Social Exclusion of the Lois of Manipur: A Historical Study

Abstract

The Lois belongs to the largest group of Scheduled Caste (SC) people in Manipur. Throughout the past, they had been subdued, discriminated and kept excluded from the mainstream to the extent that some of them have even managed to preserve their own culture and language till now. The advent of Hinduism in Manipur in the 18th century further exacerbated the exclusion faced by them in the then Meitei society. They were considered as second class citizens and there were restrictions on intermarriage and even inter-dining with them. The paper attempts to highlight the marginalisation and discriminations faced by the Lois of Manipur in a historical perspective.