Deals with the Santal, Oraon, Bhil, and Munda people of Tripura.

This book is a document that tells about a community. This book tells about a civilization. For me, this book is an abidance of the growth of a particular area that is known for its culture and tradition. Not only that, this book gives me a chance to know my birth-place (Tripura). It gives me a chance to explore my place newly. Even it gives me also a chance to know about the creative features of a state which is enriched by the contributions of the people of the land.

The development of a state cannot be confined only to its economic arena but the socio-political, as well as cultural fields of a state, were also needed to be developed and modernized. Among the various guiding forces behind the development process of a state, migration sometimes plays a vital role in it. During the last fifty years of Manikya rule, a large number of immigrants, especially Bengali immigrants, entered into the princely, hilly state of Tripura from colonial India. These immigrations though outnumbered the aborigines of this hilly state, but it stimulated the developmental process of this Princely State which was initiated by the Manikya rulers in the last quarter of the 19th century. This book is a humble attempt to find out the relations between migration and the material development of Tripura. Furthermore, how much migration is responsible for changing the total infrastructural change of the Princely State Tripura and what were the factors that worked behind the immigrations during the last fifty years of Manikya rule are highlighted from a historical perspective.

There is a perception that the region of north-east India maintained its ‘splendid isolation’ and remained outside the reach of the Mughals and did not have a pre-colonial past. The present book is an attempt to decenter and demolish the said perceptions and asserts that north-east India had a ‘medieval’ past through linkage with the dominant central power in India – the Mughals. The eastern frontier of this Mughal Empire was constituted by a number of states like Bengal, Koch Bihar, Assam, Manipur, Dimasa, Jaintia, Cachar, Tripura, Khasi confederation, Chittagong, Lushai and the Nagas. Of these, some areas like Bengal were an integral part of the Mughal Empire, while others like Koch Bihar and Assam were in and out of the empire. Tripura, Manipur, Jaintia and Cachar were frequently overrun by the Mughals whenever the State was short of revenue and withdrew soon without incorporating them in the state. Despite not being a formal part of the Mughal Empire, the society, economy, polity and culture of the north-east India, however, had been majorly impacted by the Mughal presence. The brief, but effective advent of the Mughals had supplanted certain political and revenue institutions in various states. It generated trade and commerce, which linked it to the rest of India. A number of wondering Sufi saints, Islamic missionaries, imprisoned Mughal soldiers and officers were settled in various states, which resulted in a substantial Muslim population growth in the region. Besides the population, there are numerous Islamic and syncretic institutions, cultures, and shrines which dot the entire region.

Articles with reference to the state of Tripura, India.

This book looks at the typologies of cities and ideas of urbanity. Focusing specifically on cities in South Asia, it analyses the unique planning concepts, archaeology, art, culture, life, and philosophy of various cities of ancient and modern South Asia. The book explores the concept of urbanity and the idea of an ideal city; it interrogates general notions of urbanity by juxtaposing city life in various periods and geographies of South Asia. By analysing the demography, architecture, rituals, and culture of various cities, it looks at the different spatialities of these places in terms of their size, population, commerce, and philosophy as well as the reasons behind the transformation of these places into urban centres. Drawing from various archeological and literary sources, the volume includes rich details about heterogeneity, rituals, festivals, social stratification, penal systems, famines, and insurrections in ancient cities as well as modern cities like Lahore, Dhaka, and Calcutta, among many others in South Asia. This book will be of interest to researchers and students of ancient and modern history, archaeology, urban studies, urban and town planning, urban sociology, urban geography, cultural studies, post-colonial studies, ancient and medieval architecture, heritage studies, conservation studies, and South Asian studies.