Hijam Irabot Singh, 1896-1951, freedom fighter from Manipur.

This book studies the Gaidinliu uprising led by Rani Gaidinliu, a spiritual and political leader from Northeast India. It follows the journey of Gaidinliu, who was at the forefront of the revolt which turned into a political movement seeking to drive out the British from Manipur and the surrounding Naga areas. The book looks at the Gaidinliu movement as one of many tribal responses to colonial transformation, deprivation, alienation, and extreme oppression of the tribal formations in India. It also critically analyses the diverse colonial modes of tackling the different types of opposition to its rule and examines how the State devised to permanently erase the idea of rebellion from the minds of its subjects as a future strategy. A unique contribution, the book will be indispensable to political science, modern history, gender studies, subaltern studies, political theory, tribal studies, political sociology, political history, colonialism, post-colonial studies, and South Asia studies, particularly those interested in Northeast India.

The book is a systematic, objective and critical analysis of the political history of Manipur as well as the genesis, growth and rise of the political and constitutional movement in the erstwhile princely state of Manipur from 1919 till its merger with the union of India.

Part of the ‘Transition in Northeastern India’ series, this volume critically explores how Northeast India, especially Manipuri society, responded to colonial rule. It studies the interplay between colonialism and resistance to provide an alternative understanding of colonialism on the one hand, and society and state formation on the other. Challenging dominant histories of the area, the essays provide significant insights into understanding colonialism and its multiple effects on economy, polity, culture, and faith system. It examines hitherto untouched areas in the study of Northeast, and discusses how social movements are augmented, constituted or sustained. This book will be of great interest to researchers and scholars of modern history, sociology and social anthropology, particularly those concerned with Northeast India.

Kangla Lanpung is a platform to provide an avenue to social scientists, academics, and common man to express their views on various issues confronting the society at large particularly Manipur and its neighbours. The views expressed by the contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect that of the publisher. Kangla Lanpung welcomes articles either that in English and Manipuri in both Bengali and Manipuri scripts.