https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Maha_ManikyaMaha Manikya - Revision history2026-07-31T02:54:09ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Maha_Manikya&diff=514653&oldid=prevPorterStowell75 at 16:53, 25 February 20262026-02-25T16:53:11Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{for|the Barāha ruler of Assam|Mahamanikya}}<br />
{{Infobox royalty<br />
|type = monarch<br />
|name = Maha Manikya<br />
|succession = [[Twipra Kingdom|Maharaja of Tripura]]<br />
|title = <br />
|image = <br />
|alt =<br />
|caption = <br />
|reign = {{circa}} 1400–1431<br />
|predecessor = <br />
|successor = [[Dharma Manikya I]]<br />
|spouse = Tripura Sundari<br />
|issue = [[Dharma Manikya I]]<br/>Gagan Fa<br/>''three other sons''<br />
|father = <br />
|house = [[Manikya dynasty]]<br />
|death_date = 1431<br />
}}<br />
{{Kingdom of Tripura}}<br />
<br />
'''Maha Manikya''' (died 1431), also known as '''Chhengthung Fa''', was the [[Maharaja]] of [[Twipra Kingdom|Tripura]] from about 1400 to 1431. Contrary to narratives provided by early histories, evidence indicates that Maha Manikya was the founder of the kingdom, having established dominance over neighbouring tribes in the early 15th century. He is further thought to be the first holder of the title "Manikya", taken in recognition of a historic victory over the neighbouring [[Bengal Sultanate]]. The dynasty which he founded continued using the title until Tripura's merger with [[India]] in 1949.{{sfnp|Bhattacharjee|2010|p=33}}<br />
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==Chronology and name==<br />
Maha Manikya is estimated to have reigned from about 1400 until 1431. The ''[[Rajmala]]'', the royal chronicle of Tripura, contains little information regarding his life. There, he is described as the son of [[Mukut Manikya]], himself the son of the dynasty's supposed founder, [[Ratna Manikya I]], a descendant of the mythological [[Lunar dynasty]].{{sfnp|Sarma|1987|pp=38–39}}{{sfnp|Durlabhendra|Sukheshwar|Baneshwar|1999|p=60}} Upon ascending the throne, Maha is said to have proved himself a virtuous ruler and distinguished scholar, with no mention of any military engagements during his reign.{{sfnp|Sarma|1987|p=39}} There are notable reasons to be doubtful of the narrative provided by the ''Rajmala'' however. Numismatic evidence proves that Maha could not have been the son of Mukut, given that the latter had only begun his rule in 1489.{{sfnp|Roychoudhury|1983|p=14}} It is further believed that it was in fact Maha who had founded the dynasty and be the first to possess the ''Manikya'' cognomen, rather than Ratna Manikya, who evidence shows had actually reigned over thirty years after the former's death.{{sfnp|Sarma|1987|p=38}}<br />
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Given that his son [[Dharma Manikya I]] is identified with the ruler named in the ''Rajmala'' as "Dangar Fa",{{sfnp|Gan-Chaudhuri|1980|p=20}} it is judged that Maha can be equated with the latter's predecessor in the text: "Chhengthung Fa".{{NoteTag|The two other rulers who are placed between Chhengthung Fa and Dangar Fa in the chronological sequence provided by the ''Rajmala'', Achang Fa and Khiching Fa, are dismissed in this scenario. This is because they are only mentioned in passing in the text, with virtually no information provided about them, leading to the conclusion that their existence is questionable.{{sfnp|Lahiri|1999|p=53}}}} This was likely what he was originally called, given that "Maha Manikya" (literally meaning "Great Manikya"){{NoteTag|"Manikya" refers to a reddish stone or ruby.{{sfnp|Singh|1999|p=8}}}} would be a very unusual personal name, especially considering that "Maha" is merely a prefix which is meaningless as a given name.{{sfnp|Lahiri|1999|p=53}}{{sfnp|Saha|1986|p=168}}<br />
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==Reign==<br />
It is believed that Chhengthung Fa (later Maha Manikya) was a [[Tripuri people|Tripuri]] chief who had established the Tripura kingdom in the early 15th century by subjugating neighbouring tribes, namely the [[Kuki people|Kukis]], [[Jamatia]]s and [[Reang]]s among others. This was possible due to the Tripuri having the largest tribal population as well as its inhabitancy of the productive and fertile valleys bordering [[Bengal]], lying between [[Sylhet region|Sylhet]] and [[Chittagong Division|Chittagong]].{{sfnp|Momin|Mawlong|Qādrī|2006|p=81}}{{sfnp|Roychoudhury|1983|p=14}} These events are believed to have occurred around the time that [[Raja Ganesha]] had established temporary sovereignty over Bengal, when the influence of [[Bengal Sultanate|its Sultan]] was weak.{{sfnp|Ganguly|1985|p=155}}<br />
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According to the ''Rajmala'', Chhengthung Fa later incurred the wrath of an unidentified ruler of Bengal when a man bearing a gift for the Sultan was robbed while passing through Tripura. When he learned that a large army was dispatched against him, Chhengthung Fa was prepared to sue for peace but was prevented from doing so by his queen, Tripura Sundari. She declared submission to be an act of cowardice and convinced her husband to fight, taking command of the soldiers herself and leading them to victory over Bengal.{{sfnp|Lahiri|1999|p=53}}{{sfnp|Raatan|2008|p=145}}{{sfnp|Roychoudhury|1983|p=3}} It is likely that it was as a result of this impressive triumph that Chhengthung Fa took the title "Maha Manikya", with the "Manikya" suffix being subsequently inherited by his successors.{{sfnp|Lahiri|1999|p=53}} However, due to the similarity between the coins of Sultan [[Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah]] and that of a later Tripura ruler,{{NoteTag|The coin of Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah and that of [[Ratna Manikya I]] both share the motif of a lion with a raised fore-paw.{{sfnp|Sarma|1987|p=39}}}} it has been suggested that some part (or perhaps temporarily, the entirety) of the kingdom had submitted to Bengal during Maha's reign, though this is disputed among historians.{{sfnp|Ganguly|1985|p=155}}{{sfnp|Sarma|1987|p=39}}<br />
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Maha died in 1431 and following a brief struggle among his children and generals, he was succeeded by his eldest son [[Dharma Manikya I]].{{sfnp|Sarma|1987|pp=39–40}} The descendants of another son, Gagan Fa, inherited the throne in later centuries, beginning with [[Kalyan Manikya]] in 1626.{{sfnp|Sarma|1987|p=96}}{{sfnp|Choudhury|2000|pp=501–02}}<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=Bhattacharjee|first=Subhadeep|title=Energy and Power in North East India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=izzVEN51_nsC&pg=PA33|year=2010|publisher=Mittal Publications|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-8324-338-4}}<br />
*{{Citation|last=Choudhury|first=Achyut Charan|authorlink=Achyut Charan Choudhury|title=Srihatter Itibritta: Purbangsho|year=2000|orig-year=1910|publisher=Kotha|location=[[Kolkata]]|language=Bangla|url=https://bn.m.wikisource.org/wiki/পাতা:শ্রীহট্টের_ইতিবৃত্ত_-_পূর্বাংশ.pdf/৫২৫}}<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=Ganguly|first=J. B.|title= The Economic Content of the State Formation Process in Medieval Tripura|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NjRuAAAAMAAJ|series=Proceedings of North East India History Association|year=1985|publisher=North East India History Association. Session|location=Agartala}}<br />
*{{cite journal|last=Lahiri|first=Bela|title=Numismatic Evidence on the Chronolgy and Succession of the rulers of Tripura|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eE5mAAAAMAAJ|journal=The Journal of the Numismatic Society of India|year=1999|publisher=Numismatic Society of India}}<br />
*{{cite book|last1=Momin|first1=Mignonette|last2=Mawlong|first2=Cecile A.|last3=Qādrī|first3=Fuz̤ail Aḥmad|title=Society and economy in North-East India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iOfZAAAAMAAJ|year=2006|publisher=Regency Publications|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-87498-83-4}}<br />
*{{cite book|last=Raatan|first=T.|title=Encyclopaedia of North-East India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lvI6W-r3OIAC&pg=PA145|year=2008|publisher=Gyan Publishing House|location=Delhi|isbn=978-81-7835-068-4}}<br />
*{{cite book|last=Roychoudhury|first=Nalini Ranjan|title=Tripura through the ages: a short history of Tripura from the earliest times to 1947 A.D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WoJ5AAAAIAAJ|year=1983|publisher=Sterling}}<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}}<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=Jai Prakash|title=An Introduction to the History of the Manikyas of Tripura|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_VBuAAAAMAAJ|year=1999|publisher=North Eastern Hill University Publications|location=Shillong}}<br />
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[[Category:Kings of Tripura]]<br />
[[Category:1431 deaths]]</div>PorterStowell75