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Historically, the kingdom of Meitei also known as Meitei Leipak[6] remained sovereign for at least 1951 years,[7] although there were matrimonial alliance as well as wars with the neighbouring country or kingdom of Burma.[8][9] Meitei kingdom (Meitei Leipak) lost its sovereignty in 1891 as a result of Anglo Manipur War and regained its sovereign status in 1947 but it was short lived due to the controversial Manipur Merger Agreement of 1949.[10][11][citation needed]
In the 19th century Hijam Irabot was the pioneer of nationalism in Manipur[12][need quotation to verify] who firstly revolted against monarchy rule demanding a democratic government for the people.[13] Various demands ranging from self determination to liberation of Manipur all took its root from not accepting the instrument of Merger act with the Indian Union.[citation needed] Scholar Paula Banerjee states that Merger agreement was seen by Manipuris as an "illegal and illegitimate annexation".[14] Meitei and Pangal nationalists[15] began claiming Manipur was a sovereign state in 1949 with democratic rule under 'Manipur State Constitution Act 1947' and Maharaja of Manipur Bodhchandra Singh was in no position to sign the merger agreement.[16][need quotation to verify]
^Thomas Callan Hodson (1908). The Meitheis. Harvard University. D. Nutt.
^"States Uts - Manipur - Know India: National Portal of India". knowindia.gov.in. Archived from the original on August 21, 2017. Retrieved 2021-05-16. The independence and sovereignty of Manipur remained uninterrupted until the Burmese invaded and occupied it for seven years in the first quarter of the 19th century (1819-25). Then came British Paramountcy in 1891...
Note: Forms of nationalism based primarily on ethnic groups are listed above. This does not imply that all nationalists with a given ethnicity subscribe to that form of ethnic nationalism.