Meiteis
| মৈতৈ/মীতৈ | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| 2.5 million (.) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Manipur, Assam, Tripura, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nagaland and Mizoram | |
| Languages | |
| Meiteilon | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism, Sanamahism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Nagas, Tangkhul, Kuki, Tai Ahom, Burmese, Bishnupriya Manipuri,Tripuri, Shan, Tai, Karen, Other Indigenous Assamese people |
The Meitei (also Meetei, Meithei, Manipuri) people are the majority ethnic group of Manipur, a northeastern state of India. Meitei is an endonym or autonym while Manipuri is an exonym. They primarily settle in the central plain region of Manipur. A significant population of the Meitei also are settled in domestic neighboring states such as Assam and Tripura. They have also settled in Bangladesh and Myanmar. The Meitei people are made up of seven major clans known as Salai Taret. Their written history has been documented to 1445 BC.
The Meitei people speak Meiteilon, a Tibeto-Burman language. It's also known as Manipuri Language. Here, Meiteilon is an endonym and Manipuri Language is an exonym. Meiteilon is one of the officially recognized languages of India which got included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India in 1992.
Historically, Meiteilon is written in Meitei Mayek until it was replaced forcefully by Bengali Script in the early 18th century, however the revivalism of the Meitei Mayek started in 20th century and slowly it's taking back it's place from the Bengali Script.
For the domestic group called Kinship, Meiteis reckon relationship both through affinal and consanguineal relationship. Manipuri word for kin is mari mata and the relationship mari-mata thoknaba literally means, to have relationship. Schematically, there are two types of kinship ( Mari-mata) 1. Luhonglaga thok naba mari (affinal relation) 2. Ee-gi mari leinaba (Consanguineal relation) Meitei kinship is classified at the kin system (Yek-salai), then at lineage (Sagei) and finally at the family level (imung manung) i.e. Yek-Salai ‘clan’ Sagei (Sagei- natei) ‘lineage’ Imung manung ‘family’ The bulk of Meitei population is divided into seven clans, viz- Mangang ,Luwang,Khuman, Angom, Moirang, Khaba-Nganba , and Chenglei-Sarang -Leishangthem. Under which there are many sageis. However,Meitei Bamons do not fall under the rubic of Yek -Salai. The kinship terms in Meitei are unilineal, patrilineal and patrilocal. Meitei kinship terms are classificatory with an exception of some descriptive terms. There are only four descriptive kin terms in Meiteilon. They are: 1. ima ‘mother’ 2. ipa ‘father’ 3. iku/ikubok ‘father-in-law’, 4. inem/inembok ‘mother-in-law’
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Wikipedia