The Tangkhul Baptist Churches Association (TBCA) unites Baptist churches of the Tangkhul Naga community under the motto “Love, Unity, and Service.” With 86 local churches, four fellowships, over 50,000 baptised members, more than 120 ordained ministers, and 12 licentiates, TBCA serves as a powerful testament to faith, unity, and service. Its central office is located at the Mission Compound in Ukhrul.

TBCA’s roots trace back to the missionary work of Rev William Pettigrew, a Scottish-British educator and Christian missionary supported by the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society (ABFMS). Born on January 5, 1869, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Pettigrew grew up in a devout Anglican family in Glasgow after his mother died in childbirth and his father remarried. Attending weekly Bible camps, he was inspired by the story of American missionary Adoniram Judson in Burma (now Myanmar). After high school, he trained at the Ardington Aborigines Training School and was certified as a missionary on November 28, 1890.

Pettigrew’s Arrival and Early Work in India

Pettigrew sailed to India with three other missionaries and a doctor. In Calcutta (now Kolkata), Rev. and Mrs Dalmasna hosted him. While working among Bengalis, he deepened his understanding of denominations, converted from Anglicanism to the Baptist faith, and was baptised by Rev. Wright Hayna in Dacca. As noted in The Assam Mission of the American Baptist Mission Union (1895), he embraced Scripture as the sole authority in faith and practice.

Drawn to the ethnic tribes of Manipur, Pettigrew prayed fervently to serve there. The Manipur Political Agent blocked initial attempts with J. Craighead; however, in 1892, they travelled to Silchar to learn Manipuri. Permission finally came, and Pettigrew arrived in Manipur on February 6, 1894. He opened his first primary school in Chingama on May 7, enrolling 50 students. Shifting to the ABFMS from 1894, he focused on Imphal’s plains, where preaching was restricted. There, he spent two years creating Meitei primers, grammar, basic arithmetic, and an English-Bengali-Manipuri dictionary. He established schools at Singjamei Colony (now Pettigrew Junior Higher Secondary School), Thangmeiband, and Terakeithel. Appointed School Inspector by Major Maxwell, the Political Agent, he expanded education across the plains alongside a Manipuri pandit.

Missionary Breakthrough in the Hills

With official approval, Pettigrew entered Manipur’s hills. Knowing Manipuri, he connected with Raihao, chief of Hungphun (Ukhrul’s central headquarters), selecting it as the mission centre. He married Alice Goreham in Calcutta on November 13, 1896; their honeymoon began in a thatched-mud house in Lungtung Awungtang colony, later moving to Manglakahap Awontang and building a stone home.

When Pettigrew proposed Western education, Raihao lamented a lost ancient Tangkhul script eaten by a dog while their ancestors travelled, symbolising lost knowledge or superstitious misfortune. Pettigrew replied wittily, “I have found the lost hides, so you must get educated now.” Though the chief agreed, few came forward. Pettigrew sought help from Major Maxwell, who, en route to Somra, warned the Tangkhul of whipping or imprisonment for non-enrollment. Raihao and 19 others (20 total) then enrolled on February 19, 1897, in a thatched-mud house. Pettigrew learned the Tangkhul vernacular from Raihao, creating primers, arithmetic, and catechisms in Roman script. By 1897, he served as headmaster, and the state government offered stipends of 3 Indian rupees to encourage students.

Conversion, Growth, and Legacy

Christian conversions began in 1901, when 12 Tangkhuls were baptised in the Baptist faith. Christianity spread rapidly alongside education, transforming the community into a people of living faith and modern civilisation. By 1926-27, Pettigrew translated the New Testament into Tangkhul. Alice introduced Western medicine, treating leprosy and tuberculosis patients. The Pettigrews returned to England in 1933; Alice died in 1934, and William passed away in Plymouth in 1943, survived by four children.

This missionary foundation led to organised churches and, eventually, TBCA. It emerged from broader bodies: the 1928 renaming of the Manipur Christian Association to the Manipur Baptist Convention, followed by the Northeast Baptist Association Manipur (NEBAM), which united three circles of diverse communities, including Tangkhul.

TBCA endures as a driving force for faith-driven transformation.