Muslim Settlement History in reality

By: Farooque Ahmed

Muslim Settlement History in Realityby Farooque AhmedManipur, an ancient kingdom in South East Asia, has been sustaining and prospering as a multicultural society, since a great ancient past, with the foundation of Ningtouja dynasty in 33 A.D according to Cheitharol Kumbaba. The following account makes out that a 'Pangal' (Muslim) ethnic community known as Kouba of Tibeto-Burman origin came and settled from the east/Burma before 800 A.D (W. Ibohal Singh,1986, History of Manipour, (an early period),p.61) . And they became a visible settlement by 1210 A.D. This ethnic group came to be known as Pangal by C.1336-46, during the reign of Loitonga (Ibohal, p.191) coincident with the hectic preaching of Shah Jalal to the west of Sylhet (from whose name came down the town name ?Sayan?; Shah Jalal was met by Ibn-Batuta (1303-1377) at Sylhet and Sayan (Sadakawan or Sakan, according to O.Bhogeswor, 1980,Ningthourel Lambuba, p. 1) in 1345 A.D (Ibn Batutah's Account of Bengal, 1978, p.6-ed. by P.N.Ghosh, transl. by Harinath De; R.M. Eaton,1997,p.76) and coincident with coming of "Muslims Mar" settlement of "Ningthourel Lambuba", the royal chronicle (O.Bhogeshor,1968, pp.73-74).O. Bhogheswor Singh (p. 73) writes about a Muslim settlement ?Pangal Mar? under 'lamjingba' Kouba during the reign of Irengba (c. 1296-1310). Gangmumei Kamei (Philosophy of History and Historiography of Manipur, 1997, p.115, writes that this Royal Chronicle was first compiled by O. Bhogheswor Singh in 1968. Later different versions under severe editions came up. W. Ibohal ( p. 61) writes: as found in the references- ?the Kouba tribe arrived on this land a little earlier than 800 A.D. and settled somewhere in the upper course of a river now known as the Kongba river. After staying there for more than a century, it settled to other location. He writes that Kouba(ru) had the son Kouba Angangnga to whom was born Kouba becoming a prominent person of the ethnic group. He writes: ?The sons of Kouba Anganganga namely- 1) Khoinai Ahanba, 2). Khoinai Yumthangba, 3)Yumkok Thongyai Macha, 4). Irum Louthaba and 5). Narum Atonba- moved towards the south, somewhere near present Ngangkha-rawai where the Keges settled from about 1100 A.D. before the coming of the present Moirangs. They amalgamated with the Keges? (Ibid). Sources indicate that ?Kouba was a Tibeto-Burman of Asiatic descent? (Ibid). Ibohal writes (p.63): ?there was a tribe named 'Pang' believed to be some ancestors of Tai (quoting Dr. Gogoi?s ?Tai and the Tai kingdom?, p.26). They had a dynasty founded by Pan-hu in Central China at about 2000 B.C. in the area immediately to the north of Sze-Chuan and Hupeh as a contemporary of Hia. The 'Pang' later became an important constituent part of the ancient state of the Karens?. Lairenmayum Iboongohal Singh (Introduction to Manipur: 1987, p.16) agrees with Pemberton that ?we may safely conclude them (Manipuris) to be descendents from a Tartar colony from China?. Ibohal writes (1986, p.170): The Pashas/Pashis, Tais, Bangals are Tibeto-Burmans and their descendants, and that Pashas were called Bashas later. ?The Pasis got not only ethnically mixed with Bangals but their dialect too a great extent altered? (Ibid).G.Kamei (1997,p.115) wrote that Cheitharol Kumbaba(CK) and Ningthourel Lambuba(NL) are important Royal chronicles from which most of the history of Manipur is extracted and made, even though the original copies were burnt down by Garibniwaz in 1729 AD, at the instance of Shantidas Gosai in early 18th century. O.Bhogeshor Singh compiled NL in 1963. B. Kullachandra Sharma (1997, Migration and Settlement of Manipur) said that Pangals came and settled in Manipur around 700 A.D. Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan (Muslim & Arab Perspectives/ed, New Delhi, 1997, p.83) wrote: Muslims came from two directions ? Sylhet and Arakan and settled in Manipur since the 8th century. Meiteis are descendants of Tibeto-Burman settlements who were elements of Tatars in China (Ibohal, p.53). There are references of Muslims coming before Khamba and Thoibi, who Abdus Sattar(1971, In the Sylvan Shadow, p.149) wrote- were born between 1127 and 1154 A.D. P. N. Ghosh (1978, pp.3-6) wrote that Ibn- Batuta visited Sylhet and Sadkawan (Sayan/Sakan) in 1345A.D. to meet saint Shah Jalal .W.Ibohal Singh( 1996,p.216) wrote that there were 'Pangal' (Muslim) settlements at Loijing ranges under the leadership of clan leader Kouba and Muslim settlements were called ?Pangal Mar? led by Khousaba (Khwaza) during the reign of Meitei king Irengba ( c.1296- 1310 A.D ). Richard M. Eaton (1996, p.130) wrote that Ibn-Batuta came to meet Shah Jalal at Sayan under Sylhet in 1345, and tribe in Northeast India converted to Islam, and he stayed amidst them, before Ibn-Batuta proceeded to Khan-sa (Hang-chi-fu) near Peking/Beijing in China through the east of Kamtapur to visit another saint Shaikh Burhanuddin (P.N. Ghosh, pp.11-12). The Chinese pilgrim Hwen Thsang visited Kamtapur which he noted as Kia-mo- len-po and describe about the Brahmaputra valley (P.N. Ghosh, pp.5-6). Other certain Muslims came toward Manipur when Fakhruddin rebelled in Sayan at the foothill of Eastern Bengal (p.2). N. K.Bhattasali (1922, Coins and Chronology of the early Independent Sultans of Bengal, p.143) is quoted : ?The country where Fakhruddin held sway has been repeatedly called Bangalah by the traveler(Ibn-Batuta). The statement of Ibn Batutah that Fakhruddin rebelled in Sayan (Sadkawan) definitely locates 'Sayan' in East Bengal? ( P.N. Ghosh, p.2). O. Bhogeswor(1980) wrote in Khuman Kangleiron (Persian ?Kinah Ka ?b ibn malik?) that Meitei king from Poirei (Manipur) held sway almost upto the border of Sylhet and repeatedly mention ?Pasha? of Nongchup Haram(pp.1-39). Ibohal (, 1986, p.61) wrote that a tribe called 'Kouba' settled in Manipur valley after the water subsided as geological survey proved (see also-K. Saratchandra, 1973). This Kouba ethnic community is ?Pangal Mar? community of Muslims. Elements of Muslims amalgamated with the Meiteis and lost identity (Ibohal, p.218). First, they settled as a distinct community and did not speak Meiteilon, as referred to in NL . So they spoke neo-Mongoloid or Persian words. G. Kamei (1997,p.115) wrote that NL compiled by O. Bhogeswor Singh in1968 describes about inheritance from mother?s side which is also confirmed by Ch. Manihar Singh (A History of Manipuri Literature,1996, pp.72-73): ?Ningthourel Lambuba deals with the genealogy of kings from the mother?s side.. the work is conspicuous by the absence of dates and years of important events, reference to the neighbouring countries and migration to this place, and concentrates on recounting individual achievements of Meitei kings and their glorification? (p.73).Ibohal(1986, P.2) wrote that ?Manipur was at one time a sea bed? and ?the land masses of Manipur is now 60 million years old since its birth from the bottom of the Ocean? (p.3). Manipur Literature started in the 15th (Ibohal, p.6). ?Upto the 15th century AD the history of Manipur may be treated as unaccounted? (P.6). ?While discussing the above positions, our only guide in the absence of any archeological evidence will be the history of the surrounding lands and peoples, the history of migration with special reference to the surrounding areas, the history of the formation of sub-races and sub-languages, besides the history and other literary accounts of this land as found?.. We have reliable history of Bengal, Assam and Burma? (p.8). ?Racially there is Turkish elements in the Tibetan?(Ibohal, p.53; Gogoi, The Tai and Tai Kingdom, p.28). Luwangs are a Neo-Tibetan tribe whereas NL refers it to be the dialect of the Shelloy Langmai, a Tibeto-Burman tribe (Ibohal, p.11). ?Khuman king by that time (Naothingkhong) inhabited in the areas lying to the northwest of Imphal?(Ibohal, p.12) with Patsoi as its Southern limits. Naothingkhomba ascended the throne between 1177-1217 A.D which he puts it to 1215 A.D. (p.36). He calculates of Poireiton as having lived in c. 810-850 A.D, and of Pakhangba at c. 980-1020 A.D (p.41). B. Kullachandra (1997, p.47) wrote that Cheitharol Kumbaba was distorted at the time of writing by the Pundits. Even though Pakhangba is the head of ?Ningthouja yekki Pukok? (clan), the one who got elements of ?salai /yekki yumjangba? (ancestaral lineage), is Lairel Naothongba c.429-519 AD P.47). Kullachandra (p.52) wrote that by 517 A.D, some belonging to Nongchup Haram called Pangal/Bangal came and settled in Manipur(i.e. khunthoklakkhi) as described by the Puyas called ?Shakoklamlen Ahanba, Kangla Houba, Nongchupharamlon (MS)?. They must be Bangalahs as P. N. Ghosh wrote that people settled by that time called ?Bangalah?(1978, appendix p.2). They came by the second silk rout of ancient period coming down from northeast Brail, from Jiri to Barak, finally finding the valley (Kullachandra, pp.52-53). Another rout is by Surma river (p.53). They settled in Leimatak crossing Irang Turel by 850 A.D and that they came from Kailashar. Their settlement is called 'Pangal Mar' (Kullachandra, p.61; The Sangai Express- Jan.8th, 2004; Ibohal,1996, p.216; NL, pp.73-74). They lived during the time of Khuman (Kinanah) king Thingkonhanba c.938 A.D and they produced salt- the art of which they learned from Bengal (Kullachandra, p.62).P. N. Ghosh wrote that the 'Bangalah people' lived at Chittagong, Sylhet, Sayan as described by Ibn-Batuta (pp.13-16; appendix pp.1-6). A saint by the name of Shah Jalal lived by 1345 in Sylhet and Sayan whom Ibn-Batuta met before heading for China. ?Shah Jalal is the traditional conqueror of Sylhet and one who converted the people of Sylhet to Islam . Ibn-Batuta also said that the people of tract received Islam at his hands. This achievement of Shah Jalal worked on the popular fancy and gave rise to a multitude of legends which are still current among the Bangal peasantry and which, on analysis, reveal an amazing admixture of fiction and history? (Bhattasali, Coins and Chronology....., pp.149-150).H.A.R. Gibb(1963, Ibn Battuta Travels in Asia and Africa, London) adds a note to the identity of Sheikh Jalaluddin : ?It has been fully established by Sir Henry Yule(1916,Cathay and the Way Thither, iv, 151-5), that the district visited by Ibn-Batuta was Sylhet, where the tomb of Shah Jalal is still venerated(Gibb, Ibn Battuta...,1963, p.366). ?Sayan? (Sakan) is repeatedly mentioned by Kullachandra (Khuman Ningthouren Lambuba, 1998 ) as assaulted by Adom Thingkonhanba . The chronicle did not record the disgrace or defeat by the enemies (Ibohal, 1986, p.183)and ? NL concentrates on recounting the individual achievements of the Meitei kings and their glorification? (Ibohal, pp.6, 183; Manihar, p.73). Cheitharol Kumbaba writes lots of contradictions and incompatibilities with facts (Ibohal, p.6). G. Kamei (Philosophy of History and Historiography of Manipur, 1997 p. 31) wrote: ?the king controlled-writing was reflected in chronicle keeping?. P. Parijat (Manipur Purabritta, 1917), ?proposed that Nongda Lairen Pakhangba might have ruled not from 33 AD. (G. Kamei, 1997, 113). Cheitharol Kumbaba was edited by L.M. Iboongohal Singh and N. Khelchandra Singh, and published in 1967? (p.115) that listed 78 kings, successively ruling between 33 AD- 1955 AD (p.118). ?Many modifications and alterations must have been made during the rewriting of the chronicle (after burning down by Garibniwaz at the instance of Santi Das )??? ? the chronicle deals with the exploits of the Meitei kings and gives a biase view?(p.122). Manihar (1996, p.217) wrote that the Nongsamei (writen by an unknown writer) notes of ?97 soldiers belonging to the Mohammedan community, the rest were assorted tribes?. The account (CK) of later edition then claimed as many as 1007 Muslim captives and coming of Muslims from 1606A.D only. That was ?exaggerated? and ?hyperbolic account? (G. Kabui, History of Manipur,1991, p.215). Ibohal (1986, p.170) writes that: An ?altogether different ethnic stock of Bangals arrived in the year 1606 AD. They were Muhammadans from Bengal and since they were also called Bangals, people used to call them Bangal (Pangal)? (Ibohal, p.170). This makes it clear that earlier inhabitant Muslims were also called Pangal that traced the origin to Kouba. The name Pangal continued to be applied to the new arrived Muslims when other Bangal Hindus came and became Meiteis (Ibohal, pp.171, 216). So, the version as of battle of Toubul (alleged to have happened in 1606 AD) in some accounts as Nongsamei, is distorted so as to put the beginning of Muslim settlement in 1606 AD only, as that ?incident? is figment of imagination which was mistakenly taken up and written by Kulachandra (1998, p.2) as the ?battle of 'Sayan?saying it to be assaulted by the Khuman king Thingkonhanba of around 1300 AD, and later misleading fictionals like ?Labang-Lata? by Kh.Chouba (1950) came up. Actually some Muslims in big number from Bengal (Sylhet) came in 1606 AD. also. And from that period the identity of Muslims became more pronounced and distinct (Imphal Free Press, 3-12-04).