Coinage of the Tripura Kingdom

All Tripura coins are in the Bengali script but the language used is Sanskrit. Tripura was a predominantly tribal Kingdom (inhabited mainly by the Tripuri tribe) situated in the Eastern part of Bengal. According to traditional chronicles, Rajaratnakar and Rajmala, Tripura's antiquity dates back to epical periods.

History

Historically, the earliest mention of dynastic rule goes back to the time of Dangar Pha (13th century AD), whose death was followed by a struggle for the throne among the princes. Failing to achieve success, one of them named Ratna Pha went away to Gauda to seek refuge. After staying there some time he was ultimately successful in retrieving his kingdom with the help and support of the Sultan of Bengal. Ratna Pha then took the title of Manikya and it was he who introduced the coinage system in his territory, thereby initiating the numismatic history of Tripura.

Ratna Manikya

Ratna Manikya (1386 Shaka) was the first to strike coins. His coins bear a close resemblance, in design and weight-standard, to the Bengal Sultanate coinage of that period. Apart from the similarity in decorative aspects, the inscribed linear lion in Ratna Manikya's coin was directly borrowed from the coinage of Sultan nasiruddin mahmud, the ruler who probably gave him shelter. As there is no record of coinage before Ratna Manikya's time, it will be fair to presume that he had brought the minting technology from Bengal. The lion insignia symbolises power; it is also the vehicle of the goddess Durga. However, the lion remained a permanent symbol in most of the later coins of this dynasty.

Furthermore, it could be stated that Ratna Manikya's Chaturdashdevata coins, depicting fourteen vertical lines with a garland encircling it, gives the visual impression of tughra writing in the Sultani coins. The religious invocations in the epithet of his coins such as Parvati Parameshvara Charana parau, Shri Shri Durga Radha Napta Vijaya Ratnapure, Shri Narayana Charana para and Shri Chaturdasha Deva Charana para etc clearly indicate his liberal-mindedness as far as religious beliefs are concerned. The date inscribed on the coin is 1386 Shaka. This is probably the year of his installation. The place mentioned, Ratnapur (present Udaipur in Tripura)was his capital.

But the most striking feature of Ratna Manikya's coinage is the name of his Queen, Laksmi Mahadevi, on the coin. This became a permanent practice among all successive kings. In the whole numismatic history of this subcontinent there are only five instances where the Queen's name is inscribed on the coin along with the King.

Dated Coins of Tripura Kings

1. Ratna Manikya 1386 Shaka, 1389 Shaka (?)
2. Mukut Manikya 1411 Shaka
3. Dhanya Manikya 1412 Shaka, 1428 Shaka & 1435 Shaka
4. Dev Manikya 1448, 1449, 1450 & 1452 Shaka
5. Vijay Manikya 1454, 1456, 1458, 1476, 1479, 1482, 1485 Shaka
6. Ananta Manikya 1486 & 1487 Shaka
7. Udai Manikya 1489 Shaka
8. Jay Manikya 1495 Shaka
9. Amar Manikya 1499, 1502 & 1503 Shaka
10. Rajdhar Manikya 1508 Shaka
11. Yashhodhar Manikya 1521 & 1522 Shaka
12. Virbhadra Manikya 1521 Shaka
13. Ishvar Manikya 1522 Shaka
14. Dharma Manikya 1523 Shaka
15. Kalyan Manikya 1548 Shaka
16. Govinda Manikya 1582 Shaka
17. Chattra Manikya 1583 Shaka
18. Ram Manikya 1598 Shaka
19. Ratna Manikya -II 1607 Shaka
20. Narendra Manikya 1615 Shaka
21. Mahendra Manikya 1634 Shaka
22. Dharma Manikya 1636 Shaka
23. Jay Manikya 1661 Shaka
24. Indra Manikya 1666 Shaka
25. Virendrakishore Manikya 1319 Tripurabda
26. Virvikramkishore Manikya 1337,1338& 1341 Tripurabda

Eras used

Shakabda + 78 = AD
Tripurabda + 590 = AD

Modern times

From the time of 18th century onwards the kingdom of Tripura gradually became politically unstable; naturally the number of coins issued also decreased. Over the years, they tended to become more like ceremonial issues. The epithets of the later coins became stereotyped; the invocations changed only according to the religious beliefs of the rulers. By the end of the 18th century these hand-struck coins gave place to 'semimachine' issues. By the second half of the 19th century the coins were struck fully by machines in their own mints. This tradition continued till the middle of the twentieth century. The only exception to this practice occurred at the time of Radhakishore Manikya (end of the 19th century), who struck one set of coins with the denomination of double, full and half tankas in some private mint of Great Britain.

Although Tripura coins were issued continuously for about five hundred years, their circulation was mostly confined to the territory of the Kingdom or to surrounding regions. Most of the coins are in silver, but a few are in gold. Tripura coins are some of the finest specimens of regional calligraphy, numismatic execution, and iconographic representation in the whole history of the coinage of this subcontinent.

References

• Banglapedia, Tripura coinage
• Rhodes, Nicholas Gervase and Bose Shankar K.: The Coinage of Tripura. With Notes on the Seals, Orders, Decorations and Medals of the State. Library of Numismatic Studies, Kolkata, 2002
• Sarma. Ramanimohan: Coinage of Tripura. Numismatic Notes and Monographs, no 17, part I. The Numismatic Society of India, Varanasi, 1980