ORIGIN AND HISTORY
The Capital Agartala (new) was founded in 1838 AD by Maharaja Krishna Kishore Manikya (1830-49 AD). The Agartala Municipality was instituted in 1871 AD during the reign of Maharaja Chandra Manikya (1862-96 AD). The 1st British Political Agent, Mr. A.W.B. Power appointed for hill Tipprah in 1871 AD, was offered the honour of being the Chairman of the Agartala Municipality. The Municipal Administration in Agartala was established in 1874 A.D and the city became a planned city by the then Maharaja Bir Bikra Manikya Bahadur in 1940s.This erstwhile Princely State Capital of Tripura merged with India on 15th October 1949. The city has become the nerve center of all political, administrative, cultural and commercial activities of the state. The Agartala Municipality functions and discharges obligatory duties following provisions of the Municipal Acts listed below:

LOCATION OF THE CITY
Agartala, the capital of Tripura, is situated along 23° 45'- 23° 55' N latitude and 91°15'- 91°20' E longitude, in the flood plains of the Haora River. Historically, the city has been an important border-trading town with trading linkages with Bangladesh. NF railway & the National Highway (NH)-44 connects Agartala with Silchar, Guwahati and other parts of the country. Agartala is too connected by air with Guwahati & Kolkata and most of the prominent fliers like IA, Jet, Indigo, Air Deccan, King fisher etc having regular services The climate of Agartala is of tropical monsoon type. The average annual rainfall is around 220 centimeters (cm). The average no of rainy days is 100 days. The temperature varies from 4.2°c to 37.6° on the average. The winter period is from November to February, summer is from March to May and monsoon is from June to September. It has a moderate temperature and highly humid atmosphere. Winds, which are of moderate velocity, are from the south-to-south - east direction for most of the time. Average velocity of wind varies from 4 km to 9 km per hour.

TOPOGRAPHY
The city of Agartala has an altitude of 12.8 metres. The erstwhile AMC area, the central portion of the city is located in an area lower than the surroundings. The central portion of the city is shaped like a saucer. The central portion is bounded by the rivers Haora in the south and Katakhal in the north. Due to its saucer shape, the city is vulnerable to recurrent flooding during monsoons. The city is located in seismic zone.

REGIONAL SETTINGS
1897: Maharaja Radha Kishore Manikya re-organised the entire administration and the officer-in-charge of the Political Department was entrusted with the Municipal affairs. During the period,. The work of Census, birth and death registration, regular sweeping and cleaning of roads and drains used to be mades.During the period,. The work of Census, birth and death registration, regular sweeping and cleaning of roads and drains used to be mades.The ancient capital of the then princely State 'Swadhin Tripura' was at Rangamati (Udaipur, South Tripura) by the bank of the river Gomti and in 1760 A.D., It was shifted by the Maharaja Krishna Manikya to the site of old Agartala by the bank of river Haora and was named 'Haveli'. The Capital city of Agartala was founded in1838 AD by Maharaja Krishna Kishore Manikya (1830-49 A.D.). Agartala is inhabited mainly by Bengali communities along with 19 scheduled tribes of Tripura. Bengali and Tripuri are the state's official languages. The other important language is Manipuri. Hinduism is the religion of most of the people. There are also small minorities of Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians The tribals, with a rich and varied culture, belong mainly to the Reang, Chakma, Halam and Usai communities

EVOLUTION OF AGARTALA CITY
1838: Maharaja Krishna Kishore Manikya set up the 'Old Haveli' at the other side of the river Howrah .The area used to be identified upto Kunjaban tilla at the north Jagaharimura and Rashman tilla to the south,the British India at the west and the river Howrah at the east. Due to frequent invasion of the Kukis and also to keep easy communication with the British Bengal, the Maharaja started the process of shifting of the Capital from Old Haveli to New Haveli (present Agartala) in the year 1849 A.D. The next Maharaja Iswar Chandra Manikya on assuming throne on 1st February 1850 A.D constructed a Palace thereon.

1862: Bir Chandra Manikya started the urbanisation of the New Haveli (Agartala)
 
1871: The Agartala Municipality was established within area of 3 sq. miles having population 875 only by a royal proclamation. Mr. A.W.S. Power, the 1st British Political Agent for Tipperch was appointed as the Chairman of the Agartala Municipality in the year 1872 A.D. As suggested by the 2nd Political Agent Capt. W.L. Samwell, Maharaja becomes the President of the Municipal Committee. And on behalf of the Maharaja Bir Chandra manikya, Prince Radhakishore took an active role in supervising the Municipal works.

1874: Municipal regulations were introduced with provision of taxation. The main source of income was from water tax levied on tanks and water bodies, realised fine amount of judiciary and state grant. The main task was to look after the development and maintenance of roads /paths.,drainage, bridges and markets and sanitation. During the period, the Akhaura Khal was excavated for drainage.

1897: Maharaja Radha Kishore Manikya re-organised the entire administration and the officer-in-charge of the Political Department was entrusted with the Municipal affairs. During the period,. The work of Census, birth and death registration, regular sweeping and cleaning of roads and drains used to be mades

1978: Agartala Municipality was divided into 10 wards for the purpose of election of commissioners for the municipality by enlarging the municipal area to 10.94 sq.km. The second general municipal election was held in June 1978, Shri Amal Dasgupta was elected chairman of the 10 members elected municipal board. The municipality was further extended to an area of 15.81 sq.k.m and was divided in to 13 wards. The 3rd general municipal election was held in July 1983.

1988 to 1996: The municipality was placed under government nominated administrator. 26 October 1994: The Tripura Municipal Act.1994 was passed as per 74th amendment of the Constitution of India, The 4th general Municipal election was held in December, 1995, and municipal council of 17 elected members and 3 nominated members was formed. After the 5th general municipal election held in the month of December 2000 another municipal council with 17 elected members and 3 nominated members came to power. The municipal area was 16.012 sq. k.m. with population of 1,89,998 as per 2001 census.

2004: The Agartala Municipal Council has further been extended from 16.012 sq km to 62.02 sq km in 2004 with a population of 368493 persons. The total GAPA area comprises of 92 sq km.