2.) The Coinage of Tripura
A talk by Ravi Shankar Sharma
Audio – English, Hindi & Bangla
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Book Reference:-
1.) Assam Museum – A Source Book of the Numismatic Studies in North East India.
2.) N. G. Rhodes & N. K. Bose – The Coinage Tripura with Notes on the Seals, Orders, Decorations & Medals of the State.
3.) Shankar Bose – Northeastern Research – Vol IX.
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Tripura Coinage All Tripura coins are in the Bengali script but the language used is Sanskrit. Tripura was a predominantly tribal state (inhabited mainly by the Tripuri tribe) situated in the Eastern border of Bengal. According to traditional chronicles, Rajaratnakar and Rajmala, Tripura’s antiquity dates back to epical periods, but there is no supporting evidence justifying this notion. Historically, the earliest mention of dynastic rule goes back to the time of DangarPha (14th 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 for some time he was ultimately successful in retrieving his kingdom with the help and support of the sultan of Bengal. RatnaPha 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 (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. The possibility of Ratna’s showing gratitude to the sultan through its presence on his coin could not be wholly ruled out. 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, Ratnapura, might have been his capital. It is somewhere near present Udaipur.
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. The reason behind this is mostly the predominance of the Queen at that particular phase of time. But in the case of Ratna Manikya there is no evidence of the Queen exerting special power. Neither the numismatists nor the social scientists could explain this unusual phenomenon.
The next coin-striking ruler was Mukut Manikya (1411 Shaka). He had a very short reign. He introduced Garuda on his coins in place of the lion. In his epithets is found religious invocations to Narayana or to Chandi. The name of his Queen was Machatri Mahadevi.
Dhanya Manikya, the ruler who followed, was installed in 1412 Shaka. His Queen’s name, also inscribed in the coins, was Kamala. He reinstated the symbol of lion in the coin and deviated from the standard practice of fixed dated coins in the installation year. He introduced commemorative coins recording his victories with respective dates. His coin entitled Vijayendra (victorious-1428 Shaka) and Chattigram Vijayi (victorious over Chittagong-1435 Shaka) were issued after his successive military achievements. However, his victory over Chittagong was short-lived. The port town was soon taken over by husain shah, the Sultan of Bengal. Dhanya Manikya’s religious invocations were to Narasingha and Govinda.
The next ruler, Deva Manikya (1448 Shaka), issued consecutive dated coins after his victory over Subarnagram (sonargaon, near Dhaka). He also introduced another variety of coins commemorating his holy bath at Durasa. In his coins names of his two queens (Padmavati and Gunavati) are mentioned.
http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Tripura_Coinage
