Songpi, at one time called "Churachandpur", is a village in 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 ...

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 ...

, India. It served as the headquarters of one of the first hill subdivisions established under the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

in the 1920s, which also came to be called the "Churachandpur Subdivision". Later, the Songpi cum "Churachandpur" village served as the headquarters of the Christian missionary organisation, North-East India General Mission (NEIGM). After the British departure, a new headquarters was built at "New Churachandpur" 6 km to the east (which became the presen-day Churachandpur Town), and Songpi reverted to a regular village. The area around the old headquarters is called the Mission Compound and listed in the census as a separate village.

Geography

Songpi is 6 km west of the Churachandpur Town on the Tipaimukh Road ( National Highway 2).

History

During the Kuki Rebellion of 1917-1919, the chief of Songpi, Semthong Haokip, refrained from taking part in the rebellion and was regarded as a "friendly" chief by the British. Songpi was also at a strategic height overlooking the valley leading to the

Thangjing Hill Thangjing Hill (also called Thangching Hill and Thangting Hill), Debanish AchomRow Over Cross And Flag Atop Manipur's "Sacred" Hill, Police Case Filed NDTV News, 6 October 2023. is a mountain peak in the Indian state of Manipur. It is in the Chu ...

, and used as the location of an

Assam Rifles The Assam Rifles (AR) is a paramilitary force of India responsible for border security, counter-insurgency, and maintaining law and order in Northeast India and in Jammu & Kashmir in lines of Rashtriya Rifles. Its primary duty involves guard ...

post.

Subdivision headquarters

After the rebellion, the British Raj decided to set up four subdivisions for the hill areas, one of which, the South-West Subdivision, was headquartered at Songpi. B. C. Gasper was appointed as the subvidivisional officer. In 1921, Gasper organised a feast to welcome back the labour corps workers that returned from

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, to which Maharaja Churachand Singh was invited. It was decided on that occasion to give the name "Churachandpur" to the Songpi village. T. Dongzakai Gangte
A brief history of Churachandpur
Churachandpur District magazine, 2008. (via Zogam.com, 22 July 2009). In due course, the subdivision headquartered here also came to be known as the "Churachandpur Subdivision". 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.

Churachandpur Mission

Subsequently the Manipur administration sold the buildings of the Sub-Divisional Office to the North-East India General Mission (NEIGM, a Christian mission). The Mission also acquired the land around the site from the chief of Songpi. A village grew up on this land, which continued to be called "Churachandpur", while the Songpi village reverted to its original name. The village was called "Churachandpur Mission" as late as 1971. It had twice the population of Songpi.District Census Handbook – Manipur South District
Director of Census Operations, Manipur, page 31.

Demographics

In the 2011 census, the Songpi village has a population of 554 people, and the village associated with the "Mission Compound" (Old Churachandpur) has a population of 116.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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