35 | Tripura State

Tripura was an old state with its history dating back to antiquity. The traditions and history of its ruling family were preserved in the Bengali epic Rajmala. During the sixteenth century, the military prestige of the Tripura Rajahs was at its peak, but the state was later reduced by the Nawab of Murshidabad in the eighteenth century and subsequently remained under Muslim control. While Muslims dominated the entire state, they primarily occupied the plains areas, which were distributed among their nobles. When the British took control of this area, they allowed the state to retain its territories in the hill areas (Menon, 1956).

Prior to independence, the Crown Representative managed relations with the Khasi Hill States (which also bordered Assam and East Pakistan) through the Governor of Assam, and this practice continued for these states even after August 15, 1947.

The integration of Tripura occurred amid specific challenges. The state faced the additional task of caring for non-Muslim refugees arriving from East Bengal after the partition. Its position as a border state with significant strategic importance, particularly due to its proximity to tribal hill areas in Assam and Burma necessitated special attention from the Government of India for security arrangements. V. P. Menon notes that given these circumstances, the only viable option was for the Government of India to take over Tripura as a Chief Commissioner's province. The negotiations for Tripura's merger involved the Regent Maharani Kanchan Prabha Devi (daughter of the Maharajah of Panna) and her son, the incumbent ruler who was a minor at the time, meeting with V.P. Menon in Delhi (Menon, 1956).

The Maharajah of Tripura , Bir Bikram Kishore Bahadur, ceded full and exclusive authority, jurisdiction and powers for and in relation to the governance of the State to the Dominion Government, making the Dominion Government competent to exercise these powers from the specified date. The Government of India guaranteed the continuance in service of permanent members of Tripura's Public Services under conditions no less advantageous than before (Menon, 1957).

The Maharaja was guaranteed an annual privy purse of Rupees three lakhs fifty thousand (Rs. 3,50,000) for his lifetime, free of all taxes. This amount was intended to cover all expenses of the ruler and his family, including personal staff, armed guards, maintenance of residences, marriage and other ceremonial costs, and allowances for his relatives who were receiving them from state revenues on the date of the agreement (Menon, 1957).

Concerns also existed about potential conspiracies by East Pakistani agents to force Tripura to join Pakistan, which heightened the urgency for its integration with India. Maharani was reportedly told that Indian government help would only be provided if she signed the state away. The merger agreement was signed by the Regent Maharani, on behalf of the minor ruler, on September 9, 1949. The administration of the state was then formally taken over by the Government of India on October 15, 1949, and became a Part C state of India, administered by a Chief Commissioner (Menon, 1956; Zubrzycki, 2023). 

The process of bringing princely states like Tripura under central administration involved direct delegation of power to the Government of India, which then managed their administration, sometimes grouping states or keeping them as separate entities. This approach was chosen to ensure these states received special attention and financial/technical assistance from the central government, which local provinces might not have been able to provide. The long-term intention was to review whether these centrally administered areas should eventually merge with nearby Part 'A' or Part 'B' states once special conditions were met (Menon, 1956; Zubrzycki, 2023). 

References:

• Menon, V. P. (1956). The Story of Integration of the Indian states. Orient Blackswan.

  
  

• Menon, V. P. (1957). The Transfer of Power in India (Reprinted). Orient Longman.

  
  

• Zubrzycki, J. (2023). Dethroned: Patel, Menon and the integration of Princely India. Juggernaut Books.