Bishnupriya Manipuri language

Bishnupriya Manipuri
ইমার ঠার/বিষ্ণুপ্রিয়া মণিপুরী Imarthar
Spoken in
Total speakers 450,000
Language family Indo-European
Language codes
ISO 639-1 None
ISO 639-2 inc
ISO 639-3 bpy
Linguasphere
Indic script
 This page contains Indic text. Without rendering support you may see irregular vowel positioning and a lack of conjuncts. More...

The Bishnupriya or Bishnupriya Manipuri (BPM) (ইমার ঠার/বিষ্ণুপ্রিয়া মণিপুরী) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in parts of the Indian states of Assam, Tripura, Manipur and others, as well as in Bangladesh, Burma, and other countries.

Contents

History and development

Bishnupriya Manipuri is spoken in parts of Assam, Tripura in India, as well as in Bangladesh, Myanmar, and in several other countries. It is different from many Indo-Aryan languages like Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, etc. The language originated and developed in Manipur and was originally confined to the surroundings of the Loktak Lake.[1] Other authorities such as An account of the valley of Manipore by Col. McCullock,[2] Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal by E.T. Dalton[3] and the Linguistic Survey of India by George Abraham Grierson[4] mention that the language was in existence in Manipur before the 19th century. Dr. Grierson calls the language as "Bishnupuriya Manipuri", while some other writers call it simply "Bishnupriya". The principal localities where this language was spoken are now known as Khangabok, Heirok, Mayang Yamphal, Bishnupur, Khunan, Ningthankhong, Ngaikhong, Thamnapoxpi.[5]

A great majority of speakers of BPM fled from Manipur and took refuge in Assam, Tripura, Sylhet and Cachar during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries due to internal conflicts among the princes of Manipur and due to Burmese attack. Consequently, it was difficult for the small number of Bishnupriyas who remained in Manipur to retain their language in the face of the impact of Meitei, although in 1891 Dr. G.A. Grierson found the existence of a considerable number of speakers in two or three villages near Bishnupur, locally known as Lamangdong.[6] The language slowly started losing its ground in Manipur against a vast majority of Meiteis and is slowly facing its decay in Cachar and Bangladesh against a vast majority of Bengali-speakers. This language is still being spoken in Jiribam (a sub-division of Manipur),[7] Cachar (a district of Assam) and in some pockets in Bangladesh and Tripura.

Source and origin

The language is known to its speakers as Imar Thar (ইমার ঠার ), meaning "Language of my Mother." They call themselves and their language "Manipuri," and use the term "Bishnupriya" to distinguish them from other ethnic races of Manipur. The term "Bishnupriya" is most probably derived from "Bishnupur" along with the suffix "-iya", meaning "people of 'Bishnupur', the old capital of Manipur[8]. Orthodox Bishnupriyas hold that the language was carried over to Manipur by some immigrants from Dvaraka and Hastinapura just after the Mahabharata war. It is further said that these immigrants were led by Babhruvahana, the son of Chitrangada and Arjuna, the third Pandava. Some scholars and history writers came to support the Mahabharata origin from observation of the morphology, the vocables, and the phonology of the Bishnupriya Manipuri language[9]. They hold that BPM is highly influenced by Sanskrit and Maharastri as well as Sauraseni Prakrits. Sauraseni Prakrit was the colloquial language of the soldiers and the people of Kuru Panchal and Matsyadesa including Hastinapura Indraprastha, etc. Dr. K.P. Sinha, who has done considerable research on Bishnupriya Manipuri, disagrees with the theory and is of the opinion that the language was originated through Magadhi Prakrita. If Bishnupriya Manipuri was of Magadhi origin, it would be more closely related to Bengali, Oriya, and Assamese.

However, the Bishnupriya Manipuri language is certainly not one of the Tibeto-Burman languages, but is closer to the Indo-Aryan group of languages with remarkable influence from Meitei both grammatically and phonetically. At a different stage of development of the language the Sauraseni, Maharastri and Magadhi languages and the Tibeto-Burman languages exerted influence on it as well. It was probably developed from Sanskrit, Sauraseni and Maharastri Prakrita (instead of Magadhi), making it comparable to Hindi, Panjabi, Marathi, or Sinhala. The Sauraseni-Maharastri relation is evident from the fact that it has retained the dominant characteristics of the Sauraseni and Maharastri pronouns (declensional and conjugational endings are the most stable elements of a language; they undergo changes very slowly). A study of the pronouns and the conjugational and declensional endings of Bishnupriya shows that most of these forms are the same, as they are closely related to those of the languages derived from Sanskrit. The Magadhi element is also remarkable, as the language retains many characteristics of Magadhi. It can further be noted that Bishnupriya Manipuri retains much of the old (15th century to 17th century A.D.)

Dialects

Bishnupriyas have two dialects, namely Rajar Gang ("King's village") and Madai Gang ("Queen's village"). Unlike the dialects of other tribes, these dialects of Bishnupriya are not confined to distinct geographical areas; they rather exist side by side in the same localities. In Manipur, however, these two dialects were confined to well-defined territories. From the viewpoint of phonetics, Madai Gang is more akin to Assamese and Meitei, whereas Rajar Gang is more akin to Bengali. In vocabulary Madai Gang is more influenced by Meitei while Rajar Gang is more akin to Bengali and Assamese. The morphological differences between the two dialects are negligible.

Vocabulary

Like other Indic languages, the core vocabulary of Bishnupriya Manipuri is made up of tadbhava words (i.e. words inherited over time from older Indic languages, including Sanskrit, including many historical changes in grammar and pronunciation), although thousands of tatsama words (i.e. words that were re-borrowed directly from Sanskrit with little phonetic or grammatical change) augment the vocabulary greatly. In addition, many other words were borrowed from languages spoken in the region either natively or as a colonial language, including Meitei, English, and Perso-Arabic.

Script

The orthodox Bishnupriyas claim that they have their own script, that is, the Devanagari script, which was used to write in the Bishnupriya language in its early years. However, on introduction of modern education during the British period through the Bengali language the Bishnupriya Manipuri writers began to use the Eastern Nagari script. The alphabet has consonant letters with dependent vowel signs (matras) as well as independent vowel letters. Punctuation marks and numerals are also used. Bishnupriya Manipuri is written from left to right and top to bottom, in the same manner as in English. Some of the consonants can combine with one another to make orthographic clusters.

Vowels: অ আ ই ঈ উ ঊ এ ঐ ও ঔ

Vowel Signs: া ি ী ু ূ ৃ ে ৈ ো ৌ

Consonants: ক খ গ ঘ ঙ ছ জ ঝ ঞ ট ঠ ড ঢ ণ ত থ দ ধ ন প ফ ব ম য র ল শ ষ স হ ড় ঢ় য় ৱ ৼ ং ঃ ঁ

Numbers: ০ ১ ২ ৩ ৪ ৫ ৬ ৭ ৮ ৯

Places where Bishnupriya Manipuri is spoken

In Manipur the language is still spoken in the Jiribam subdivision. A large number of Bishnupriya Manipuri people settled in Assam ages ago, particularly in the districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi. These people are counted as one of the major groups of people in the Cachar and Karimganj districts. In Tripura, the Bishnupriya Manipuri population localities may be divided into a Dharmanagar sub-area, a Kailasahar sub-area, a Kamaipur sub-area and a West Tripura sub-area. In Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, there is a scattered Bishnupriya Manipuri population.

Outside of India, Bangladesh has the largest Bishnupriya Manipuri population. The main localities are Sylhet, Moulbivazar, Habiganj and the Sunamganj district. There are also a considerable number of the Bishnupriyas Manipuris living in local cities like Mymensingh, Rangamati of the Chittagong Hill Tracts and also at Tezgaon, Manipuri-para in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh.

In Myanmar Tbangdut, Mawa Kalewa and Bumnuk etc. are the Bishnupriya Manipuri areas. And in case of the United States of America, Canada, Germany, Middle East and Austria, there are a considerable number of Bishnupriya Manipuris settled there.

Population of Bishnupriya Manipuri

It is Vulgar Bengali

Dr. Suniti Kumar Chatterjee, a recognized Bengali phonetician, listed the BPM language to be a dialect of Bengali, whereas Dr. Maheswer Neog and Dr. Banikanta Kakti claimed it as a dialect of Assamese. Their assumptions later caused contradiction about the origin of Bishnupriya Manipuri language. But the assumptions were proven incorrect by scientific research and observation of morphology, vocabulary and phonology of BPM.

Literature

Ancient literature

A good stock of folk literatures of Bishnupriya Manipuri, which are older in origin, are handed down to this day through oral tradition. The ancient literature of Bishnupriya Manipuri is represented by folk stories, folk-songs, folk-poems, rhymes and proverbs. A rain-invoking song called বরন ডাহানির এলা (Boron-dahanir Ela, 1450-1600A.D.) and a song relating to the conjugal life of Madai and Soralel known as মাদই সরারেলর এলা (Madai Soralel Ela, 1500-1600 A.D.) are sometimes considered the most important. The language of the songs are archaic and are replete with words of Tibeto-Burman origin. These two songs are very important for the study of the cultural and linguistic history of Bishnupriya Manipuri. Besides these, there are songs which are sung by women who work in the fields. Proverbs form another important part of BPM folk literature.

Modern literature

The Bishnupriya Manipuris have established Bishnupriya Manipuri Sahitya Parishad, Bishnupriya Manipuri Sahitya Sabha, Bishnupriya Manipuri Sahitya Singlup, Pouri, Manipuri Theatre and many other organizations to encourage literary activities among the people. Serious literary culture of the BPM language began during the 2nd quarter of 20th century. In fact, the history of Manipuri literature began in 1925 with the literary magazine Jagaran (জাগরন) edited by Falguni Singha who was a Bishnupriya Social worker; this magazine published articles both in Bishnupriya and Meitei. The Manipuris of Surma valley formed their first formal association, Surma Valley Manipuri Society (later called Surma Valley Manipuri Association) in 1934. The members included the Meiteis, the Bishnupriyas and the Pangals (Manipuri Muslims). From 1933 a number of journals, e.g. Manipuri (1933), Mekhali (1938) and Kshatryajyoti (1944), fostered nationalism as well literary and cultural activities.

There is a Wikipedia in Bishnupriya Manipuri with more than 23,000 articles as of August 2009. This makes it currently the language with the most articles in the Eastern Nagari script (Bengali), although the Bengali language has many more speakers.

Society

Like any Indian family, the Bishnupriya Manipuri society according to the place of residence of newly-wedded husband and wife is patrilocal which means newly married wife leaves her parents’ house and goes to reside with her husband’s parents in their house.

From the point of view of authority in the Bishnupriya Manipuri family, it is patriarchal. The father is the formal head and takes decisions on behalf of the family.

 "BHIMPURAN"the stories of Great Vaishnavite Bhima is likely to arrive soon.The Bhim philoshophy to the eternal power Lord Krinshna as depicted and propagated by Kathashilpi Cherukadhana through his vocal stories will be the essence and necter of this puran.

Poetry

A branch of modern BPM poetic literature, namely Vaishnava Padavali, based on Vaishnava philosophy, deserves special mention.

Great personalities

1. LT MAHRNDRA SINGHA from Rajargoan (Assam) became the first Bishnupriya Manipuri to pursue Bachelor degree from Calcutta university and then completed B.Ed. He worked a lot through his pen for the enrollment of the caste in the Indian OBC. He was the founder of NIKHIL BISHNUPRIYA MANIPURI MAHASABHA (NBMM).

2. LT GOKULANANDA GITISWAMY was the first innovative and highly sounded poet, ever born in Bishnupriya Manipuri caste. His poetry and dialogues became so popular that he was crowned with a title "GITISWAMY" added before his name.

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Mayang, one of the languages spoken in the polyglot state of Manipur, may, however, be classed as a dialect of this language." - Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol I, 1907
  2. ↑ "They (Mayangs) amongst themselves speak their own language, which is a dialact of Hindee" - An Account of the Valley of Manipore by McCullock, 1849.
  3. ↑ "The present population of Manipur includes a tribe called Meiun who speak a language of Sanskrit derivation. They are now in a servile condition performing the duties of grass-cutters to their conquerors." - Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal by T.T. Dalton, 1872, page 48,49.
  4. ↑ "A tribe known as Mayang speaks a mongrel form of Assamese known by the same name… They are also known as 'Bishnupuriya Manipuris' or 'Kalisa Manipuris' " - Linguistic Survey of India, 1891. Compiled by Sir George Abraham Grierson, Vol V, page 419.
  5. ↑ K.P. Sinha. An etymological Dictionary of Bishnupriya Manipuri. Silchar 1982,page 4-6
  6. ↑ Supplement 'Mayang', Linguistic Survey of India, 1891. Compiled by Sir G. A. Grierson, Vol V, page 419
  7. ↑ http://www.e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=3..130907.sep07
  8. ↑ Dr. K.P. Sinha. The Bishnupriya Manipuris and Their Language, Assam 1977,page 5,6
  9. ↑ Singha, Jagat Mohan & Singha, Birendra. The Bishnupriya Manipuris & Their Language. Silchar ,1976

See also

External links

Further reading

  1. Vasatatvar Ruprekha/ Dr. K.P. Sinha, Silchar, 1977
  2. Manipuri jaatisotta bitorko: ekti niropekkho paath /Ashim Kumar Singha, Sylhet,2001
  3. G.K. Ghose / Tribals and Their Culture in Manipur and Nagaland, 1982
  4. Raj Mohan Nath / The Background of Assamese Culture, 2nd edn, 1978
  5. Sir G. A. Grierson / Linguistic Survey of India, Vol-5,1903
  6. Dr. K.P. Sinha / An Etymological Dictionary of Bishnupriya Manipuri, 1982
  7. Dr. M. Kirti Singh / Religious developments in Manipur in the 18th and 19th centuuy, Imphal, 1980
  8. Singha, Jagat Mohan & Singha, Birendra / The Bishnupriya Manipuris & Their Language, silchar, 1976
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