This lonely outpost of India has much to offer free spirits in search of adventure and the exotic. Almost wholly surrounded by politically volatile Bangladesh, Tripura beckons with its unique tribal culture and nature’s bounty The most low-profile of the much neglected ‘seven sister’ states of north-east India, Tripura (pop. 3.6 million) is unfamiliar territory for the overwhelming majority of Indians. Almost wholly surrounded (to the north, west and south) by the politically volatile nation state of Bangladesh (pop. 166 million), on the east it shares a common border with the Indian states of Assam and Mizoram. Partly because of its remote location and a civil insurgency which ravaged this tiny north-eastern state in the decade leading up to the noughties, Tripura has failed to attract huge numbers of domestic or foreign tourists. Nevertheless this lonely outpost of India has much to offer free spirits in search of adventure and the exotic. Nestled in the Jampui Hills, Tripura beckons with its unique tribal culture and nature’s beauty and bounty. Described as the “land of eternal love” by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, Tripura, which was granted statehood in 1972, sprawls across 10,492 sq. km and boasts enviable 5,745 sq. km forest cover. In ancient Hindu texts, Tripura is described as ‘Twipra’ — land adjoining water — because its boundaries extended from the Garo Hills in neighbouring Meghalaya to Arakan in Myanmar and down to the Bay of Bengal. Although Tripura is inscribed on Ashokan pillars of the third century BC, the recorded history of the state dates back to the 13th century when the region was ruled by the Manikya dynasty. The Mughals invaded the north-east in 1618, and although later forced to withdraw due to an epidemic, the low-lying areas remained under Mughal control thereafter. Subsequently after the fall of the Mughal Empire, suzerainty of these territories fell under sway of the British East India Co, when Lord Clive obtained the diwani of Bengal in 1765. However, the Manikya kings continued to rule the state as zamindars under protection of the British. Development in this remote area was slower than in other princely states of British India. State revenues were supplemented by the Raja’s zamindari in British Bengal, but were insufficient for any substantial reforms. Only in the reign of Maharaja Bir Chandra Kishore Manikya in the last quarter of the 19th century, the first tentative steps towards land reform and development were taken. However, no determined programme emerged until the reign of Maharaja Kirit Birendra Kishore Manikya during the second decade of the 20th century. This enlightened ruler not only reformed the revenue system, the courts, police, and army, but also built roads, hospitals and schools. He contracted marriages with several Nepalese princesses and sent his sons and brothers to be educated in modern institutions outside the state. In 1923, 15-year-old Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya succeeded his father as ruler of this tiny mountain principality. With the cooperation of the Council of Regency comprising British officials, a series…
