People of Tripura

People of Tripura

Tripura's ethnic mosaic is as colourful as the state's landscape : Kerala on the turbulent Arabian seashores may be 'God's own country' but Tripura is the veritale 'Daughter of Mother Nature'. The grace and grandeur of Tripura's lush green landscape is heightened by its rich human resource reflected in the ethnic , linguistic and cultural diversity of the population.

Traditional home to the indigenous tribals over the past millennium, Tripura had beckoned and welcomed the settlement of non-tribals down the annals of history . As attested by the enumeration of the first imperial census conducted in 1872 Tripura had a non-tribal population of 30% which grew substantially in the succeeding decadal censuses. In accordance with the returns of 2001 census indigenous tribals comprising altogether 19 communities constitute 31.05% of the state's population while 69.95% are non-tribals including a fair sprinkling of Manipuris . Amongst the tribals Tripuri or 'Debbarman' community form the vast majority of around fifty percent while the non-tribal population comprising by and large the Bengalis and a minuscule number of Meithei and Vishnupriya Manipuris belong to various castes and sub-castes.