Today's Assam Tribune reports that the Manipuri language officially adopts the Meetei-Mayek as the script for the Manipuri (Meetei) language - discarding the Bengali script that has been used over 200 years or so. The Meetei Mayek was the script for the Meetei language used by Manipuri kings till the 18th century. For an introduction to the Meetei Mayek see: http://www.arbornet.org/~prava/eeyek/ The site claims that the script is ancient. If the claim is correct, then Its fascinating - because this may be one of the few available scripts of a Tibeto-Burman language - I wonder what influences it carries.
The site also talks about the Bishnupriyas. It seems there is a major difference of opinion regarding the Bishnupriyas (originally called Khalachai) who actually see themselves as the original Indo-Aryan indegenous people of Manipur (not of the Kukui-Chin tribes), their language is closer to Kamrupi languages (and originally to some western Indian languages!), trace their origin to Bubhruvahan of Mahabharata . http://manipuri.8k.com/ http://manipuri.freehomepage.com/religion.html They see the Meeteis as later immigrants (which seems to be correct). It seems the Meetei kings who converted to Vaishnavism in the 18th century under the influence of some Bengali vaishnavs prosecuted these "original Vaishnavs". There are other versions of their story. Almost all Bishnupriyas are now in Assam, Tripura and Bangladesh. They are agitating for the right to call their language Bishnupriya Manipuri. http://manipuri.org/ashim.html However, the Meeteis pooh pooh this story about Bishnupriyas being the indegenous people of Manipur and believe that the Bishnupriyas were recent immigrants into Manipur from somewhere else - possibly Bengal. I have known many Bishnupriyas in my life and had many Meetei friends. But I could never piece together the true history. Both sides are extremely passionate and it acquires quite a bit of political significance in the light of an amazing cultural and political renaissance & Manipuri nationalism that seems to have been taking place there. I wonder if anyone on the net knows more about this. Santanu. _______________________________________________ Assam mailing list Assam@pikespeak.uccs.edu http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam Mailing list FAQ: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/assam/assam-faq.html To unsubscribe or change options: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assam
