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(Redirected from Tripuri clan) Ethnic group of North-East India and Bangladesh

Ethnic group
Tripuri people
Tripuri dópha rok
Tripuri woman and man in traditional attire
Total population
1.2 million (2011)
Regions with significant populations
 India1,011,294
           Tripura950,875
           Mizoram32,634
           Assam22,890
           Meghalaya2,735
           Nagaland350
           Gujarat239
           Manipur208
           Jammu and Kashmir190
           Rajasthan169
           West Bengal120
           Maharashtra118
           Karnataka114
 Bangladesh156,578 (2021)
Languages
Kókborok (Tripuri)
Religion
Majority
Hinduism (93.6%)
Minority
Christianity (6.4%)
Related ethnic groups

The Tripuri people (Kókborok: Tripuri dópha rok, (also known as Tripura, Tipra, Twipra, Tipperah) are a Tibeto-Burman-speaking ethnic group of Bangladesh and Northeast Indian state of Tripura. They are the descendants of the inhabitants of the Twipra/Tripura Kingdom in North-East India and Bangladesh. The Tripuri people through the Manikya dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Tripura for over 600 years starting from 1400 A.D. until the kingdom joined the Indian Union on 15 October 1949. The Tipra Dynasty was established in 590 AD.

Ancestral Origins

The Tripuri are part of the Tibeto-Burman ethnic group. Historical accounts suggest that they migrated from the upper courses of the Yangtze and Hwang Ho rivers in Western China. Over time, they moved through the Himalayas, eventually settling in the region now known as Tripura.

Ethnically, Tripuris belong to the Indo-Mongoloid origin and linguistically fall within the Tibeto-Burman family. They speak the Kokborok dialect, similar to other tribal groups in Tripura.

Genetic Studies

Genetic studies indicate that they share significant genetic similarities with other Tibeto-Burman speaking groups in the region, such as the Chakma and Marma populations. For instance, research has shown that the Chakma and Tripura populations share considerable genetic similarity, highlighting their close ancestral ties. In terms of physical appearance, Tripuri individuals typically exhibit features characteristic of East Asian and South East Asian populations. This includes straight black hair, a light to medium complexion, and epicanthic eye folds.

History

Main article: Twipra Kingdom Distribution of Tipra, as reported in the Language Survey of India 1903 Distribution of Tipra, as reported in the Language Survey of India 1903

Tripuris are the native people of Tripura having its own unique and distinct rich culture, tradition, and history. They were able to expand their influence as far south as Chittagong Division, as far west as Comilla, Noakhali and as far north as Sylhet Division (all in present Bangladesh). Chittagong Hill Tracts was also a part of Tipperah Kingdom till British took control of the Indian subcontinent. In the year 1512, the Tipperas were at the height of their supremacy when they defeated some Mughals.

Establishment of Twipra Kingdom

After migrating to the northeastern region of the Indian subcontinent, the Tripuri people established the Twipra Kingdom, later known as the Tripura Kingdom. This realm emerged as an influential power in the area. Established around the 15th century, it was ruled by the Manikya dynasty, which governed the region for several centuries. The rulers of the Manikya lineage were recognized for their adept governance and their commitment to safeguarding the kingdom's independence amidst external challenges.

At its peak, the Tripura Kingdom's territory spanned areas now part of modern India and Bangladesh. It included the Barak Valley (Cachar Plains), Hailakandi, and Karimganj in today's Assam; Comilla, Sylhet, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh; along with the current state of Tripura. The kingdom's boundaries were marked by the Khasi Hills to the north, the Manipur Hills to the northeast, the Arakan Hills of Burma to the east, the Bay of Bengal to the south, and the Brahmaputra River to the west.

Integration into Modern India

The princely state of Tripura maintained its sovereignty until the mid-20th century. On October 15, 1949, following India's independence, Tripura was merged into the Indian Union. Subsequently, it was designated as a Union Territory on September 1, 1956, and later attained full statehood on January 21, 1972.

Language

Main article: Kokborok language

The Tripuri people speak Kokborok (also known as Tipra), a Tibeto-Burman language. Tripuri is the official language of Tripura, India. There are estimated to be more than one million speakers of the dialects of Tripuri in Tripura, and additional speakers in Mizoram and Assam in India, as well as Sylhet and the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. It is also spoken in Feni.

There are three main dialects of Tripuri, though the central dialect of the royal family, DebBarma (Puratan Tripur), is a prestige dialect understood by everyone. It is the standard for teaching and literature. It is taught as the medium of instruction up to class fifth and as subject up to graduate level in Tripura.

Historically, Tripuri was written in native Tripuri script known as Koloma, the earliest known writing in Tripuri dates from the 1st century AD, and was written in Koloma. The script was replaced by an alphabet based on the Eastern Nagari script. Currently the revival of ancient Koloma script is in process.

Some of the most notable Tripuri historical literary works, written by court scholars, include:

  • The "Rajratnakar", The royal Chronicle of Tripuri kings
  • The Rajmala, Chronicle of Tripuri Kings of Tripura.

Culture

Festivals

Buisu

The Buisu is the new year festival of Tripuri/Tripura People in India and Bangladesh. This Festival is the traditional New Year's Day which falls on 13 or 14 April.

The Buisu Festival begins with Hari Buisu which is the first day. In Hari Buisu Tripuri People clean up their houses and decorate their houses with different flowers. They pray a special prayer in the evening in their houses and temples. The next day is known as Buisu which is the main event, where people visit each other's houses. During this main Buisu, people actually socialize with each other. People cook different traditional foods along with others.

Goriya

It's the seven day long festival, where Tripuri god Lord Goriya is worshipped starting from Buisu to Sena.

Sena

It's the last day of Goriya worship, where Lord Goriya gives all the household work back to Goddess Mailuma & Khuluma.

Kharchi

Kharchi mwtai is the worship of the dynasty deity of Tripuri people, the fourteen gods. It is performed in the month of July August on the eight day of new moon. The fourteen gods are worshipped by the royal priest Chontai.

Ker

Ker mwtai is celebrated 14 days following the end of Kharchi mwtai. It is the strictest puja ever performed by Tripuri people. It may be mentioned here that no puja or worship is so strictly performed as is the Ker of Tripuri people, by any section of the people in the world . In this also all the gods of Tripuri people are worshipped at a time.

Osa

The worship of Tripuri Goddess Ama Osa.

Mamita

Mamita festival is the harvest festival of Tripuri people where the worship of goddess Ama Mailuma takes place. The Mamita festival is held during the time of Osa Mwtai.

Hojagiri

Tripuri festival of lights where goddess Ama Mailuma & Ama Khuluma are worshipped. It is said that it the festival was stated during the reign of Tripuri King Subrairaja to create awareness among the Tripuri people during that era.

Hangrai

Hangrai is a harvest festival and one of the main festivals of Tripuri people. This festival is very meaningful to Tripuri People. The Tripuris celebrate Hangrai with a festive way. People start taking preparation of Hangrai which begins 4-5 days before. The younger generation make Nowshah, small huts made of bamboo and paddy husks. They gather for picnic where hot rice cakes and different foods are served. Elders would remain at home and take shower early in the morning and wear fresh clothes. They gather around and share their Awangs, Moi or Curries and rice-based alcohol Arak or chuwak. They enjoy the entire day until midnight.

In this festival Tripuri People visit holy places, worship God and perform individual sacrifices and rituals.

Religion

Religion among the Tripuri

  Hinduism (93.6%)  Christianity (6.4%)

In the 2011 census, 93.6% of the Tripuri people followed an admixture of folk religions and Hinduism and 6.4% were Christians (mostly, Baptists). Tripuri Hinduism is a syncretic religion, melding traditional folk religion with Hindu elements, commonly found in northeastern India. A minority of the Uchoi clan of the Tripuri are Buddhist.

Gastronomy

Tripuri people loves to eat different types of fresh vegetables from hill. In their food menu, Bamboo Shoots are one of the traditional dish which they call "Muya" in their Kokborok Language.

The use of dry fish is common in their daily cuisine. Sticky rice which is one of the traditional food of Tripuri People and they eat sticky rice in different ways including Awang Bangwi/ Awang Bwthai,Awang Sokrang, Awang Phanswi, Phap ni Awang and Awang Belep

Eight Traditional Recipes or Cuisines which Tripuri People eat in their daily life.

  1. Chakhwi
  2. Gudok
  3. Bermabwtwi
  4. Mosdeng
  5. Awandru
  6. Mwkhwikwtwi
  7. Serma
  8. Thokmui

Awang Bangwi

Awang Bangwi or Awang Bwthai which is one of the traditional food of Tripuri People. This cone shaped rice rolls in Lairu or banana leaves for steam which is loved by Tripuris. Awan Bangwi which is a rice cake prepared by Tripuris including sticky rice,butter or Ghee, reisins, nuts, ginger and onion. Awan Bangwi is the national food of Tripura State.

Bamboo Chicken/Pork/Fish

Using bamboo for cooking chicken or pork or fish is popular and traditional way of cooking process of Tripuri People. The process is simple. Marinating chicken or pork or fish with different ingredients and stuff the chicken/pork/fish inside the bamboo with little water. Then cook it for 40-50 min on Charcoal.

This Bamboo Chicken/Pork/Fish is widely popular among Tripuri People.

Tripuri games and sports

Main article: Tripuri games and sports
"Pait" one of the ancient Tripuri brain game

Like many parts of the world the Tripuri has traditional sports. It is common in almost all the clans of Tripuri. They are called thwngmung in Tripuri.

Marriage

The traditional Tripuri marriage system, known as Hamjwk Tubui Kaimani, begins with the bride’s and groom’s families negotiating through a marriage broker called a Raibai. Once the bride is chosen, the groom’s family agrees to dowry demands, including money, ornaments, and household items. The formal engagement, called Koksungma, includes rituals like blessings with rice beer and offerings, followed by a feast where elders bless the bride.

On the wedding day, rituals include worshipping the Lampra Wathop deity and Tuisangramma, followed by the groom’s procession to the bride’s home with music and traditional water pots. After completing the formalities, the bride leaves her family in a ceremonial palanquin journey to her new home. Unique traditions include the bride washing elders’ hands during the feast and a taboo preventing the bride’s mother from attending the wedding. These customs showcase the Tripuri community’s rich cultural heritage.

Kinship

The main Tripuri clans are:

Society

A rignai pattern.

The Tripuri people consist of clans, each with its own elementary social and administrative organisation starting from the village level and up to the chieftainship of the whole community.

Tripuri couple in traditional attire
Tripuri girls in their traditional attire
Tripura girls in their traditional attire

These indigenous communities enjoy their traditional freedom based on the concept of self-determination. The relation between the king and the subject communities was as Maharaja (king) of Tripura-Missip or liaison officer Roy or headman of the community – Sardar the chief of the village – the individual. Earlier, only the Debbarma or Tipra ethnic group was included in the Tripuri Kshatriya group. Later, the Raja included other groups like Reang, Jamatia and Noatia as well, in an attempt to foster a sense of kindness among the people under his region.

The Tripuri people have a rich historical, social, and cultural heritage which is totally distinct from that of the mainland Indians. Their distinctive culture – as reflected in their dance, music, festivals, management of community affairs, dress and food habits – has a strong base. Kokborok, the lingua franca of the 12 largest linguistic groups of the indigenous Tripuris and other dialects spoken in Tripura are of the Tibeto-Burman group and distinct from those spoken in India. There is no influence from those spoken by other peoples in the north-eastern region.

Calendar

Main article: Tripuri calendar

The Tripuris follow a traditional luni-solar calendar Tripurabda, which has 12 months and a 7-day week, like the Gregorian calendar.

The Tripura Era's New Year is on the 1st of Vaishakh which corresponds to 14 or 15 of April of Common Era, depending on whether that year is a Leap year or not. The months are named in pan Indian months, time since its inception 1419 years back by Tripuri king Hamtor pha alias Himti pha alias Jujharu pha in 512 Saka Era.

Notable people

Indian

Bangladeshi

See also

References

  1. ^ "Distribution of the 99 Non-Scheduled Languages- India/ States/ Union Territories-2011 Census" (PDF). censusindia.gov.in. pp. 48, 49. Retrieved 10 April 2021. Look for "92. TRIPURI", total number of Tripuri speakers in India given as 11294 on page 48, then state wise break-up on page 49
  2. "Table 1.4 Ethnic Population by Group and Sex" (PDF) (in Bengali). Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. 2021. p. 33.
  3. "Tripura" (PDF). Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India.
  4. Hasan, Nur; Jahan, Rownak (2014). "A survey of medicinal plants used by the Deb barma clan of the Tripura tribe of Moulvibazar district, Bangladesh". Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 10: 3–19. doi:10.1186/1746-4269-10-19. PMC 3996145. PMID 24502444.
  5. Ahmed, Sazdik; Ravhee, Shahla (2020). "A Study on the Settlement Morphology of Tipra (Tripura) ethnic group in Sreemangal, Bangladesh". Journal of Recent Activities in Architectural Sciences: 3–19. doi:10.46610/JoRAAS.2020.v05i01.003. S2CID 234648795.
  6. Barma, Aloy Deb (2024). "Talking Back through Peripheral Visions and Negotiating Identity: Kokborok and Bengali Films and Music Videos in Tripura". Journal of Film and Video. 76 (2): 33–48. doi:10.5406/19346018.76.2.05. ISSN 1934-6018.
  7. Jain, Anshika (11 June 2019). "Tripura's Ujjayanta: Seat of the Manikyas". Live History India. It rose like a phoenix out of the ashes, quite literally. Situated in the city of Agartala is the exquisite Ujjayanta Palace, home of the Tripura royals and also a state museum. This delicate beauty was built in the late 19th century by Maharaja Radha Kishore Manikya of the Manikya dynasty, after a devastating earthquake flattened Agartala, the capital of Tripura. It went on to become a symbol of a modern phase in the Kingdom of Tripura. You may not have heard of them but the Manikya dynasty of Tripura is one of the oldest continuously reigning dynasties of India. The exact date of its founding is shrouded in legend – the Rajmala, a 15th century chronicle of the kings of Tripura, traces the history of the dynasty to the Mahabharata. But, historically speaking, the dynasty is said to have been founded by Ratna Manikya in 1267 CE. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
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  36. "Laxmita Reang". Global Sports Archive.
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