Bishnupriya Manipuri: Identity Culture and Change

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The Bishnupriya Manipuris constitute a linguistic minority community living in North East India, mainly in parts of Assam, Manipur. Tripura and also Bangladesh. They were originally confined to the surroundings of Loktak Lake in Manipur The principal localities where they were living are now known as Khangabok. Ningthoukhong. Heirok and Bishnupur. However, due to internal conflicts among the princes of Manipur and Burmese attacks a great majority of the community fled away from Manipur and took refuge in Assam. Tripura, Cachar and Sylhet during 18th century. Since then, the Bishnupriya Manipuris have been in disadvantaged position having no homeland of their own. The objections from the Meitei Manipuri to use the term 'Manipuri' either prefix or suffix by the Bishnupriyas further worsened the issue of their identity and culture.

The present work is an attempt in the aforesaid direction which has covered different aspects concerning identity crisis and its settlement, social system, culture and various dimensions of change with special focus on the Bishnupriya Manipuris of North East India.

HARENDRA SINHA (b.1968) obtained his MA (Political Science) and Ph.D degrees from Gauhati University Guwahati, Assam. He is presently working as Associate Professor in Political Science. Government J Buana College, Lunglei, Mizoram He has authored the books Bureaucracy and Rural Development in Mizoram Empowerment of Women in NEIndia (eds), Decentralization and Rural Development in NE India (eds), Health and Development in NE India (ed), Development Constraints in North East India (ed), Women in Mizo Society (eds), Women in North East India (eds), Prople and Health in NE India (ed), Millennium Development Goals in NE India (ed), NE India: Emerging Issues of Development (eds), The Bishnupirya Manipuris in North East India (ed), Good Governance and Civil Society in NE India, Political Theory, Indian Government and Politics, Major Political Systems, Political Sociology, Indian Political Thought, Western Political Thought, International Relations, Public Administration, Indian Foreign Policy, Human Rights, and contributed. number of research papers in national and International journals, regularly contributes papers in edited books, seminar and workshops.

Identity can be belongingness to a small or large social unit that has something in common, such as norms. religion, values, language and relationships. It can be individual, race, ethnic community, language, cooperative, group. religious, cultural and on the basis of belonging to a particular social hierarchy and people in some settings with distinct culture. Culture on the other hand is the set of attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors shared by a group of people, communicated from one generation to another. Thus, culture refers to the patterns of thought and behaviors of members of a group have in common. It includes the material things they own as well as the intangible non-material things such as beliefs, values and rules of conduct and patterns of social, political and economic organization which passed on from one generation to the next. Identity and culture thus, refers to sense of belonging to a particular culture, beliefs, values, norms and identify with those. In course of time, with different stages of development, the society and the culture linked and adopted with the natural process of change. The normativo structure, beliefs and practices, cultural traits, value system, dress patterns, and family system, occupation etc have all been strongly affected, altered and still continues due to the changing modern world. Globalization, westernization, modernization have fed people with new cultural traits, diffusing extraterrestrial features into every society. The Bishnupriya Manipuri society too is going under transition.

**Contents and Sample Pages**