# Loiyumba
**Loiyumba** (ꯂꯣꯏꯌꯨꯝꯕ), also written Loiyamba or Loiumba, was a king of Manipur who reigned from 1074 to 1122.[1](https://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=manipur.History_of_Manipur.History_Of_Medieval_Manipur_1) • [2](https://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=manipur.History_of_Manipur.List_of_Kings_of_Manipur_By_Khuman) His reign is taken as the beginning of the medieval period in Manipur, and he is remembered for the [lallup labor system](https://www.edgepedia.org/lallup-labor-system) and the 1110 edict known as the Loiyumba Shilyen, which organized the kingdom's administration and economy.[1](https://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=manipur.History_of_Manipur.History_Of_Medieval_Manipur_1)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Polity | Kingdom of Manipur |
| Reign | 1074–1122[1](https://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=manipur.History_of_Manipur.History_Of_Medieval_Manipur_1) • [2](https://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=manipur.History_of_Manipur.List_of_Kings_of_Manipur_By_Khuman) |
| Principal edict | Loiyumba Shilyen, issued 1110[3](https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1701A86.pdf) • [4](https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2301393.pdf) |
| Historical standing | Reign treated as the start of medieval Manipur[1](https://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=manipur.History_of_Manipur.History_Of_Medieval_Manipur_1) |
## Accession and family
One tradition recorded in a history of Manipur tells of a Guru's solution by which two claimants would rule Manipur in rotation, twelve years at a time, but it does not connect this arrangement to Loiyumba by name.[5](https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.98685/2015.98685.History-Of-Manipur_djvu.txt)
## Reign: administration, edicts, and war
**The lallup system.** During Loiyumba's reign, the kingdom introduced lallup (lal meaning war, lup meaning department or association), a system of labor owed to the state.[3](https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1701A86.pdf) • [4](https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2301393.pdf) T.C. Hodson, the anthropologist and historian of Manipur, described lallup service as a military organization that in peacetime played a part in the economic life of the kingdom.[4](https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2301393.pdf) The system saved the state expenditure, enabled the reclamation of new cultivable land, since each able-bodied male was obliged to cultivate one pari of land, and increased agricultural and handicraft production.[4](https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2301393.pdf)
How lallup should be classified is disputed. One account argues it was not forced labor but a system of taxation paid in the form of services to the state.[1](https://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=manipur.History_of_Manipur.History_Of_Medieval_Manipur_1) Another describes it as a means for the ruling class to draw on the artisan skills of the peasantry through labor owed to the state.[4](https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2301393.pdf) According to *History of Medieval Manipur*, the system survived until the British abolished it in April 1892.[1](https://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=manipur.History_of_Manipur.History_Of_Medieval_Manipur_1)
**The Loiyumba Shilyen of 1110.** In 1110 Loiyumba issued a royal edict, the Loiyumba Shimyen or Shilyen, which distributed socio-religious and economic functions to families and specified administrative functions and duties.[3](https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1701A86.pdf) • [4](https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2301393.pdf) The edict is described as aimed at promoting cottage industries.[1](https://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=manipur.History_of_Manipur.History_Of_Medieval_Manipur_1) Under the decree, families were assigned to weave different designs of clothes and families were allocated to look after abodes of duties.[3](https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1701A86.pdf)
## Political influence
The administrative reforms introduced by Loiyumba served as the steel frame of the kingdom's administration for about seven centuries, and a feudal administrative system with intermediate nobles emerged during his kingship.[3](https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1701A86.pdf) The lallup obligation itself lasted until 1892, nearly eight centuries after its introduction.[1](https://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=manipur.History_of_Manipur.History_Of_Medieval_Manipur_1) The Cheitharol Kumbaba, the chronicle that preserves the record of his reign, covers the period from 33 AD to the twentieth-century reign of King Bodhachandra and serves as a dynastic record with entries offering crucial references to events.[6](https://www.ijmra.us/project%20doc/2026/IJRSS_JANUARY2026/IJRSS3Jan26.pdf) Later kings of the same line, including Puranthaba (1247–1263), Khumomba (1263–1278), Moiramba (1278–1302), Thangbi Lalhaba (1302–1324), and Kongyamba (1324–1335), followed in sequence.[7](https://books.e-pao.net/Heritage_Manipur/epShowChapter.asp?src=kangla%2Fkings)
## Historians' assessment
Historians treat the reign as a watershed: the beginning of medieval times in Manipur and an important turning point in the cultural life of the Manipuri people.[1](https://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=manipur.History_of_Manipur.History_Of_Medieval_Manipur_1) The chronicle itself marks the reign with a striking entry: "Formerly, gods and men joined in the service of the State. In this reign, the gods vanished and only men remained."[1](https://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=manipur.History_of_Manipur.History_Of_Medieval_Manipur_1) The durability of the institutions is the clearest measure of the reign: the lallup service and the edict-based division of duties remained in force for centuries.[3](https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1701A86.pdf) • [1](https://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=manipur.History_of_Manipur.History_Of_Medieval_Manipur_1)
## References
1. [History Of Medieval Manipur 1, E-Pao](https://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=manipur.History_of_Manipur.History_Of_Medieval_Manipur_1)
2. [List of Kings of Manipur By Khuman, E-Pao](https://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=manipur.History_of_Manipur.List_of_Kings_of_Manipur_By_Khuman)
3. [Traditional Polity in Manipur, JETIR](https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1701A86.pdf)
4. [Lallup: A Socio-Economic and Historical Study, JETIR](https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2301393.pdf)
5. [History Of Manipur, Digital Library of India](https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.98685/2015.98685.History-Of-Manipur_djvu.txt)
6. [The Cheitharol Kumbaba: The Royal Chronicle of Manipur as a Source for Pre-Colonial Meitei Migrations and Diaspora, IJMRA](https://www.ijmra.us/project%20doc/2026/IJRSS_JANUARY2026/IJRSS3Jan26.pdf)
7. [Kangla: Kings of Manipur, E-Pao Books](https://books.e-pao.net/Heritage_Manipur/epShowChapter.asp?src=kangla%2Fkings)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Asian history › India and South Asia › Northeast India and the Himalayas (600 to 1826) › Kingdoms, dynasties, and rulers › Brahmaputra Valley and Northeast kingdoms*
*Initially written Sep 23, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license