“Manipur Rules Here”

Abstract

This article looks at women's football in India and in particular at the dominance of the Manipuri women's team. It argues that its success has origins in both the region's history and its recent politics. Manipur, a troubled buffer zone between Indian and Burma, has a gender politics rare for south Asia. Women have traditionally held important positions in the religious rituals of the region, among which are dance and sporting practices in which women engage actively. Alongside the resulting physical culture, women have exercised considerable economic and political clout, most famously in their organization of resistance to British colonialism and to the Indian state throughout the 20th century. The article concludes by examining the implications of the story of Manipuri women's football for debates in academic fields as diverse as gender studies, the history of colonialism and sport, and the analysis of subalternity and the dynamics of resistance.