The Manikya dynasty was the ruling house of the Twipra Kingdom and later the princely Tripura State, what is now the Indian state of Tripura. Ruling since the early 15th century, the dynasty at its height controlled a large swathe of the north-east of the Indian subcontinent. After coming under British influence, in 1761 they transitioned from feudal monarchs into rulers of a princely state, though the Manikyas maintain control of the region until 1949, when it ascended in union with India.
Tracing a descent from the mythological Lunar dynasty,[1] the Rajmala royal chronicle records an unbroken line of 144 (likely legendary) monarchs of Tripura up to the ascension of one Ratna Fa, who is stated to have become the first Manikya after being granted the cognomen by the Sultan of Bengal.[2] According to Rajmala, the ancestors of the royal family of Tripura shifted their capital from Nowgong district to the district of Cachar on the bank of River Barak. Afterwards, they proceeded south-west and settled in Dharmanagar and established their capital on the banks of Juri river. It was from Dharmanagar that they came to the centre of the present state of Tripura. The process of state formation in Tripura began during the reign of the Manikya rulers which is also known as the medieval period in the history of Tripura. The Tripuri rajas are said to have assumed the title of 'Manikya' from the time of Ratna Pha,who according to Prof. Kalikaranjan Qanungo,was a contemporary of Ghiyasuddin Balban. Ratna Pha defeated Sultan Mughisuddin Tughril in about AD 1450, then he was honoured with the title of Manikya by the muslim ruler. The process of state formation started in the early 15th century when Tripura chief, Chhengthung Pha, later named as Maha Manikya succeeded in subjugating other tribes namely the Jamatias,Kukis,Reangs and others. Rangamati(the present Udaipur) in South Tripura was annexed by Jujhar Pha,the seventy fourth raja of Tripura. Rangamati was made the capital of the kingdom from Raja Lika onwards. Later, the name was changed to Udaipur by Uday Manikya, a king of the Manikya Dynasty.[1]
Maha Manikya's early successors achieved considerable military success, conquering territory in Bengal, Assam and Burma. Tripura reached its zenith in the 16th century under such prominent kings as Dhanya Manikya and Vijaya Manikya II,[3] with its lands stretching from the Garo Hills in the north to the Arakan in Bay of Bengal in the south. As monarchs of a Hindu kingdom, the Manikyas developed a rivalry with the successive Muslim rulers of Bengal, coming into conflict with Sultans, governors and Nawabs before being brought under Mughal suzerainty in the early 17th century. As Mughal power waned, the antagonism with Bengal re-erupted, which drove the Manikyas to first approach the British for aid. In 1761, Tripura had succumb to British influence, becoming a princely protectorate, though control of the region remained under the Manikya dynasty.[4]
In 1870, Bir Chandra Manikya ascended the throne and began a series of political reforms to his kingdom, modelling his government on the British system. A lover of the culture of Bengal, Bengali was adopted by the court under his rule and he developed a friendship with the celebrated poet, Rabindranath Tagore. After Tripura was briefly incorporated into the province of Eastern Bengal and Assam at the beginning of the 20th century, the last Manikya monarch, Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore, chose to come under the jurisdiction of the predominantly Hindu Dominion of India in 1947. The final ascension of Tripura into the modern Indian nation was signed by his widow, Kanchan Prava Devi, in place of the minor Kirit Bikram Kishore, bringing to an end five centuries of Manikya rule.[4]
Momin, Mignonette; Mawlong, Cecile A.; Qādrī, Fuz̤ail Aḥmad (2006). Society and economy in North-East India. New Delhi: Regency Publications. ISBN978-81-87498-83-4.
