Cheitharol Kumbaba

Cheitharol Kumbaba, also spelled Cheithalon Kumpapa, is the court chronicle of the kings of Manipur. The oldest extant version was copied in the early 19th century, under Jai Singh, the puppet king installed after the Burmese invasion, as "the former copy was no more available".[1] It is the main source for the list of pre-modern kings of Manipur, tracing the genealogy of the ruling Ningthouja dynasty back to a ruler named Nongda Lairen Pakhangba, said to have ruled for more than a century, from 33–154 CE. It is to the Meiteis what the Buranji is to the Assamese and the Yazawin to the Burmese.[2]

Etymology

Ancient Meitei counting methods involved sticks (chei) being placed (thapa) to represent a base number. Kum signifies a period of time and paba is a verb meaning to read or reckon. The chronicle's title therefore connotes the "placing of sticks or using a base as a means of reckoning the period of time, the years" and is indicative of the Meitei approach to counting and recording.[3]

Bengali versions

Cheitharol Kumbaba was transliterated to Bengali script by Pundit Thongam Madhob Singh and published by Vishvabharati Mandir c. 1940. With Maharaja Churchand Singh's permission, the chronicle was edited by L. Ibungohal Singh and Pundit N. Khelchandra Singh and published by the Manipuri Sahitya Parishad in 1967; this edited version is the Hindu-oriented version. The Sanamahi followers (people of Kangleipak) do not want to consider the book edited by Khelchandra Singh as a final version as he added many words which are imported from Sanskrit and Hindi in his translation.

English versions

In 1891, Major Maxwell, the Political Agent of Manipur, instructed the court to translate the Cheitharol Kumbaba into English. The translation was carried out by a Bengali clerk named Mamacharan. It was edited and published by L. Joychandra Singh in 1995 under the title The Lost Kingdom.[4]

A Meitei scholar, Saroj N. Arambam Parratt, produced another English version of the Chronicle under the title The Court Chronicle of the Kings of Manipur: Cheitharon Kumpapa in 2005.[5] Parratt includes a facsimile of the original manuscript of the Cheitharol Kumbaba. The Cheitharol Kumbaba adopted three chronological systems or eras: Kalyabda, Saka era, Chandrabda or Kangleipak era. From 1666 CE onwards, days of the week are mentioned in the Cheitharol Kumbaba.

In 2010, Rajkumar Somorjit Sana produced an edited English version of the Cheitharol Kumbaba with the corresponding Western dates for each Meitei date under the title The Chronology of Meetei Monarchs (From 1666 CE to 1850 CE) (Imphal: Waikhom Ananda Meetei, 2010).[6] In 2012, Mr. Nepram Bihari, a retired bureaucrat of Manipur made a definitive translation of Cheitharol Kumbaba into English. It is said that Mr. Bihari had to learn the ancient script of Meitei Mayek to make this translation, a major project that took him 17 years to finish.[7]

Notes

"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.
Singh, Ch Manihar (2003). A History of Manipuri Literature. New Delhi: Sahitya Akadami. p. 71. ISBN 9788126000869.
Parratt 2005, p. 3.
Singh, L. Joychandra (1995). The Lost Kingdom. Imphal.
Parratt 2005.
Sana, Raj Kumar Somorjit. The Chronology of Meetei Monarchs: From 1666 CE to 1850 CE. ISBN 978-81-8465-210-9.
Pisharoty, Sangeeta (25 February 2012). "Walk with the kings". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2012.

References

Parratt, Saroj N. Arambam (2005), The Court Chronicle of the Kings of Manipur, the Cheitharon Kumpapa, 1, London: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-34430-1

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[1] "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.

[2] Singh, Ch Manihar (2003). A History of Manipuri Literature. New Delhi: Sahitya Akadami. p. 71. ISBN 9788126000869.

[FOOTNOTEParratt20053-3] Parratt 2005, p. 3.

[4] Singh, L. Joychandra (1995). The Lost Kingdom. Imphal.

[FOOTNOTEParratt2005-5] Parratt 2005.

[6] Sana, Raj Kumar Somorjit. The Chronology of Meetei Monarchs: From 1666 CE to 1850 CE. ISBN 978-81-8465-210-9.

[7] Pisharoty, Sangeeta (25 February 2012). "Walk with the kings". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2012.