Its predecessors, such as painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, music, dance, theatre, acrobatics, textiles, and photography, all contributed to the development of cinema.The birth of Tripura's modern era was thus heralded by Maharaja Bir Chandra Manikya (1862–96), a master painter, photographer, composer, scholar of Vaishnava literature, and patron of all artistic endeavours.The first Indian woman to practise photography was Maharani Khuman Chanu Manmohini, Maharaja Bir Chandra Manikya's third consort.[7][8][9][10] The relationship between Nobel laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore and four generations of Tripuri kings is another important incident in the history of the princely state of Tripura.In his first letter to Maharaja Bir Chandra Manikya (1862–1896), dated May 6, 1886, Rabindranath Tagore made reference to this familial relationship while searching for historical details about Tripura to draw inspiration for his celebrated book "Rajarshi.