocialgroupsnowtheMeiteimarup(believe
inonlyMeiteicultureandGod),MeiteiChristians,MeiteigouraChaytonya(believein
bothMeiteiandHindugods),the"Meitei"Brahmins[citationneeded](locallycalled
ShreehattioriginalBhamons)andtheMeiteiMuslims(calledMiahMeiteiorPangal).
AllofthemhasMeiteilonastheirmothertongue.
TextadaptedfromWikipedia'sarticleontheMeiteiPeoples