Tripura - History

History

Main article: History of Tripura See also: Twipra Kingdom, Kings of Tripura, and Tripura Rebellion

While there is not enough evidence of a Paleolithic phase in Tripura, Upper Paleolithic tools made of fossil wood have been found in Haora and Khowai river valleys of the state. The Indian epic Mahabharata, the Puranas (ancient Indian religious texts) and stone pillar inscriptions of Emperor Ashoka (third century BCE) mention Tripura. An ancient name of Tripura is Kirat Desh (the land of Kirat), probably referring to the Kirata Kingdom or the more generic term Kirata. Kings of Twipra Kingdom have ruled the region for centuries, but the beginning of the kingdom is not documented. Rajmala, a chronicle of Tripuri kings that was first penned in the fifteenth century, provides a list of 179 kings from antiquity to the king Krishna Kishore Manikya (1830–1850). The reliability of Rajmala, however, has been doubted.

The boundaries of the kingdom changed over centuries; at various points in time, the borders reached to the jungles of Sundarbans on the Bay of Bengal in the south, to Burma in the west, and to the boundary of Kamarupa kingdom in the north. Several Muslim invasions came to the region starting from the 13th century, finally culminating in Mughal dominance in the plains of the kingdom in 1733. The hilly region never came under Mughal rule though, and the Mughal had some influence on the appointment of the kings in the dynasty. Tripura became a princely state during the British rule in India. The kings had an estate in British India named Tippera district (also known as Chakla Roshnabad) besides the independent area known as Hill Tippera. Udaipur in southern Tripura was the capital of the kingdom until the capital was shifted to Old Agartala by King Krishna Manikya in the 18th century, and then to Agartala in the 19th century. King Bir Chandra Manikya (1862–1896) modelled his administration on the pattern of British India and enacted various reforms including the formation of Agartala Municipal Corporation.

Following the independence of India in 1947, Tippera district—the estate in the plains of British India—became a part (later giving rise to Comilla District) of East Pakistan, and Hill Tippera remained under a regency council until 1949. The Regent Maharani (queen) of Tripura signed the Tripura Merger Agreement on 9 September 1949. Tripura became a Part C state of India. It became a Union Territory without legislature in November 1956 and an elected ministry was installed in July 1963. Tripura was heavily affected by the geographic partition that coincided with the independence of India. The majority of the population now comprises Bengalis, many of whom came as refugees from East Pakistan following the partition. The partition of India also resulted in major economic and infrastructural setback for the state, as the road transport between the state and other major cities of India became significantly longer and more difficult. The road distance between Kolkata and Agartala before partition was less than 350 km (220 mi), which became 1,700 km (1,100 mi) following partition, as the road now winded around East Pakistan (later Bangladesh). The geo-political isolation was aggravated by lack of rail transport.

Some parts of the state received shelling from Pakistan Army during Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Following the war, Indian government reorganised the northeast region to ensure effective control of the international borders—three new states came into existence on 21 January 1972. Besides Meghalaya and Manipur, Tripura attained statehood on that day. Migration of Bengali people and settlement by Hindu Bengalis increased around the Bangladesh Liberation War. Reversal of demographics led to tribes becoming a minority. Ethnic strife between the tribes and the predominantly migrant yet burgeoning Bengali community led to scattered violence in the state since the independence of India, and an ebb and flow of insurgency spanning decades. The insurgencies gradually abated following the establishment of a tribal autonomous district council and strategic counter-insurgency activities, aided by overall socio-economic progress of the state. The state remains peaceful as of 2011.