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{{Short description|Indian writer and lexicographer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Meitei name|Ningthoukhongjam|Khelchandra|Singh}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_date = 1 September 1920
| birth_place = [[Uripok]] Ningthoukhongjam Leikai, [[Imphal]], [[Manipur]], India
| death_date = 31 January 2011
| death_place = [[Imphal]], [[Manipur]], India
| restingplace = Uripok Ningthoukhongjam Leikai
| restingplacecoordinates = {{Coord|24|48|20|N|93|55|24|E}}
| othername = Pundit Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh
| occupation = Writer Lexicographer Historian
| yearsactive =
| known for = ''Manipuri to Manipuri and English'' dictionary
| spouse =
| domesticpartner =
| children = 5 sons and 5 daughters
| parents =
| website =
| awards = [[Padma Shri]] [[List of Sahitya Akademi fellows|Sahitya Akademi Fellowship]] [[List of Sangeet Natak Akademi fellows|Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship]] [[President of India|President]]'s Silver Medal [[Manipuri Sahitya Parishad]] Gavesana Bhusan Manipur State Kala Akademi Fellowship
}}
'''Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh''' was an Indian writer, [[lexicographer]] and historian,<ref name="Khelchandra Singh dies">{{cite web | url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/Khelchandra-Singh-dies/articleshow/7407435.cms | title=Khelchandra Singh dies | newspaper=The Times of India | date=2 February 2011 | access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref><ref name="Pandit Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh">{{cite web | url=http://www.e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=features.Profile_of_Manipuri_Personalities.Donny_Luwang.Ningthoukhongjam_Khelchandra_Literature | title=Pandit Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh | publisher=E Pao | date=2015 | access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref> known as the author of ''Manipuri to Manipuri and English'', the first modern [[general dictionary]] in [[Meitei language]], which was published in 1964.<ref name="Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature, Volume 2">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zB4n3MVozbUC&q=Khelchandra+Singh+Ningthoukhongjam&pg=PA1027 | title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature, Volume 2 | publisher=Sahitya Akademi | author=Amaresh Datta | year=1988 | pages=987 | isbn=9788126011940}}</ref> He was a fellow of the [[Sahitya Akademi]]<ref name="Sahitya Akademi Fellow">{{cite web | url=http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/fellows/sahitya_akademi_fellowship.jsp | title=Sahitya Akademi Fellow | publisher=Sahitya Akademi | date=2015 | access-date=25 August 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206221359/http://www.sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/fellows/sahitya_akademi_fellowship.jsp | archive-date=6 February 2018 | url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[Sangeet Natak Akademi]].<ref name="Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellow">{{cite web | url=http://www.sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/fellowslist.htm#2010 | title=Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellow | publisher=Sangeet Natak Akademi | date=2015 | access-date=25 August 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141206222925/http://www.sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/fellowslist.htm#2010 | archive-date=6 December 2014 }}</ref> The [[Government of India]] awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of [[Padma Shri]] in 1987.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web | url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf | title=Padma Awards | publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India | date=2015 | access-date=21 July 2015 | archive-date=19 October 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019215108/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Biography==
Khelchandra Singh was born on 1 September 1920 at Uripok Ningthoukhongjam Leikai, a small hamlet in [[Imphal]], the capital of the northeast Indian state of [[Manipur]].<ref name="Pandit Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh" /> He did his studies in the traditional way under many teachers such as Dinachandra Singh, Pandit Parasuram, Pandit Madhop, Pandit Chandra and Pandit Deva Singh. His career started at Manipur Secretariat and spent the whole of his career with the [[Government of Manipur]] to retire as an under secretary.<ref name="Pandit Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh" /> After [[superannuation]] from service, he worked as a visiting faculty at the Jawaharlal Nehru University Centre, Imphal for a brief period.<ref name="Pandit Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh" /> He was associated with several Meitei cultural and historical associations.<ref name="Khelchandra Singh dies" /> He served as the president of Manipur Historical Society and Manipur Sahitya Parishad and was the vice president of Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy, Imphal.<ref name="Khelchandra Singh dies" /> He was the president of Manipuri Martial Arts Association and Atombapu Research Centre, Manipur and sat on the expert committees of Manipur State Kala Akademi, Department of Arts and Culture and [[Manipur University]].<ref name="Pandit Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh" /> He represented Manipur at several sessions of Indian Historical Records Commission, Purba Bharat Sankritic Sammelan, Kolkata, [[Indian History Congress]], Bombay and Indo-Myanmar Trade and Economic Co-operation Seminar, [[Mandalay]].<ref name="Pandit Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh" />

Khelchandra Singh died on 31 January 2011, aged 90, at [[Imphal]], succumbing to age related illnesses.<ref name="Khelchandra Singh dies" /> He was survived by his five sons and five daughters, his wife preceding him in death.<ref name="Khelchandra Singh dies" />

==Books==
Khelchandra Singh wrote in [[Meitei language|Meitei]] and English and is known to have published over 30 books.<ref name="Pandit Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh" /> ''Manipuri to Manipuri and English Dictionary'', published in 1964, is reported to be the first modern general dictionary in Meitei language. Another book of linguistics he wrote is ''Manipuri Language-Status and Importance'', which was published in 1975.<ref name="Manipuri Language: Status and Importance">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EpAOAAAAMAAJ | title=Manipuri Language: Status and Importance | publisher=N. Tombi Raj Singh | author=Niṃthaukhoṃjama Khelacandra Siṃha | year=1975 | pages=67}}</ref> He transliterated ''Uttarakhand Ramayana'' and ''Ashamedha Parba Mahabharat'' from Old Meitei to modern Meitei.<ref name="Pandit Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh" /> As a historian, he edited eight books, Genealogy of Manipuri Kings, ''[[Cheitharol Kumbaba]]'', royal chronicles of Manipur, an anthology of Old Meitei poems, an anthology of Old Meitei prose, a collection of hymns and prayers prevalent in Pre-Vaishnavite Manipur, An account of the hills of Manipur, A treatise on Manuscripts, and ''Sarit Sarat'', a book on the heroic accounts of Manipuri Martial Combats.<ref name="Pandit Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh" /> One of his books, ''History of Old Manipuri Literature'' (''Ariba Maṇipurī Sahityagī Itihasa''), is a text book for post graduate and research studies.<ref name="History of Old Manipuri Literature">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q7hKrgEACAAJ | title=History of Old Manipuri Literature | author=Niṃthaukhoṃjama Khelacandra Siṃha | year=1969 | pages=282 | oclc=767541966}}</ref> Among his books written in English are ''Battle of Khongjom'', (an account of the last battle between Manipur and the British forces)<ref name="Battle of Khongjom">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R721AAAAIAAJ | title=Battle of Khongjom | publisher=N. Khelchandra Singh | author=Niṃthaukhoṃjama Khelacandra Siṃha | year=1963 | pages=56}}</ref> ''Documents of Anglo-Manipuri War 1891'' (three volumes),<ref name="Documents of Anglo-Manipuri War 1891">{{cite book | url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006214901 | title=Documents of Anglo-Manipuri War 1891 | publisher=N. Debendra Singh | author=N. Khelchandra Singh | year=1984 | pages=218}}</ref> ''Thangal General'' (life history of the renowned Meitei warrior)<ref name="The Chronology of Meetei Monarchs: From 1666 CE to 1850 CE">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eybpM1KZjVoC&q=%22Thangal+General%22+Khelchandra+Singh&pg=PA11 | title=The Chronology of Meetei Monarchs: From 1666 CE to 1850 CE | publisher=Waikhom Ananda Meetei | date=2015 | isbn=9788184652109 | access-date=26 August 2015}}</ref> and ''Kangla''.<ref name="Kangla">{{cite web | url=http://books.e-pao.net/Heritage_Manipur/epShowChapter.asp?src=kangla/post1891 | title=Kangla | publisher=E Pao | date=2015 | access-date=26 August 2015}}</ref> He also contributed two chapters of the book, ''Dictionary of National Biography'', the biographies of Pandit Raj Atombapu Sharma and Thangal General.<ref name="Dictionary of National Biography">{{cite book | title=Dictionary of National Biography | publisher=South Asia Books | author=S. P. Sen | year=1972 | isbn=978-0883860304}}</ref>

==Awards and honours==
Khelchandra Singh received a service excellence award, the ''[[President of India|President]]'s Silver Medal'', in 1951, for his services during the [[1951 Census of India]].<ref name="Pandit Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh" /> Manipuri Sahitya Parishad awarded him the ''Gavesana Bhusan'' award for his research activities in 1971 and he was elected as a fellow of the Manipur State Kala Akademi in 1980.<ref name="Pandit Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh" /> The [[Government of India]] awarded him the civilian honour of [[Padma Shri]] in 1987.<ref name="Padma Awards" /> Three years later, [[Sahitya Akademi]] chose him as their fellow in 1999<ref name="Sahitya Akademi Fellow" /> and the [[Sangeet Natak Akademi]] followed suit with their fellowship in 2006.<ref name="Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellow" /> Manipur Historical Society have instituted an annual lecture, ''Pandit Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh Memorial Lecture'', in honour of Singh.<ref name="Pandit Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh Memorial Lecture">{{cite web | url=http://www.manipurtimes.com/news-article/the-peoples-chronicle-news/item/7126-khelchandra-s-contribution-to-society-remembered | title=Pandit Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh Memorial Lecture | publisher=Manipur Times | date=31 January 2014 | access-date=26 August 2015 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Div col}}
* [[Meitei literature]]
* [[Cheitharol Kumbaba]]
{{div col end}}
{{portal|India|Literature}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite web | url=http://ooba.e-pao.org/?id=10202 | title=Tribute to Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh | publisher=North American Thang Ta Association | date=1993 | access-date=26 August 2015}}

{{SahityaAkademiFellowship}}
{{SangeetNatakAkademiFellowship}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, N. Khelchandra}}
[[Category:1917 births]]
[[Category:2011 deaths]]
[[Category:Meitei people]]
[[Category:People from Imphal]]
[[Category:Writers from Manipur]]
[[Category:Indian social sciences writers]]
[[Category:Indian lexicographers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian linguists]]
[[Category:Scientists from Manipur]]

Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra - Revision history

Deepanboopathy: Added data