"The Manipur Expedition of 1891 is one of dozens of minor campaigns fought by the British, often employing locally raised troops in order to do so, during the reign of Queen Victoria. This short conflict with the Manipuris was very typical of most of the colonial campaigns in Asia of the period, often beginning and ending in similar circumstances, and rarely resulting in anything but a British victory. However, where is Manipur, who were the Manipuris and how did they come to clash with the greatest empire known in history?
Manipur itself was a small state located between the Naga Hills to the north, Cachar to the west, Burma to the east and the Lushai Hills to the south. At the time of 1891 expedition, the British estimated the state to cover an area of over 8,450 square miles, through which ran a fertile valley that was protected by surrounding mountainous terrain; these mountains effectively kept the people of Manipur in near isolation from their neighbours. The valley itself, which is 2,600 feet above sea-level, was similarly estimated to be about thirty miles long and twenty wide, being characterised by rice fields, swamps, muddy rivers and low barren hills.
Although there were a number of small villages, the only sizeable settlement was that of Imphal – also sometimes called Manipur -, which was in reality a collection of villages built around the Maharaja's pât, which was a type of enclosure. The typical dwelling in this town was constructed using reeds which were then plastered with mud to form the walls, the roof then being thatched before the whole was enclosed by an outer wall. To get to Imphal there were three roads that led out of the valley and beyond Manipur's borders, these included: a cart road over the Naga Hills; a bridle-path that led towards the Assam-Bengal Railway at Dimapur; another bridle-path to Cachar; and yet another that took the traveller to the Chindwin Valley in modern-day Myanmar…"
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Amicalement
Armand
