The Coinage of Tripura: With Notes on the Seals, Orders, Decorations and Medals of the State

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Nicholas G. Rhodes was born on 26th May, 1946 in London. The mystique world of Numismatics used to fascinate him from his formative days. After obtaining Master Degree in Mathematics at Cambridge University he achieved tremendous conceptual profoundity in actuarial-science. After retirement Rhodes spent more time on his academic interest till he passed to the great beyond in July, 2011. He was Secretary General of the Oriental Numismatic Society of Great Britain. He had delivered sublime lectures widely in India and the West on the coinage of the Himalayas and the Northeast India. The Numismatic Society of India, Varanasi, had bejewelled him the prestigious Akbar medal. He has composed seven books with S. K. Bose on Northeast India Coinage and few more on other kingdoms. Rhodes has published more than 290 research papers on numismatics and philately. The world of numismatics will continue to offer earnest homage towards the indelible landmark established by Nicholas G. Rhodes.

S. K. Bose was born in Dhubri (Assam) India. On retirement from banking as senior executive, he has spent more time on his academic interests. Acknowledged as a scholar in numismatics for his expertise on the coinage of Northeast and Eastern India, he has written and lectured widely in India and abroad. A guest faculty of the Centre for Archaeological Studies and Training, Kolkata, Bose is at present also the Managing Trustee of the Institute of Northeast India Studies. Several published research papers and books on numismatics composed by Bose, reflect his expertise on the relevant discipline. He was awarded prestigious Akbar Medal by the the Numismatic Society of India in 2011 for his contribution to numismatic literature and also honoured as its General President in 2013. He is the recipient of honors in India and abroad including the first 'Barun Kumar Roychowdhury Excellence Award-2017', Tarapada Santra Memorial Award-2017 as well as 'Certificate of Honor As Specialist' from the Krause Publications, lola, USA at el.

With an aim to highlight the beautiful numismatic history of Northeast India, Nicholas G. Rhodes and I started a project in the late nineties. The Coinage of Tripura' published in 2002 was the very first outcome of our efforts in print. The fact that it received more than just a warm welcome was borne by the fact that all copies were sold out within sixty days from the date of publication. This was followed by 'The Coinage of Assam, Vol. 1. Pre-Ahom Period' (2003), 'The Coinage of Assam, Vol. II. Ahom period' (2004). 'A History of the Dimasa-Kacharis, As Seen Through Coinage' (2006), "The Coinage of Jaintapur (2010) and "The Coinage of Manipur' (2012). The last book was the terminal volume of our project However, prior to the very first book, a joint monograph titled "The Coinage of Cooch Behar' was also published as a part of the project in 1999. Unfortunately, Rhodes died before the book on Manipur coinage could be published. There were also plans for individual books on each of the remaining Himalayan kingdoms and data for this work is presently being compiled.

Meanwhile, I had also received requests from many historians, numismatists, scholars and students for a revised and updated edition of the Coinage of Tripura. This encouraged me to publish this edited version incorporating all the information and discoveries as on date.

I hope, similar to our previous issues, this revised edition also will receive its due attention from its readers.

As human knowledge accumulates and expands, it is analysed and categorised into various disciplines. The collection and study of coins, i.e. numismatics, is one such fascinating discipline of archaeology, more so if it is presented chronologically and in a scientific way. The antiquity of coinage in India may go back to the 5th century B.C. At first the art collectors and connoisseurs admired only the aesthetic qualities of such little masterpieces of art; but later on, particularly since the 18th century, the importance of numismatics as source material for the study of history was recognised. The history of the Kushanas of ancient India would be considerably poorer if numismatic testimony was removed. In Tripura, an erstwhile princely state of North East India of great antiquity, we are yet to find out numismatic specimens prior to the 15th century A.D. However, since the 15th century A.D., due to the paucity of different types of source materials, it is only through the coins that the chronological framework of the history of Tripura under the Manikyas has been set on firm foundations in many cases. There were some Manikya Kings whose reigns were particularly noteworthy from the numismatic point of view.

Some renowned historians and scholars like R. D. Banerji, N.K. Bhattasali, R.C. Majumder, D.C. Sircar, B.N. Mukherjee, A.N. Lahiri, J.P. Singh, and numismatists like Vasant Chowdhury, P. Ray, Jahar Acharjee and others have drawn the attention of the researchers on some aspects of several coins of Tripura. J.P. Singh's "An Introduction to the History of the Manikyas of Tripura" (NEHU,Shillong, 1999, pages 1-96) is mainly based on numismatic sources. But there exists no reasonably comprehensive, chronological and analytical study of the coinage of Tripura of the entire Manikya period since the 15th century A.D. The present book, though neither exhaustive nor complete, intends to fill the gap. In history, there are virtually no important propositions that cannot be stated in plain and simple language. N.G. Rhodes and S.K. Bose must be particularly thanked for their dedication of collecting so many Manikya coins and for analysing the coinage in plain and simple language, bereft of any jargon. The book is planned as a companion to two kinds of users of history. First, for the general reader who wants to have an idea of this princely state, and secondly, it is aimed at students and researchers, especially those of numismatics, for whom this is part of the curriculum. The book meets the syllabi requirements of the Universities.

The issue of coins is naturally associated with the economy of the concerned place and the role of coins in the reconstruction of economic history is obvious. While the majority of the Manikya coins were struck in silver, some were in gold. Copper species were non-existant (although there were lots of copper-plate grants). The large quantities of silver and other metals required for minting coins might have been imported from outside. That was the common practice in those days. Pliny's lament on the drainage of Roman gold to ancient India for the purpose of coinage was well-founded. In the case of Tripura, the China connection was a possibility and a land route did perhaps exist between Manipur, Yunnan or Pegu and South West China. Regarding the sea route, the main port, viz. Samandar (Chittagong) was not very far from Tripura. As regards the use value of the coins, i.e. whether the Manikya coins were used in the day-to-day public life as a medium of exchange, scholars raised doubts; although these might have been used for paying tributes or for commercial purposes with other powers. The barter system and the use of cowries, as in Bengal even in the 16th century A. D., were the prevalent modes inside the state. The Manikya coins were mainly of commemorative nature and issued by the Durbar at times of coronation, holy work, marriage, battle, victory, bath or pilgrimage.

The state of Tripura, currently occupying about four thousand square miles in the hills to the east of the Brahmaputra plain, was a force to be reckoned with in the middle ages, and it succeeded in remaining a bastion against Muslim invasions. During the Moghul period, the state was relatively isolated, but both before, during, and after this period, it produced arguably one of the rarest and most attractive of all Indian coinages. The State was visited little by Europeans during British occupation of India, and as a result relatively few examples of the coins reached the west, and therefore, its coinage remained virtually unknown and unpublished until after Independence. It was only in the 1960's that the coins attracted the interest of collectors in Bengal, and dealers began to search for them, not only in Tripura, but also in the neighbouring areas of Bangladesh, around Comilla, which was formerly part of the Tripura territory. As a result, knowledge of the coinage of Tripura has grown considerably over the last forty years, and a large number of articles have been written, publishing most of the known types. These studies have shed much light on the history of Tripura, as the coins are some of the only contemporary documents available to historians. In many cases it is only the coins that help to define the chronological frame- work of the political history of Tripura. Apart from their importance in reconstructing the political history, the coins have very interesting representations of Hindu deities, which are of interest to art historians, and work has scarcely begun in using the coins as source material for any study of the economic history of the region.

Unfortunately, the numismatic publications are spread over many different journals, and it is difficult for historians and numismatists to get a comprehensive view of this fascinating series. In order to fill this gap, we present here an illustrated catalogue, listing all the types known to us, as well as many die varieties. Apart from a basic catalogue, we have attempted to describe all aspects of the coinage, and we would like to think that this book can provide a framework that will permit historians to better use the numismatic material in their re- searches. Much of what we have written is based on the work of distinguished predecessors, and we have added a bibliography of the articles known to us. Naturally this bibliography cannot be complete, but we hope that it will be of use to anyone trying to delve more deeply into the subject.