During the Second World War, Manipur was the scene of many fierce battles between the Japanese and Allied forces. The Japanese swept over East Asia and came up to Manipur. They were beaten back before they could enter Imphal and this proved to be one of the turning points of the War.

In 1947, with British Parliament's repeal of British Paramountcy, in preparation for Indian independence, Manipur became an independent kingdom once again. The King, Maharaja Budhachandra, began a process of democratisation of the state, enacting the Manipur Constitution Act, 1947, which established a democratic form of government with the Maharaja as the Executive Head and an elected legislature.

In 1949, the King Budhachandra was invited to Shillong, capital of the Indian province of Assam , where he signed an agreement for annexed the kingdom into India . This signing was under pressure, force was used.[citation needed] The King had already signed the Instrument of Accession with the Indian Dominion in 1947.

Once Manipur became part of the Indian Union, India dissolved the State's Constitution Assembly in October, 1949, and made it into a part C state. Lateron it was further degraded to the status of the union territory from 1956 onwards. In 1972, Manipur was elevated to the status of a state.

Capital : Imphal
Coordinates : 24.817° N 93.95° E
Largest city : Imphal
Population (2001) : 2,388,634
Density : 107/km²
Area : 22,327 km²
Districts : 9
Time zone : IST (UTC+ 5:30 )
Official language : Manipuri ,Hindi, English, Burmese, Tibeto
Religion : Vaishnavite Hindu