Mughals ‘intended to bomb’ arts and architecture of Tripura: CM Biplab Deb

The Chief Minister also urged everyone to talk about Tripura’s tourist spots, beauty and heritage on social media.

Later, a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said: “If everyone starts to post about at least five tourist attractions and wonders, Tripura tourism will not need special advertisements, Tripura will be popular all over the world automatically.”

The statement, however, didn’t clarify on which architectural wonders the Mughals “wanted to destroy”.

According to historians, Tripura’s brush with the Mughal empire came when Prince Shah Shuja, defeated and pursued by his brother Aurangzeb, was fleeing to Arakan, and sought shelter in the kingdom of Tipperah.

Litterateur and historian Asoke Deb said Shuja sought asylum from the-then Maharaja Gobinda Manikya Bahadur.

“Later, Emperor Aurangzeb wrote to Maharaja Gobinda Manikya to hand over the Mughal prince. The King, however, didn’t comply and tried to placate Aurangzeb by sending elephants and other artefacts as ‘nazrana’. After the efforts failed, Shah Suja left Tripura for Arakan,” Deb said.

Shuja Masjid, which was built by the Mughal prince, still stands at Badarmokam of Tripura’s Udaipur city, which used to be the capital of Tripperah in the 17th century.

Historians also say that prior to Maharaja Kalyan Manikya’s ascension to the Tipperah throne in 1625, Mughal troops desecrated temples and drained public tanks several times in search of treasures.