Pamheiba
Gharib Niwaz
Meidingu, Ningthou & Maharaja of Kangleipak (Meitei for 'Manipur kingdom')
Coronation1720
PredecessorPitambar Charairongba[1]
SuccessorGaurisiam
BornPamheiba[1]
23 December 1690
Died13 December 1751 (aged 60)
Names
Meidingu Pamheiba
HouseNingthouja dynasty
FatherPitambar Charairongba[1]
MotherNungthilchaibi
ReligionHinduism
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Gharib Niwaz (born Pamheiba, 1690–1751, Meitei: /pāmheiba/,[2] Sanskrit: Gopal Singh[3]) was the most illustriious ruler of the Manipur Kingdom,[4] ruling from c. 1709 until his death. He introduced Hinduism as the state religion of his kingdom (1717)[1][5] and changed the name of the kingdom from "Kangleipaak" to the Sanskrit Manipur (1724). He changed his royal name from his birth name Pamheipa to the Persianate "Gharib Niwaz".[1][6][7]

During most of his reign he was engaged in warfare against the weakened Burmese Toungoo Dynasty.[8]

Early life

Pamheiba (Meitei: ꯄꯥꯝꯍꯩꯕ, romanized: Paamheiba, Sanskrit: गोपाल सिंह, romanized: Gopal Singh, Persian: غریب نواز, romanized: Ghareeb Nawaaj) was born on 23 December 1690 in Manipur to Pitambar Charairongba and was crowned Meidingu ("king") on 28 August 1709 (the 23rd of Thawan, 1631 Saka Era).[9] After converting to Hinduism Pamheiba took the Persianate name "Gharib Nawaz" (also spelt "Garibniwaz").

Military conquests

His reign lasted 39 years. During that time, the realm of Manipur extended from the Irrawaddy River in the east to Cachar and Tripura in the west. At some points during his reign, his realm extended into the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Burma

Shortly after taking power from his father Charairongba he invaded Burma after the Burmese King insulted his sister. The Burmese King asked for the hand of another of Charairongba's daughters in marriage in 1724. Instead of a princess, the King of Burma was met by cavalry, led by Pamheiba that massacred the Burmese army, and brought many prisoners of war to Imphal.[10] The Burmese sent an expedition in revenge, but it was ambushed in the swamps near Heirok, southwest of Thoubal, and losing heavily retreated in haste. In 1735, Pamheiba invaded Myedu in Shwebo district and carried off loot, cattle and a thousand people. In 1737, Pamheiba again invaded Burma, killed two-thirds of a royal levy, including commander, who came to oppose the invading Manipuris, and swept down to Tabayin in Shwebo district, burning everything they met.[11] Again in 1738, Manipuris went and camped in Thalunbyu west of Sagaing, burnt every house and monastery up to the walls of Ava, stormed the stockade built to protect the Kaunghmudaw Pagoda, slaughtering the Burmese troops like cattle in a pen and killing the commandant, a minister of the Hluttaw Council; the old door-leaves of the pagoda's eastern gateway show a gash made by the sword of Maharaj Pamheiba when he was forcing an entrance.[12]

Tripura

In 1734, Pamheiba invaded Tripura and captured 1100 prisoners, who were absorbed into the Meitei community.[13]

Shan

On account of rise of Burmese Kingdom, the Shan Kingdom of Pong was in danger. In march 1739, the Shans requested Manipur to help them. The envoys from Pong returned to their country after about 19 days. Pamheiba started for Burma to invade Sagaing. After the Battle of Sagaing, Pamheiba made the elder brother of the king of Pong king.

Mon

The king of Ava according to Ningthourol lambuba is called by the name Mangdra who sent a emissary in the court of King Pamheiba with very soft and flattering words requesting him for a matrimonial alliance, in which Mangdra requested to give Princess Satyamala in marriage to him. Further the king of Ava invited king Pamheiba to visit his country. Pamheiba accepted the request and sent back the emissary. Pamheiba then thought out, if the request was sincere, he would give his daughter Satyamala in marriage and on the other hand if it was a pretension, he would teach him a lesson. When he reached the bank of Irawaddy river, he collected information and found the request was a sincere one as the king of Ava was between two fires, one the Meiteis and other the Mons. He wanted to make Manipur his friend and ally to strengthen his force in crushing the Mons. On king of Ava's request, king Pamheiba crossed Irawaddy river and assaulted the Mons where he captured two prominent chiefs of Mons, destroyed the revolting Mons of Koi, he also presented several chopped heads of Mon rebels to his son-in-law king Mangdra.

Death

Ghaib Niwaz and his eldest son Sham Shai went to Burma to settle some political affairs there, his second son, Ajit Shai suspecting that his father intended to place Sham Shai to the throne of Manipur, secretly organized the murder of both of them on their way back to Manipur.[14]

Religious policy

During the early 18th century, Hindu priests from Sylhet arrived in Manipur to spread Gaudiya Vaishnavism. They were led by Shantidas Adhikari and his associate Guru Gopal Das who succeeded in converting the King from the old Meitei religion to Vaishnavism in 1710. Later during his reign, Pamheiba made Hinduism the official religion, and converted nearly all the Meitei people to Hinduism.[15][16][17]

Family

Meitei Royal Family Tree of King Pamheiba (alias Garib Niwaz)

Pamheiba had eight wives, and a large number of sons and daughters. His eldest son, Samjai Khurai-Lakpa, was assassinated by his younger son Chitsai, who came to power after Pamheiba's grandson Gaurisiam. The reign was then followed by Ching-Thang Khomba.[13][18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Sen, Sipra (1 January 1992). Tribes and Castes of Manipur: Description and Select Bibliography. Mittal Publications. pp. 13, 28, 69, 250. ISBN 978-81-7099-310-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  2. ↑ Anthropological Linguistics. Department of Anthropology, Indiana University. 2005. p. 207. Garibniwaz Meithei name : Pamheiba Hindu name : Gopal Singh Reign name : Mayamba ('the elder brother')
  3. ↑ Sanajaoba, Naorem (1988). Manipur, Past and Present: The Heritage and Ordeals of a Civilization. Mittal Publications. p. 44. ISBN 978-81-7099-853-2.
  4. ↑ —Subba, Tanka Bahadur; Som, Sujit (2005). Between Ethnography and Fiction: Verrier Elwin and the Tribal Question in India. Oxford University Press. Orient Blackswan. p. 233. ISBN 978-81-250-2812-3. The Meitei king Pamheiba had a special department for the hill people. ...
    —Kamei, Samson (2022). The Resilience of Indigenous Religion: A Struggle for Survival of Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak in Manipur. Taylor & Francis. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-000-82888-7.
    —Singh, A. Prafullokumar (2009). Elections and political dynamics. Mittal Publications. p. 8. ISBN 978-81-8324-279-0. Meitei king Pamheiba (also known as Garib Niwaz) maintained the most cordial hill plain relations.
  5. ↑ Coleman, Daniel; Glanville, Erin Goheen; Hasan, Wafaa; Kramer-Hamstra, Agnes (26 April 2012). Countering Displacements: The Creativity and Resilience of Indigenous and Refugee-ed Peoples. University of Alberta. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-88864-607-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  6. ↑ Tamang, Jyoti Prakash (2 March 2020). Ethnic Fermented Foods and Beverages of India: Science History and Culture. Springer Nature. p. 355. ISBN 978-981-15-1486-9. After the advent of Hinduism some 300 years ago during the reign of King Pamheiba (latter known as King Garib Niwaz after adopting Hinduism in 1717 AD)...{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  7. ↑ Roy, Jyotirmoy (1973). History of Manipur. University of Michigan. Eastlight Book House. p. 35. there can be little doubt that the word Gharib Niwaz used by Pamheiba belongs to the Persian vocabulary.
  8. ↑ Thangal General, Charai Thangal And Pamheiba Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine Manipur Online – 13 May 2003
  9. ↑ Sana, Raj Kumar Somorjit (2010). The Chronology of Meetei Monarchs (from 1666 CE to 1850 CE). Imphal: Waikhom Ananda Meetei. p. 59. ISBN 978-81-8465-210-9.
  10. ↑ Garib Niwaz: Wars and Religious Policy in 18th Century Manipur Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine KanglaOnline
  11. ↑ Harvey 1925: 208
  12. ↑ Harvey 1925: 208–209
  13. 1 2 History of Manipur Archived 5 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine – IIT Guwahati
  14. ↑ (Barpujari 1992:386)
  15. ↑ Sheram, AK (2012). "Manipuri, The". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  16. ↑ Barker, Clive; Trussler, Simon (13 February 1992). New Theatre Quarterly 29: Volume 8, Part 1. Cambridge University Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-521-42940-5. ... One remains entirely ignorant about the indigenous culture of Manipur prior to the Vaishnavite movement of the eighteenth century, which was strongly propagated by ruling monarchs like Garib Niwaz (1709-48) and Bhagyachandra (1763-98). ... In this context, it should be acknowledged that the proselytizing of Hinduism as a state religion, particularly in the reign of Garib Niwaz, was blatantly aggressive. It involved such measures as the destruction of the traditional lai (gods), the burning of ancient manuscripts, the banning of the Meithei script and its replacement by the Bengali script, the introduction of the Hindu calendar and system of gotras (enforcement of Hindu dietary laws), and the sanctification of the first recorded instances in Manipuri history of sati. ...{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  17. ↑ Baral, Kailash C. (16 May 2023). Cultural Forms and Practices in Northeast India. Springer Nature. pp. 112, 164, 230. ISBN 978-981-19-9292-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  18. ↑ Keen, Caroline (3 July 2015). "FAMILY TREE: DESCENDANTS OF GARIB NIWAZ". An Imperial Crisis in British India: The Manipur Uprising of 1891. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. V, VIII, IX. ISBN 978-1-78673-987-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)

Bibliography

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