Meitei Christians

The Meitei Christians are the converts to Christianity from among the Meitei community of the north eastern state of Manipur. The Meitei Christians of Manipur are mostly distributed as the Baptist Meitei Christians under the Baptist Churches of the hilly areas and the Presbyterian Meitei Christians under the Presbyterian churches of the southwest of Manipur. Christians of other denominations are also found in a small numbers among the Meitei community of Manipur.

The movement of the Meitei Christians was started by William Pettigrew, a member of the Anglican Church of England. He came to Manipur in the 1890's and started teaching the Manipuri boys in a school. He established a permanent station for his mission in Manipur and attempted at evangelistic work among the Meitei community. This resulted in the uproar of the conservative Hindus who believed that Pettigrew was trying to impose Christianity among the Meiteis as part of the deliberate colonial policy. However, Pettigrew continued his work and established many schools in the Ukhrul district of Manipur.

It is still uncertain as to who was the first Meitei Christian convert in Manipur, but names like Parom Singh and Ningol Kaboklei are strong contenders. The disturbances regarding the conversion to Christianity of Parom Singh under Pettigrew became aggravated as he was just eleven years of age at that time. This introduction of Christianity was an important turning point in Manipur history. Later on Parom Singh also assisted Pettigrew in his mission. At present, there are around 15,000 Meitei Christians in Manipur under 1,000 churches.