India's Northeast Frontier — the ancient Meitei capital where the Battle of Imphal in 1944 turned the Second World War in the Asia-Pacific, Loktak Lake's floating phumdis shelter the last wild brow-antlered deer, and women run the market
Imphal is the capital of Manipur — one of India's seven 'Seven Sisters' northeastern states, tucked between Myanmar, Nagaland, and Mizoram in some of the most geographically isolated terrain in Asia. The city sits in a broad valley at 790 m elevation surrounded by forested hills, and is the cultural centre of the Meitei people — whose classical dance (Manipuri), polo (claimed to be the origin of the modern game), and Vaishnavite temple traditions distinguish them sharply from the rest of India. The Battle of Imphal (March–July 1944) was one of the most decisive engagements of the Second World…
The Meitei kingdom of Kangleipak has a documented history extending back to the 1st century CE — it was never absorbed into any of the major Indian empires (Maurya, Gupta, Mughal) and maintained a continuous royal dynasty until the 20th century. The Meitei converted from indigenous Sanamahism to Vaishnavite Hinduism in the early 18th century under the influence of Bengali missionaries — a conversion enforced by the king that remains contested; traditional Sanamahi religion survives alongside Hinduism. The Burmese invaded and occupied Manipur in the 1819–1826 'Seven Years' Devastation', killin…