The first mention about Tripura can be found in the Mahabharata and also in the pillar inscription of Asoka. Before Tripura was merged with the Union of India it was a princely state and was ruled by the Manikya dynasty for 3000 years. Udaipur was the capital of Princely Tripura but later under King Krishna Manikya the capital was shifted to old Agartala and it was only in the 19th Century that the present city of Agartala became the capital of the state of Tripura. The most important historical fact about Tripura is its merger with India in 1949, after the Ganamukti Parishad movement.
A detailed study about Tripura would reveal the diverse ethnic element in the state which involves two major racial groups, they are the Indo-Aryans represented by the Bengali community and the Indo-Mongoloid group comprising of the Reangs, the Jamatis, the Mogh, the Lushai, the Tripuris, the Noatias, the Kukis, the Halams, and the Chakma.
