Saroj Nalini Arambam Parratt (1933–2009) was born on 2 June 1933 in the then princely State of Manipur (Akoijam 2009). Her father, Arambam Ibungohal, popularly known as “Haosahib”, was a well-known and respected educationalist and government officer. During the Second World War years, he was posted to Jiribam, where she received her early education, and was later transferred to Haflong, where she attended a convent school.

She pursued higher education at the University of Calcutta and the University of London. She was the first woman from Manipur to graduate and to obtain a Master’s degree from the University of Calcutta. She was baptised at the Lower Circular Road Baptist Church, whose minister, Walter Corlett, had himself served in Imphal during the war years.

She later obtained her doctorate from the Australian National University under the supervision of the renowned Indologist A. L. Basham. A distinguished scholar of Manipuri history and culture, she lectured at several universities in Africa and served as a Visiting Professor at the University of Manipur. At the time of her death in 2009, she was an Honorary Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Research in Arts and Social Sciences, University of Birmingham. 

She moved to Britain in the late 1950s and studied for a Bachelor of Divinity degree at the University of London, graduating in 1961. Shortly thereafter, she married John Parratt. She worked at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Nigeria, before undertaking a PhD on the religion of Manipur in the Department of Asian Studies at the Australian National University, for which she conducted extensive field research.

From 1975 to 1990, she taught at institutions in southern Africa while continuing her fieldwork in Manipur.  She wrote extensively on the history and culture of Manipur, publishing articles in international journals, and was the author of several books. Among her major works is The Religion of Manipur: Beliefs, Rituals and Historical Development (1980), as well as her translation of the royal chronicle Cheitharon Kumpapa in three volumes. The second and third volumes were published posthumously:

The Court Chronicle of the Kings of Manipur: The Cheitharon Kumpapa, Vol. 1, 33–1763 CE (Routledge, 2005);
The Court Chronicle of the Kings of Manipur: The Cheitharon Kumpapa, Vol. 2, 1764–1843 (Cambridge University Press, 2009); and
The Court Chronicle of the Kings of Manipur (Cheitharon Kumpapa), Vol. 3, 1844–1892 (Cambridge University Press, 2013).

With her husband, she co-authored several important works on Manipur, including The History and Culture of Manipur (Hayloft, 2011); Queen Empress vs. Tikendrajit, Prince of Manipur: The Anglo-Manipuri Conflict of 1891 (Har-Anand Publications, 1992); and The Pleasing of the Gods: Meitei Lai Haraoba (Vikas Publishing House, 1997)

John Parratt (1938–2026) was born in England and obtained his doctorate from the University of London. He was Professor of Third World Theologies at the University of Birmingham. He taught and conducted research extensively in Africa, the Pacific, and Manipur, and was the author of numerous books examining the interaction of religion, culture, and politics in the developing world. In addition to two books jointly authored with his wife, he edited Notes on Meithei (Manipuri) Customs and Beliefs by J. C. Higgins (Ministry of Arts and Culture, Imphal, 1998) and authored Wounded Land: Politics and Identity in Modern Manipur (Delhi, 2005) and the Coils of Pakhangba: A Culture History of Meeteis (Mittal Publications, 2017) .

References: 

European Manipuri Association (EMA). “EMA and Its Members Mourn the Demise of Dr. Saroj Nalini Arambam Parratt.” e-pao.net, 28 January 2009. Accessed 11 January 2026, 6:45 a.m.

“Saroj Nalini Arambam Parratt (1933–2008).” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 19, no. 3 (July 2009): 383–384. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1356186309009882.

Irengbam, Mohendra. “My Memories of Imphal from 1941, Part 4.” e-pao.net, 24 October 2020.

Donor Information

The materials in this collection were created and accumulated by Saroj Nalini Arambam and John Parratt in the course of their long-term research on Manipur. The collection was donated to the ARC Library & Archives in 2025. The materials comprise photographs, printed books, and maps.

(This catalogue represents only a portion of the Saroj Nalini Arambam Parratt–John Parratt collections. Several hundred photographs and related materials remain uncatalogued and are not listed here. Scholars and researchers are invited to engage with these materials for further study and research.)