Khampat
Town
Khampat is located in Myanmar
Khampat
Khampat
Location in Sagaing Region, Burma
Coordinates: 23°46′56″N 94°08′39″E / 23.782303°N 94.144248°E / 23.782303; 94.144248
Country Myanmar
Division Sagaing
DistrictTamu
TownshipTamu
SubtownshipKhampat
Area
 • Total12.87 sq mi (33.33 km2)
Elevation
653 ft (199 m)
Population
 (2019)[1]
15,400
Time zoneUTC+6:30 (MMT)

Khampat (ခမ်းပါတ်မြို့)[lower-alpha 1] is a town in the Kabaw Valley in the Sagaing Region in western Myanmar. It is at the location where the Namsaweng River[lower-alpha 2] flows down from the hills and enters the Kabaw Valley. It is the site of a historical principality, which often changed hands between Manipur (now in India) and the Burmese kingdoms to the east.

The town is the principal town of Khampat Subtownship, an unofficial subidvision of Tamu Township used for administrative and statistical purposes. In 2014, the town had 14,559 inhabitants while the surrounding subtownship had 24,169 people.[6]

History

Historical reports indicate that the Kale-Kabaw valley used to have three principalities based at Thaungdut (also known as Sumjok),[lower-alpha 3] Khampat, and Kale.[lower-alpha 4][8] Thaungdut/Sumjok and Khampat were jointly invaded by King Kiyamba of Manipur and the king of Pong in 1467 CE, and divided among themselves. Khampat was at the time under the control of "Kyangs" (Chins, called Kukis in India).[7] Khampat appears to have been Manipur's share in the division, and references to it can be found in the Manipur court chronicle Cheitharol Kumbaba.

During the course of history, the Kabaw Valley came under the control of Burma, which was confirmed by the British Raj after the First Anglo-Burmese War. Also in course of history, Tamu to the north of Khampat grew to be a centre of Indo-Burmese trade and a larger town, overshadowing Khampat.

Khampat is currently a sub-township within the Tamu Township.

On 7 November 2023 it was reported that the town had come fully under control of the People’s Defense Forces (PDF) during the ongoing civil war.[9]

Zou settlement

Khampat in the Kabaw valley is claimed to be the first town of the Zou (Chin-Kuki-Mizo) race. Khampat in the Chin Hills was historically associated with the Zou settlement and this might possibly be taken as an early reference to a Zou chief. The settlement at Khampat is believed to have lasted for about two centuries. The dispersal from Khampat is said to be due to famine and invasion of stronger enemy, possibly the Shans.

Notes

  1. ↑ Alternative spellings: Khambat,[2] Khumbat,[3] and Kumbat.[4]
  2. ↑ Alternative names: Namsailung in the Manipuri language and Tuipu in Kuki-Chin languages.[5]
  3. ↑ Alternative spellings: Samjot[4] and Samsot.[7]
  4. ↑ Alternative spellings: Kule.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Myanmar Information Management Unit (2019). Tamu Myone Daethasaingyarachatlatmya တမူးမြို့နယ် ဒေသဆိုင်ရာအချက်လက်များ [Tamu Township Regional Information] (PDF) (Report) (in Burmese).
  2. ↑ Manipur History - Propagating Controversy, Imphal Free Press, 10 January 2023.
  3. ↑ Harvey, History of Burma (1925).
  4. 1 2 3 Simha, Hijam Irabot Singh and Political Movements in Manipur (1989), p. 278.
  5. ↑ Pau, Indo-Burma Frontier and the Making of the Chin Hills (2019), p. 158.
  6. ↑ The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census: Sagaing Region, Tamu District, Khampat Sub-Township Report (PDF) (Report). Department of Population, Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population, Government of Myanmar. 2017.
  7. 1 2 Parratt, The Court Chronicle of the Kings of Manipur, Vol. 1 (2005), p. 41–42.
  8. ↑ Upper Chindwin District Gazetteer (1913), p. 11.
  9. ↑ ဧရာဝတီ (2023-11-07). "ကလေး- တမူးလမ်းပေါ်ရှိ ခါမ်းပါတ်မြို့ကို PDF သိမ်း". ဧရာဝတီ. Archived from the original on November 7, 2023. Retrieved 2023-11-07.

Bibliography

Further reading

  • David Vumlallian Zou & S. Thangboi Zou, A History of the Zou People, page-108, published by United Zou Organization-India Publication. 2017
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