Maha Manikya (died 1431), also known as Chhengthung Fa, was the
Maharaja
Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king".
A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...
of
Tripura
Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east a ...
from about 1400 to 1431. Contrary to narratives provided by early histories, evidence indicates that Maha Manikya was the founder of the kingdom, having established dominance over neighbouring tribes in the early 15th century. He is further thought to be the first holder of the title "Manikya", taken in recognition of a historic victory over the neighbouring
Bengal Sultanate
The Sultanate of Bengal ( Middle Bengali: শাহী বাঙ্গালা ''Shahī Baṅgala'', Classical Persian: ''Saltanat-e-Bangālah'') was an empire based in Bengal for much of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. It was the dominan ...
. The dynasty which he founded continued using the title until Tripura's merger with
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
in 1949.
Chronology and name
Maha Manikya is estimated to have reigned from about 1400 until 1431. The ''
Rajmala
''Rajmala'' is a chronicle of the Kings of Tripura, written in Bengali verse in the 15th century under Dharma Manikya I.
Overview
The ''Rajmala'' chronicles the history of the Manikya kings of Tripura. While it serves as an invaluable sou ...
'', the royal chronicle of Tripura, contains little information regarding his life. There, he is described as the son of
Mukut Manikya, himself the son of the dynasty's supposed founder,
Ratna Manikya I
Ratna Manikya I (d. 1487), also known as Ratna Fa, was the Maharaja of Tripura from 1462 to the late 1480s. Though he had gained the throne by overthrowing his predecessor, Ratna's reign was notable for the peace and prosperity it had entailed in ...
, a descendant of the mythological
Lunar dynasty
The Lunar dynasty (IAST: Candravaṃśa) is a legendary principal house of the Kshatriyas varna, or warrior–ruling caste mentioned in the ancient Indian texts. This legendary dynasty was said to be descended from moon-related deities (''Som ...
. Upon ascending the throne, Maha is said to have proved himself a virtuous ruler and distinguished scholar, with no mention of any military engagements during his reign. There are notable reasons to be doubtful of the narrative provided by the ''Rajmala'' however. Numismatic evidence proves that Maha could not have been the son of Mukut, given that the latter had only begun his rule in 1489. It is further believed that it was in fact Maha who had founded the dynasty and be the first to possess the ''Manikya'' cognomen, rather than Ratna Manikya, who evidence shows had actually reigned over thirty years after the former's death.
Given that his son
Dharma Manikya I
Dharma Manikya I, also known as Dangar Fa, was the Maharaja of Tripura from 1431 to 1462. His reign was notable for its territorial expansions as well as for his religious and cultural contributions.
Ascension
The eldest of the five sons of his ...
is identified with the ruler named in the ''Rajmala'' as "Dangar Fa", it is judged that Maha can be equated with the latter's predecessor in the text: "Chhengthung Fa". This was likely what he was originally called, given that "Maha Manikya" (literally meaning "Great Manikya") would be a very unusual personal name, especially considering that "Maha" is merely a prefix which is meaningless as a given name.
Reign
It is believed that Chhengthung Fa (later Maha Manikya) was a
Tripuri
Tripuri refer to:
*Tripuri people, an ethnic group in India and Bangladesh, also known as Tipra people
**Tripuri language
**Tripuri nationalism
**Tripuri calendar
**Tripuri culture
**Tripuri cuisine
**Tripuri dances
**Tripuri dress
**Tripuri games ...
chief who had established the Tripura kingdom in the early 15th century by subjugating neighbouring tribes, namely the
Kukis
The Kuki people are an ethnic group native to the Mizo Hills (formerly Lushai), a mountainous region in the southeastern part of Mizoram and Manipur in India. The Kuki constitute one of several hill tribes within India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar ...
,
Jamatia
The 'Jamatias' are the one of the main Tripuri clans of Tripura and the only such clan with its own Customary law in practice, which is called Jamatia Raida.
See also
* Tripuri people
* Kokborok
* Jamatia Hoda
* List of Scheduled Tribes in In ...
s and
Reang
Reang
is a Tripuri clan of the Indian state of Mizoram and Tripura. The Reangs can be found all over the Tripura state in India. However, they may also be found in Assam and Mizoram. They speak the Kaubru language which is similar with Kokborok L ...
s among others. This was possible due to the Tripuri having the largest tribal population as well as its inhabitancy of the productive and fertile valleys bordering
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
, lying between
Sylhet
Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate an ...
and
Chittagong
Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...
. These events are believed to have occurred around the time that
Raja Ganesha
Raja Ganesha ( bn, রাজা গণেশ) was a Hindu Brahmin zamindar ruler of Bengal, who took advantage of the weakness of the first Ilyas Shahi dynasty and seized power in Bengal. Contemporary historians of the medieval period considere ...
had established temporary sovereignty over Bengal, when the influence of
its Sultan was weak.
According to the ''Rajmala'', Chhengthung Fa later incurred the wrath of an unidentified ruler of Bengal when a man bearing a gift for the Sultan was robbed while passing through Tripura. When he learned that a large army was dispatched against him, Chhengthung Fa was prepared to sue for peace but was prevented from doing so by his queen, Tripura Sundari. She declared submission to be an act of cowardice and convinced her husband to fight, taking command of the soldiers herself and leading them to victory over Bengal. It is likely that it was as a result of this impressive triumph that Chhengthung Fa took the title "Maha Manikya", with the "Manikya" suffix being subsequently inherited by his successors. However, due to the similarity between the coins of Sultan
Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah
Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah ( bn, জালালউদ্দীন মুহম্মদ শাহ; born as Yadu or Jadu) was a 15th-century Sultan of Bengal and an important figure in medieval Bengali history. Born a Hindu to his aristocratic fat ...
and that of a later Tripura ruler, it has been suggested that some part (or perhaps temporarily, the entirety) of the kingdom had submitted to Bengal during Maha's reign, though this is disputed among historians.
Maha died in 1431 and following a brief struggle among his children and generals, he was succeeded by his eldest son
Dharma Manikya I
Dharma Manikya I, also known as Dangar Fa, was the Maharaja of Tripura from 1431 to 1462. His reign was notable for its territorial expansions as well as for his religious and cultural contributions.
Ascension
The eldest of the five sons of his ...
. The descendants of another son, Gagan Fa, inherited the throne in later centuries, beginning with
Kalyan Manikya
Kalyan Manikya (d. 1660) was the Maharaja of Tripura from 1626 to 1660. Reigning in the aftermath of an occupation by the Mughal Empire, Kalyan did much to restore the kingdom, though it remained in a continuous state of war with the Mughals.
Re ...
in 1626.
Notes
References
Bibliography
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*{{cite book, last=Singh, first=Jai Prakash, title=An Introduction to the History of the Manikyas of Tripura, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_VBuAAAAMAAJ, year=1999, publisher=North Eastern Hill University Publications, location=Shillong
Kings of Tripura
History of Tripura
1431 deaths