, image = Numit Kappa.jpg , imagesize = , caption = The Numit Kappa, a Classical Meitei epic text written during the 1st century, based on ancient Meitei mythology and

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

(

Sanamahism () , native_name_lang = mni , image = The Symbol of Sanamahi.svg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = The Symbol of Sanamahism (Source: Wakoklon Heelel Thilen Salai Amailon Pukok Puya) , ...

) , alt = , stylistic_origins = Meitei culture , cultural_origins = Meitei culture , features = , popularity = , formats = , authors = , subgenrelist = , subgenres = , subs1 = Meitei mythology , subs2 = Meitei folklore , subs3 = Meitei epics
Epic cycles of incarnations , subs4 = Meitei cinema , relatedgenres = , base# = , pub# = , title# = , series# = , regional_scenes = , local_scenes = , other_topics = Puya (Meitei texts)
Puya Meithaba ( Libricide of the PuYas)
Meitei language movements
Meitei linguistic purism movement
Meitei classical language movement Meitei literature, also known as Manipuri literature, is literature written in the

Meitei language Meitei (), also known as Manipuri (, ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of north-eastern India. It is spoken by around 1.8 million people, predominantly in the state of Manipur, but also by smaller communities in the rest of the country and in p ...

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of ...

. An ancient institution of learning, the ''Luwang Nonghumsang'', later known as the ''Pandit Loishang'', collected sources of indigenous Meitei knowledge and philosophy until the 18th century. Writing by Meiteis is assumed to go back to the Kingdom of

Kangleipak Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a States and territories of India, state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It ...

in the early 12th century. The

Meitei script ) , altname = , type = Abugida , languages = Meitei language (officially known as Manipuri language) , region = * Manipur , sample = "Meitei Mayek" (literally meaning "Meitei script" in Meitei language) written ...

is a

Brahmic The Brahmic scripts, also known as Indic scripts, are a family of abugida writing systems. They are used throughout the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and parts of East Asia. They are descended from the Brahmi script of ancient India ...

abugida. It is known only from the ''Puya'' manuscripts discovered in the first half of the 20th century. 18th and 19th century manuscripts were written using the Bengali alphabet. The existence of the Meitei script in the 15th-century hinges on the authenticity of an inscription dated to the reign of Senbi Kiyamba.

Puyas

Meitei '' Puya'' manuscripts have been discovered by scholars, beginning in the 1930s. These are chronicles, and evidence that Hindus arrived from the Indian subcontinent with royal marriages at least by the 14th century, and in centuries thereafter, from what is now modern Assam, Bengal,

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

, Dravidian kingdoms, and other regions. Another manuscript suggests that Muslims arrived in Manipur in the 17th century, from what is now Bangladesh, during the reign of Meidingu Khagemba. Meitei literature documents the persistent and devastating Manipur–Burma wars.

Suppression of Meitei Literature

After the adoption of Hinduism as state religion under Gharib Nawaz (1717), it appears that the Puyas were "burnt completely" at ''Kangla Uttra'' under royal orders, in either 1729 or in 1732. The ''Puya'' manuscripts discovered in the 20th century at best have a tenuous connection with the texts burned under Gharib Nawaz. Like the Hindu and Jain Puranas, the extant ''Puyas'' contain cosmology, genealogies of gods and goddesses, and royal chronicles.

Epics

The '' Numit Kappa'' ("Shooting the Sun") is a mythological text in narrative verse. It was published in English translation by T.C. Hodson (1908). A translation into modern Meitei was published in 1908. ''Ougri'' (also known as ''Leiroi Ngongloi Eshei'') is a poem written in archaic Meitei. The sagas of the seven epic cycles of incarnations of the two divine lovers were originated from

Moirang Moirang is a town in the Indian state of Manipur. It is situated approximately 45 km south of the state capital Imphal. It has an area of 269 km2 with a population of 62,187 in 67 villages. It is best known for the being the place of o ...

kingdom near the shores of the

Loktak lake , image = , caption = Different scenes of the Loktak lake of Manipur , alt = View of Loktak Lake and Phumdis , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Manipur , coords ...

in Ancient Kangleipak (early

). Among them, Khamba Thoibi is regarded as the last and the greatest epic.

Chronicles

The ''Ningthourol Shingkak'' is a work written under Gharib Nawaz ( mni, Pamheiba), written in the mode of "predictions" made during the rule of Khagemba (r. 1597–1652) and thus foretelling the birth and reign of Gharib Nawaz and his religious reforms. The '' Cheitharol Kumbaba'' or "Royal Chronicle" is a text written down in the early 19th century, under Jai Singh, the

puppet king A puppet monarch is a majority figurehead who is installed or patronized by an imperial power to provide the appearance of local authority but to allow political and economic control to remain among the dominating nation. A figurehead monarch ...

installed after the Burmese invasion, purportedly based on an older copy which was no longer available. It contains day-to-day transactions and occurrences the state."The manuscripts collected by W. Yumjao Singh consist of literary, historical, astronomical, astrological and miscellaneous other works of which mention may be made of Cheitharon Kumbaba, the Ningthourol Shingkak, the Poireiton Khunthokpa, Dharani Samhita, Srimat Bhagabat. The Cheitharol Kumbaba or the royal chronicle has been the most valuable for historical investigations, as it professes to record all the important daily transactions and occurrences of the State.... By orders of Jai Singh this book was rewritten as the former copy was no more available then". "The Nigthourol Shingkak is a work written in the way of prediction. It professes to predict all important events that would happen from the time of Khagemba downward. It, therefore, professes to be a work of the early 17th century. It is an anonymous work, and in this book, we see for the first time Gharib Niwaz's having had some Naga connection in his childhood." Jyotirmoy Roy, History of Manipur, 1958, p. 8.