Twipra (Tripura), a princely State of great antiquity ruled by 186 Borok or Tipra kings for about few thousand years before its accession to the Indian Union on 15th October, 1949. Its name even goes to the days of Mahabharata. Indian scriptures like Yogini Tantra and Kalika Purana also refer to the name Tripura. There are many stories, which indicate the history of Tripura.1  But the princely rule came to an end with the accession of Tripura State to the Indian Union. With the reorganization of Indian States on 1st September 1956, Tripura became one of Union Territories of India. With effect from 21st January 1972, Tripura became a full-fledged State under the provisions of the Northeast Areas (Reorganisation) Act. 1971.

The indigenous people of this land are known as Boroks. They speak Kokborok as their mother tongue. They have a distinct ethnic and cultural identity of their own. Their history is one of the oldest histories in the world. Like many other human groups they also enjoy a separate life style of their own.

            Tripura is a relic of once powerful kingdom of the name mentioned in the great Sanskrit Epic Mahabharata. It has passed through several vicissitudes. In spite of that, continuity and change in the princely State constitutes the dominant characteristics in the evolution of the identity of the Borok people.

This chapter begins with a brief account of the geological, geographical, topographical and ethnographical features for the sake of stage setting.

Geological Account : According to the geological history of Tripura, formation of the Himalayas was followed by the formation of Tripura and adjacent regions. This region is said to have started rising from the seabed during the late Tertiary period and the rising process is likely to have started about four crores of years ago from the north near the southern foothills of the mighty Himalayas, and the sea retreated towards south where the Bay of Bengal stands. The sedimentation process continued for millions of years. Different layers of stratified rock are indicative of a long process of deposition.2  Here hills and valleys occur alternately. The Jampui range, Sakhantlang range, Longtorai range, Atharamura range, Baramura range and Deotamura range are the six popular mountain ranges and numerous hillocks are also present in the land. The stretch of these high hill ranges from north to south is very significant. The general slope is towards south. Abundant occurrence of fossil wood is another remarkable feature of the geology of Tripura.

The soil of Tripura offers many different varieties.3  Here, there are mainly two types of soil in Tripura. They are as follows: (i) Soil of the uplands and (ii) Soil of the lowlands. Soil of the uplands is the product of disintegration of rocks mainly sandstones and shale. Soil developed from the disintegration of sandstones are coarse in texture, reddish brown to brown and also dark brown to dark grey in colour,

poor in humus and lime content. It is very deep, well drained, acidic and with high infiltration capacity. Indeed, upland soil is very loose, porus and hence it does not hold water. On the other hand, lowerland soil is a sort of alluvial one. It covers river valleys, flood-affected areas, and to alimited extet lunga lands. It is completely a transported soil, brought down by many streams and rivers and chars that drain them and being deposited as sedimentary alluvium. It is deep; medium to fine-grained and light grey in colour. It is largely used for the cultivation of paddy, jute, vegetables, pulses etc.

Geographical Account : Tripura had two tracts. The larger of the two tracts in which the seat of administration stands is called Hill Tipperah. It received this name to distinguish it from another part, which consists of alluvial, fertile, low land on the eastern bank of the famous river Meghna. Physiographically, Tripura had dual entity; mountains dominate the eastern part, while the river Meghna system dominates the western part. 4 

   The land surface of Hill Tipperah is mountainous and uneven, and the whole terrain abounds in rivulets, brooks, rivers, hills, gorges, valleys and lakes. The long rivers are the Longai, the Juri, the Manu, the Deo, the Dhalai, the Khowai, the Howra, the Gomati, the Muhari and the Feni. The drainage is towards north and west first and then ultimately towards southwest. These rivers debouch their water into the river Meghna which, moves from Sylhet in the north and goes southward to meet the Bay of Bengal near Noakhali in the south.5  The climate of Tripura is almost similar to that of the other provinces in the North-eastern India. It is neither too hot nor too cold.

Tripura is very rich in florae and faunas. The greater part of Tripura was densely covered with primeval forests even upto the middle of the 20th century. The various kinds of available florae are grass, creepers, cane, bamboo, trees and vegetables. Tripura is said to be a paradise for those who seek medicinal plants. The terrestrial faunas are richer than the aquatic fauna. The wild mammalian fauna is on the wane. There was a time when the wild elephants strode the villages of the Meghna valley and terrorized the residents.

Topography And Other Information : The present State of Hill Tripura is situated between 22 59  and 24 31  north latitude, and between 91 12  and 92 24  east longitude.6  The maximum altitude of Tripura above sea level is 12.80 metres. The total area of Tripura is 10,478.78 sq. kms. The State is having 84% international border with Bangladesh (839 km.), 60% forest, 52.76% forest cover, 39% reserve forest and 13% cropped areas with irrigation facilities. Tripura's literacy rate is 73.66% (as per provisional figure of 2001 Census), male literacy rate is 81.47% & female literacy is 65.41%, population density is 262 per sq. km. (1991 Census) and average annual rainfll is 211.10 Centimetres. Average rainfall from June to August is 22.40 cms. Climate of Tripura is neither hot nor cold, but is moderate. December to February is winter, March to May - summer, June to September - monsoon and October to November - autumn. Maximum and minimum temperatures during summer season are 35 C and 24 C respectively and during winter season maximum temperature is 27 C and minimum is 07 C.

Ethnographical Account : Tripura stands on a borderland. It has a dual society, a Borok or Tipra society in the eastern hill and a Bengali society in the western valley. The Borok society consisted of a large number of clans and communities; these people speak various dialects of Kokborok of Tibeto-Burman linguistic family. They all belong to Indo-Mongoloid race. The Bengali society consisted of various castes and communities; these people speak various dialects of Bengali language of Indo-Aryan linguistic family.7  They belong to Indo-Aryan race.