Churachandpur ( IPA: ''/tʃʊRVːˌtʃaːnɗpʊr/),'' locally known as Lamka is the second largest town in the Indian state of

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 ...

and the district headquarters of the

Churachandpur district Churachandpur District (Meitei language, Meitei pronunciation: ''/tʃʊraːˌtʃaːnɗpʊr/''), is one of the 16 List of districts of Manipur, districts of the Indian state of Manipur populated mainly by Kuki-Zo people. The name honours former M ...

. The name "Churachandpur" was transferred from the earlier headquarters of the region at Songpi to the present location, and honours Churachand Singh, former maharaja of the Manipur princely state. The local people reject the name as a colonial imposition and prefer using the native name "Lamka". Churachandpur is not a statutory town and does not have a municipality. It is governed by the Autonomous District Council of the Churachandpur district.

Name

The name "Chura Chandpur" was originally given to the village of Songpi in 1921, where the British Raj administration had previously established a subdivision office. The name was coined in honour of Churachand Singh, the reigning maharaja of the Manipur princely state at that time. The Khuga river valley, the present site of Churachandpur was forested and mostly uninhabited at that time. In 1930, the Sub-Divisional Officers (S.D.O.'s) were withdrawn due to dearth of staff and the subdivision was administered directly from Imphal. The Songpi/Churachandpur office fell into disuse. Around the time of Indian independence, the new administration set up under the Manipur State Constitution decided to establish administrative circles in the state, with one of them based at Churachandpur. Finding that the old offices at Songpi were unusable, they decided to build a new town near Hiangtam Lamka, under the name "New Churachandpur". This eventually gave the name Churachandpur to the entire area, at least in the official parlance. The village called Hiangtam Lamka was established in the 1920s. It was at the junction ("lamka" in

Kuki-Chin languages The Kuki-Chin languages (also called Kukish or South-Central Tibeto-Burman languages) are a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family spoken in northeastern India, western Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh. Most notable Kuki-Chin-speaking ...

) of the Hiangtam Road the British laid during the Kuki Rebellion of 1917–1919, and the pre-existing Tipaimukh Road. With the rise of new villages surrounding it after the independence, the whole area came to be called "Lamka". The local people are said to have always used the name "Lamka" for the town in preference to "Churachandpur". With the rise of ethnic tensions during the 2023–2025 Manipur violence, the Kuki-Zo people have increasingly spurned the name "Churachandpur".

Geography

The Churachandpur town is in the valley of Khuga River (called "Lamka plain"), which flows north from the southern border of the state towards the Imphal Valley. The town is at the intersection of two roads: the Tedim Road, which runs from the Manipur state capital

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 ...

to the Tedim Town in the

Chin State Chin State (, ) is a state in western Myanmar. Chin State is bordered by Sagaing Division and Magway Division to the east, Rakhine State to the south, the Chattogram Division of Bangladesh to the west, and the Indian states of Mizoram to th ...

of Myanmar, and the Tipaimukh road that goes to Tipaimukh in the southwest corner of the state and continues on to

Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...

. The junction of the two roads is called "Lamka" in Kuki-Chiin languages. At present, the northern portion of the Tedim Road and the Tipaimukh Road make up the National Highway 2, connecting the states of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

, Manipur and

. In addition to these roads, the road to Sugnu via the Tuineng valley also leaves from the Churachandpur town. Churachandpur is a sprawling urban agglomeration, said to be the second largest town in Manipur. However it is not a statutory town and does not have a municipality. The region is divided into multiple villages and towns, under the supervision of the Autonomous District Council of the Churachandpur District. Notable among the towns are Hiangtam Lamka, west of Tedim Road, Zenhang Lamka, east of Tedim Road, and Rengkai to the southeast.

History

The Khuga River Valley, the location of the present-day Churachandpur Town, was forested and mostly uninhabited at the time of the Kuki Rebellion of 1917–1919. However, it was used for grazing mithuns (also called ''metna''), of which the chief of

Ukha Ukha ( ) is a clear Russian soup, made from various types of fish such as bream, wels catfish, northern pike, or even ruffe. It usually contains root vegetables, parsley root, leek, potato, bay leaf, dill, tarragon, and green parsley, ...

, was the largest owner in the area. Prior to the Kuki Rebellion, the British had also allowed some number of Nepali ex-servicemen to settle in the valley and use it for grazing cattle. The destruction caused by the cattle to the crops of the Kuki people in the surrounding areas was considered a significant grievance causing antipathy towards the British administration. The Nepalis were however loyal to the British, paid regular taxes, and also supplied ''

ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from South Asia. It is commonly used for cooking, as a Traditional medicine of India, traditional medicine, and for Hinduism, Hindu religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by ...

'' to the British troops. One of the first events of the Kuki Rebellion was to raid the Nepali graziers of the Khuga Valley on 28 December 1917, which was carried out by the Thadou and Zou tribes jointly. Also during the rebellion, the British constructed a road to

Hiangtam Hiangtam or Hengtam is a village in the Churachandpur district of Manipur, India. It is located in the southern part of the district in the Singngat, Singngat Subdivision. It was the site of fierce resistance during the Kuki Rebellion of 1917� ...

in the southern part of the subdivision, which branched off the Tipaimukh road at a location that came to be called "Lamka". ("Lamka" means junction in Kuki-Chin languages.) The original location was called "Hiangtam Lamka" and became the site of a new village. Eventually the whole plain in the Khuga River valley acquired the name "Lamka plain". During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the British constructed a motorable "Tedim Road" between Imphal and Tedim, extending the former Hiangtam Road. Seven decisive battles were fought along this road between the British 17 Indian Division and the Japanese 33 Division. The Japanese reached the Churachandpur area on 8 April 1944, and four battles were fought to the north of it, within Manipur, including one at Torbung. Eventually the Japanese were defeated at Imphal and withdrew from Manipur with heavy losses.

Independent period

In 1947, on the eve of Indian independence, the Maharaja of Manipur promulgated a

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

establishing a legislative assembly and a ministry. The new administration decided to form

circles A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is called the radius. The length of a line segment connecting t ...

for local administration, designating two of them as Churachandpur Circle and Thanlon Circle respectively. Finding that the old offices at Songpi had been reused for other purposes, in 1949, it decided to construct a town called "New Churachandpur" next to Hiangtam Lamka to serve as the headquarters for the Churachandpur Circle. After Manipur's merger with India, the subdivision structure was reinstated, including a Churachandpur Subdivision based at New Churachandpur. The name "New Churachandpur" was used for at least two decades, until 1969, when the subdivision was converted into a district. Tourist guide books continued to use the term well into the 1990s. Under the township of "New Churachandpur" the area grew rapidly. The 1971 census mentioned five areas comprising the town: # Churachandpur Headquarters – # Churachandpur Hill Town – # Hengtam Lamka (or Hiangtam Lamka, "Upper Lamka") – # Bijang Loubuk ("Lower Lamka") – # Rengkai – Bijang Loubuk was eventually renamed Zenghang Lamka, after the name of its founder Zenhang Valte. The Churachandpur Town was described as the third largest in Manipur in 1971. The town was however "denotified" in 1988 upon the recommendation of the Hill Areas Committee, and its area was placed under the Churachandpur Autonomous District Council. The 1991 census listed it as a Census Town, but the practice has since been discontinued. The whole area is considered "rural" for administrative purposes despite having clear urban characteristics. The 2011 census lists three census towns in the region, viz., Rengkai, Zenhang Lamka, and Hill Town (to the west of Hiangtam Lamka).

Demographics

The population of the Churachandpur Town is approximately 120,000 people. The majority of the population consists of Kuki-Zo people, with the dominant segment being the Paite tribe. The Paite language is considered the ''lingua franca'' of the town. The town also contains 18 villages (neighbourhoods) with Meitei populations, totalling approximately 8,350 people. Almost all the Meitei were internally displaced during the 2023–2024 Manipur violence.‘We were running for our lives’
Imphal Free Press, 15 September 2023.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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