Socio-Cultural Life of Meitei Pangal (Manipuri Muslim) in Manipur

Abstract

Royal Chronicles of Manipur, Cheitharol Kumbaba recorded that Meitei Pangal started settlement in the valley of Manipur from the reign of King Khagemba (1597- 1652). They are the second largest community next to Meitei and assimilated into Meitei society by marrying Meitei women. Manipuri Language (Meiteilon) is considered their mother tongue. They adopted the Meitei way of living, though they adopted Islam as religion and strictly follow the Islamic norms and personal laws. The paper is an attempt to highlight the socio-cultural life of Meitei Pangal such as family, marriage, birth and death, beliefs and practices, etc. This work is qualitative research based largely on open ended interviews, oral discussions and other secondary sources such as Royal Chronicles (Cheitharol Kumpaba and Ningthourol Lampuba), Puyas (archaic manuscripts), journals, books etc.