Ukhrul Travel and Tourism Guide

The history of Ukhrul is more appropriately the history of its inhabitants, the Tangkhul tribe. The Tangkhul belong to the great Mongolian race and are a part of the Sino-Tibetan family.

The Tangkhul tribe wasnot very known earlier until King Poireiton sighted them in the Manipur region. During the 2nd century A.D. they lived in Myanmar. After the invasion of Ko-lo-feng and I-mau-shun, they began to migrate to other territories during the late 8th century and the early 9thcentury A.D. They were further forced to move out by the Shan Kingdom towards the north west of Myanmar and a few of them also moved into Manipur and established their settlements. During this migration, a few of them moved towards east and southeast and were later known as Chinese. A few of them moved southward and were known as the tribes of Tibeto-Burman including the Tangkhul and other Naga sub tribes. This was their journey from China to Myanmar and then Manipur. They faced all natural and wild obstacles all the way. The Tangkhul villages were quite self-sufficient except for salt. They had a village head that took care of the day to day administration. But these small villages could not face invasions.

Historically, the Tangkhul villages began to gain popularity after the 13thcentury. They developed good trade and cultural relations with the nearby areas especially the Meiteis.

During the reign of the most powerful Meitei King Garib Nawaz (1709-1748) the Tangkhul settlements were declared as a part of Manipur territory. Ukhrul (Tangkhul settlement region) was invaded and captured by the Meitei king causing a lot of havoc in Ukhrul area. During the reign of King Bhagyachandra (1759-1762 and 1763-1798) the political condition of Ukhrul improved. They were friendly terms between the Tangkhul tribe and the Meiteis. King Bhagya chandra gave land to the Tangkhul tribe for establishing full-fledged villages in the valley. Trade improved between the two tribes.

After the Burmese war, when India and Burma attained independence, the Tangkhul tribes were split between the two countries. It was declared as a Sub-Division in 1919 during the British rule. It was later upgraded to a full-fledged district of manipur in November 1969 by the Government of India.