Situating the Historical Chronicles of Tripura in Traditional Indian Historiography

Abstract

The sub-discipline of history named historiography is concerned with the history of history writing. India had more than one genres of traditional history-writing before the establishment of the Colonial British rule in the Subcontinent. Though initially not taken up seriously by the scholars of the new ruling class, some from within that group soon found them useful for studying the ancient and medieval history of the country. Situated in the southernmost corner of North East India, the province of Tripura too can boast of a strong tradition of historiography. Mostly written . in Bengali language, they are essential for undertaking any research on the history of the Medieval Kingdom of Tripura, particularly from its formation in c. I J1h Century CE up to the end of the 18th Century CE. This paper tries to locate the traditional historiography of Tripura within the earlier'-mentioned Pan-Indian Traditional Historiography. It will also try to bring out the unique features of the historical chronicles of Tripura.