Kom, the Foothill Tribeand their cultural affinities with the Meitei A rethinking on the Colonial Ethnography of Manipur

Abstract

One of the uniqueness of the state of Manipur is its mosaic culture which is the complex embodiment of different ethnoses. Throughout the long and glorious history of 2000 years of civilization, since 33 AD, the roles played by the Meiteis and many ethnic groups had also contributed their contributions in the making of this civilization. Over the centuries, different cultures have combined through many struggles to form the distinctive political and cultural identity of the Manipuri people. There are 33 scheduled tribes in Manipur recognised by the Government of India;Kom Tribe is one of them. The British Administrator-Anthropologists categorised Kom Tribes as one of the Old Kuki ethnic constellation. The paper attempts to explore the traditional social conditions that contributed a significant role in determining the position of the Kom tribe and their total socio-political system of contemporary Manipur and its cultural affinities with the Meiteis, the larger community of Manipur.