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Composed on the life of the last king of Tripura Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya, this book was published in 2006. Publishe: Pounami Prakashani, Agartala (Hospital Road); No. of pages: 104; Price: Rs. 75/-; Cover design: Nilip Poddar. The colorful life and deeds (1923-47) of the last Maharaja of Tripura Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya have been documented in this book. The author's pen has added a different value to Bir Bikram's character. He is a man of different trades. After having an audience with Hitler, he also invited Gandhiji to visit his state. Pundit Nehru, raising allegation of violation of citizens' rights, wrote a letter to the king. In turn, the king denied the allegations in a letter written to Pundit Nehru. The king who paid honor to Rabindranath, who was playwright and poet himself, also quelled the revolt led by Ratanmani with iron hands. When Bir Bikram, at one time became concerned about the welfare of his subjects, at the same time he behaved in an enraged manner. He worked towards reservation of land for the tribes and he provided shelter to the displaced refugees of then East Pakistan with equal compassion. In the nights of winter elephants would roam around. So, he would come to the streets with his gun to ensure security of the citizens. The book offers this kind of many interesting information. In order to solve the financial crisis of the state he resorted to strict austerity measures in the state administration. He took thousands of people to accompany his marriage caravan. He went abroad three times along with his associates. With the objective of enhancing income of the state he introduced lottery. He wrote to his secretary to print lottery tickets in large numbers. Because, he contemplated that more tickets would bring in more money. This farsighted king took the decision of joining Indian Union only three days before his death. But, it is said that before this he tried to establish a sovereign kingdom consisting of the hill areas of North-East. For the first time, this book has also published a bunch of letters written by the Maharaja. Newspaper
Reports Aajker Fariad, March 6, 2006, Agartala: "....Recently published book, 'Anya Bir Bikram', by Pannalal Roy presents various historical information about the political turmoil of those days.... India attained freedom on August 15, 1947. But Tripura merged with the Indian Union only in October 15, 1949. What was the situation in Tripura during this period of 26 months? It was a time of disorder and uncertainty. A conspiracy was also hatched to hand over Tripura to Pakistan. How this attempt was averted or who were the people behind this conspiracy - everything has been discussed by Pannalal Roy in this book. Question has also been raised as to how Chakla Roshanabad, teh fertile and plain area which was once an integral part of Tripura, went to Pakistan after independence. Referring to the opinions of some historians the author said, had the farsighted king lived for some more days the map of Tripura would have been different. Chakla Roshanabad would have come to this side of the border. But it is difficult to say, what would have been the condition of Tripura had the king not taken the decision to join the Indian Union before his death...." Saptahik Bartaman, June 10, Kolkata-105: "How was the king of Tripura Bir Bikram Manikya as a king? He is as concerned for the subjects as he is enraged with them. As he reserves lands for the tribals, so he provides shelter to the displaced people from Bangladesh with compassion. Sometimes he is giving courage to the subjects; sometimes he is cruel with them. As he is maintaining a rapport with the British, so he is helping the Swadeshis. He took up various welfare and development activities in his state......Discussion on pros and cons of king Bir Bikram Manikya's work forms the crux of the book". The Telegraph (The Telegraph, Northeast, 24 March, 2006), Guwahati: "It is a poignant love story that has turned out to be a surprise bestseller in Tripura within just a couple of weeks of its release. Historian Pannalal Roy's book 'The other Bir Bikram', which has placed together a jigsaw from forgotten history and oral memories has brought to light the tragic saga of Tripura's best monarch. This has created ripples in a state that has always followed the royal family's trials and tribulations with keen interest. The star crossed king Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya was denied the hand of his beloved, the Manipuri princess Ananda Devi, only because he had crossed the seven seas. The maiden, too, died heartbroken, after the orthodox Manipuri royal family turned down the marriage proposal....." |