Yashodhar Manikya (d. 1623), also known as Jashodhar Manikya, 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 ...

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 1600 to 1618. His reign is considered to be the nadir of the kingdom's history, with the temporary overthrowing of the monarchy and the region's incorporation into the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

Early reign

The son and heir of

Rajdhar Manikya I Rajdhar Manikya I (d. 1600), also spelt Rajadhara Manikya, was the Maharaja of Tripura from 1586 to 1600. Formerly a warrior-prince who fought with distinction during his father's reign, upon his own ascension to the throne, Rajdhar showed little ...

, Yashodhar was not able to immediately claim the throne upon his father's death in 1600; the kingdom's nobles were hesitant in supporting his ascension due to the inauspicious horoscope at the time of his birth. He eventually took the throne after fighting off his kinsman

Ishwar Manikya Ishwar Manikya was briefly the Maharaja of Tripura at the close of the 16th century. It is believed that in the aftermath of the death of Rajdhar Manikya I in 1600, some confusion arose in regards to the succession to the throne. Historian Jai ...

, who had claimed power in the meantime, as well as attempts by pretenders such as Dharma Manikya (supported by the rival Arakan Kingdom) and Virabhadra Manikya. Like Rajdhar, Yashodhar was a devout ruler who continued the spread of

Vaishnavism Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

in the kingdom which had begun under the former's reign. As with his father, he had little interest in administration and warfare, resulting in the weakening of royal power and the decline of the army. However, there are records of some military campaigns during his reign. This included conflict with the Arakanese king Hussein Shah as well as raids against the

Bhulua Kingdom The Kingdom of Bhulua ( bn, ভুলুয়া রাজ্য, Bhulua Rajjo) was a kingdom covering the present-day Noakhali region of Bangladesh. Its establishment is generally credited to Bishwambhar Sur, a Hindu Rajput who passed by the a ...

, which ultimately resulted in the latter's destruction.

Mughal conquest

In 1618,

Ibrahim Khan Fath-i-Jang Mirza Ibrahim Beg ( fa, ), later known as Ibrahim Khan Fath-i-Jang ( fa, ; d. 1624) was the Subahdar of Bengal during the reign of emperor Jahangir. He was the brother to Empress Nur Jahan. Biography Born to a Shi'ite family, Khan was the son of ...

, the Mughal governor 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 ...

, launched a land and sea assault on Tripura, with the intention of incorporating the kingdom into Bengal. Alongside a formidable naval fleet, two land forces were dispatched, consisting of 1000 cavalry, 60,000 infantry and 200 war-elephants. The Tripura army was quickly overwhelmed, with the capital

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 ...

being captured. Yashodhar, along with his wives, fled into the jungle but were soon taken captive and escorted to

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 ...

. Though he was offered the return of his throne on the condition of providing tribute to the

Mughal emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

, Yashodhar refused. He was kept in Mughal custody for the remainder of his life, first being imprisoned in

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

and then in

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

. It was there that he died in 1623, while meditating, at the age of 72. Tripura remained under the control of the Mughal empire until the ascension of Yashodhar's distant kinsman

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.

References

{{reflist Kings of Tripura History of Tripura Dethroned monarchs 1623 deaths