The Centre has rechristened Mount Harriet in Andaman and Nicobar Islands as ‘Mount Manipur’ in memory of the freedom fighters from the North-eastern state. People of Manipur celebrated the renaming on October 17 during Home Minister Amit Shah’s three-day visit to Port Blair. Mount Harriet is part of the Ferragunj tehsil of South Andaman district.

Why the name change?

The British exiled 23 Manipuris who fought in the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891 to the penal colony in the Andaman Islands. Those sentenced included then Maharaja Kulachandra Dhwaja Singh and his brothers. As there was no Cellular Jail in Andaman then to house the prisoners, they were kept at Mount Harriet.

“The 23 are considered war heroes in Manipur. That is why Mount Harriet is an important symbol of the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891,” Wangam Somorjit, a historian based in Imphal, told Indian Express.

Anglo-Manipur War

The Anglo-Manipur War was fought between the Manipur kingdom and the British in 1891. According to the Manipur State Archives, the royal family of Manipur was already divided into two factions after the accession of Prince Surchandra to the throne in 1886. Surchandra’s younger brothers -- Kulachadra and Tikendrajit -- revolted against him. Surchandra sought the help of the Britishers in Calcutta.

Taking advantage of the internal discord among the princes, the British interfered in the administration. Kulachandra, who had ascended the throne by then, rejected the aggressive imposition of the British law in the state. This led to the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891.

After an initial defeat, the British captured the Kangla Fort in Imphal and arrested Kulachandra and 22 others. Prince Tikendrajit was hanged with four others.

As a result of the war, Manipur became a princely state under the rule of the British empire.

Records on Kulachandra

The All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union sent two representatives to Mount Harriet in February 2003 and 2013 to dig out information about the prisoners. They found some record that confirmed that Kulachandra was housed at Mt Harriet.

In 2019, the Andaman administration agreed to allocate an area near the Cellular Jail to build a memorial for the war heroes of Manipur.

Who was Harriet Christina Tytler?

Mount Harriet was the summer headquarters of the British chief commissioner in the pre-Independence era. The third highest peak in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is believed to be named after British artist and photographer, Harriet Christina Tytler, who was the wife of a Robert Christopher Tytler, the superintendent of the penal colony in Port Blair between 1862 and 1864.

Political reaction

Calling the move a fitting tribute to Maharaja Kulachandra and other freedom fighters, Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh tweeted: "We're immensely thankful to PM Narendra Modi Ji & Amit Shah Ji for such a great honour of our heroes."

Amit Shah said, "Though Manipur was under British occupation for a long time, the freedom fighters of Manipur always fought the British tooth and nail in battle.”

Manipur will go to polls in 2022.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)