Chothe Thangwai Pakhangba

Half-divine son of Salailen (Meitei sky-father) by Queen Leima Thamoilembi of Moirang under the Mongán-pattern medieval-literary divine-paternity tradition preserved in the Chothe Thangwai Pakhangba puya. The foster-father Thangwai Koding Ahanba was the mortal Moirang king. The puya's narrative — Salailen appearing in Thamoilembi's dream to identify the child as His own, the protruding-tail mark of divinity, the love of Sunulembi, the gradual fading of the divine-dictate from parental memory — is one of the rarest conjugal-love narratives of the Manipuri literary tradition. Per the Yuhlung 2017 academic argument, this figure is identified with Nongda Lairen Pakhangba, the legendary first king of the Ningthouja dynasty (33-154 CE per Cheitharol Kumbaba), making him the founder-ancestor of the dynasty that would rule Manipur for nearly two millennia. The chronological discrepancy between the puya's 337-387 CE dating and the royal-chronicle 33-154 CE dating remains unresolved in the scholarly literature; the registry encodes both readings as variants.

Parentage

• paternal: Salailen

Variant accounts

• identity-variant
• identity-variant

Domains

• serpent divinity of moirang

Powers

• Coils into the sacred paphal patterns
• Transforms into a dragon-serpent

Epithets

• Pakhangba latin · Pakhangba · cultThe primordial dragon-serpent god of the Meitei, encircling power of kingship and the cosmosMeitei (Sanamahi) tradition of Manipur (secondary)

Relations

• social father: Thangwai Koding Ahanba (mortal Moirang king, foster-father) · ManipuriThe mortal Moirang king who served as social-father; the divine-paternity claim of Salailen is the medieval-literary theological reframing.Chothe Thangwai Pakhangba puya (primary)
• mother: Queen Leima Thamoilembi (mortal Moirang queen, biological mother) · ManipuriMortal queen of Moirang; biological mother. Left unseeded as separate entry — appears only in the puya's opening narrative.Chothe Thangwai Pakhangba puya (primary)
• lover: Sunulembi (daughter of Thongnang Loikemba) · ManipuriChothe Thangwai Pakhangba puya (primary)
• foundational precursor to: Ningthouja dynasty kings of Manipur (under the Yuhlung 2017 Nongda-Lairen identification) · ManipuriCheitharol Kumbaba; Yuhlung 2017 (primary)

Sources

• existence: Chothe Thangwai Pakhangba puya (Meitei-language literary work, first half of 18th century, recording earlier Moirang-period traditions in Meitei Mayek script); Cheitharol Kumbaba (royal chronicle of Manipur, 33 CE onward); Moirang Ningthourol Lambuba; Yuhlung 2017 academic synthesis (primary)
• parentage: Chothe Thangwai Pakhangba puya, opening narrative — divine-paternity claim from Salailen via Queen Thamoilembi's dream (primary)