The Bishnupriya Manipuris in North East India - Society, Economy and Development

Bishnupriya Manipuris constitute a linguistic minority community lives in North East India, mainly in parts of Assam, Manipur, Tripura and also Bangladesh. They are believed to have occupied Manipur at a very early date and their headquarters were at a city called Bishnupur. However, a great majority of the community fled away from Manipur and took refuge in Assam, Tripura, Cachar and Sylhet during 18th and 19th century due to internal conflicts among the princes of Manipur and Burmese attack. Since then, the Bishnupriya Manipuris have been in disadvantage position having no homeland of their own. This community has been fighting for its identity and existence and surviving on economic hardships. Taking close look at the various socio-economic and development issues, the contributors discuss at length the development status, moral values, problems of rural youths, social norms and women, festivals and social cohesion, role of BMDC, health problems etc. with chapters on the contributions of Sri Sri Bhubaneswar Sadhu Thakur, Gitiswami Gokulananda and Poet Senarup Sinha on Bishnupriya Manipuris. The present volume highlights various dimensions of society, economy and development of the Bishnupriya Manipuris in North East India.

Harendra Sinha (b. 1968) obtained his M.A. (Political Science) and Ph.D. degrees from Gauhati University, Guwahati, Assam. He is presently working as Associate Professor in Political Science, Government J. Buana College, Lunglei, Mizoram. He has authored the books Bureaucracy and Rural Development in Mizoram, Empowerment of Women in NE India (eds.), Decentralization and Rural Development in NE India (eds), Health and Development in NE India (ed.), Development Constraints in North East India (ed.), Women in Mizo Society (eds.), Women in North East India (eds.), People and Health in NE India (ed.), Millennium Development Goals in NE India (ed.), NE India: Emerging Issues of Development (eds.) Political Theory, Indian Government and Politics, Major Political Systems, Political Sociology, Indian Political Thought, Western Political Thought, International Relations, Public Administration, Indian Foreign Policy, Human Rights and contributed number of research papers, regularly contributes papers in edited books, national and international journals.