The Tripuri calendar is the traditional

solar calendar A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicates the season or almost equivalently the apparent position of the Sun relative to the stars. The Gregorian calendar, widely accepted as a standard in the world, is an example of a solar calendar ...

used by the

Tripuri people The Tripuri people (Kokborok language, Kókborok: ''Tripuri dópha rok''), also known as Tripura, Tipra, Twipra, Tipperah, are a Tibeto-Burman-speaking ethnic group of Northeast India, Indian state of Tripura and Bangladesh. They are the descend ...

, especially in the context of Tripuri irredentism. Its era, the "Twipra Era", "Tripura Era" or ''Tripurabda'' is set at 15 April AD 590. The Tripura Era's New Year is on the 1st of Vaishak which corresponds to 14 or 15 of April of

Common Era Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the ...

, depending on whether that year is a leap year or not. The months are named in pan Indian months, time since its inception 1419 years back by Tripur king Hamtorfa alias Himtifa alias Jujharufa in 512 Saka Era. Historically, the Tripura Era was prevalent in all official matters of the princely state of Tippera under the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. Tradition holds that the era marks the conquest of Bengal by the 118th Tripuri king in the '' Rajmala'' chronicle, Hamtor Fa (also ''Jujaru Fa'' or ''Himti'' or ''Birraj''). In historical reality, however, the Tripuri era, just as the Bengali era, is an adoption of the Mughal '' Fasli era'' introduced by emperor

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

in 1563. Its use in Tripura (Twipra) can be traced to the 163rd king in Tripuri reckoning, Govinda Manikya (fl. 1660), and the characteristic shift by three years is first recorded under his successor, ''Chhatramanikya'' in 1663/4, who can thus be considered to have introduced the "Tripuri calendar". With the accession 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 ...

to the

Republic of India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country since 2023; and, since its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by ...

in 1949, official use of the Tripuri calendar was discontinued. There have long been calls to revive the Tripuri calendar in Tripuri nationalism. In 1991, the Tripuri era was first cited in the State Government calendar and diaries. In 2001, the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) authorities organized a three-day "Tring festival", which concluded at the TTAADC headquarters

Khumulwng Khumulwng is a town in the West Tripura district in the Indian state of Tripura. It is the headquarters and the largest town of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council. History Khumulwng was established in 1991. The TTAADC headq ...

in West Tripura.

References

* D. C. Sircar, ''Some Epigraphical Records of the Mediaeval Period From Eastern India'', Abhinav Publications, 1979
93f.

References

See also