With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Tripura relics spark rethink on history

Archaeological excavations at Boxanagar in Sonamura subdivision of West Tripura have unearthed a large Buddhist complex, including relics of a stupa, teaching centre, a bronze image of Buddha and seals in Brahmi script, triggering a controversy over the history of the state.

The excavation commenced in 2003 under the supervision of Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) Guwahati circle.

In the second phase under archaeologists Bimal Sinha and B.K. Pande, remains of walls and burnt bricks were recovered.

Indigenous historians believe that the state’s history had commenced with the arrival of Tibeto-Burman groups from the Bodoland areas of Assam, leading to the rule of the Manikya dynasty, which had ruled Tripura till October 15, 1949, for more than 500 years.

But rival schools differently interpret the excavations at Boxanagar in West Tripura and Pilak in South Tripura, which have yielded telltale evidence of the peaceful co-existence of the Hindu-Buddhist culture....
Read entire article at Telegraph (India)