History, Colonial Transformations, Post-Colonial State Formation, and Contemporary Conflict
Abstract
The relationship among the Meitei, Kuki, and Naga communities in Manipur is shaped by pre-colonial political economy, colonial ethnic classification, and post-independence state restructuring. Prior to British intervention, relations were characterised by fluctuating patterns of trade, warfare, tribute, and political subordination between valley-based Meitei kings and surrounding hill tribes. Colonial policies restructured land, identity, and administration, crystallising ethnic boundaries. After India’s independence and Manipur’s merger in 1949, democratic politics, constitutional safeguards, insurgent nationalism, and competing territorial claims transformed earlier socio-political interactions into rigid ethnic contestations. This paper traces these transformations through archival records, colonial ethnography, and post-independence political developments, demonstrating how historical state formation, identity institutionalisation, and development asymmetries culminated in protracted ethnic conflict, including the large-scale violence from 2023 onward.
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