By L. Keivom

The topic assigned to me is a daunting one for the following basic reasons. First, there are no written records of Tipaimukh’s distant past. Whatever information that we have are from myths and legends handed down from generation to generation by words of mouth. The name of Tipaimukh began to appear sporadically in writing after the British penetration into the area and particularly when they used the strategic location as a launching pad to invade Mizoram from the northern flank in 1871-72, the establishment of Tipaimukh bazaar from 1873-1888 and the annual border meetings between the Superintendent of Lushai Hills (Mizoram) and the Deputy Commissioner of Manipur at the Tipaimukh site. Second, the present Tipaimukh has been willfully neglected and virtually every fabric of the society and the civil administration in the area have become paralyzed making it difficult to pinpoint where the gangrene started and where treatment has to begin. Third, its future is bleak and uncertain.