Meitei Christians - William Pettigrew

William Pettigrew

Christianity in Manipur can traced back to an Anglican named William Pettigrew, who lived in India when Surchandra Singh was the maharaja of Manipur. Pettigrew, who was born in Edinburgh and educated in London, applied to work with the Arthington Aboriginals Mission in India and travelled to Bengal in 1890. He worked for two years in Dhaka and Silchar. In 1891, Pettigrew applied for permission to work in Manipur, but this was not granted until 1894. He worked for a time as a teacher in Imphal, teaching the children of government civil servants and soon afterwards opened a school for boys in Manipuri and established a permanent mission station there.

Pettigrew’s evangelistic work among the Meitei people in Manipur caused difficulties because of the sensitive political situation there and the more extreme Hindus complained that he was trying to impose Christianity upon the state. The British authorities withdrew their support and his Arthington Mission sponsors proved unwilling to help him in establishing a mission station. Not wanting to return to England, he applied for membership to the American Baptist Missionary Union in Assam and, after becoming a Baptist, was designated as a Baptist missionary to Manipur. He went on to establish other mission schools within the Ukhrul District.