Maharaja Bir Chandra Manikya Bahadur of the
Manikya Dynasty was the king of
Tripura
Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...
from 1862 to 1896.
Biography
Bir Chandra Manikya is regarded as the architect of modern
Agartala
Agartala (, , ) is the capital and the List of cities and towns in Tripura, largest city of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tripura, situated on the banks of Haora River, Haora/Saidra River, about east of the border ...
city. In 1862, he started the urbanisation of the Agartala. In 1871 he established the Agartala Municipality. He established
Umakanta Academy, the first western school in Tripura, in 1890.
An enthusiastic photographer, he was the first king in India to organize an annual photographic exhibition in his palace. More than 100 years after his death, the Maharaja's Foto ka Karkhana, a fully equipped studio, came to light in Madho Niwas, inside the palace. He was a member of the
Royal Photographic Society
The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is the world's oldest photographic society having been in continuous existence since 1853. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as th ...
from 1896 until his death.
Legacy
The
Tagore family
The Tagore family ( ) has been one of the leading families of Kolkata, West Bengal, India, and is regarded as one of the key influencers during the Bengali Renaissance. The family has produced several people who have contributed substantially ...
had links with the princes of Tripura since the time
Dwarkanath Tagore but the relationship between the two families was closest during the time of Bir Chandra's reign.
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...
had a friendly relationship with the king. Three important works of Rabindranath Tagore — ''Mukuta'' (1885), ''Rajarshi'' (), and ''Visarjana'' (1890) were directly influenced by his association with the royal family of Tripura. Bir Chandra Manikya was also one of the main characters of the novel ''Prathom Alo'' () by
Sunil Gangopadhyay
Sunil Gangopadhyay or Sunil Ganguly (September 7, 1934 – October 23, 2012) was an Indian poet, novelist, short story writer, and critic. He played a key role in modernizing Bengali poetry and co-founded the 1953 Avant-garde, avant-gra ...
.
See also
*
Manikya dynasty
*
Tripura (princely state)
Tripura State, also known as Hill Tipperah, was a princely state in India during the period of the British Raj and for some two years after the departure of the British. Its rulers belonged to the Manikya dynasty and until August ...
References
External links
Kingdom of Tripura - University of Queensland
{{Authority control
Kings of Tripura
History of Tripura
People from Agartala