Tikendrajit Singh, the hero of the Manipur Revolution of 1891, was born in 1858. His father, Chandra Kirti Singh, was a king of Manipur. His mother's name was Chongtham Chanu Kooseswari Devi.Tikendrajit had never been to school. He had little interest in books. However, he could speak Bengali and Hindi fluently. He received military training from his childhood.

According to the latest information, Tikendrajit married eleven times. (Statement of Snahal Singh, recorded on 14 September 1967.)At the age of twenty-four, under the influence of his father, he became a disciple of Vaishnava Rajguru.

On the death of his father, Tikendrajit became the Senapati (General) of Manipur, in which capacity, following a conciliatory policy with the British, he suppressed five revolts in Manipur and helped the British force in suppressing the Nagas. But since 21 September 1890, he incurred the displeasure of the British through a Place intrigue, of which he was the hero.

He deposed Sura Chandra, the reigning king, with the help of the political agent of Manipur and installed Kula Chandra, thereby making himself powerful in the administration. He might have believed that Manipur needed a very strong, rather ruthless, ruler to protect and secure her freedom from the ever-growing British influence, which it was not possible for an orthodox ruler like Sura Chandra to resist.

The Governor-General, Lord Lansdowne, regarded this act as a grave offence and directed J. B. Quinton, the Chief Commissioner of Assam, to arrest Tikendrajit. This meant a direct interference by the British in the internal affiars of Manipur, which was strongly resented by Tikendrajit. He became determined to expel the British from Manipur and bring back her independence.

On 22 March 1891, accompanied by his forces and other military officers,Quinton arrived in Manipur

and asked the Raja to hand over Tikendrajit to him. This being refused, Quinton decided to arrest both the Raja and Tikendrajit in the Palace itself. This led to a direct clash of arms between the British and the Manipuris. In course of the skirmish, which took place in the Palace campus, Quinton himself, with a number of his officers, were put to death. Tikendrajit fought a sword battle with Captain Boocher. The British Residency was set on fire at night.

To save their freedom, the Manipuris fought bravely under Tikendrajit. But fighting against heavy under Tikendrajit. But fighting against heavy odds could not be continued and realising the seriousness of the situation, Tikendrajit took to flight. But on 23 May 1891, he was found, arrested and imprisoned. On 13 August 1891, Tikendrajit, the first hero of the Manipuri Revolution against the British, was sentenced to the gallows. Since then, he came to be ranked as the first among the freedom-fighters of Manipur.

For his heroic nature Tikendrajit was given the name "Koireng". At the age of twelve, he accompanied Johnstone in his Naga Hill campaign. He was a reputed hunter and specially found of tiger hunting.

Mukunda Lal Choudhury, who knew Tikendrajit personally, wrote in his book that though he was not a king, he could virtually rule Manipur for a few years by dint of his undisputed leadership, great command over administration, broad mental horizon, indomitable spirit and energy and above all his deep love for Manipur and the Manipuri people. He was not only kind, simple and amiable but also famous for his charity and generosity. Occasionally, of course, he appeared to be ostentatious. He was liberal in matters of religion, although he was devoted to the Vaishnav cult.

The execution of Tikendrajit agitated the Manipuris outside Manipur as well as all the people of Assam and gave a great impetus to the terrorists of Bengal to try to put an end to the British rule.