Tuesday, August 5

History of Tripura

The history of Tripura is a long drawn story which dates back to the time of the Mahabharata. At the very helm of the Kingdom of Tripura, encompassed the whole of Eastern Bengal stretching from the Bay of Bengal in the South to the Brahmaputra river in the North and West and Burma in the East. The earliest trace of the history of Tripura can be found in the Ashokan pillar inscriptions. The history of Tripura points out that around the 7th Century the Tripuri Kings with the title of 'pha' which means father, ruled from the Kailashahar region in North Tripura.

In the 14th Century the history of Tripura witnessed a change with the sifting of the capital from Kailashahar to Udaipur. It was around the same time that the Tripuri kings adopted the title of Manikya and the Manikya dynasty which had a Indo- Mongolian origin ruled Tripura for around 3000 years. This was probably the most glorious episode of the history of Tripura and the dominance of the Manikyas was also acknowledged by the Mughals who were the central rulers.

The 17th Century is a major watershed in the history of Tripura when the administration of the region passed on the hands of the Mughals with some restrained powers of the Manikyas. With the coming of the colonial era the Britishers extended their control over Tripura but granted some independence to the Manikya kings.

The Royal history of Tripura ended in the year 1947 when monarchy in the state was completely terminated. Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya was the last ruling Manikya king of Tripura and it was after his death that Tripura was acceded to the Union of India. In the year 1949 Tripura became an Union Territory of India and remained so until 1972 when it was made a constituent state of the Indian Nation.
Tripura - Origin of Name


Every aspect of the history of Tripura is extremely intriguing and there are a number of controversies regarding Tripura- origin of name. There are a number of historians who debate the origin of the name of Tripura and they put forward a number of theories regarding Tripura- origin of name. A major problem in tracing Tripura- origin of name is the lack of authentic documents on the history of the region. Rajmala is probably the only written document on the region which sheds light on its history.

The Rajmala, which is the court chronicle of Tripura, points out that the region had an ancient king named Tripur. It is believed that Tripur was a tyrant king and many historians argue that it was after him that the region was named. However, this theory about Tripura- origin of name has been challenged by historians who argue that Tripur is an a- historical and imaginary character.

The etymological origin of the word Tripura explains its origin to a large extent. The compound word of Tripura when broken gives two separate words, 'Tui' (water) + 'Pra' (near). The geographical location of the region thoroughly justifies its name.

It is also argued that Tripura is a distortion of the word Twi-bupra. which means confluence of waters and many of the Tripuri Villages are named after the confluence of different rives.

Another very strong probability of Tripura- origin of name is the Temple of Tripureshwari. This Temple in Udaipur is a major pilgrimage spot in the region and is one of the Shakti peeths.