Anglo-Kuki war at Longpi, 1917-19

The Anglo-Kuki War at Longpi, which took place from March 1917 to May 1919, was a rebellion by the Kuki people against British colonial rule in the Ukhrul district of Manipur. The major causes of the war included, resentment towards the forced recruitment of labor for the First World War, oppressive taxation and local officials, British domination over their village chiefs, the continuation of the oppressive Pothang system. This gave rise to the uprising throughout the major Kuki-inhabited hill areas. The protest began with the Kukis' refusal to participate in the war, and the British responded by plundering the Kuki village of Mompi, which provoked a violent reaction from the Kukis. They used a variety of weapons, including firearms, bows and arrows, leather cannons, and poisonous arrows, and employed guerrilla tactics, making it difficult for the British to counter their attacks. They also used various means of communication, including meat, gunpowder, bullets, swords, and acoustic signals like whistles, to coordinate their activities. They attacked police stations and sabotaged telegraph lines and other British establishments. The British launched a barbaric counter-insurgency operation arresting many leaders, destroying many villages, including burning down 126 of them. They also destroyed food stocks and livestock and put the Kukis in concentration camps, using them as human shields to resist the rebels' attacks. Despite the Kukis' inability to achieve victory, the war forced the British to re-evaluate and improve their administrative policies in the region.