Tripura is a small, mainly agricultural state in northern India. It is partly mountainous with several deep river valleys. It is located in the monsoon belt. The moist, mountainous areas of the state have a rich cover of evergreen forest. The south is more open and densely populated. The capital of Tripura, Agartala, is in the south of the state.

Tripura is a hill state in northeastern India. Bangladesh surrounds it on the north, west, and south. The Indian states of Mizoram and Assam border it on the east and northeast. The north of the state consists of four valleys, separated by ranges of hills.

Climate. During the monsoon season, June to September, most of Tripura receives more than 200 centimetres of rain. Annual totals can reach more than 250 centimetres. Temperatures in the mountains do not rise as high as they do in the valleys.

Tourist Centres: Important tourist centers are Nir Mahal, SipahiJala, Dumboor lake, Kamalasagar, Jumpui hill, Unakoti and Matabari.

History. The early history of the Tripura region is lost in legend. The name Tripura appears on pillars of the emperor Asoka, who ruled India in the 200's B.C.
In the 1300's, Tripura came under the control of the Manikya dynasty, a family of Indo-Mongolian origin. Under the Manikyas, the political influence of Tripura extended over Assam, Bengal, and Burma. In the 1600's, the Mughal emperors came to rule much of Tripura. But the local Manikya kings, or maharajahs, still retained some of their power.

In the late 1700's, the parts of Tripura that had been ruled by the Mughals came under British control. As part of the province of eastern Bengal and Assam, Tripura was known as Hill Tippera.

During the 1800's and 1900's, two Manikya maharajahs stood out as fine rulers of Tripura. Birchandra Manikya Bahadur (ruled 1862-1896), an accomplished poet and musician as well as a politician, sought to modernize the state by reorganizing its administration and abolishing slavery and suttee. Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur (ruled 1923-1947) set up a project to improve educational development in the arts and sciences, agriculture, medicine, and technology. Maharajah Bir Bikram also opened the airport at Agartala and established a college in the eastern part of the city. The college still bears its founder's name.

Following the death of Bir Bikram in 1947, Tripura prepared to become part of an independent India. It entered the Indian Union in October 1949 and became a union territory in 1956. Tripura became a state of the republic of India in 1972.