Bishnupriya Manipuris in Myanmar

Existance of Bishnupriya Manipuris in Myanmar has got place in books and internet just in one line that they probably exist in Mandalay and Amarapura of Myanmar, no more details about them. It has been a challenging task to find details about them with such limited information. While searching in easily accessible internet, there was no clue. Few articles, books are written on Manipuris in Burma by the Manipuris (Meiteis) of Manipur e.g. ‘Manipuri in Burma’ by Mutua Bahadur. There is no clue of existence of Bishnupriya Manipuris in the book or the other articles written by people of Manipur.

It is said that the Ex-minister of Tripura (India) Late Bimal Sinha initiated the search of Bishnupriya Manipuris in Myanmar. He was about to send people for the search, but it was discontinued due to the sudden demise of him.

It was about three to four years back, while searching in www.youtube.com, few videos with the caption ‘Manipuri Brahman in Myanmar’ came out. The videos were uploaded by Mr. Chandra Kumar Sharma (Mr. Pyay Nyein, Burmese Name) of Mandalay, Myanmar. The videos were of kirtans performed in Manipuri style, so a mail was sent to Mr. Sharma immediately seeking more information about Manipuris in Myanmar. He replied using few Meitei words, so a second mail was sent in Meitei language ( as I know Meitei language). Mr. Sharma seemed to find comfortable in Meitei as he replied in details this time in Meitei language.

The Manipuri Brahmins of Myanmar speak in Meitei language. The elders are fluent in the language but the new generation cannot speak Meitei. There are about 2000 population of the Brahmans across Myanmar, mainly populated in Mandalay, Amarapura. Their cultural songs are sung in brajabuli/bengali but others are completely in Manipuri style. Majority of gents look like Aryans, brown while that of ladies are of Mongoloid feature.

                      

                    

                                                      
Dwarka Nath Sharma (Myanmar)                Chandra Kumar Sharma (Myanmar)

Since the Bishnupriya Manipuris of Ningthoukhong, Heirok, Khangabok, Ngaikhong, Khumel etc. of Manipur and those of Dudhpatil, Mashughat, Rakhaltila, Mashimpur, Aaddobol of Silchar (Assam) and Maangkei Makhong of Bhanugash (Bangladesh) speak in Meitei, it is assumed that there could be a possibility of these manipuri Brahmins being Bishnupriya Manipuris. With this assumption, an NGO from Kailashahar (Tripura) called SOU SEVA SAMITI under the leadership of Mr. Bhairab Sinha invited Mr. Chandra Kumar Sharma at Kailashahar to have a detail discussion on Manipuris in Burma. Mr. Sharma visited Kailashahar and had a detail discussion with the dignified Bishnupriya Manipuris. They shared cultural songs and most of them were common e.g. ‘RUNU JHUNU NOPURA BAAJATA………….’. The discussion was winded up with the conclusion that the cultural events, songs of Burmese Manipuri Brahman and Indian Bishnupriya Manipuris are same but since the Burmese Manipuri Brahman cannot understand Bishnupriya Manipuri language at all according to Mr. Sharma, making a confirmation of them to be Bishnupriya Manipuri was far away. But the people of Kailashahar liked meeting Mr. Sharma and gaining knowledge about Manipuri Brahmans of Burma.

On doing more study about the existence of Bishnupriya Manipuri people and language in Burma, Mr. Shankar Sinha from Guwahati (Assam) found a relevant article in internet and shared with members of ‘Bishnupriya Manipuri Discussion Forum’ in www.facebook.com. This article explored a gateway to find the existence of Bishnupriya Manipuri language in Burma and of course the people speaking this particular language. The article is as follows.

(Reference:1) Dr. Francis Buchanan, a Scottsman working as a surgeon at the British East India Company published his “A Comparative Vocabulary of Some of the Languages Spoken in the Burma Empire” in 1799, in the fifth volume of Asiatic Researches.

The extracts of the comparative vocabulary are found to be similar to that of Bishnupriya Manipuris in India & Bangladesh. Dr. Buchanan wrote,

The last dialect of the Hindustanee which I shall mention, is that of a people called, by the Burmas, Aykobat, many of them are slaves at Amarapura. By one of them I was informed, that they had called themselves  Banga ; that formerly they had kings of their own ; but that, in his father’s time, their kingdom  had been overturned  by the king of Munnypura, who carried away a great part of the inhabitants to his residence.

When that was taken last by the Burmas, which was about fifteen years ago, this man was one of the many captives who were brought to Ava. He said also, that Banga was seven days’  journey  south-west  from  Munnypura  :  it  must,  therefore,  be  on  the  frontiers  of Bengal, and may, perhaps, be the country called in our maps Cashar.

English	Banga
Sun	Baylee
Moon	Satkan
Stars	*Tara
Earth	Matee
Water	Pannea
Fire	Zee
Stone	Heel
Wind	Bo
Rain	Booun
Man	Manoo
Woman	Zaylan
Child	Sougo
Head	Teekgo
Mouth	Totohan
Arm	Peopound
Hand	Hatkan
Leg	Torooa
Foot	Zankan
Beast	Sasee
Bird	Pakya
Fish	Mas
Good	Hoba
Bad	Hoba Nay
Great	Damorgo
Little	Hooroogo
Long	Deengul
Short	Batee
One	Ak
Two	De
Three	Teen
Four	Saree
Five	Pas
Six	Tsare
Seven	Hat
Eight	Aat
Nine	No
Ten	Dos
Eat	Kaek
Drink	Peek
Sleep	Hooleek
Walk	O Teea ootea
Sit	Bo
Stand	Oot
Kill	Mar
Yes	Oo
No	Naway
Here	Erang
There	Orang
Above	Goa
Below	Tol

It can be said that these Aykobats who were slaves in Amarapura of Burma were speaking a language whose vocabulary was exactly same as that of Mayang or Kalisa or Bishnupuriya as mentioned by LSI Grierson in his write up on ‘Mayang’ and that of today’s Bishnupriya Manipuris in India and Manipuris (Bishnupriya) of Bangladesh.

(Reference:2) U Khin Maung Saw, a historian of Burma, now settled in Berlin (Germany) wrote‘ Analysis of Francis Buchanan’s Rooingas & Rossawns’ and the extracts from the write-up are as follows

The third group mentioned by Dr. Buchanan

Buchanan wrote: “The last dialect of the Hindustanee which I shall mention, is that of a people called, by the Burmans, Aykobat, many of them are slaves at Amarapura. By one of them I was informed, that they had called themselves Banga; that formerly they had kings of their own; but that, in his father’s time, their kingdom had been overturned by the king of Munnypura, who carried away a great part of the inhabitants to his residence. When that was taken last by the Burmas, which was about fifteen years ago, this man was one of the many captives who were brought to Ava. He said also, that Banga was seven days’ journey south-west from Munnypura: it must, therefore, be on the frontiers of Bengal, and may, perhaps, be the country called in our maps Cashar.'

For that version the present author likes to give the following explanation:

Since Alaungphaya (Alaungphara) re-established the Burmese empire, he and his successors invaded and annexed almost all neighbouring kingdoms including Siam, Langxiam, Assam, Manipur, Mon and Rakhaing etc.etc..

It is very possible that a small dukedom north of Bengal was annexed into Manipur and some of the inhabitants were taken as slaves to Manipur. When Manipur became a feudatory state of the Burmese empire then, these slaves were either given as tribute to the Ava Empire or taken by the Burmese as slaves. However, it is not easy to trace a Burmese word which can be close to ‘Aykobat’ mentioned by Buchanan! The closest term could be “Akkabat”. During Bodaw Phaya's Era, a new minister post

“Akkabat Myin Wun” (literal translation: “Minister of Akkabat Cavalry”) was created for his protégé Myat Htin, however, in fact he was the Chief of all Cavalries. Almost all of the soldiers in Akkabat Cavalry were Manipuris. Most probably, Dr. Buchanan meant Akkabat!!

This group 'Aykobat' too were most probably assimilated and engulfed into the Manipuris, Katheis and Hindus living in Upper Burma, who were the subjects of the Burmese king.

The social and political elite of Manipur was brahmanized /hinduized in the 18th century. This subtribe of Manipuris were called “Kathei” or “Kasai” in Burmese. The Brahmins in Manipur came from Bengal. Those deported to Burma before and even after 1739 were probably speaking Bengali. Manipuri Brahmins at the Ava, later at Shwebo and Amarapura courts were one of the three Punna communities serving the kings. Manipuri community still exists today in Mandalay.

Thus according to Mr. Saw, the Aykobats mentioned by Dr. Buchanan meant Akkabats and they were Manipuris. The word ‘Akkabat’ in the name of the minister ‘Akkabat Myin Wun’ was probably used to give them separate identity because of their language and complexion different from ‘Meitei’ language spoken captive Manipuris (Katheys and Ponnas) during the Ava war.

(Reference:3) Mr. Si Thu Soe (Indian Name: Shiv Kumar Sharma), a PhD aspirant from Mandalay (Burma) has provided a list of vocabulary of ‘Akkabat’ language collected by a Mandalay based Ayurvedic Doctor Mr. U Htun Ohn (Indian Name: Dwarka Nath Sharma) from manuscripts of Burma Central Library. It is said that the manuscripts were written by a Buddhist Monk as asked by the then King. The vocabularies of Akkabats translated by Mr. Si Thu Soe from Burmese to English are also found to be that of Bishnupriya Manipuris in India and Bangladesh.

(Reference:4) Mr. Pyay Nyein (Chandra Kumar Sharma, Indian Name) from Mandalay (Burma) collected a book in Burmese called ‘Brahmins in Burma History’ written by a bengali paona Dr. Dagon (PhD in Astrology, Calcutta, India). There is a chapter on Akkabat and their language in this book. The vocabularies of Akkabat he mentioned in the chapter are exactly same as that of Bishnupriya Manipuris. Moreover, he mentioned that it is rare to find ‘Akkabat’ language spoken people now a day in Burma and they might have assimilated to Meitei spoken katheys or Ponnas or Avas (Burmese). The same point has been raised by Mr. U Khin Maung Saw in his ‘ Analysis of Francis Buchanan’s Rooingas & Rossawns’.

It can be assumed from the vocabulary of ‘Akkabats’ collected from above mentioned many sources that they are none but Bishnupriya Manipuris in India and Bangladesh. The job to find out ‘Akkabat’ in Burma was given to helpful Mr. Chandra Kumar Sharma. He got a clue from his grandmother in law that she used to visit a village called Linn Zinn in Sagaing District on Rathyatra during her childhood. They were following ‘Gaudiya Vaishnabism’ and had temples, mandaps. They are locally known as Akkabats. Mr. Sharma visited the village on 22.05.2015 with one of his friend, which is 12 miles away from Mandalay. Initially, he was resisted to discuss about Akkabats and taking photos in the village. But when he informed that he had visited the village due to the request by a community of India who were looking for their separated race in Burma and they might be Akkabats. On hearing this, the locals welcomed them and thus Mr. Sharma could gain the following information.

1
    1. They were following ‘Gaudiya Vaishnabism’ before, but not following it now a days.
    2. They call themselves ‘Kathe Akkabat’.
   3. The village is on the bank of ‘Irrawati’ river. Ladies collecting water from river throw it away if touched by others.
     4. The use cow dung to clean the house, do not drink glass of water touched by others.
      5. They had Radha Krishna temples, Mandaps but no more at present
      6. They have ‘Githani Ebema’ temples and ‘Aapokpa Temples’.
      7. They offer fish to their indigenous God.
      8. Though they do not perform Gaudiya Vaishnavism rituals anymore.
      9. They had ‘Tulasi Pong’ in front of their houses.
      10. Earlier they did not eat big fishes but only small fishes. They do not eat pork, beef but recently started eating chicken.
      11. They used to play ‘krishna leela’ before and the ‘napura’ used then are still lying in their houses.
     12. They have forgotten their ‘Saakei’, one or two elders are still there who know it but Mr. Sharma could not meet them.
      13. There are about 200 families in the village with approximate population of 500.
     14. People of their origin also stay at Tar Gaung village in Ewa District and Taung Myo village near Amarapura. Mr. Sharma says that people of Taung Myo are Brahmins and there have been participation of Sankirtan (Gaudiya) programs by the people of Taung Myo and Mandalay since long before. He will give more information by visiting the villages.
      15. They still pray Githani, Thanking (probably Thangjing) but no Gaudiya Vaishvism God anymore.
      16. They are not much comfortable with ‘Akkabat’ vocabulary now as most of them speak Burmese. Mr. Sharma has collected few Akkabat vocabulary from them.

English                                                Akkabat

Child     ................................................Sougo

Lady   .................................................. Jelago

Lentil ....................................................Khoi

Look at ..................................................Cheiri

Thief ......................................................Maanukho

Banana ...................................................Kolla

Don’t talk ...............................................Kotha Na Mati

Breast .....................................................Bunigo

Bread.......................................................Pitha

Gold.........................................................Huna

Tea ...........................................................Daw

Brass/Copper............................................Kodi

Dog..........................................................Chalu

Cat............................................................Meku

Knife .......................................................Chhuri

Mud .........................................................Matee

Death........................................................Mori

Weep ...................................................... Periyon

I Love You ..............................................Dadago, Hada Peing (by a lady)

Butt..........................................................Laari

Oil ...........................................................Laai

Rice(raw) ................................................Zitt

Sugar .......................................................Chini

       

                                Book on ‘Brahmins in Burma History’ by Dr. Dagon (Reference: 4)

                                                Akkabat words on the extreme right table

 Photographs taken by Mr. Sharma at Linn Zinn village on 22.05.2015:

 Akkabat Ladies

                                    

                               

  Padipuli Deity (?), Probably Parvati                Aapokpa                   Thangking (probably Thangjing)

Githani Deity                                 Bricks of old temple                                   Aapokpa

    

                                  Akkabat Family                                             Akkabat family

Video Evidence of existence of Bishnupriya Manipuri Language in Myanmar (Burma):

Few days back, Mr. Pratap Sinha from Kailashahar informed that a Bishnupriya Manipuri guy from Kailashahar called Sanjeeb Sinha was staying at Mandalay, Myanmar as job posting. He suggested to send Sanjeeb with Chandra Kumar Sharma in Linn Zinn village of Mandalay to interact with Akkabat people. Immediately the information was passed to Chandra Kumar Sharma along with Sanjeeb's Burmese mobile number. They interacted and thus Mr. Sharma took Sanjeeb to Linn Zinn Village where they interacted with Akkabat people. This video is nothing but an evidence of existance of Bishnupriya Manipuri language in that village before though it is in the final stage of extinction at present.

The video is can be watched in the following link in internet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFUEgiGa6WM

Santosh Kumar Singha

Date: 13.09.2015

singha.skumar@gmail.com