1. "There can be no reasonable doubt that a great Aryan wave of very pure blood passed through Manipur into Burma in pre historic time. I see traces of this in the finely cut features seen now and then among the Manipuris" - Gazetteer of Manipur by Captain E. W. Dun, Page 15.
2. " A tribe known as Mayang speaks a mongrel form of Assamese known by the same name..They are also known as 'Bishnupuria Manipuris or Kalisa Manipuris" - Linguistic Survey of India, 1891. Compiled by Sir G. A. Greirson, Vol V, Page 419
3. "They (Mayangs) amongst themselves speak their own language, which is dialact of Hindee" - An account of the Valley of Manipore by Mc. Cullock, 1849.
4.  " There is,moreover, an Aryan dialect called Mayang still spoken in Manipur, the headquarters of which are two or three plain villages near Bishnupur " - Gait's History of Assam  by Shri Padmanath Vidyavinode,1908.
5. "By degrees the Meiteis became dominant and that name was appliled to the entire colony. It is highly probable that these hordes oven-an a country that had been previously occupied by people of Aryan blood known in Western India and to the bards...The present population of Manipur includes a tribe called Meiung 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 E.T. Dalton, 1872, page 48,49.
6. " There is a also a degraded class called the Kalachya or Bishnupuria ..They speak a language which is different from that of the true Manipuris" - Assam Census Report by Gait.
7. "Mayang,one of the language spoken in the polyglot state of Manipur, May, however, be classed as a dialect of this language" - Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol I, 1907.
8. " In 627 A.D. Khgenba introduced the Meitai Language as court language in place of Bishnupriya or Kala-chaia language."- The Background of Assamese culture by  Raj Mohan Nath,, page-87).
9. "Among the manipuris there is community called Mayang Kalichas who are more dark skinned than the Meiteis" - Religion and Culture of Manipur by Dr. M. Kirti Singh,1988,page 53.
10. "It is quite probable that Khala-chais are the first cultural race in possession of the Manipur valley, and they were connected more with the neighboring kingdom of Kamrupa than with other countries, and that is why their language is more akin to Kamrupi" - The Background of Assamese culture by R. M. Nath, 2nd edn. 1978, page 86.
11. "Among the Kshatriyas there is a community known as Vishnupriya( Vishnupuria) Manipuris." - Religious development in Manipur in the 18th and 19th Century/ Dr M Kirti singh, page 20
12. ".. So. in Manipur in spite of Devanagari scripts which the kala-chaias might have been using, the Meitai when they came into power introduced the new scripts." -The Background of Assamese culture by R. M. Nath, 2nd edn. 1978, page 90.
13.  " The Manipuris who have been Hinduised are worshippers of Bishnu" - Sylhet District Gazetteer, 1970, page 105.
14. " Manipuris are divided into two sections: Khalachaia or Bishnupriya and Meitei" (English rendering from original Bengali ) - Aranya Janapadey by Abdus Satter, 1974, page 296.
15. " Bishnupuria Manipuris identifies themselves as Ksatriyas; they are pure Vaishnavs; they do not even touches wine or meat"(English rendering from original Bengali) - Purbobongo O Assam by Shri Krishna Mohan Dhar, 1909, page 106,107.
16. " Except the Bengali speaking Hindus and Muslims,there is two community in Barak valley called Bishnupriya Manipuri and Meitei Manipuri. The difference of languages exists in these communities." (English rendering from original Bengali ) - Weekly Desh, june 19, 1989 , An article by Dr. Dhirendra Narayan Majumdar.
17. "Manipuri is another cast of this region. They are divided into two tribes - Bishnupriya and Meitei." (English rendering from original Bengali ) -Report of National Aboriginal Roundtable Meeting, Dhaka, Page 32.
18. "These people had Indo-Aryan features and called themselves Bishnupriyas. Long before their exodus they had lost control of Manipur to the rival clan of Meiteis. In their adopted land their lives and limbs were safe; but their language and culture began to lose ground against those of the majorette. Meanwhile, the Meiteis in Manipur became vindictive and imposed a de facto ban on Bishnupriya language and custom. The Bishnupriya Manipuris were caught between a rock and a hard place. Today, young Manipuris are no longer sure of their cultural identity." -An Article By Syed Zainul Akmal Al-Mahmood , Published in the Daily Star Weekend Magazine in the Jan 21st issue, 2000.
19. "The manipuris residing in Cachar district are divided into two distinct Sub-groups, viz, Meithie and Bishnupriya" - Letter of Commissioner for Linguistic minorities in India, dtd 29 August,1973
20. " The Bishnupriya are known as the Khala chais.They were the first ruling race of Manipur." (English rendering from original Bengali ) - Aranya Janapadey by Abdus Satter, 1974, page 297.
21. " The Manipuris divided into three main groups - Bishnupriya, Meitei and Pangans" (English rendering from original Bengali ) - Moulvibazar Zelar Jonojibon by Prof Rasamoy Mohanto, Page 86.
22. " Probably most controversial class of people having no homeland of their own, subsequently loosing their identities are the Bishnupriya Manipuris" - Tribals and their Culture in Manipur and Nagaland by G. K. Ghose. Page 169.

Manipuri denotes two linguistic groups: Meitei and Bishnupriya Manipuri

The " Manipuri" Question

In the post Sixties, with the power of the Manipur State behind them, the Meitei clan has been waging an organized campaign to discredit and disown the Bishnupriya counterparts. There have been suggestions that Bishnupriya was never the language of Manipur and Meitei is the "Real" Manipuri language. These assertions are contradicted by historical and anthropological evidence. Unfortunately some writers have repeated the 'Official' Manipuri line without thought or reason. For example, Gait's - Assam Census Report states "There is a also a degraded class called the Kalachya or Bishnupuria ..They speak a language which is different from that of the true Manipuris". Now it is reasonable to ask what was the basis of giving a linguistic a nomenclature  like "True Manipuris" or "False Manipuris".  The 1968 Language Bill passed by the Manipur Government making Meitei (A kuki-chin word) synonymous to Manipuri (An Aryan word) and the inclusion of Meitei language as the Manipuri language in eight schedule of the Indian constitution by the Indian Government was sufficient to damage the ethnical and cultural identity of the Bishnupriya Manipuri speaking people residing in Manipur, Assam and Tripura. The Bishnupriyas think that was completely unjustified to give the nomenclature to Meitei as Manipuri, where in the Linguistic Survey of India , the only basis of language classification Dr. G.A. Grierson described the Bishnupriyas As "Bishnupriya Manipuri". They think that is also illegal and irrelevant to consider only the Meitei language as "Manipuri" language where, in the statistics of School board, Cachar during British regime, in the Census report of India 1961 and in the Census Report of India 1971, the main heading "Manipuri" was sub-divided into Meitei and Bishnupriya and the nomenclature "Bishnupriya Manipuri" was strongly defended.

 

Places Where Bishnupriya Manipuri is Spoken

Bishnupriya Manipuri was originally confined only to the surroundings of the Lake Loktak in Manipur. The principal localities where this language was spoken are now known as Khangabok, Heirok, Mayang Yamphal, Bishnupur, khunan, Ningthankhong, Ngakhong,Thamnapoxpi and so on. However, later a great majority of speakers fled away from Manipur and took refuge in Assam,Tripura, Sylhet and Cachar during eighteen and nineteenth century due to internal conflicts among the prices 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 face of the impact of Meitei, although Dr. G.A. Grierson, in 1891 found the existence of a considerable number of speakers in two or three villages near Bishnupur, locally known as Lamangdong.( LSI, Vol -V, Page 419). This Language is now spoken in parts of Assam, Tripura, Manipur( Jiribam Sub-division) in India ,in Bangladesh, in Burma and other overseas countries.

Bangladesh

Among the countries outside India, Bangladesh has the major Bishnupriya Manipuri population. The localities are Slipur, Madhavpur, Tilakpur (Nagar), Kalaraibil, Bhanubil(Banughas), Guramara, Charapathari, Baghbati, Baligaon, Teteigaon, Mahung, Hiramati, Bendaria, Ghanashyampur, Chunarughat, Baram, Majergaon, Baluchar, Lakhat, Rajbari, Machimpur(Sylhet city), Lamabazar, North Tilakpur or Alipur, Guler Haour, Shimutala, Bamangaon, Gobindabari, Bhandari, Shukkur, Ulla-gaon, Chaygaii, Kalibari, Chaigaon, Fultali, East Tilakpur (Paligo), Digalbhag etc. Besides, there are a considerable number of the Bishnupriyas Manipuris living scatteredly in the local headquarters cities like Kamalganj, Khuwaighat, Rangamati of the CWttagoan Hill Tracts and also at Tezgaon, Manipuri-para of Dacca, the capital city of Banglades.

Assam:

There are a large number of Bishnupriya Manipuri people settled  in Assam ages ago, particularly in the districts of Cachar,Karimganj and Hailakandi. This people are counted as one of the major group of people in Cachar and Karimganj districts.

 Cachar district

 i) NarsingpurPargona: T'he Bishnupriya Manipuri village of the Narsingpur Pargona includes South Bekirpar(Gudamghat or Panibhora) Rengti, Shantipur, Bhatirgram, Khunou, T'uk Gossaipur, Ratanpur, Katakhal (East), Katakhal (West), Narnita Nagar (South-East Katakhal), Hingor Haour, Kala Haour, Rakhaltdla, Dulalgram and Malugram.

 ii)MeherpurPargona: East Singari, West Singari, Bhagatpur, Chandrapur, Rengti, Bhagadahar, Nuwalam, Kalinjar, Mungor Dharam, Pithir Dharam, Chengcoorie and Kabirgang etc.

iii)JatrapurPargona: Srikona, Machughat or Ng@ongang, Dutpatil or Durpatuli, Machiinpur, Aat Dabol, Rajnagar and Bhagorangon.

iv) Silchar city: Silchar, the district head quarter of Cachar, Assam witnessed Bishnupriya Manipuri bases at Bishnupur, Vivekananda Road, Jalupara, Police Lane, Reserve, Itkhola, Malugram,Tikorbasti, Ranghirkhari, Ghunghur and other parts of the city. Duwarbond has its Bishnupriya Manipuri people there.

v) Bikrampur Pargona: Bikrainpur, Lakshmipur Sydpur, Kalain, Baropuwa or Bhubaneshwar Nagar, Bihara: Tengaragang, Burunga, Longhor, Bilorgang, Mohanpur, Sayaran and Dutpur .

Hailakandi district

In Hailakandi district, the population has a root at Hailakandi town, Sunapur, Khunou, Kshumel collectively known as Japirbond. Katakhal (Railway Jgn.), Nandirgang, Andurgang, a part of Chengcoorie and Chungduwar are included in the Hailakandi district.

Karimganj district

Karimganj district of Assam has much more Bishnupriya Manipuri villages than that of Cachar and Hailakandi. The thickly populated laociities of the district are Garerbond, Ardpur, Kukitilla, ali, Fechuakandi, Andhurgang, Amurkhal, Dhalibil, Panchd, Pechala, Tingari, Betubari, Dullabchera , UHasnagar, Khiluwa, Fbon, Aringtilla, B askaltitta, Chamtilla, East Krishnapur, West Krishnapur, Gergoang, Rupa, Fetipat, Butuchera and Bidyanagar at the Dullabcher zone of the district, while Pratapgarh zone of the district has its Bishnupriya Manipuri populated villages of Patherkandi, Rajargang, Kachubari, Unam, Betarbon, Jrala, Katabari, Lakshmi Mamila, Bitorgol, Kanai, Nuwagang, Bazarichara, Hatikhira, Bilbari, Khalibari, SataraLokei, Burunga, Luwarpuwa, Shiborkhol or Shiborgol, Betubari, Kehurgang, Rengti, Katabari, Seipargang, Soura Lokei, Mambari, Pagang, Nalugang, Nalibari, Hingari, Paruwagang, Tinokhal, Kehurgang, Barkaligang, Narayanpur and Kholapar etc. Karimganj town, the district headquarter, had also a small Bishnupriya Manipuris population. Pipala, Rangamati,. Damchera, Uzan, Bali Pipala, Ishabeel and Nurkha falls under Rangamati sub-area.

Guwahti, the State capital of Assam, it has a number of Bishnupriya Manipuri population much more then the Meiteis. They are residing at Maligaon, Sudarshanpur, Tetelia, Hengrabari, Kahilipara, Chailha Nagar, Bamuni Maidan, Beltola, Mmapara, Rehabari, Birbari, Dakshmin Gaon, Kalapahar, Noonmati, Narengi, Basistha, Tarun nagar, Shaktigarh, Rupnagar, Azara, Pandu, Mathuranagar, Motoria, Choymal, Rajgarh road, Christianbasti, Ganeshguri, Jatia, Nayanpur, South Sharamya, West Sharaniya, Katilakuchi, Bakrapara and other places. Halfong town and its adjacent places of N.C.Hills district of Assam has a considerable Bishnupriya Manipuri population there. In Nowgaon district a place named Laupam and in Suntipur district a village called Majbat (Chatribari) has also a small Bishnupriya Manipuri population there.

Tripura

In Tripura, the Bishnupriya Manipuri population localities may be divided into Dharmanagar sub-area, Kailasahar sub-area, Kamaipur sub-area and West Tripura sub-area. Dharmanagar sub-area consists with Bhagyapur, Ragana, West Ragana, Huruwa, North-East Huruwa, East Huruwa, South Huruwa, Chandrapur, Shanichera, Bhumihin Patty, Rajbari, Kherengjuri, Joynagar, Nadiyapur, Dewchera, Ramnagar, Panisagar, Sundibasa, Narendranagar, Radhekishorepur and Bainunia. Kailasahar sub-area Bishnupriya Manipuri villages are Nidevi, Assainbasti, Radhanagar, Krishnagar (Gandhari tilla), Krishnanagar (imjhargang), Sripur, Kailasahar town, Paitur Bazar (Padmar-Par), Tilakpur, Guldarpur, North Guldarpur, Choudhurypara, Kirtantali, Bidyanagar, Ishabpur, Mashawli (Tilla), Rajnagar, Banorgang, Kanchanbari, West Kanchanbari, -North-East Kanchanbari, Manu, Betchara, East Betchara, Natun. Bazar, Kanchanchara, Nepaltilla(Bazar), Indranagar, Bhumlbin COlOney, Tmghari (Kathalchara), East Kawlftm, West Kawai, Bhati Jalai, Uzan Jalai, Jalai, Bilaspur, Pechardahar, Mohanpur, East Fultaii, West Fultali, Devipur, Dhanbilasb, Jarafltali, Dalgoan and Guldarpur Nayapara--Kamaipur sub-area Bishnupriya Manipuri populated villages are Abhanga, Bar Lutma, Devichara, East Devichara9 Chankap, Bhumihin, Halhali (Hal, Lutma Colony, Jainthum, Tilagaon, Mohanpur, Rupaspur, Guwalmara and Gangwar. West tripura sub-area Bishnupriya Manipuri villages are Khas Kalyanpur, Kuwai, Kalkalia, Aga including Radhanagar, Abhynagar, Dhaleswar, Banainalipur, Barduwali, Kasba Colony, Gopinagar and  Rangapaniya.

Meghalaya

In Meghalaya, it has also Bishnupriya Manipuri population living scatteredly in the State. The localities are Forest Colony, Pynthorumkhra, Mulki, Dhanksheti, Vishnupur, Laitumkhra, Umpling, Oakland, PoliceBazarAluGudam,Nongthymau,Assam Rifle, Happy Valley, Tura, Langol, Gorampani, Nongpoh, Dawki, Cherapunjee, Mawsynram, Khleriat, Jowai and Laldrhymbai.



Foreign Countries

In Myanmar  Tbangdut, Mawa Kalewa and Bumnuk etc. are  the Bisbnupriya Manipuri localities. And in case of the United States of America, Canada, Germany, Middle East and Austria, there are very few Bishnupriya Manipuris recently settled there for earning a living there.