Opinion Lost and revived: The story of Meitei script

The Meiteilon (Manipuri language) script is fairly old. According to Mutua Bahadur of Mutua Museum, which houses artefacts from all over Manipur, there are coins dating back to the reign of Meidingu Ura Konthouba (568-658) and Meidingu Ayangba (821-910) — ‘Meidingu’ are kings who belong to the Ningthouja clan whose rule extends from 33 AD to 1949 AD. The earliest epigraphic record of the script is a stone inscription from Khoibu village which was erected on the orders of Meidingu Kiyamba (1467-1508).

The Meitei Mayek or Meitei script evolved with time and this led to conflict between various proponents. The inscriptions on the coins of the 7th and 8th Century were perhaps in the 18-letter script, which, with the advent of Hinduism in the 17th century during the reign of Meidingu Pamheiba (1709-1748), was perhaps expanded to the 36-letter script. In fact, most of the archaic puya or manuscripts now available were written in this script. Since the texts were written on palm leaves or paper which are perishable, fresh copies were made now and then and during the process, new scripts and vocabulary were perhaps added or replaced the old ones.

With the advent of Hinduism, Bengali scripts became so popular that stone inscriptions in the 18th and 19th century were in Bengali script. However, it was believed that Meitei Mayek was taught in a school that G H Damant, the officiating political agent of British India, started sometime in 1877 but which folded up soon. When formal education was started by Sir James Johnstone in 1885, the Bengali script slowly became popular.

During the reign of Maharaja Sir Churachand (1891-1941) in the early 20th century, a discussion was reportedly held on which script of Manipuri to use — Bengali or Roman. Since most of the literate Manipuri then were educated in Sylhet, Dacca or Calcutta, it was decided to adopt the Bengali script as the Meitei Mayek was no longer in popular use.

A movement to revive the Meitei Mayek started in the 1930s and gathered strength in the 1950s. The generation of this writer learnt the 36-letter script in the late 1960s and early 1970s. An Expert Committee was formed to suggest the script for Meiteilon and on their recommendation, in 1977, the 27-letter script was approved by the State Government. When this writer learnt the old 36-letter script, the sound is Ka, Kha, Ga but with the 27-letter script, it is Kok, Sam, Lai.

The Manipur Official Language Act, 1979, was enacted with the definition of Manipuri language as “Meiteilon written in Bengali script and spoken by the majority of Manipuri population”. By a Cabinet decision taken on May 18, 2005, Manipuri written in Meitei Mayek was introduced in schools and by now, it is taught even at the university level, replacing Bengali script.

By an Amendment Act of 2021, the definition of “Manipuri language” in the Official Language Act was modified as “Meiteilon in Meetei Mayek and spoken by the majority of Manipur population” with a proviso that for 10 years, both the Bengali and Meitei Mayek scripts shall be allowed. New books are being brought out in both Bengali and Meitei Mayek side by side, though that has pushed up costs.

Now, the last bastion of the Bengali script, the vernacular press, is under pressure to switch over to the Meitei Mayek from January 15, 2023. Though this is a continuation of the movement for the popularisation of the approved script, it may sound a death knell for the vernacular press. The reason is that while the tech-savvy Gen Z source their information online, the 50-plus, who depend on vernacular newspapers, are not familiar with the Meitei script. This older generation will be forced to turn to local visual media and English papers for their news once printing in the Bengali script is stopped. The lone Meitei Mayek paper in Manipur hardly sells a few hundred copies. The victims will be the readers who will be deprived of topical, analytical reports in newspapers.

What is urgently required is the transcription of books written in Bengali script, which forms the body of Manipuri literature, into Meitei Mayek for younger generations. The rich collection of literary works, which is the mainstay of Manipuri literature, will be unread in the future if this is not done urgently.

The writer is a retired civil servant based in Imphal