TRIPURA HILLS


Meaning of TRIPURA HILLS in English

hills in eastern Tripura state, northeastern India. The Tripura Hills, by way of the Mizo Hills of Mizoram state on the east, form a low western extension of the Purvachal, a strategically located highland region fronting the border with Myanmar (Burma). The region belongs to the Assam-Burma geologic province, an unstable seismic zone crisscrossed by several faults and extending into Myanmar. The hills are a series of parallel north-south folds, decreasing in elevation to the south until they merge into the Eastern Plains. Each successive ridge of hills to the east rises higher than the one before; the low Deotamura Range is followed by the Artharamura, Langtarai, and Sakhan Tlang ranges. The Jamrai Tlang Mountains, 46 miles (74 km) in length, have the highest peak, Betling Sib (3,280 feet ). The Tripura Hills, once heavily forested, now have patches of bare soil where the region's sparse populations have practiced jhum (shifting cultivation). The Dhalai, Khowai, Longai, Juri, and Deo rivers originate in the Tripura Hills and flow across the valleys; smaller streams are dry during the winter. Soils are generally coarse-textured sandy loams and are almost devoid of humus. The population consists of the Old Tripuri, Deshi Tripuri, Reang, Jamatia, Bodo, Kuki, and Noatia ethnic groups. Agriculture is the major occupation of the region; crops include paddy rice, jute, cotton, oilseeds, potatoes, sugarcane, and fruit. Industries produce handloomed textiles, cane and bamboo products, metalware, and seasoned timber; carpentry, blacksmithing, and embroidery are also important. Dharmanagar and Kailashahar are the important towns. History The history of Tripura includes two distinct periodsthe traditional, largely legendary period described in the Rajamala, a chronicle of the supposed early kings (maharajas) of Tripura, and the period since about 143162, the reigning years of the great king Dharma Manikya. The Rajamala, written in Bengali verse, was compiled by the Brahmans in the court of Dharma Manikya. During his reign and that of his successor, Dhanya Manikya (reigned c. 14631515), Tripura suzerainty was extended over much of Bengal, Assam, and Myanmar in a series of remarkable military conquests. It was not until the beginning of the 17th century that the Mughal Empire extended its sovereignty over much of Tripura. When the British East India Company obtained the diwani, or financial administration, of Bengal in 1765, the part of Tripura that had been under Mughal rule came under British control. From 1808 each successive ruler had to receive investiture from the British government. In 1905 Tripura was attached to the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam and was known as Hill Tippera. The last ruling maharaja of Tripura, Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya, ascended the throne in 1923 and, before his death in 1947, settled that Tripura should accede to the newly independent country of India. Tripura officially became part of India on Oct. 15, 1949, and was made a union territory on Sept. 1, 1956. It became a constituent state of the Indian Union on Jan. 21, 1972. In the 1980s there was considerable ethnic violence in this state, largely fueled by demands for an independent tribal homeland in Tripura. In 1988 tribal dissidents ceased hostilities and dropped demands for autonomy in return for increased participation in state government. Shiba P. Chatterjee Deryck O. Lodrick

Britannica English vocabulary.      Английский словарь Британика.