Saroj Nalini Arambam Parratt

Saroj Nalini Arambam Parratt (2 June 1933-6 January 2009) was a founding Manipuri scholar, theologian, and translator. She became the first Manipuri woman to earn a Bachelor of Divinity (BD) from the University of London in 1961. She is best known for her definitive three-volume English translation of the royal chronicle of Manipur, The Court Chronicle of the Kings of Manipur: the Cheitharon Kumpapa, published by Routledge in 2005, 2009, and 2012 respectively.

Early life and education Saroj N. Arambam Parratt was born on 2 June 1933 at the Meino Leirak of Imphal, princely state of Manipur. She attended the University of Calcutta where she became the first Meitei woman to earn both the BA and MA degree in philosophy.

Conversion to Christianity While studying in Calcutta (Kolkata), she formed close friends with Christian Naga students and embraced Christianity. She was baptised at the Lower Circular Road Baptist church, whose minister, Walter Corlett had himself served in Imphal during the war years. completing a thesis titled, The Religion of Manipur (published in 1980). In 1972, she went back to Manipur to conduct fieldwork, and in the three years that followed, she finished her doctorate. Three years later, the doctorate was granted. One of Saroj's work examiners, Professor Suniti Kumar Chatterji, had a keen interest in Northeast India and assisted Saroj in getting her thesis published as a book by Firma KLM, Kolkata, in 1980. She and John written a number of academic studies and research papers, including two books that they co-authored.

Saroj Nalini’s two main books included ‘Queen Empress vs. Tikendrajit, the Anglo-Manipuri Conflict 1891’ and ‘The Pleasing of Gods: Meitei Lai Haraoba’ published by Vikas, New Delhi.

Literary and scholarly contributions Saroj Nalini wanted to translate the Cheitharol Kumbaba, the Court Chronicle of the Kings of Manipur, before departing Botswana in 2000. She had the chance to meet Meitei religious scholars when she visited Manipur. The Cheitharol Kumbaba, which was first composed in the Ancient Meitei language, was available for her to pick up in photocopy. She quickly became proficient in the Ancient Meitei script.

After receiving an honorary fellowship from the Institute for Textual Scholarship and Electronic Editing at the University of Birmingham, she began the translation that would occupy the remainder of her life. The Royal Asiatic Society sponsored the publication of The Court Chronicle of the Kings of Manipur: the Cheitharol Kumpapa, the first translation volume, which was published by Routledge in 2005. By then, Saroj had a terminal illness, and she completed the first draft of the second volume a week before she died. Saroj's work served as a guide for her husband, John Parratt, as he completed volumes two and three. The translated version of Cheitharol Kumbaba has greatly expanded the options available to future researchers.

She died on 6 January 2009.

Legacy Manipur's Christians have not acknowledged Saroj Nalini's contributions. Saroj Nalini, the first Christian theologian and woman of India to earn a BA and MA, will be a source of pride for Manipur's Christians as she translated the state's significant historical narrative.

Saroj Nalini Arambam Parratt's work with her husband for the Mongoloids has made her well-known in North-East India, but she is not yet well-known among Christians. There is no historical record of her participation in the Christian mission, in contrast to the state's Christian theologians.

Books