Agartala, Tripura
General Ray Kachag could never have imagined that conquering the Thanangchi fort was out of the question, just crossing the massive mountains surrounding it would be nearly impossible for them.
Those born and raised in the hills, used to climbing and descending steep slopes daily, could not even get close to the fort. The Kukis kept a sharp watch from above. If anyone advanced, their spears would pierce straight through them. The soldiers of Tripura failed again and again. Month after month, they remained camped here.
It was long ago that King Dhanya Manikya of Tripura had dispatched a thousand soldiers from Rangamati. Even reaching Thanangchi took them several days. The hilly routes of Tripura were extremely treacherous. Sometimes they had to travel on foot, sometimes by boat, sometimes riding elephants, and sometimes on horseback. They crossed perilous paths in every way possible. Why the Kuki community refused to hand over the white elephant to the Maharaja or how they dared to resist with such courage, Ray Kachag could not comprehend.
Yet the Maharaja had tried to prevent a war for the sake of a single elephant. Elephants were dearly beloved to him. In Rangamati, the capital, Dhanya Manikya had a stable full of elephants, tusked elephants as well as trained kunki elephants. His horse stables too were full of strong, spirited horses.
For the kings of Tripura, elephant hunting had long been a cherished passion. Moreover, white elephants were seen by many as symbols of purity, and by others as emblems of power. In ancient Siam, today’s Thailand, white elephants were plentiful. Where this particular one had come from, Ray Kachag did not know.
As soon as the Maharaja received the news, he was stirred to action. It was said that the Kukis had captured the white elephant at Thanangchi, in Tripura’s northeastern frontier. Even the king of Hedamba had demanded the elephant from the Kukis. They refused. He too had sent soldiers but failed to capture the fort. So the Kukis assumed the army of Tripura would also fail.
But Ray Kachag had not imagined the fort would be this impregnable. Until now, they had won battle after battle—Meherkul, Patikara, Gangamondol, and many provinces of Sylhet district had fallen to them. The people of Khondol too had once shown such audacity as the Kukis.
They had seized Tripureshwar’s commander and, on the orders of the King of Gaur, crushed him to death under an elephant’s foot. But everyone knows how that ended: the chiefs of Khondol were killed, and Tripura’s soldiers took control of that region. That battle too had been no less gruesome.
Ray Kachag stood outside the army camp, gazing at the mountain for a long time. Evening was falling, and darkness was deepening. His heart was heavy today. Six long months had passed. The stock of provisions was running low. For a while, they had survived by hunting wild animals in the surrounding forests, but now the soldiers had to venture deep into the jungles to find prey.
How much longer could this continue? At the main gate of Thanangchi, about thirty Kuki soldiers stood guard. The Kukis were cruel to the bone. From atop the fort, they mocked with gestures, stamped their feet, hurled abuses, and jeered. Ray Kachag trembled with rage. Sometimes he vented his anger on his own men, shouting, “All cowards, all cowards! So many months, and you cannot conquer a single fort! What answer shall I give the Maharaja...?”
In anger, he tore down the army camp’s roof so that the soldiers would not fall asleep in the rain. Day and night the battle continued. Yet the fort could not be taken at all.
Sometimes Ray Kachag grew despondent. But he would never give up hope.
In Rangamati, Maharaja Dhanya Manikya counted the hours with hope. He believed, Ray Kachag would surely succeed. The words of the royal priest still rang in his ears:
“Maharaja, as long as Ray Kachag and Ray Kacham are alive, you need not worry. These Reang generals are as hardworking as they are trustworthy.”Now, on the banks of the Gomati river, Maharaja Dhanya Manikya was walking. He was slowly shaping Rangamati, the capital, into splendor. Long ago his ancestors had defeated the Lika tribes and conquered Rangamati. Since then, much water had flowed down the Gomati.
His life itself was strange, so many struggles, so many conspiracies around the throne.
The generals, becoming powerful, often decided the fate of Tripura’s kings. After his father’s death, they deprived him and placed his younger brother Pratap Manikya on the throne. And then, it was they who assassinated Pratap Manikya one night.
Now the Maharaja remembered the words of the royal priest and of his nurse.
Sensing the danger to young Dhanya Manikya’s life, the royal priest had tricked everyone and hidden him away in his own home. Only the nurse knew this secret. She had told him, “Prince, have no fear. You will live in secrecy in the priest’s house, disguised as a servant. No one outside will ever guess that you are a prince. As long as I live, this truth will not be revealed.”
But soon the generals themselves began fighting, driven by greed to claim the throne. Anarchy spread everywhere.
The chief general, Daitya Narayan, finding no other way to control the chaos, resolved to make Dhanya Manikya king. When he went in search of the boy at the nurse’s house, he was alarmed to find so many soldiers there. His heart trembled with fear. These men were capable of anything. After Pratap, was it now Dhanya’s turn?
Tears streamed endlessly from the nurse’s eyes. When faced with the questions of Daitya Narayan and the generals, she remained silent.
Daitya Narayan, realizing her suspicion, said: “Believe me, the kingdom is in terrible danger. Only Dhanya Manikya, as king, can save it in these times.”Was he speaking the truth? Or was this just a new trick to murder the prince? The nurse could not tell. So she said, “Swear upon the sacred Shaligram stone that you speak the truth.”
When Daitya Narayan swore upon the Shaligram stone, the nurse revealed Dhanya Manikya’s whereabouts.
The young Dhanya Manikya remembered that day clearly. Terrified, he had been hiding beneath a bamboo platform. When they brought him out, he cried, “I do not wish to be the king. Let me live in the priest’s house as a servant, eating my meager meal in peace. Spare me.”
But the royal priest reassured him, saying, “Prince, you have nothing to fear.”
Thus Dhanya Manikya ascended the throne of Tripura. General Daitya Narayan even succeeded in making his daughter, Komola Mahadevi, the queen.
Yet the arrogance of the ten generals became unbearable for Dhanya Manikya. He was like a puppet in their hands. Together they tried to rule the kingdom, holding power among themselves.
Even the chief general, Daitya Narayan, seemed helpless before them. Gradually, the royal crown became for Dhanya Manikya a crown of thorns. The king no longer found joy in any task.
Queen Komola Mahadevi could not understand the torment of the king’s heart. But the royal priest sensed everything. He advised:
“Maharaja, pretend to be ill. Withdraw into the inner palace for three months, and in that time, secretly learn martial arts.”The king followed the advice. He withdrew to the inner chambers under the pretense of illness. Only the royal priest and a few of his most trusted men were allowed entry.
The whole kingdom came to believe the king was gravely ill. Even Daitya Narayan grew worried.
At last he asked his daughter, “What illness has befallen the Maharaja, that he meets no one? How is the king now?”
Father, I too cannot go near. I don’t even know if it is a contagious disease.
I haven’t seen him for many days. Only once, from a distance, I thought in the dim light that his body seemed a little swollen.”
In truth, from practicing wrestling and martial arts, Maharaja Dhanya Manikya’s physique had become muscular by then. From afar, the queen could not realize it. Daitya Narayan assumed the Maharaja was suffering from dropsy.
When this news spread, the generals wanted to meet the king. Permission was granted. The royal priest saw this as a golden opportunity. To subdue all ten generals at once, such a chance must not be wasted.
The king appeared ill. The unarmed generals came to visit. The royal priest had already prepared his chosen loyal soldiers. As the generals paid respects before leaving, the priest’s men leapt upon them and killed them.
Then the king emerged from hiding. The subjects saw before them an industrious, vigorous monarch. Immediately Ray Kachag and Ray Kadam were appointed generals. For his bravery, wisdom, and loyalty, Ray Kachag quickly became the king’s most trusted commander. His army grew unstoppable. And yet, to think that this same army was being held back for so long by a small tribal group, Maharaja Dhanya Manikya found it almost unbelievable. He gazed into the darkness.
His loyal soldiers stood guard a short distance away. The king’s faith was still unshaken. Ray Kachag would succeed. The king still clearly remembered the commander’s words: “Maharaja, I vow that I will conquer the Thanangchi fort and present you this white elephant.”
Two more months passed. Every day Ray Kachag sat staring at the distant mountains and the fort. The army of the king of Hedamba too had once camped in hiding like this for months, only to fail and return defeated.
But Ray Kachag would not give up until the end was seen. One evening, as the light faded, a rustling sound was heard. On the slope of the hill, some creature was moving.
The forest was full of snakes, some deadly venomous, others enormous pythons. A python could crush a victim in an instant and swallow it whole. Ray Kachag looked carefully and realized his guess was wrong. It was a giant monitor lizard. Its flat, long black tail and huge claws looked terrifying. He had never seen such a large one.
It was nearly eight cubits long and three cubits wide. Its size defied imagination. Even such a brave warrior as Ray Kachag was momentarily startled.
But Ray Kachag was no ordinary man. His bravery, intelligence, and quick wit had already spread his fame far and wide. By now he had become one of Maharaja Dhanya Manikya’s most dependable commanders.
Without losing a moment, Ray Kachag summoned his men and ordered them to fetch bamboo canes from the forest at once.
The soldiers were puzzled, what use was bamboo in war? But no one dared question him.
Tripura’s forests had no shortage of bamboo. The soldiers gathered them and awaited the next command. “Tie the canes together,” Ray Kachag ordered sternly. Then he commanded some to catch the lizard. But catching such a beast was no easy task!
The giant creature panicked and darted about, as if playing hide-and-seek with the soldiers along the jungle paths. Some slipped into mountain streams, some stumbled and fell flat. Many were bruised and battered in the struggle. It was utter chaos!
At last the lizard was caught. They tied one end of the bamboo to its body and drove it off. Terrified, it quickly scrambled up the mountain, finally disappearing into the fort above. The bamboo became wedged firmly into a crack in the fort’s wall. Holding the other end, the Tripura soldiers tugged and found it securely lodged.
The Kuki guards noticed nothing. Night deepened. Inside the fort, the Kukis were lost in revelry. One by one, gripping the bamboo, the soldiers of Tripura climbed up to the top.
Despite precautions, their weapons scraped against the fort’s walls, making noises. Once, twice—it was ignored. But when it happened several times, one Kuki soldier frowned and said, “There’s some noise outside!”
Another dismissed it, “Nothing, it’s just cows or buffalo rubbing their horns against the wall.”
As the night wore on, the Kuki guards grew drowsy. At that moment, Ray Kachag and his men suddenly stormed in.
The Kukis had no time to resist. In an instant, they were slaughtered. Under Ray Kachag’s leadership, the soldiers of Tripura captured the Thanangchi fort.
Finally, the white elephant was theirs. With it, the army marched back toward Rangamati under Ray Kachag’s command. The sky and air resounded again and again: “Victory to Maharaja Dhanya Manikya! Victory to General Ray Kachag!”
(Based on the tales of the Rajmala)