MANIPUR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9306, 5 August 1908, Page 2

MANIPUR.

THE MASSACRE OF 1891. Towards the end of March, 18^1, a disastrous adventure befel a party of Englishmen in one of the far corners of . our British Empire — Manipur, a small native state bordering Assam and Burmah. The native ruler had no fewer than seven brothers; one of these, who held the position of Senaputti, or commander-in-chief of the army, deposed phe Iving, and put a weak and feeble brother in his place as Regent. The British Government was called upon to put matters right,' and on March 31 it despatched Mr Quinton, the Chief Commissioner of Assam, | to Manipur with a small force to remonstrate with the Senaputti. On March 22 they entered Manipur, and were received with the utmost politeness. The Senaputti, however, resolutely refnsed to appear, and Colonel Skene, with 250 men, was sent to arrest him. His house iras taken after a sharp struggle, but the wily owner had escaped. He soon reappeared at the head of a fierce artillery attack on the British Residency, which suffered greatly. A parley was agreed upon at a /spot midway between the Residency and the Palace, and Mr Quinton took with him Colonel Skene, Mr Grimwood, Mr Cousins and Lieutenant Simpson, all unarmed, and without escort. The anxious watchers at the Residency saw that, after a long talk, the whole party moved on., and entered the fort, the doors of which closed on them. The attack on the Residency was immediately rencAved, and, with the odds against them, and the ammunition failing, the Englishmen were in dire straits. Through infinite difficulty and danger they managed to retire across country to meet Colonel Cowley's relief party, carrying seventeen wounded, and accompanied by Mrs Grim wood, who displayed the highest courage and resource throughout. It was not until April 26 that the fate of the Chief Commissioner and his colleagues was known. Three columns converged on to Manipur, only to find the place deserted, the palace blown up, the princes fled and the mutilated bodies of the Englishmen in the enclosure. The Senaputti was 60on afterwards captured, and after due trial was hanged for his crimes on August 13, 1891.