The Anthropological Survey of India launched the People of India project on 2nd October 1985 to generate an anthropological profile of all communities of India, the impact on them of change and the development process, and the links that bring them together. As part of this all-India project the first ever ethnographic survey of Manipur was taken up in collaboration with local scholars. The scholars studied, for the first time, 29 communities of Manipur. The cultural profile covered origin, distribution, social organisation, occupation, attitude towards social change and development, amongst other aspects. Other dimensions studied were language and human biology. Described as the Jewel of India, Manipur is distinguished by the unique history and achievement of the Meitei people, who built up a distinctive peasant culture in the valley, assimilating many cultural influences, including Vaishanvism, while maintaining their identity. The Naga and Kuki-Chin tribal groups are also found in Manipur. Several communities of Manipur are still engaged in the process of adjustment, against a background of longstanding isolation and conflict. Manipur still has a preponderance of tribes dependent on land and forests, shifting and terrace cultivation. Traditional institutions, notions of kinship and clan exogamy and consanguineous forms of marriages are much in evidence, as is the impact of Christianity and westernization. At one level Manipur is part of the North-East politico-cultural system and of Eastern India, with its Vaishanava heritage. At another level Manipur has retained its identity and emerged as a vibrant centre of artistic and literary activity and of an identity-based movement. Currently Manipur is facing the onslaught of international trafficking in drugs, against which there are hopeful signs of resistance. Dr K. S. Singh retired as Director General of the Anthropological Survey of India. M. Horam is professor in the Department of Political Science, Manipur University, Imphal. S. H. M. Rizvi is the Anthropologist (Physical) at the North-Western Regional Centre of the Anthropological Survey of India, Dehradun, and was state coordinator for Manipur.
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