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The indigenous/Tribal peoples of Bangladesh refer to native ethnic minorities in southeastern, northwestern, north-central and northeastern regions of the country.These regions include the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Sylhet Division, Rajshahi Division and Mymensingh District. The total population of indigenous ethnic minorities in Bangladesh was estimated to be over 2 million in 2010.They are diverse ethnic communities including Tibeto-Burman, Austric, and Dravidian people. Vast number of indigenous tribes of Bangladesh are Buddhists and Hindus by faith while the remaining few are Christians and animists.
1. The Chakmas
The Chakmas are the largest tribe of Bangladesh. Chakma people are buddhist in religion. They a circle cheif called Chakma raja. The Chakmas are more educated than most of other indigenous tribe. They have their own language,culture, tradition,history. Women wears pinon and khadi[Handmade], men wears dhuti. They grow crops in a special method called "Jhum cultivation". It is an eco friendly method of cultivation. They migrated to Bangladesh in the 15th century.
2. The Marmas
Marmas are the second largest ethnic group in Bangladesh and they are of Burmese (Myanmar) ancestry. The Marmas regarded Burma (Myanmar) as the centre of their cultural life. Historically it is believed that the Arakanese emperor has invaded the south-eastern region of the current Bangladesh. Since then the region was ruled under the Burmese emperor and Marma ethnic groups were established from that period. Their cultural traits are connected to their ancestral heritage, including dress (which is call thumbui—the lower part, and angi—the upper part), food (mostly spicy, sour, and hot), writing (Burmese script), traditional songs and musical instruments (for example, kappya, jjea, and kharra). They speak Marma, and the majority are Theravada Buddhist. They have many festivals during the year, but Sangrai is regarded as the biggest celebration among them. It is a tradition to welcome the new year according to the Buddhist lunar calendar. This festival held for three days, and the popular ritual during the second and third day of the festival is to splash water on each other. They believe that the water takes away all the sorrow and pure up our soul and body, so one must to greet others (even strangers) by splashing water on them. But the culture of marma is unique. It has also their own language, tradition, culture etc.
3. The Tripura
The Tripuras are one of the indigenous peoples living both in the plains and the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. During the partition of the Indian subcontinent, the princely state of Tripura were merged neither into India nor Pakistan. However, Tripura Kingdom was merged in 1949 with India through a merger agreement. The peoples of Tripura, both in Bangladesh and the Indian State of Tripura, shared common culture, history, tradition, and way of life. Their languages are called Kokborok, of which there are more than one million speakers. Tripura's main festival is boishu. |