Manipur, the land where the game of Polo was born is the ancestral territory of the Manipuri people.  It is situated in the northeast corner of India and bounded in the east by Myanmar (Burma). The present territorial area is 22,327 sq. km. It lies within 23.83°N to 25.68°E latitude and 93.03°E to 94.78°E longitude. A fertile alluvial valley extends north-south in the middle and it is surrounded on all directions by hill ranges of rich bio resources forming a part of the eastern Himalayas.

Manipuri
The people of Manipur are known as Manipuris more than ever Manipur controversially became a part of India. Among the Manipuris, the Meeteis form the main indigenous group and they traditionally inhabit the valley whereas  the surrounding hill ranges are settled by about other 30   indigenous peoples.  It includes the ethnic group of Meitei-Pangan and others who have been living in the valley for centuries. Their names which posses indigenous part like Aribam in Aribam Farookh, Makakmayum in Makakamayum Abdul Hussein, Anoubam in Anoubam Krishnadas Sharma  etc. indicate the history of the shared memory/coexistence . The majority of Manipuris, more akin to the people of South East Asia, are ethnically and culturally distinct from the people of mainland India. The total population is about 2.6 million including about 1 million undocumented migrants.

History
Manipur has a recorded history of its own and it dates back to 33 AD, when Nongda Lairen Pakhangba ascended the throne as the first feudal lord of Manipur. Loyamba, one of  the wisest and ablest kings of Manipur ascended the throne in 1074 A.D. He wrote the ‘Loiyumba Sinlon’, the first written constitution of Manipur, deals with the Rules and Regulations governing the customs, duties, etiquettes etc, of the officers and the common people among the Meeteis from the fifth century”. Manipur had 74 kings since 33 AD till 55.
Manipur was an important power in the Indo-Burma region for centuries as an independent kingdom. Manipuri soldiers on ponies often raided deep into the Burmese territory. The Burmese retaliated with a scorched earth policy and genocide during their occupation of Manipur territory (1819-26). The Burmese occupation ended after their defeat in the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824).
After Burmese defeat in the Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885), Manipur was the only independent kingdom sandwiched between Burma and British India. When the British forces invaded in 1891, Manipur fought courageously even though the outcome of the Anglo-Manipur War was a foregone conclusion. The British did not annex Manipur to become a part of British India. It was allowed to enjoy internal autonomy as a princely state under British paramountcy. However, the administration of the hill areas was the exclusive domain of the British officials.
A watershed in Manipur’s recent history was the Second World War (1939-45). A turning point of the War, the turning back of relentless Japanese advance by the Allied forces, occurred after vicious battles fought on Manipur soil. Within a short period, the War abruptly transformed almost every aspect of Manipuri people’s lives.
After the British left the Indian subcontinent in 1947, Manipur regained its independent status. It soon had its own written constitution, a state legislature elected on universal adult franchise (probably a first in South and Southeast Asia), a council of ministers responsible to the legislature, independent judiciary and fundamental rights, and the king as the constitutional head. However, newly independent India controversially merged Manipur into the Indian Dominion on 15 October 1949. On the same day, Government of India abolished the Manipur constitution and all its democratic structure. Manipur was reduced to a Part C State of India, a condition where the people cannot elect their own representatives and form a government. All powers were concentrated to a Chief Commissioner appointed by Delhi.