Tripuri Kshatriya is a Vaishnav caste group which encompasses almost all the members of the Tripuri , Reang , Jamatia and Noatia ethnic groups, most of whom live in the Indian state of Tripura . The Tripuri Royal Family belonged to the Tripuri ethnic group, from the Debbarma clan. Originally the term "Tripur Kshatriya" was used to denote the Tripuri ethnic group only, but in due time, the Maharajah included the remaining three ethnic groups as well, in an attempt to foster a sense of kinship among his people. With the influx of the Bengali immigrants from neighboring places, the Tripuris lost their majority in their own kingdom and the Maharajah's power was taken away by the Indian government. Formerly, the community was organized under the Tripura Kshatriya Samaj , which was headed by the Maharajah of Tripura himself.
16-692: The Maharajah appointed governors, known as Rai to help him in administration. These governors oversaw the governing of various districts. The governorates were again subdivided into chiefdoms, which were administrated by a Chowdhury . The families who were considered close to the Royal Family were granted the title Thakur by the Maharajah, which was considered to be one of the highest ranks of nobility in Tripura . Maharajah Bir Bikram Kishore Debbarma Manikya Bahadur , who ruled Tripura from 1923 to 1947
32-686: A first class degree in both classics and Indian languages and being awarded a Browne medal in both 1888 and 1889. At Cambridge he studied Sanskrit under the influential Orientalist Edward Byles Cowell . He was a librarian at the India Office Library (now subsumed into the British Library ) between 1898 and 1927. Simultaneously he was lecturer in comparative philology at University College, London from 1908 to 1935, Reader in Tibetan at London University from 1909 to 1937 and
48-484: A holder was entitled to wield some power in the state". However, some other academics have noted that this title had been used by "petty chiefs" in the western areas of Himachal Pradesh . The title was used by rulers of several princely states , including Ambliara , Vala , Morbi , Barsoda , and Rajkot State . Sons of thakurs were given the Sanskrit title of Kumara ('prince'), popular usage being Kunwar in
64-407: A landowning caste". Wadley further notes that Thakur was viewed as a "more modest" title in comparison to " Rājā " (King). S. K. Das noted that while the word thakur means "god", it is also used to refer to the father-in-law of a woman. It is also used for a Brahmin , Rajput , Koli and Charan . Some academics have suggested that " Thakur was merely a title and not an office whereby
80-482: A parallel government, looted the granaries and houses of wealthy Chowdhuries. However, towards the end of 1943, the Maharajah of Tripura with the help of his loyal soldiers drawn from the Tripuri and Jamatia was able to rout the rebels and arrest the instigators. The Mahajarah's forces arrested more than 300 civilians, including around 200 women and children. Ratanmani Sadhu was taken to the Maharajah's palace, where he
96-482: Is also used as a surname in the present day. The female variant of the title is Thakurani or Thakurain , and is also used to describe the wife of a Thakur. There are varying opinions among scholars about its origin. Some scholars suggest that it is not mentioned in the Sanskrit texts preceding 500 BCE , but speculates that it might have been a part of the vocabulary of the dialects spoken in northern India before
112-525: Is not a popular term obviously because of its Tukhara or Turuska background." Byomkes Chakrabarti noted that the Sanskrit word Thakkura finds mention in "late Sanskrit". He doubted, however, that Thakkura is "an original Sanskrit word" and was of the opinion that Thakkura is probably a loan word from the Prakrit language. Susan Snow Wadley noted that the title Thakur was used to refer to "a man of indeterminate but mid-level caste, usually implying
128-748: The Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford University between 1927 and 1937, in which capacity he became a fellow of Balliol College . His students at Oxford included Harold Walter Bailey . Thomas became a Fellow of the British Academy in 1927. He died on 6 May 1956. Thomas collaborated with Jacques Bacot in publishing a collection of Old Tibetan historical texts. In addition he studied many Old Tibetan texts himself which were collected in his four-volume Tibetan literary texts and documents concerning Chinese Turkestan and Ancient folk-literature from North-Eastern Tibet . He also published
144-652: The Gupta Empire . It is viewed to have been derived from word Thakkura which, according to several scholars, was not an original word of the Sanskrit language but a borrowed word in the Indian lexis from the Tukharistan region of Uzbekistan . Another view-point is that Thakkura is a loan word from the Prakrit language. Scholars have suggested differing meanings for the word, i.e. "god", "lord", and "master of
160-523: The Nepalese version of the word Thakur is Thakuri . The meaning of the word Thakur was suggested to be "god" by S. K. Das; "lord" by Blair B. Kling; and "master of the estate" by H. B. Gurung. Nirmal Chandra Sinha stated that the word Thakura is "unknown" to the Vedic and Classical Sanskrit and finds no mention in the Sanskrit literature preceding 500 BCE. He suggests, however, that "the word
176-692: The North and Kumar in Bengal and southern India . The territory of land under the control of a Thakur was called thikana . Frederick William Thomas (philologist) Frederick William Thomas CIE FBA (21 March 1867 – 6 May 1956), usually cited as F. W. Thomas , was an English Indologist and Tibetologist. Thomas was born on 21 March 1867 in Tamworth, Staffordshire . After schooling at King Edward's School, Birmingham , he went up to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1885, graduating with
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#1732783655303192-516: The administration and decided to merge the Kingdom with India , despite the advice from most of her ministers like Durjoy Kishore Debbarma for a merger with Pakistan . Maharajah Kirit Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur assumed power in 1947 and ruled until 1949 when the kingdom merged with India. Thakur (Indian title) Thakur is a historical feudal title of the Indian subcontinent . It
208-489: The estate". Academics have suggested that it was only a title, and in itself, did not grant any authority to its users "to wield some power in the state". In India, the social groups which use this title include the Rajputs , Bengali Brahmins , Bhumihars , Charans and Koli . Sisir Kumar Das stated that the word Thakur is derived from the "late Sanskrit " word Thakkura . Harka Bahadur Gurung noted that
224-496: Was brutally tortured before the execution. In 1946, the Maharajah decided to evict close to 500 Muslim families from the outskirts of Agartala . Despite huge outcry from other parts of India and intervention by the leaders of the Indian National Congress, the eviction was carried out. Maharajah Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya suddenly died on 17 May 1947. After his death, Regent Queen Kanchan Prava Debi took up
240-677: Was possibly current in many north Indian dialects before the Imperial Guptas". Sinha notes that many scholars, such as Buddha Prakash, Frederick Thomas , Harold Bailey , Prabodh Bagchi , Suniti Chatterji , and Sylvain Lévi , have suggested that Thakura is a borrowed word in the Indian lexis from the Tukhara regions of Current Uzbekistan. Sinha observed: "It may be noted that in South India among orthodox Brahmins, Thakura or Thakur
256-591: Was widely criticized for his religious intolerance. In 1942, the Rai of the Riang area, Debi Singh Riang was dismissed by the Maharajah and Khagendra Riang Chowdhury of Bangafa was appointed as the new Rai. He increased the tax on Ganga Puja by 100%. This caused widespread discontent among the Riangs and lead to the outbreak of a small-scale rebellion under the leadership of Ratanmani Noatia, a Vaishnava sadhu. The rebels formed
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