The Resilience of Indigenous Religion: A Struggle for Survival of Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak in Manipur

216 Pages·2022·9.412 MB·English

by  Samson Kamei

THE RESILIENCE OF INDIGENOUS RELIGION
The book is a sociological study of the resilience of Tingkao Ragwang
Chapriak – one of the indigenous religions of the Rongmei people of
Manipur. It examines the underlying factors contributing towards the
ability of the adherents of Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak to continue with
their religion despite stigmatisation, conversion and persecution by
sections of Christians.
This book reflects the contemporary relevance of the legacies of the
religious movements under Jadonang Malangmei and Rani Gaidinliu.
Thus, the book also examines the continuity between the past and the
present religious movements with complex underlying factors
contributing to the resilience of an indigenous religion. The Rongmei
people following Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak, a reformed religion, are
seen to be not shying away from changes in their religious beliefs and
practices. Interestingly, however, despite all the reformations consciously
heralded the idea of primordiality in the sense of unchanging is a sincere
atavism among the adherents of Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak.
Methodologically speaking, the emphasis of the book is on theoretical
and methodological triangulation. Both social change theory and social
identity theory are used to understand the resilience of the indigenous
faith of the Rongmei people amidst dominant Hindus and tribal
Christians. It is observed that the idea of change is indispensable in
understanding the resilience of an indigenous faith despite the
commonly held belief in the essentiality of primordiality in a religion.
The book is intended to serve the academic interests of researchers
working on indigenous religions.
Kamei Samson, also called Pouchalung Phaomei, is an Assistant
Professor in Govind Ballabh Pant Social Science Institute, Prayagraj.
He holds a doctoral degree in Social Work from the Tata Institute of
Social Sciences (Mumbai). He received fellowships from the ICSSR,
Indian Institute of Advanced Study and Nehru Memorial Museum &
Library. He studies religion, identity, social movements, racism and
social change from an interdisciplinary approach using sociological,
anthropological and social psychological concepts and theories.

The Resilience of

Indigenous Religion

A STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL OF

TINGKAO RAGWANG CHAPRIAK

IN MANIPUR

KAMEI SAMSON
MANOHAR
First published 2023
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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© 2023 Kamei Samson and Manohar Publishers
The right of Kamei Samson to be identified as author of this work has been asserted
in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
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Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh,
Pakistan or Bhutan)
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 9781032424491 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781032424507 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781003362814 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003362814
Typeset in Dante MT Std 11/13
by Ravi Shanker, Delhi 110095
Contents
Acknowledgements 7

Preface 9

1. Introduction 13

2. Rongmei People 42

3. Belief Systems of Rongmei 74

4. The Reformations 98

5. The Resilience of Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak 132

6. Situating the Theories 166

7. A Concluding Note 180

Appendices 189

Bibliography 197

Index 209

Acknowledgements

This book could see the light of publication primarily because of
the Indian Council of Social Science Research (New Delhi). The
conception of this book, though it happened sometime in 2016, was
on the day I was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship for this work
by the ICSSR, New Delhi for the period 2017-19. I acknowledge
and thank the ICSSR for its invaluable support rendered to me for
the production of this work. I also express my sincere gratitude
to Manipur University that provided me with the invaluable
opportunity to pursue my postdoctoral work under its esteemed
Department of Anthropology. My heartfelt gratitude to Prof
MC Arun of the Department of Anthropology who helped me
towards the successful completion of the work despite his many
responsibilities as the Head of the Department.
I cannot thank Dr Hanjabam Sukhdeba Sharma, Faculty in the
Department of Social Work, IGNTU (Manipur Campus), enough
for his invaluable advice.
I also thank all those elders and youth who tolerated my half-
baked knowledge about Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak and helped me
gain some more from each of them. I admire and also thank the
eloquence of Mr Chaoba Kamson, General-Secretary of Tingkao
Ragwang Chapriak (Assam, Manipur & Nagaland). His perennial
willingness to talk about Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak displayed his
confidence in his faith and identity and made our conversations
meaningful. Mr Khomeimacha Kamson was invariably ready to
quench my thirst for knowledge about the Rongmei people. His
insight into village traditional institutions and religion helped me
learn and unlearn many aspects of human society in general. I
also thank my friend John Gaingamlung Gangmei, Faculty in the
Department of Social Work, Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar
8 Acknowledgements
whose invariable prompt willingness to drag me along with him for
his PhD data collection always unfolded a priceless opportunity in
the field for me to learn about my people.
My family never failed to energise the human side of my being.
They always helped me to remain connected with my personal life
from where I drew immense moral strength to continue with my
academic endeavour.
Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh Kamei Samson
30 May 2022
Preface

The book is a sociological study of the resilience of Tingkao Rag­
wang Chapriak (TRC)—the indigenous religion of the Rongmei
people of Manipur. It examines the underlying factors contributing
towards the ability of the adherents of Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak
to continue with their religion despite stigmatisation, conversion
and persecution by sections of Christians. The Tingkao Ragwang
Chapriak among the Rongmei people in Manipur valley presents a
plethora of opportunities for a sociological study of religion. The
social and political functions of religion, especially in the context of
a high degree of pluralism in society, are illuminated in this study.
The book is intended to serve the academic interests of researchers
working on indigenous religions. The readership can also include
researchers and teachers working within an interdisciplinary domain
as besides qualitative and quantitative methods both sociological
and social-psychological theories are being used in this work.
The art of not writing is closely linked among the Rongmei people
with the art of oral traditions rooted in their belief systems. The
art of oral traditions infuses a greater degree of legitimacy in the
domain of religion as writing is invariably the art of mankind and
not divine. Nevertheless, contemporary accounts of the Rongmei
people, including their belief systems are beginning to witness
comfort with scripts. The Bengali script used by the neighbouring
Meetei group proffers itself as a convenient means towards what
may be called textual belief. This journey from oral beliefs to textual
beliefs is not without the narratives of conflict and assimilation at
various levels of their interactions. The quantitative and qualitative
changes across eras that the Rongmei people underwent in their
beliefs and practices, underscore the social, historical and political
dimensions of religions. This raises a question on the issue of the