British Relations with Manipur:

Manipur has a long history before the coming of the British and can be dated back to
the ancient times. However, the history of Manipur before the 17th century was more or less
uneventful. It can also be pointed out that long before the arrival of the British, Burma had
exercised her sway over Manipur. It was also around this period that Manipur witnessed the
long reign of one of its greatest rulers, Garib Niwaz (1709-48) who successfully resisted the
Burmese raids, thus setting up his influence in the region. But soon after his death in 1754, the
kingdom was once again occupied by the Burmese. Hence, the political anarchy and Burmese
occupation soon led the king of Manipur, Jai Singh to look for a powerful ally to fight against
the Burmese. Realizing the limited and insufficient resources of the kingdom to expel the
Burmese, he sought the assistance of the British. It was at this point in time that Manipur
formally came into contact with the British and signed a treaty of Alliance in 1762. According
to the provision of the treaty, the British promised to assist the Raja of Manipur in reoccupying
the territories of the kingdom from the Burmese, in return for which the Raja was to give to the
British a lease-free land for the establishment of a factory and a fort with the assurance to pay
the expenses of the British troops. But British forces failed to expel the Burmese and Manipur
continued to remain under the control of the Burmese. Since then, the British had no further
intercourse with the state of Manipur until the year 1809, as noted by Pemberton.
It is, therefore, obvious that the British had come into contact with Manipur and with
various semi-independent chiefs and tribes of North-Eastern Frontier areas even before the
beginning of the First Anglo-Burmese War of 1824-26. The penetration of the British into the
interior and frontier parts of Northeast India was partly their desire to explore trade
potentialities as well as expansion of their trade relations with China and Burma, and also partly
due to the invitation for defence by the local native rulers. Prior to the outbreak of the First
Anglo-Burmese War, the British advocated the policy of ‘Ring-fence’ to avoid open
confrontation with the Burmese and to consolidate their power and position in India.
Matters came to a head when the Burmese invaded and dominated Assam and Manipur
and dispatched an armed force to Cachar, threatening the volatility of the eastern frontier of the
British in India. The British definitely opposed the entry of the Burmese forces into Cachar.
This provided an opportunity for them to restore the old tie with Manipur. With the intention
to drive the Burmese out of Assam and Manipur, Gambhir Singh was allowed to raise a
contingent (the Manipur Levy) paid and officered by the British.
After the end of the First Anglo-Burmese war and the signing of the Treaty of Yandaboo
in 1826, Manipur was recognized as an independent kingdom by the Burmese. After this treaty,
the British also gradually consolidated their position in Manipur and turned away from the
policy of non-intervention. These developments led them to make their strong foothold in the
state of Manipur. Authorities at Fort William understood the significance of maintaining direct
correspondence with Assam and Manipur immediately after the Anglo-Burmese war as it
would encourage the growth of cordial political and economic relations, both in times of peace
and war. Consequently, a treaty was signed with the Raja Gambhir Singh in 1833 (Jiri Treaty).
This treaty further strengthened the political and economic ties between the British and
Manipur.
In 1835, the British created the office of the Political Agent in Manipur with the
objective of establishing and preserving the friendly relations between the two powers. In this
regard George Gordon was appointed as the Political Agent who remained in office till the year
1844. During this period, the power and responsibilities of the Political Agent increased
tremendously. This was, perhaps, one of the most significant political development in the
history of the state as far as their relations with the British was concerned. This development
marked the beginning of the consolidation of British control over Manipur. The office of the
Political Agent became one of the most important decision-making agencies of the
administration of the state. This was mainly because of the political chaos and instability of the
state as it witnessed a number of palace intrigues and coups. Moreover, the Manipuri princes
would not hesitate to seek the help and cooperation of the office of the Political Agent in case
of palace intrigues or to fulfil their selfish ambitions. Hence, the Political Agent acted as a
higher political authority and a paramount power in the affairs of Manipur.
George Gordon was succeeded by McCulloch as the Political Agent in 1844 and
remained in office till 1861. In that year, the Civil Finance Commission under the presidency
of Sir Richard Temple proposed the abolition of the Political Agent in Manipur. The proposal
was strongly opposed by McCulloch on the ground that if the office of the Political Agent was
removed, the state would be enmeshed in series of problems. Accordingly, the idea was
discarded and McCulloch was once again appointed as the Political Agent in Manipur.
However, the office of the Political Agent assumed even greater importance and prestige during
the tenure of Johnstone (1877 onwards). He introduced many significant reforms in Manipur,
encouraging the growth of indigenous industries, pressured the state to abolish several methods
of offence bearing resemblance of medieval ages. The most important work was the
introduction of English education in Manipur which had a far-reaching consequence.
In the meanwhile, Chandrakriti Singh, the ruler of Manipur died in May 1886, thus
ushering in the dark days of Anglo-Manipur relations. The death of Chandrakrity resulted in
the outbreak of a fratricidal war (21 September, 1890) between his successor Sur Chandra
Singh and the heir apparent Kula Chandra Singh who was aided by the Senapati, Tikendrajit
Singh. Sur Chandra fled to the residence of the Political Agent, Mr. Grimwood informing the
latter that he had abdicated the throne in favour of his brother Kula Chandra. He then left
Manipur on 23 September, 1890 and on 29 September Kula Chandra requested the Viceroy to
recognize him as the legitimate ruler of Manipur to which the latter declined. In the meanwhile,
Sur Chandra also lodged a complaint to the Viceroy that he was dethroned by Kula Chandra
who was backed by Tikendrajit who tried to shake off the yoke of dependence on the British.
The Viceroy, thus, passed an order and demanded that Tikendrajit be arrested and place
in exile if Kula Chandra wished to be recognized as the rule of Manipur. In this connection,
the Viceroy sent J.W. Quinton, the Chief Commissioner of Assam along with 400 Gorkhas
soldiers to carry out his order. When the party arrived in March 1891, Quinton demanded the
arrest of Tikendrajit to which Kula Chandra declined. This resulted in the British entering the
house of Tikendrajit without declaring war and attacked Kangla, the royal palace of Manipur.
When the mission proved unsuccessful, the Chief Commissioner wanted to make peace to
which the ruler of Manipur agreed. Hence, the Chief Commissioner along with the Political
Agent Grimwood, Col. Skene, Cossins and Lt. Simpson proceeded to the palace unarmed to
discuss the possibility of establishing a truce. However, they were all treacherously executed.
When the news reached Calcutta on March 31, 1891, the British Government of India
declared war on Manipur and sent a large columns of their army form three directions, one
from the north through Kohima under the command of Major General H. Collett, who was the
overall commander of the British Forces, another column advance from the West from Silchar
under the command of Col. R.H.F. Rennick and the third column came from the south from
Tamu, Burma under the command of Brigadier General T. Graham. By April 27, 1891 Imphal,
the capital of Manipur was captured marking the closing of an old era of British relations with
Manipur and the beginning of a new one. It made the British the supreme power in Manipur,
thus putting to an end the well knit and independent kingdom of Manipur though the British
decided to preserve the existence of the state by nominating Chura Chand, a child of five years,
as the ruler. In 1907, the government was handed over to Chura Chand who was assisted by a
council of six ministers, with a member of the Indian Civil Service as Vice-president. At the
same time, it was announced that the British would continue to extend their support to the ruler
and to suppress all attempts to replace him. The Manipur ruler on the other hand, was made to
pay regular tribute of 26000 rupees to the British.