{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}} {{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}} {{Infobox royalty |type = monarch |name = H.R.H. Maharaja Bir Chandra Manikya Debbarman Bahadur |title = King of Tripura |image = Maharaja Bir Chandra Manikya.jpg |alt = |caption = |reign = 1862-1896 |predecessor = Ishan Chandra Manikya |suc-type = Successor |successor = Radha Kishore Manikya |house = Manikya Dynasty |spouse = Iswari Rajeshwari Mahadevi (Kaboklei) Ningthem Chanu Bhanumati<br>Maharani Manamohini |religion = Hinduism }} {{Kingdom of Tripura}} '''Maharaja Bir Chandra Manikya Bahadur''' of the Manikya Dynasty was the king of Tripura from 1862 to 1896.
==Biography== Bir Chandra Manikya is regarded as the architect of modern Agartala city.<ref>{{cite web|title=AMC at a glance|url=http://agartalacity.nic.in/about_amc1.htm|publisher=Agartala Municipal Corporation|accessdate=8 June 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091006034328/http://agartalacity.nic.in/about_amc1.htm|archivedate=6 October 2009}}</ref> In 1862, he started the urbanisation of the Agartala. In 1871 he established the Agartala Municipality. He established Umakanta Academy, the first western school in Tripura, in 1890.
An enthusiastic photographer, he was the first king in India to organize an annual photographic exhibition in his palace.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Old photographs - people in India|url=http://www.the-south-asian.com/march2007/old_photographs_people_india.htm|access-date=2020-08-01|website=www.the-south-asian.com}}</ref> More than 100 years after his death, the Maharaja's Foto ka Karkhana, a fully equipped studio, came to light in Madho Niwas, inside the palace.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sinha |first1=Gayatri |title=Maharaja Ram Singh II of Jaipur was a radical pioneer of photography |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/art/maharaja-ram-singh-ii-of-jaipur-was-a-radical-pioneer-of-photography/article29350664.ece |work=The Hindu |date=7 September 2019 |language=en-IN}}</ref> He was a member of the Royal Photographic Society from 1896 until his death.<ref>''The Photographic Journal'', v21, no. 9 (May 1897), p. 209 which carried a notice of his death.</ref>{{Gallery |width=225 |File:Maharaja Birchandra with Maharani Manamohini.jpg|Maharaja Birchandra with the queen Maharani Manamohini in 1880 }}
==Legacy== The Tagore family had links with the princes of Tripura since the time Dwarkanath Tagore but the relationship between the two families was closest during the time of Bir Chandra's reign. Rabindranath Tagore had a friendly relationship with the king. Three important works of Rabindranath Tagore — ''Mukuta'' (1885), ''Rajarshi'' ({{Circa|1885}}), and ''Visarjana'' (1890) were directly influenced by his association with the royal family of Tripura.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Chattopadhyay|first=Suhrid Sankar|title=Monarchy as model|url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/article25641967.ece|access-date=2020-08-01|website=Frontline|date=5 December 2018 |language=en}}</ref> Bir Chandra Manikya was also one of the main characters of the novel ''Prathom Alo'' ({{Lang|bn|প্রথম আলো}}) by Sunil Gangopadhyay.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-and-the-arts/books/story/20010305-book-review-of-sunil-gangopadhyay-first-light-775635-2001-03-04 | title=Book review: Sunil Gangopadhyay's 'First light' | date=5 March 2001 }}</ref>
==See also== *Manikya dynasty *Tripura (princely state)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.uq.net.au/~zzhsoszy/ips/t/tripura.html Kingdom of Tripura - University of Queensland]
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Category:Kings of Tripura Category:People from Agartala