The Khamba Thoibi Sheireng, also spelled as the Khamba Thoibi Seireng (), is a Classical Meitei language

epic poem In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard to ...

based on the ancient love story of Khuman prince Khamba and Moirang princess Thoibi of Ancient Moirang kingdom of Ancient Kangleipak (early

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

). It is the

magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

of Hijam Anganghal, the "Bard of Samurou". It is regarded as the

national epic A national epic is an epic poem or a literary work of epic scope which seeks to or is believed to capture and express the essence or spirit of a particular nation—not necessarily a nation state, but at least an ethnic or linguistic group wi ...

of the Manipuris. It is regarded as the greatest of all the epic poems in Meitei literature, with 39,000 verses, thereby being the third longest Indian epic poem, next to the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

and the

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

. The Khamba Thoibi Sheireng is often considered to be in a status of “ mahakavya” (), and its author Hijam Anganghal as a “ mahakavi” (). For composing the epic, Anganghal was honoured by the

Manipuri Sahitya Parishad The Manipuri Sahitya Parishad () is a literary council dedicated to the active promotion and the development of literary works in the Meitei language in India. in national as well as international levels. It has its branches in the Manupur citi ...

, with the title “Kabiratna” in 1948. The epic saga is based on the ancient classic of

Khamba and Thoibi The ancient legend of Khamba and Thoibi () is a classic, as well as one of the epic cycles of incarnations of Meitei mythology and folklore, that is originated from Ancient Moirang kingdom of Ancient Kangleipak (early Manipur). It is referr ...

, also referred to as the ''"National Romantic Legend of Manipur"'' by Suniti Kumar Chatterjee, as well as one of the 7 epic cycles of incarnations, constituting the Moirang Kangleirol of Ancient Moirang. Another remarkable achievement of Meitei cultural heritage, directly related to the Khamba Thoibi epic poem, is '' Khamba Thoibi Jagoi'' (), also known as ''Khamba Thoibi ballet'', which is a traditional Meitei ritualistic and

theatrical Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communic ...

classical dance form, a part and parcel of the

Lai Haraoba Lai Haraoba (, ), also known as Umang Lai Haraoba, is a classical,———— ritualistic, theatrical dance and music festival, annually celebrated by the Meitei people, to please the Umang Lai deities of the traditional Meitei religion (San ...

performances, performed in honour of God , the national deity of Ancient Moirang realm. Notably, it is one of the classical cultural elements, giving inspirations to the rise of the

Manipuri Raas Leela Manipuri dance, sometimes also referred to as the Manipuri Raas Leela (), is a jagoi and is one of the major Indian classical dance forms, originating from the state of Manipur. It is one of the Meitei intangible cultural heritage. The "Ma ...

classical dance drama form.

Textual history

The

of the Khamba Thoibi Sheireng was developed by Hijam Anganghal from the "pena sheishak" style of the traditional ballads () sung by

minstrel A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. The term originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist enter ...

s with

pena (musical instrument) Pena is a string instrument, mono string instrument falling in the lute category, slightly similar to some of the traditional Indian stringed musical instruments such as the ravanahatha, ''ubo'' or the ''kenda''. It is the traditional musical ...

. It was adapted from the traditional Meitei

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

known as the " Khamba Thoibi ballad", which is practised even in present times, for a continuous duration of 20–30 days in diverse musical genres. The Khamba Thoibi Sheireng is regarded as the

masterpiece A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

of Hijam Anganghal. The literary work was started in the year 1939 and it was completed in the year 1940.

Synopsis

Khuman Khamba Khuman Khamba or Moirang Khamba is a hero in Meitei folklore. He belongs to the Khuman dynasty, Khuman clan (). He is the hero as well as the protagonist of the Meitei epic poetry, epic poem ''Khamba Thoibi'' of the Moirang Shayon legends in t ...

was a terrae filius, brought up by his elder sister Khamnu, who spared no pains for his safety and well-being. By the time he became a youth, he wanted to be of some help to his sister and came out in search of work. On the day he first moved out of his house, he happened to enter the residence of prince Chingkhu Akhuba, the younger brother of King Chingkhu Telheiba, with its imposing house and spacious premises and there for the first time saw princess Thoibi, the only daughter of the prince, plying her needle in embroidery. The moment she saw Khamba, handsome and shapely in physique, she gave her heart away to him. But on the part of Khamba, at first he could not harbour such sentiments as he was conscious of his humble origin. Another man, Nongban, worked as a foil to Khamba. For a long time, there was no one in Moirang to beat him in race,

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

and

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

, but with the appearance of Khamba, he is defeated and deprived of this honour. At first, the prince took kindly to Khamba, and despite his offer to maintain the young man in his family, the latter insisted on singing for his supper which he did by tending the stall-fed fierce bull of the prince. As everybody was curious of Khamba's physical prowess, his sister then kept him in hiding for a while. Thoibi is heart-brokened and pines after him. From the grace of God Thangching, the two meet again on the Loktak lake. Their love is steady until the recalcitrant behaviour and overzealous stance of Thoibi provokes her father to come in the way of the lovers in league with Nongban. Khamba's gradual rise in popularity among the people, winning of the King's favour with the recognition of his identity on account of his superhuman feats in sports and capturing a wild bull singlehanded further enraged the prince. A murder attempt was made on his life and subsequently Thoibi was sent to exile. However, this act could not, in the least, crush the heart of the lover. Thoibi, on her being called back from disgrace, had the opportune moment of joining with her love. Before the actual marriage took place and in a trial of fate, Nongban fell prey to a tiger which Khamba could overcome.

Structure

The epic consists of approximately thirty four thousand lines divided into 81 sections (tangkaks) in 15 chapters (pandups).

Analysis

While analysing the Khamba Thoibi Seireng,

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ( , lit. "Lotus Grandeur") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons w ...

awardee Indian Bengali scholar Suniti Kumar Chatterji commented on Hijam Anganghal, the author and the epic, like this: {{Quote, "I think the entire work should be published and that will at once raise the prestige and dignity of Manipuri literature; and an abstract of the poem in English with translations of typical passages, and a critical study of it, will be desideratum in Indian literature bringing home to the rest of India and to the world what important things, important from the point of view of voicing the aspirations, the ideals and the social and cultural milieu of a whole people are being done in this distant corner of India. The position of our Poet is comparable to that of Rabindranath Tagore in Bengali and Modern Indo-Aryan literature.", Suniti Kumar Chatterji Writing on Akashwani

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

(AIR), L. Damodar Singh said about the literary work as: {{Blockquote, “It is one of the finest stories in literature produced by the Sino-Tibetan people in India.”
. . .
“A gem of a literature which may be compared to any great epic rediscovers the glory of ancient Moirang, the cradle of Manipuri civilisation. It is truly an epic, dignified and elaborate with epic breadth of vision, richness of details, directness of ideas and a faithful portrayal of national life and manners.”, L. Damodar Singh,

(AIR) Some scholars compare the Khamba Thoibi Seireng with the Shahnamah, the national epic of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and the Kalevale, the national epic of

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, as well as the Sigurd the Volsung by

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

Translations

{{Further, Khamba and Thoibi#Editions The poem was translated into English by Dr. Jodhachandra Sanasam in 2017, for which he received the prestigious Nongthombam Kunjamohan Singh Translation Award 2017, bestowed by the Sahitya Thoupanglup.

Public response

In the year 2014, an academic symposium on the topic ''"Khamba Thoibi Seirengda Mityeng Ama"'' ({{langx, mni, {{script, Mtei, ꯈꯝꯕ ꯊꯣꯏꯕꯤ ꯁꯩꯔꯦꯡꯗ ꯃꯤꯠꯌꯦꯡ ꯑꯃ, , A perspective on the Khamba-Thoibi Poem), regarding the epic poetry of Hijam Anganghal, was organised by ''"Nongchup Haram Khorjei Lup"'' (NAHAKHOL) at Public Theatre Hall, Nambol Phoijing in Bishnupur district. A book titled ''"Khamba-Thoibi Seirengda Mityeng"'' was also published by NAHAKHOL on the occasion. The "Hijam Anganghal Singh Memorial Lecture 2020-21" was organised at the Artistes’ Dormitory of the Directorate of Arts and Culture in

Imphal Imphal (; , ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (officially known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the former Kingdom of Manipur, surrounded by a ...

by the Manipur State Kala Akademi. In the event, scholars discussed about the "Khamba Thoibi Sheireng", as a great contribution of Hijam Anganghal to Meitei literature, that justifiably earned him the title " Mahakavi" ({{translation, classical poet).

In popular culture

{{Further, Khamba and Thoibi#In popular culture * ''"Khamba Thoibi"'' ({{langx, mni, {{script, Mtei, ꯈꯝꯕ ꯊꯣꯏꯕꯤ ) is a 1997

Meitei language Meitei (; ) also known as Manipuri ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur and an additional official language in four districts of Assam. It is one of the scheduled ...

feature film, based on the epic story by Hijam Anganghal, produced by Moirangthem Nilamani Singh for Anjana Films, and directed by M. Nilamani Singh.{{Cite web , date=16 March 2016 , title=Manipuri Feature Films 1972 1997 - E-rang Classic :: E-pao Movie Channel , url=http://erang.e-pao.org/Classic/write/Manipuri_Feature_Films_1972_1997.php , access-date=31 December 2022 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316224420/http://erang.e-pao.org/Classic/write/Manipuri_Feature_Films_1972_1997.php , archive-date=16 March 2016 , quote=30. Khamba Thoibi, 1997. 35mm colour. Based on a story by Hijam Anganhal. Produced by Moirangthem Nilamani Singh for Anjana Films. Direction: M.Nilamani Singh. Screenplay: M.Ibempishak. Music: A.Shyam. Casts: M.Amirkumar, M.Ashwinikumar, Sarjubala and others.

Bibliography

* Khamba Thoibi Seireng, by Hijam Anganghal Singh, 1986 * Moirang Kangleirol, Khuman Khamba Seitharon, by Laisram Mangi Singh, 1980 * Khamba Thoibi Seireng Ahumsuba Saruk, by Hijam Anganghal
Full text of "Khamba Thoibi" and poems of Manipur
* Samukhonggi Bichar, by Hijam Anganghal Singh, 1997
Hijam_Anganghal_Singh, by Elangbam Dinamani
* Abridged from T. C. Hodson's "The Meitheis", 1908

Notes

{{Notelist

References

{{Reflist

External links

{{Commons category, Khamba Thoibi Sheireng {{Wikiquote, Khamba Thoibi {{Portal bar, Asia, Arts, Books, Civilization, History, India, Language, Literature, Linguistics, Myanmar, Mythology, Poetry, Politics, Religion, Royalty, Society {{Authority control Epic cycles of incarnations History of Manipur Indian literature Meitei culture Meitei folklore Meitei literature