Lakshman Manikya
{{Short description|Maharaja of Tripura}}
{{Infobox royalty
|type = monarch
|name = Lakshman Manikya
|succession = Maharaja of Tripura
|title =
|image =
|alt =
|caption =
|reign =
|predecessor = Vijaya Manikya III
|successor = Shamsher Gazi
|spouse =
|father = Gadadhar Thakur
|issue = Durga Manikya
|house = Manikya dynasty
|birth_name = Banamali Thakur
|birth_date =
|death_place =
|death_date =
|religion = Hinduism
}}
{{Kingdom of Tripura}}
Lakshman Manikya was the Maharaja of Tripura during the mid-18th-century, though he maintained little actual power, having acted only as a puppet-monarch under Shamsher Gazi.
Life
Originally named Banamali Thakur,{{cite book|author=Bibhas Kanti Kilikda|title=Tripura of Eighteenth Century with Samsher Gazi Against Feudalism (A Historical Study)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m2luAAAAMAAJ|year=1995|publisher=Tripura State Tribal Cultural Research Institute & Museum, Government of Tripura|page=75}} he was a grandson of Maharaja Dharma Manikya II by his younger son Gadadhar Thakur.{{citation|last=Choudhury|first=Achyut Charan|authorlink=Achyut Charan Choudhury|title=Srihatter Itibritta: Purbangsho|year=2000|orig-year=1910|publisher=Kotha|location=Kolkata|language=Bangla|url=https://bn.m.wikisource.org/wiki/পাতা:শ্রীহট্টের_ইতিবৃত্ত_-_পূর্বাংশ.pdf/৫২৬|page=502}}{{cite book|author1=Durlabhendra|author2=Sukheshwar|author3=Baneshwar|translator1=Kailāsa Candra Siṃha|translator2=N.C. Nath|title=Sri Rajmala|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cD9uAAAAMAAJ|year=1999|publisher=Tribal Research Institute, Govt. of Tripura|location=Agartala|page=176}}
In 1748, control of Tripura was taken by Shamsher Gazi, a Bengali Muslim zamindar.{{cite book|last=Roychoudhury|first=Nalini Ranjan |title=Tripura through the ages: a short history of Tripura from the earliest times to 1947 A.D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mq0dAAAAMAAJ|year=1983|publisher=Sterling|page=35|chapter=Shamser Gazi (1748-1760)}} Facing opposition from the kingdom's citizens, Gazi placed Banamali on the throne under the name Lakshman Manikya, though actual power remained with the former. This continued for three years, though Lakshman failed to gain the support of the population. Eventually, he was dislodged by Gazi who took the throne for himself, though his rule was similarly short, with the original dynasty reclaiming the power in 1760.{{cite book|last1= Sharma|first1=Suresh Kant |last2=Sharma|first2=Usha |title=Discovery of North-East India: Geography, History, Culture, Religion, Politics, Sociology, Science, Education and Economy. Tripura. Volume eleven|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q8Mq1NU9Ml4C&pg=PA24|access-date=29 October 2015|year=2005|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-8324-045-1|page=24}}{{cite book|last=Sur|first=Hirendra Kumar|title=British Relations with the State of Tripura, 1760-1947|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XSouAAAAMAAJ|year=1986|publisher=Saraswati Book Depot|page=14}}
His son Durga Manikya also later became ruler of Tripura, reigning from 1809 to 1813.{{cite book|last=Gan-Chaudhuri|first=Jagadis|title=Tripura, the land and its people|pages=33–34|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SFFuAAAAMAAJ|year=1980|publisher=Leeladevi Publications|isbn=9788121004480}}