Tripura

Ujjayanta Palace, Tripura

Tripura is a state in North East India, and one of the Seven Sister States. The third smallest state of India, it occupies an area of 4,051 sq mi (10,490 km2). Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on the north, south, and west. The Indian states of Assam and Mizoram lie to its east. The state capital is Agartala. A landlocked state, Tripura's geography is characterized by several north-south laid parallel hill ranges with intervening valleys, and plain in the western part of the state.

The area of the modern Tripura was part of an independent Tripuri kingdom that ruled for several centuries, probably millennia. It was known as "Hill Tippera" during the British rule in India. The kingdom merged with independent India on 15 October 1949 by the Tripura Merger Agreement. Ethnic strife between original tribes and largely migrant Bengali population led to tension and scattered violence since 1970s. Establishment of an autonomous tribal zone soothed such tensions to a great extent, and the state remains peaceful, as of 2012.

Tripura lies in a geographically disadvantageous location in India, with only one major highway connecting it with the rest of India; this hinders the economic prospects of the state. An agrarian state, most of the residents are involved in agriculture and allied activities, although service sector contribute the most to the gross state domestic product. Forests cover more than half the area of the state, and provide remarkable biodiversity for a relatively small state and also source of livelihood for many tribes. Scheduled tribes are about 30% of the population, with Kokborok-speaking Tripuri people forming the major tribe; Bengali people form the ethno-linguistic majority of the population. The mainstream Indian cultural elements led by Bengali culture coexists along with tribal traditional practices.


Etymology :

Several theories exist pertaining to the origin of Tripura's name:

    1. According to historian Kailash Chandra Singha, the word Tripura is a derivative from two different Kokborok words twi and pra. Twi means water, pra means near. It is likely that the state bears the name Tripura from this fact that in ancient time the boundaries of Tripura extended up to the Bay of Bengal when its ruler held sway from the Garo Hills to the Arakan.
    2. According to another school of thought, the name Tripura was probably given to the state in honour of the temple at Udaipur, Tripureshwari, the wife of lord Shiva.
    3. The origin of the word Tripura is attributed to the legendary tyrant king of Tripura, Tripur. According to legend, Tripur was the 39th descendant of Druhya, who was a descendant of Yayati, one of the lunar race kings. He was so powerful that he ordered his subjects to worship him as the sole God. People fled to escape his tyranny to the nearby state of Hiramba (Cachar).
    4. The word Tripura may have originated from Tripura Sundari, the presiding deity of the land which is famous as one of the 51 Shakti Peethas, pilgrimage centres of Shakti worshippers of Hinduism.

History :

The Indian epic Mahabharata mentions Tripura as the three cities constructed by Asura artificer Maya. The Puranas and pillar inscriptions of Emperor Ashoka mention Tripura. An ancient name of Tripura is believed to be Kirat Desh,[7]:137 probably referring to the Kirata Kingdom or the more generic term Kirata.

Tripura was a princely state. The Tripuri Kings (bubagra) held the title of Manikya and ruled Tripura for 3000 years until its merger with the union of India. Udaipur, in South Tripura district, was the capital of the Kingdom. The capital was shifted to Old Agartala by King Krishna Manikya in the eighteenth century, and then to the present Agartala in the 19th century. The 19th century marked the beginning of Tripura's modern era, when King Bir Chandra Manikya Bahadur Debbarma modeled his administration on the pattern of British India and enacted various reforms.

The Ganamukti Parishad movement led to the integration of the kingdom with India signed by the Regent Maharani on September 9, 1947 and the administration of the state was actually taken over by the Govt. of India on October 15, 1949 within Assam state. Tripura became a Union Territory without legislature with effect from November 1, 1956 and a popular ministry was installed in Tripura on July 1, 1963. On January 21, 1972 Tripura attained statehood. Tripura was heavily affected by the partition of India and the majority of the population now comprises Bengalis, many of whom came as refugees from East Pakistan after independence in 1947. 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 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. Migration of Bengali people and settlement by Hindu Bengali increased around the Bangladesh Liberation War. Reversal of demographics led to tribes becoming minority. Ethnic strife between the tribes and largely migrant Bengali community led to scattered violence in the state from 1970s, and ebb and flows of insurgency spanning decades. The insurgencies gradually abated following establishment of a tribal autonomous district council and strategic counter-insurgency activities, aided by overall socio-economic progress of the state.