India, Aug. 13 -- Manipur is shut down today for Patriots' Day, observed in memory of five men executed by the British at the close of the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891. Schools and colleges are closed, wreaths are being laid at Bir Tikendrajit Park in Imphal, and the state is pausing to mark 135 years since their deaths.

The war that led to those hangings began with a succession fight. Maharaja Chandrakirti Singh of Manipur died in 1886, and the scramble over who would replace him gave the British an opening. By early 1891, colonial officials wanted a more pliable ruler on the throne and moved to arrest Yuvraj Bir Tikendrajit Singh, who effectively ran the kingdom at the time. The arrest attempt set off fighting in Imphal on March 24, 1891,...