in the 18th century. It was moved to the new city of Agartala in the 19th century. Bir Chandra Manikya (1862–1896) modelled his administration on the pattern of British India, and enacted reforms including the formation of Agartala Municipal Corporation.
Following the independence of India in 1947, Tippera district—the estate in the plains of British India—became a part of East Pakistan, and Hill Tippera remained under a regency council until 1949. The Maharani Regent of Tripura signed the Tripura Merger Agreement on 9 September 1949, as a result of which Tripura became a Part C state of India. It became a Union Territory, without a legislature, in November 1956 and an elected ministry was installed in July 1963. Tripura was heavily affected by the geographic partition that coincided with the independence of India. The majority of the population now comprises Bengalis, many of whom arrived as refugees from East Pakistan following partition. The partition of India also resulted in major economic and infrastructural setbacks for the state, as road transport between the state and the major cities of India had to follow a more circuitous route. The road distance between Kolkata and Agartala prior to partition was less than 350 km (220 mi), which increased to 1,700 km (1,100 mi), as the route now avoided East Pakistan. The geo-political isolation was aggravated by an absence of rail transport.
Some parts of the state were shelled by the Pakistan Army during Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Following the war, the Indian government reorganised the north east region to ensure effective control of the international borders—three new states came into existence on 21 January 1972: Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura. Migration of, and settlement by, Hindu Bengalis increased at the time of the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. Prior to India's independence, the majority of the population were indigenous; now they became minority. Ethnic strife between the tribes
