1951 Census Lists Diverse Mother Tongues in Manipur

The table is a historical mother-tongue enumeration for Manipur, listing 65 languages and several sub-categories, along with separate male and female figures. It records a total of 5,77,635 persons, comprising 2,83,685 males and 2,93,950 females. Manipuri (Meithei) accounts for the largest recorded mother-tongue population, while the table also records Thangkhul, Kuki, Kabui, Mao, Paite, Hmar, Thado and numerous other Naga, Kuki-Zo and other linguistic communities.

State—Manipur
(i) Mother-tongue

No.	Language	M	F
1	Khasi	32	84
2	Garo	1	2
3	Naga	1,357	1,694
4	Mongsen (Ao)	47	290
5	Kabui	8,779	9,607
6	Angami	209	147
7	Khongzai	4,049	2,150
7(a)	Kom	1,132	1,358
7(b)	Taroa	81	79
8	ThangkhuI	16,614	18,129
9	Rounqmei (Naga)	395	405
10	Mao	7,259	7,236
11	Zemi	1,314	1,263
12	Katcha	1,788	2,101
13	Zo	1,319	1,743
14	Simte (Naga)	888	1,139
15	Hrangkhol	216	322
16	Anal	1,691	1,548
17	Maram	1,188	1,609
18	Kuki	12,172	13,994
19	Koireng (Kolhreng)	263	233
20	Paite	5,364	5,308
21	Purum	19	24
22	Lumhao	240	134
23	Chote	324	371
24	Aimol	156	179
25	Karum (Kuki)	37	53
26	Maring	2,447	2,540
27	Ralte	12	27
28	Hmar	4,459	5,334
29	Liyengmai	1,413	940
30	Lamkang	839	849
31	Vaiphei	1,855	2,386
32	Chiru	440	639
33	Thado	3,976	4,388
34	Hangseen (Thado)	3	5
35	Haokup (Thado)	1,092	1,534
36	Keapgen (Thado)	147	77
37	Lushai	993	758
38	Gangte	1,220	1,276
39	Ngente (Lushai)	366	373
40	Mizo	125	15
41	Singpo	63	78
42	Mikir	89	76
43	Manipuri (Meithei)	1,85,803	1,91,388
44	Muyon	181	340
45	Bisnupuriya	58	56
46	Kurmi (Bhumij)	77	326
47	Assamese	163	82
48	Bengali	1,406	1,453
49	Oriya	2	1
50	Hindi	691	239
51	Naipali	1,892	968
52	Gurmukhi	26	17
53	Garwi (Kobistani)	2	—
54	Marwari	241	35
55	Oraon	15	14
56	Malayalam	6	4
57	Telugu	4	—
58	Tamil	3	—
59	Gujrati	1	—
60	Marathi	8	—
61	Kashmiri	2	2
62	Postho	—	2
63	Burmese	22	13
64	Chingpaw	25	14
65	English	2	2
—	Language as unclassified	6,782	6,565
—	Total	2,83,685	2,93,950

Note: The spellings above follow the historical document as closely as possible, including older names and spellings.

~ KV NEWS