https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Dharma_Manikya_IDharma Manikya I - Revision history2026-07-31T12:52:53ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Dharma_Manikya_I&diff=496722&oldid=prevKateCurmi92 at 10:59, 25 February 20262026-02-25T10:59:20Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Maharaja of Tripura from 1431 to 1462}}<br />
{{Infobox royalty<br />
|type = monarch<br />
|name = Dharma Manikya I<br />
|succession = [[Twipra Kingdom|Maharaja of Tripura]]<br />
|title = <br />
|image = <br />
|alt =<br />
|caption = <br />
|reign = 1431–1462<br />
|predecessor = [[Maha Manikya]]<br />
|successor = [[Ratna Manikya I]]<br />
|spouse = Nanua{{sfnp|Ray|1976|p=6}}<br />
|issue = Raja Fa{{sfnp|Bhattacharyya|1986|p=16}}<br/>Agar Fa{{sfnp|Bhattacharyya|1986|p=16}}<br/>[[Ratna Manikya I]]<br/>''Fifteen other sons''<br />
|father = [[Maha Manikya]]<br />
|house = [[Manikya dynasty]]<br />
|death_date = <br />
|religion = [[Hinduism]]<br />
}}<br />
{{Kingdom of Tripura}}<br />
<br />
'''Dharma Manikya I''', also known as '''Dangar Fa''', was the [[Maharaja]] of [[Twipra Kingdom|Tripura]] from 1431 to 1462. His reign was notable for its territorial expansions as well as for his religious and cultural contributions.<br />
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==Ascension==<br />
The eldest of the five sons of his father [[Maha Manikya]], Dharma was not initially intended to inherit the throne. According to court histories, he had originally decided on a monastic life, abandoning material desires and embarking on pilgrimages as an itinerant mendicant.{{sfnp|Sarma|1987|p=39}} It was while he was visiting the holy city of [[Benares]] in 1431 that he received news of his father's death, as well as of the violent struggle for the vacant throne which had ensued among his brothers and the military leaders. The story continues that accompanied by eight [[Brahmin]]s, Dharma hastened back to Tripura. There he was welcomed by the people and unanimously chosen as the next ruler.{{sfnp|Sarma|1987|p=40}}<br />
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==Reign==<br />
Early in Dharma's reign, his territories were invaded by the [[Bengal Sultanate|Sultan of Bengal]], [[Shamsuddin Ahmad Shah]], who compelled a tribute of money and elephants. In turn, Dharma launched his own assault, occupying and plundering the city of [[Sonargaon]].{{sfnp|Singh|1980|p=42}}{{sfnp|Sarma|1987|p=40}} Further Bengali lands were attacked by his armies, with Patrikara, Gangamandal, Meherkul and Khandal all being annexed into Tripura.{{sfnp|Ghoshal|2018|p=333}} Around this time, [[Min Saw Mon]], the exiled ruler of [[Kingdom of Mrauk U|Arakan]], visited the royal court. Dharma contributed both financially and militarily to the former's reconquest of his kingdom.{{sfnp|Goswami|1996|p=20}}<br />
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Traditions describe Dharma as a powerful administrator as well as a patron of learning and culture; the latter of which is most evident in his commissioning of the ''[[Rajmala]]'', a history of the [[Manikya dynasty]]. His religious zeal is also notable, shown both through donations of large amounts of lands to [[Brahmin]]s, as well as by his construction projects, which include temples and the famous [[Dharmasagar (pond)|Dharmasagar]] [[Temple tank|tank]] in [[Comilla]].{{sfnp|Gan-Chaudhuri|1980|p=20}}{{sfnp|Chib|1988|p=7}}<br />
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==Overthrow and death==<br />
Numismatic evidence suggests that Dharma is identical to the Tripura ruler referred to in the ''Rajmala'' as "Dangar Fa". This is due to coins bearing the name of Dangar Fa's supposed son and successor, [[Ratna Manikya I]] (mistakenly identified as Dharma's great-grandfather in the text),{{sfnp|Sur|1986|p=220}} place the latter's reign as being immediately ''after'' that of Dharma. This would suggest that Dharma was in fact Ratna Manikya's father and that episodes linked with "Dangar Fa" in the ''Rajmala'' are instead associated with him.{{sfnp|Gan-Chaudhuri|1980|p=20}}{{sfnp|Saha|1986|p=168}}<br />
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Thus, according to the events narrated in the chronicle, Dharma divided his kingdom into seventeen parts, each to be parcelled to all but the youngest of his eighteen sons.{{NoteTag|This was presumably done in fear of another fratricidal struggle over the succession.{{sfnp|Sarma|1987|p=44}}}} The shunned son, Ratna, was instead given as a hostage to the Sultan of Bengal, [[Rukunuddin Barbak Shah]]. However, Ratna allied with the Sultan and launched an invasion of Tripura, defeating his father and brothers.{{sfnp|Sarma|1987|p=44}} While his other sons were imprisoned, Dharma himself was expelled from the kingdom by the new monarch. He eventually died in exile on the Thanamchi hill, to the east of Tripura.{{sfnp|Sarma|1987|p=48}}{{sfnp|Sarma|1987|p=53}}{{NoteTag|The Rajmala makes no mention of Dharma being overthrown and exiled, instead merely stating that he had died of [[smallpox]].{{sfnp|Durlabhendra|Sukheshwar|Baneshwar|1999|p=60}}}}<br />
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==Notes==<br />
{{notefoot}}<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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==Bibliography==<br />
*{{cite book|last=Bhattacharyya|first=Banikantha|title=Tripura Administration: The Era of Modernisation, 1870–1972|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WmgrZgspJbIC&pg=PA16|year=1986|publisher=Mittal Publications|location=Delhi}}<br />
*{{cite book|last=Chib|first=Sukhdev Singh|title=Tripura|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YMItAAAAMAAJ|year=1988|publisher=Ess Ess Publications|isbn=978-81-7000-039-6}}<br />
*{{Citation|author1=Durlabhendra|author2=Sukheshwar|author3=Baneshwar|translator1=Kailāsa Candra Siṃha|translator2=N.C. Nath|title=Sri Rajmala|volume=I–IV|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cD9uAAAAMAAJ|year=1999|publisher=Tribal Research Institute, Govt. of Tripura|location=[[Agartala]]}}<br />
*{{cite book|last=Gan-Chaudhuri|first=Jagadis|title=Tripura, the land and its people|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SFFuAAAAMAAJ|year=1980|publisher=Leeladevi Publications|isbn=9788121004480}}<br />
*{{cite book|last=Ghoshal|first=Anindita|editor=Tejimala Gurung|title=In the Belly of the Tiger, almost: Mughal-Tripura Interface in the Eighteenth Century|url=https://www.academia.edu/35110955|journal=The Falling Polities: Crisis and Decline of States in North-East India in the Eighteenth Century|year=2018|publisher=DVS Publishers|isbn=978-93-85839-12-2}}<br />
*{{cite book|last=Goswami|first=Debabrata |title=Military History of Tripura, 1490–1947|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fMQmAAAAMAAJ|year=1996|publisher=Tripura State Tribal Cultural Research Institute & Museum, Government of Tripura|location=Agartala}}<br />
*{{cite book|last=Ray|first=Ajay|title=Tripura, the Enchanting Land|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9UerLKLME_wC|year=1976|publisher=Directorate of Public Relations & Tourism, Government of Tripura}}<br />
*{{cite book|last=Saha|first=Sudhanshu Bikash|title=Tribes of Tripura: A Historical Survey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ioMiAAAAMAAJ|year=1986|publisher=Rupali Book House|location=Agartala}}<br />
*{{cite book|last=Sarma|first=Ramani Mohan|title=Political History of Tripura|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bmpuAAAAMAAJ|year=1987|publisher=Puthipatra}}<br />
*{{cite book|last=Singh|first=G. P.|title=The Turko-Afghan and Mughal invasions of Tripura (Hill-Tipperah) Raj (1240–1733 A.D.)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H15DAAAAYAAJ|series=The Journal of the Assam Research Society|year=1980|publisher=Kāmarūpa Anusandhān Samiti}}<br />
*{{cite book|last=Sur|first=Hirendra Kumar|title=British Relations with the State of Tripura, 1760–1947|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XSouAAAAMAAJ|year=1986|publisher=Saraswati Book Depot}}<br />
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[[Category:Kings of Tripura]]</div>KateCurmi92