Mount Harriet of Andaman's is now named as "Mount Manipur"

On Sunday, the Union government rechristened Mount Harriet, a historical tourist spot in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, as ‘Mount Manipur’. The announcement was made during Hon'ble Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Port Blair, where he referred to the “significant contribution” the Northeastern state had made in resisting the British, especially during the historic 1891 Anglo-Manipur war. Manipur goes to polls in 2022.

What is Manipur’s connection to Mount Harriet?

After the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891, several Manipuris who had fought the British in the war, including Maharaja Kulachandra Dhwaja Singh, were exiled to the British penal colony in the Andaman Islands. Since the cellular jail (Kalapani) was yet to be built, Kulachandra and the prisoners were kept on Mount Harriet, a hillock in what is now the Ferragunj tehsil of South Andaman district.

According to a British-era document from the Manipur State Archives, 23 men, including King Kulachandra and his brothers, were “transported for life” to the Andamans. While some died there, Kulachandra was released and shifted elsewhere before his death.

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