Myanmar The court chronicle of the kings of Manipur: The Cheitharon Kumpapa, vol. 2,1764-1843

摘要

This is the second volume of a carefully translated and annotated edition of the Manipur court chronicle, covering the period between 1764 and 1843 CE. The first volume appeared as The court chronicle of the kings of Manipur, vol. 1 (33-1763 CE), ed. and trans,by Saroj Nalini Arambam Parratt (London and New Delhi: Routledge and Foundation Books, 2005). A facsimile reproduction of the original text in ancient Manipuri script - certainly a kind of text few scholars of South or Southeast Asian history are able to use - forms the second part of the book. As pointed out in the introduction to the first volume, the chronicle in its present form was written down at a rather late stage, in the middle of the twentieth century, though making use of older traditions which had been kept at the court of the kings of Manipur in Kangla (modern-day Imphal). Actually, the copying of older records had already begun in the late eighteenth century (p. 34), showing that history writing in Manipur has a much longer tradition than the late date of the chronicle would suggest. From beginning to end, the complete chronicle spreads over approximately two millennia, from 33 to 1949 CE.