• Know about the conquests and achievements of the king of Tripura, Vijaya Manikya II 1532-1563.

Every region of Bharat has rich history, culture and stories of brave sons. History of some parts of India is well known but others is not for e.g. Tripura.

The book Rajmala has royal chronology of the kings Tripura. Earlier, probably during Mughal period, it was called the province of Tippera. Vijaya Manikya was the Maharaja of Tripura from 1532 to 1563.

In early colonial period Northeast India (seven sisters) was part of Bengal Province. In 1874 Tripura became part of Assam. Between 1905 and 1921 Assam was merged with Bengal Province to become East Bengal and Assam, a move that was reversed in 1921 following protests. Source During British rule Tripura was an independent state with a ruler. Before 1947 there was extensive cultural contact and geographical continuity between Tripura and Bengal. The last ruler of the princely state was Kirit Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur. Tripura merged with the Indian Union on October 15, 1949 and became a State on January 21, 1972. Source

History of Tripura dates back to the Mahabharata period. Druhyu, son of Samrat Yayati married a Bodo princess, settled there and became the king of Tripura. The descendants of Druhyu are known as Manikyas, the royal dynasty of Tripura. When the Sultanate of Bengal creating havoc, capturing Indian territories and persecuting Hindus, Manikyas of Tripura responded appropriately.

Vijaya Manikya II was the son of Deva Manikya and grandson of Dhanya Manikya. The death of Deva Manikya created a huge political void. Anarchy prevailed in Tripura because of which Daitya Narayana, an army general became Tripura’s de-facto ruler.

Vijaya Manikya soon realized that he was a puppet in the bands of General Daitya-Narayana, who had helped him to come to power even though he was a minor. Daitya Narayana gave his daughter in marriage to the young king and thus became even more powerful.

Vijaya however, was made differently. He did not like to be drifted away in royal pleasures. He wanted to be king in a true sense of the term. And hence he tried to reduce his father-in-law’s influence. Eventually he got him killed by his son-in-law Madhava who entertained Daitya-Narayana with food and drink.  

The death of Daitya Narayana removed roadblocks for Vijaya Manikya, He was now free to implement his policy and felt secure. The killing of Daitya Narayana was significant because it weakened the army chiefs and signalised the temporary eclipse of their power and influence, in the administration of Tripura, for the next 25 years.

The king of Jaintiya refused to offer submission, had to face the opposition of a big contingent from Tripura consisting of 12000 soldiers. The Jayantiya king approached the Hidimba (Kachari) king to intervene, who reportedly wrote to Vijaya Manikya to pardon the former. Vijaya Manikya complied with the request of the Hidimba ruler and directed his soldiers to retire to their headquarters after receiving tribute from the Jaintiya king.  

On seeing the growing power of the Tripura king, Sultan Sulaiman Karrani of Bengal sent three thousand cavalry and ten thousand foot-soldiers, under the command of General Muhammad Khan, to wage war against Vijay Manikya. The battle between the Tripura army and the Bengal force took place in Chittagong (in modern day Bangladesh). As the Bengal army launched the first attack, the advantage of primary initiative was with them. In the first phase of the battle General Khan pushed the Tripura force back from the battle field. King Vijaya felt that it would not be possible for the Tripura army to counter the Bengal force in frontal battle, but he did not give up the idea of driving away the enemy.

At dusk, after the initial victory of the Bengal army, the Bengal soldiers retired to their camps and were taking rest. They did not expect any attack in their camps. In this situation, Vijaya might have observed that the Bengal troops did not make sufficient arrangement for night watch. He took advantage of this weakness.

According to him, “a General should have a canny eye to detect the weaker points in the enemy line.” 

Vijaya stealthily mobilised his troops in the vicinity of Bengal camp and under the cover of the darkness of night, attacked the enemy. General Mamarak Khan of Bengal was imprisoned and finally was be-headed in front of the temple of Fourteen Gods.  

14 god’s means Chaturdash Devta, the patron deity of Tripura kings. The temple was situated in Rangamati/Udaipur). “Udaipur, the old capital of the Manikya kingdom, was once known as Rangamati. Today, it is a bustling city dotted by massive old lakes (or dighis) and equally old temples of great grace and beauty.) Source  “The temple was built by King Krishna Manikya Debbarma, the then ruler of Tripura. The fourteen deities worshipped at the Chaturdasha temple Tripura are called Burasa, Lampra, Bikhatra, Akhatra, Thumnairok, Sangroma, Bonirok, Twima, Songram, Mwtaikotor, Mailuma, Noksumwtai, Swkalmwtai and Khuluma in Kokborok. These deities are the local forms of Hindu Gods and Goddesses who are Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Durga, Lakshmi, Kartikeya, Saraswati, Ganesha, Samudra, Prithvi, Agni, Ganga, Himadri and Kamadeva respectively. Source They are regarded as presiding deities of the Royal Family. Every June-July ‘Kharchi Puja’ is held at the temple that attracts lakhs. Source

The defeating of Turko-Afghan/Pathan forces at Chittagong was followed by raids to Gauda. The Tripura monarch sent a strong force, comprising 26,000 infantry and 5,000 cavaliers besides artillery to the Gauda Kingdom (modern day Malda district. Border between West Bengal and Bangladesh. It was the capital of Bengal between the 12-16^th centuries) and he himself went by 5,000 fleet of river boats along the streams of Brahmaputra and to the Padma. (Padma River, main channel of the greater Ganga River in Bangladesh). Since the Gauda Sultan was at that time engaged in an intense war with the Mughal forces, Vijaya Manikya was victorious practically unopposed.

Thus, Vijaya M became the unrivalled master of Gauda. He is said to have occupied Vikrampur and Suvarnagrama (Sonargaon) in Dacca district and stayed there for some days.

After a successful Bengal campaign Vijaya moved to Sylhet (in modern day Bangladesh) and captured it 'without any opposition.' A canal in Sylhet and a commendable road at Tarap in the same district are associated with his name. They symbolise the memory of his sway over Sylhet. 

The various conquests of Vijaya Manikya, as enumerated above, indubitably portray him as one of the great conquerors in the Manikya family. By establishing his supremacy over Khasiya and Jayantiya kingdoms, Sylhet, Chittagong, Vikrampur and Sonargaon he extended the boundary of Tripura. It may be noted here that the boundary of Tripura extended up to the delta of the river Ganga during the 16th century.

Vijaya Manikya was also a successful administrator. He adopted some noteworthy measures, as is seen by the posts of high officials In the Rajmala under names like Nazir, Kabra. Munsi, Thakur and Dewan are given.

Besides the canal at Jinarpur in Sylhet (canal which he excavated during his Bengal campaign) and the excellent road ‘Tripurar Jangal at Tarap, Sylhet (built during his Bengal campaign), he built a fair number of tanks in Sylhet and elsewhere. They speak of his commitment to works of public utility. He also changed the course of the Vijaya River and set up a model village called Vijaypur and Ballsirg where he got many people settled. He had a paternal affection for his subjects. 

Vijaya Manikya was a military genius. According to Abul-Fazal, Manikya had 2 lakh infantry He possessed thirty thousand infantry, ten thousand cavalry and navy of 5,000 boats. He had a strong navy consisting of boats of different shapes and sizes. The boundary of Tripura extended up to the delta of the Ganga in the 16^th century and since Tripura had extensive sea coast that time, hence need for a strong navy. Vijaya organised foot-soldiers, archers, elephantry, cavalry, artillery and navy. Besides these, king Vijay established a number of military camps in the frontier areas with a view to ensuring better security of the State. According to this link, he had a force of 2 lakh footmen and 5,000 elephants.

Unlike his predecessors Vijaya was also a great patron of Dharma. He was a devout Vaishnava, constructed numerous temples of Sri Vishnu, in which temple at Hirapur is an excellent work of architecture. He was tolerant of all Dharmic sects. His coins and chronicles also depict that he also worshipped Hara and Gauri. He reconstructed and repaired numerous Hindu temples.

Wish more people across India know about this achiever king Vijaya Manikya.

Feedback is welcome. If you believe that any historical fact is incorrect, please write your knowledge of the truth and source.

References

1. Tripura, it's history and culture by Omesh Saigal 

2. Progressive Tripura by A C Bhattachrya 

3. Background of Assamese Culture by R M Nath

Also read

1. Military Organization under Vijaya Manikya

2. History of Tripura and Assam

3. Album of Tribes of Tripura

4. Unakoti Rock-Cut Wonder of the world

5. Temples of Tripura

6. Ujjayanta Palace and Ujjayanta Palace, seat of the Manikyas

7. Tripurasundari Mandir

8. Tripura’s Hidden Secrets Outlook Traveller