Ukhrul, July 29: The Makhan (Makhen) Village Authority on Tuesday stated that the Kukis have no indigenous roots in Manipur.
In a strongly worded rebuttal to World Kuki Zo Intellectual Council-GHQ’s (WKZIC-GHQ) press statement, dated April 11, the Makhan (Makhen) Village Authority stated that their (Kukis) presence was shaped by colonial strategies and later legitimized through questionable means that bypassed democratic norms.
“Their continued attempts to rewrite history and claim ancestral ties are not just misleading—they’re a distortion. What they represent is not heritage, but a construct born of British manipulation and post-independence political manoeuvring,” it stated.
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“Today, Kukis are living on payment of taxes and receipts to the Makhan village. This practice of paying land and occupation taxes and signing receipts by the Kukis is still prevalent in other Liangmai villages today. It is a shame on them to claim they are indigenous to Manipur. The transportation route they are currently travelling on is the Liangmai Naga ancestral land. Any road building or construction on the Liangmai Naga land under any name or facade will be futile. The claim that their far-fetched road construction is not touching any Liangmai Naga land is the most absurd story ever told. The group of people living on agreements, taxes, receipts and signs on the dotted lines on the Liangmai Naga ancestral land have no right to the claims they are fooling themselves with,” it claimed.
The Makhan (Makhen) Village Authority also refuted the claim that Makhan village was a “Saitu hamlet”.
The World Kuki-Zo Intellectual Council’s “Recapped OFFICE MEMORANDUM” claiming that Makhan village was a “Saitu hamlet” further warped into lunacy by the lamest fabrication, “… offered a dog as tribute to the Chief of Saitu Pu Lamkhopao..,”, is “damningly weird and strange”, it stated.
Makhan village was never a part of Saitu as you, WKZIC-GHQ, claimed on your conspicuously flagrant and offensive statement. The name “Saitu” as a village or boundary is a recent administrative emergence, not rooted in ancient records or traditional geography, it stated.
“This is not expected from any intellectual council or forum. You and your intellect are completely beneath the Makhan village and its history. Do not try to meddle in our history with your ignorant and dull-witted propaganda. We, the Makhan in particular and the Liangmais, have been an independent and sovereign people since ages,” it stated.
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The Makhan (Makhen) Village Authority further compared the Makhan Liangmai Naga village’s history as ancient and vivid as the history of the Meitei civilization.
It maintained that the village’s ‘papyrus’ and history was also recorded in the ancient documents, manuscripts, epigraphies and scrolls of the Kingdom of Manipur.
“Apart from its rich, independent and distinct civilization, the agglomeration of our ancestors and forefathers and their annals, chronicles, archives and history go hand in hand with or finer for that matter than the Kangleipak Kingdom and its Maharajas. The Makhan village’s historical wheeling with the Kangleipak Kingdom is lucidly mentioned in The Royal Chronicle of Manipur or The Cheitharol Kumbaba,” it stated.
It also stated that The Royal Chronicle of Manipur records the waging of wars by the Meitei Kings on the Makhan village on more than one occasion, with both staking victory and defeat over one another in turns.
“King Kiyamba, son of Medingu Ningthou Khomba attacked the Makhan Liangmai in 1470 AD when Loithang (Lungjonbou) was reigning as King [The Royal Chronicle of Manipur or The Cheitharol Kumbaba]. There is a record of the salvaging of spoils of war and captives of the Meitei monarch by the Makhan warriors. Another war was fought in 1577 AD [Prof. Gangmumei Kamei’s History of Manipur: Pre-Colonial Period; Page 206]. Another prolonged war was fought between 1652-1666 [Prof. Gangmumei’s History of Manipur: Pre-Colonial Period; Page 226]. For the fourth time, war took place in 1853, clearly recorded in The Royal Chronicle of Manipur/The Cheitharol Kumbaba [Page 322],” it stated.
It further mentioned that Makhan was also frequently attacked by the ‘Awamai‘ [the Burmese are called Awamai in Lianglad (the Liangmai dialect)], during their occupation of Manipur known as the Chahi Taret Khuntakpa, also known as the Seven Years Devastation (1819-1826).
“The deep-rooted history of Makhan Liangmai Naga village is not just preserved—it’s alive. The shared heritage of the Zeliangrongpui tribes (Zeme, Liangmai, Rongmei, lnpui) affirms and strengthens the legacy of Makhan as a cradle of civilization. One single tap or stroke of a spade on the ground and a little flipping of pages of the books unfolds the history of the Makhan Liangmai Naga village. Its history is within the reserves and reach of the fingers of our people, it claimed.
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“Wimaranliu Abonmai, a revered daughter of Makhan Liangmai Naga village, is remembered as the consort of the Koubru deity. During a fishing outing with friends at Koujengleima, Sekmai, she entered a trance-like state and vanished—her bamboo staff found mysteriously impaled in the riverbed. A bamboo grove rose from the spot, lasting until the 1950s. The new bamboo grove was seen growing till the 1950s. Apou Kebou, Apou Athangbou and Apou Kajanbou testified to this witness with their own eyes.
Present-day Makhan villagers are the witnesses of Sekmai devotees buying handwoven Liangmai ‘tani, known as phanek in Manipuri till the late 1950s. Lakpui Nampisiliu Roumai, daughter of Munhu Karibou Roumai, was one of the women who weaved the Liangmai traditional mekhela (phanek) for the Koubru devotees and pilgrims who would then give them as gifts for Wimaranliu Abonmai. Nampisiliu Roumai passed away in 2016 at a ripe old age in the present Makhan village [Makhan (Makhen) Nam Thomlu Bosai Padmibo Racham by ML Ngamang and AB Philip],” it mentioned.
It warned that Kuki-Zo Intellectual Council-GHQ and any entity, individual or group associated with KZIC-GHQ and any politician or minister to stay warned to stay away from the Makhan village and its history.
“Any intellect used for fabrication shall always be shut up. Any ill-fated consequences arising out of such headless concoctions shall be borne by WZKIC-GHQ,” it warned, while adding that the honour of being an ‘ancient’ one belongs to the Makhan village.
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“Its origin, antiquity, ancestry and history cannot be diluted by any foreigner. Our history is rooted and dated to the period of the Classical Ages along with other civilizations like the Kangleipak Kingdom with whom the Nagas arguably share a common pedigree and ancestry,” it stated.
“The Makhan Liangmai Naga village, the Godfather of the Town, warns travesty. The responsibility for any disaster or catastrophe as a result of your lies, forgery and perversion shall be on you and you alone,” it added.
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