Indra Manikya II (d. 1746) 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 ...
during the mid-18th-century. His reign was spent struggling for control of the kingdom with his relative
Joy Manikya II
Joy Manikya II (died 1746) was the Maharaja of Tripura during the mid-18th-century. He originally gained the throne through popular approval for his military hostility to the Mughal Empire. However, Joy spent much of his reign warring against va ...
.
Life
Originally named Panch Cowrie Thakur,
he was one of the sons of Maharaja
Mukunda Manikya
Mukunda Manikya (d. 1739) was the Maharaja of Tripura from 1729 to 1739.
Life
Originally named Chandramani Thakur, he was the youngest of the four surviving sons of Maharaja Rama Manikya. Each of his elder brothers had successively ruled Tripur ...
by his wife Prabhavati. During his father's reign, he was sent to the
Mughal
Mughal or Moghul may refer to:
Related to the Mughal Empire
* Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries
* Mughal dynasty
* Mughal emperors
* Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia
* Mughal architecture
* Mug ...
court of
Murshidabad
Murshidabad fa, مرشد آباد (, or ) is a historical city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located on the eastern bank of the Bhagirathi River, a distributary of the Ganges. It forms part of the Murshidabad district.
During ...
as a hostage.
In 1739, after having been arrested by the Mughals on the grounds of neglecting to pay his tribute of elephants, Mukunda committed suicide. His cousin
Joy Manikya was chosen by the populace as his successor over Mukunda's sons after the former drove the Mughals out of
Udaipur
Udaipur () (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura''), historically named as Udayapura, is a city and municipal corporation in Udaipur district of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is the administrative headquarter of Udaipur district. It is the historic capit ...
.
Panch Cowrie, who developed a grudge against Joy, approached
Alivardi Khan, the
Nawab
Nawab (Balochi language, Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب;
bn, নবাব/নওয়াব;
hi, नवाब;
Punjabi language, Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ;
Persian language, Persian,
Punjabi language, Punjabi ,
Sindhi language, Sindhi,
Urd ...
of
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 ...
, for aid in claiming Tripura in 1744.
With his military support, he overthrew Joy and took the throne, assuming the reginal name Indra Manikya.
However, Indra was unable to rule peacefully, as Joy ran a parallel government from the Matia Hills and had the support of influential
Zamindar
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...
s. The latter monarch made repeated attempts to regain full power, though was always prevented by Mughal forces.
The kingdom remained divided between the partisans of the rival rulers for a time, until Indra was ousted after Joy gained the support of the Mughals.
However, Indra was later once again returned to the throne by the
Nawab
Nawab (Balochi language, Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب;
bn, নবাব/নওয়াব;
hi, नवाब;
Punjabi language, Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ;
Persian language, Persian,
Punjabi language, Punjabi ,
Sindhi language, Sindhi,
Urd ...
of
Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
after Joy failed to provide tribute.
This restoration proved short, as by 1746, Indra had again lost the favour of the Nawab and a large army was dispatched against him. He was compelled to submit and was sent to Murshidabad, where he subsequently died. Joy, who had again retaken the throne, also died around this time.
References
{{reflist
Kings of Tripura
History of Tripura
Dethroned monarchs
1746 deaths