Agartala (, , ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Tripura, situated on the banks of Haora/Saidra River, about east of the border with Bangladesh and about 2,499 km (1,552 mi) from the national capital, New Delhi. According to 2022 AMC data, Agartala is the second most populous city after Guwahati in Northeast India. It is India's third international internet gateway and being developed under the Smart Cities Mission.
Etymology Agartala is a derivative of two words, namely agar, a valuable perfume and incense tree of genus Aquilaria, and the suffix tala, meaning underneath, a reference to the density of agarwood trees in the region. The agar tree is historically referred to in the story of the King Raghu who tied up his elephant's feet to an agar tree on the banks of River Lauhitya.
History
One of the earliest kings of Tripura was Patardan B.C. 1900, long before the Manikya Dynasty. According to folklore, Chitrarath, Drikpati, Dharmapha, Loknath Jivandharan were important kings during the time of B.C. in Agartala.
In the past, Tripura served as the capital to several Hindu kingdoms. Although a timeline of the rulers has not been found, records reveal that the area has been ruled by as many as 179 Hindu rulers, starting from the mythological King Druhya to the last King of Tripura, Kirit Bikram Kishore Manikya. Tripura also came under Mughal rule. The state came under the governance of the British in 1808.
Much later the ancient capital of the then princely state 'Swadhin Tripura' was at Rangamati (Udaipur, South Tripura) by the bank of the Gomati River. In 1760 it was shifted by the Maharaja Krishna Chandra Manikya Bahadur (r.1829–1849) of Manikya Dynasty to present old Agartala by the bank of the river Haora/Saidra and was named 'Haveli'. The capital city of Agartala was founded by Maharaja Krishna Kishore Manikya (1830-49 CE) in 1838 CE. Due to frequent invasion of the Kukis and also to keep easy communication with the British Bengali, the Maharaja Krishna Chandra Manikya started the process of shifting the capital from Old Haveli to New Haveli (present Agartala) in 1849.
During the British Raj, Agartala was the capital of the 'Hill Tippera' state; it became a municipality in 1874–75, and in 1901 had a population of 9,513. The princely state always remained as cake piece to the British and many other invaders. For example, when Arakhan soldiers attacked the old capital of the state the king of Tripura responded by defeating the entire troop. The Agartala Municipality was established during the reign of Maharaja Bir Chandra Manikya (1862–1896) within an area of having a population of only 875 by a royal proclamation in the last part of 1871. A.W.S. Power, the first British political agent for Tipperah was also appointed as the Chairman of the Agartala Municipality in 1872 who held office from 1872 to 1873. The municipality located at the crossing of latitude N 23 –50' and longitude E 91-17' covering 3 km2 area during that period.
Bir Bikram Manikya Debbarma is called the founder of the planned city of Agartala. He had gone on a tour to the United Kingdom and was so impressed by the architecture that he started planning a similar township in Agartala. During the 1940s the town was re-organised in a planned manner with new roads and a market building.
The estimated population of Agartala was 522,603 in 2014 after the municipal expansionAgartala Municipality Statistics , provided by the AMC(Agartala Municipal Council) at the Government of Tripura website (189,327 in the 2001 census).
From 1901 to 1971 the city did not experience notable progress in infrastructure development with only an 8 km2 of area but 1981 saw Agartala expanding and increasing its connectivity as well as businesses in various fields, the city area expanding to 58.84 km2, greater Agartala is planned as of 2011 with an additional of 92 km2. Agartala had a different type of history from the earlier times of the epic days as it was a princely state and was connected with Bangladesh. Though the East India Company had not arrived in the princely capital of the state but they always remained in a certain in capturing and ruling. The East India Company had set their base of North East India in the Assam province with Shillong as their capital.
Indian Nobel laureate and poet Rabindranath Tagore visited the city multiple times and built a house that still exists. The historical book Rajmala contains incidents and historical stories of Agartala.
Geography and climate
The city of Agartala is located in the plain region of Tripura with the river Haora flowing through the city which floods every year during the monsoon season.
Agartala has a monsoon influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa) just short of being hot enough to qualify as a borderline tropical savanna (Aw)/tropical monsoon (Am) climate. Large amounts of rain fall all year except during the dry "winter" or "cool" season. The city experiences long, hot and wet summers, lasting from April to October. Average temperatures are around , fluctuating with rainfall. There is a short, mild winter from mid-November to early March, with mostly dry conditions and average temperatures around . The best time to visit is from September to February. Summers are long and extremely hot with much sunlight and warm days. Rain is very common in this season and the city can be found flooded.
Demographics As of the 2011 Indian Census, Agartala had a total population of 400,004, of which 200,132 were males and 199,872 were females. The population within the age range of 0 to 6 year is 35,034. The total number of literates in Agartala was 344,711, which constituted 86.18% of the population with male literacy of 87.53% and female literacy of 84.82%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Agartala was 94.5%, of which male literacy rate was 96.2% and female literacy rate was 92.8%. The sex ratio of Agartala is 999 females per 1,000 males. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are 77,663 and 19,767 respectively.
Languages
In 1941 Agartala had a population of 17,693.Columbia-Lippincott Gazetteer. p. 18 By 1991 the population had risen to 157,358.Cohen, Saul B., ed. Columbia Gazetteer of the World (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998) p. 26
Bengali, the official state language, is the dominant language in Agartala spoken by 90.84% of the population, while English is also a popular language in the state; Kokborok, another official language, is spoken by 4.05% in the city. Hindi and Meitei are spoken by 2.36% and 0.83%, respectively.
Ethnicities
The city mainly consists of Bengalis and Tripuris. Bengali is widely spoken in the city as a result of the erstwhile regal patronage and high influx of Bengalis from Comilla, Sylhet, Noakhali, and Chittagong districts of Bangladesh. Durga Puja and Saraswati Puja are celebrated with great grandeur and ecstatic enthusiasm, which reflect the influence of the culture of the Bengalis. Hence, nearly every festivity attracts participation from citizens of diverse backgrounds.
There is also a growing population of Tripuri people in the city. Among the native Tripuri festivals, the most famous are Kharchi, Garia and Ker festivals and Tring. The major areas where the Tripuri live are in the localities of Abhoynagar, Banamalipur, Krishnanagar, Nandannagar and Kunjaban areas who have started to mass migrate to Agartala from other parts of Tripura.
There is also a sizeable population of Meitei as well as Hindi-speakers.
Religion
According to the 2011 census, 94.09% of the population is Hindu, 4.37% Muslim, 0.99% Christian, and 0.28% Buddhist. The remainder of the population includes Sikhs, Jains, and other religions; 0.27%.
Population density
YearPopulationArea 1901 6,415 1911 6,831 1921 7,743 1931 9,580 1941 17,693 1951 42,595 1961 54,878 1971 100,264 1981 132,186 10.94 km2 1991 157,358 15.81 km2 2001 188,540 16.02 km2 2004 367,822 58.84 km2 2011 404,004 58.84 km2 2013 438,408 76.504 km2 (Greater Agartala Planning Area: 512,264 and 92 km2)
Agartala has emerged as one of the fastest-growing cities in the north-eastern region of India today. The city area under the AMC has seen a consistent expansion in recent times with conglomeration of various industries and businesses shaping up. Poverty and literacy still remains a challenge for the governing bodies.
Government and politics City administration
The city is managed by the Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC), which divides the city into 49 municipal wards under four zones: North, South, East and Central zones. Each ward has an elected ward representative or municipal councillor. For postal administration the city is divided into postal zones. Agartala Municipality became a Municipal Corporation on January 21, 2014, which is the day when Agartala attained statehood in 1972.
From 2004 the Agartala Municipal Council has been further extended, taking 16 villages of Dukli R. D. Block, seven villages of Mohanpur R. D. Block and two villages of Jirania R. D. Block with area of 43 km2 and population in addition to the 16 km2 and population of in the 2001 census.
Agartala city consists of many paras, which means "locality" in Bengali. Each collection of neighbourhoods or para is usually also a municipal ward or division. The complete list of municipal wards and their locations by municipal zones are shown in the table below. Ward no. Para / locality Municipal zone1 Barjala North2 Chandinamura-Lichubagan North3 Kunjaban North4 Chanmari North5 Indranagar North6 Nandannagar North7 Abhoynagar North8 Radhanagar North9 Ranjitnagar Central10 Rajnagar Central11 Paschim Jaynagar Central12 Ramnagar Central13 Paschim Krishnanagar Central14 Krishnanagar Central15 Dimsagar-Banamalipur Central16 Dhaleswar East17 Kashipur-Khayerpur East18 Shibnagar East19 Paschim Shibnagar East20 Town Pratapgarh Central21 Shantipara Central22 Melarmath Central23 Bardowali South24 Bhattapukur-Badarghat South25 Arundhutinagar South26 Dakkhin Badarghat South27 Siddhi Ashram South28 Rajlaxminagar South29 Arundhutinagar South30 Paschim Pratapgarh South31 Purba Pratapgarh South32 Jogendranagar East33 Uttar Jogendranagar East34 Aralia East35 Purba Jogendranagar East
Politics On 1 November 1956, Tripura became a Union Territory and an Advisory Committee was formed to advise the Chief Commissioner. On 15 August 1957, a Territorial Council was formed with 30 elected members and two members nominated by the government of India. On 1 July 1963, the Tripura Territorial Council was dissolved and a Legislative Assembly with the existing members of the Territorial Council was formed. Tripura is governed through a parliamentary system of representative democracy, a feature it shares with other Indian states. Universal suffrage is granted to residents. The Tripura government has three branches: executive, legislature and judiciary. The Tripura Legislative Assembly consists of elected members and special office bearers that are elected by the members. Assembly meetings are presided over by the speaker, or by the deputy speaker in the case of the speaker's absence. The Assembly is unicameral with 60 members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). Agartala assembly constituency is part of Tripura West. Political clashes between the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Indian National Congress were common until 2018. Now Bharatiya Janata Party is the main Party in the state.