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Special Agent price offer!
(Overseas tour operator and Travel
agent only)
Contract
Us
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Hill & Tribal
Culture tours |
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Bangladesh
Travel Homes is offering customize tour
for the tourist who are interested for hill tracks
tours & discovering the diverse lifestyle of
indigenous people of Bangladesh. We are confident to
give you a lifetime enjoyable experience!
Introduction:
This is agreeable that Bangladesh is not a tourist's
haunted places like others in the world's tourist
map. But this poor and tiny country has some unique
attractions to offer to her tourists.
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Tribal women weaving own cloths |
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The indigenous hill tribe is one of the main
attraction in Bangladesh. The tribal population
consisted of 897,828 persons, just over 1 percent of
the total population, at the time of the 1981
census. |
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They lived primarily in the Chittagong Hills and in
the regions of Mymanshing, Sylhet, and Rajshahi. The
majority of the tribal population (778,425) lived in
rural settings, where many practiced shifting
cultivation.
Most tribal people were of SinoTibetan descent and
had distinctive Mongoloid features. They differed in
their social organization, marriage customs, birth
and death rites, food, and other social customs from
the people of the rest of the country. They spoke
Tibeto-Burman languages. In the mid-1980s, the
percentage distribution of tribal population by
religion was Hindu 24, Buddhist 44, Christian 13,
and others 19.
The four largest tribes were the Chakmas, Marmas (or
Maghs), Tipperas (or Tipras), and Mrus (or Moorangs).
The tribes tended to intermingle and could be
distinguished from one another more by differences
in their dialect, dress, and customs than by tribal
cohesion. Only the Chakmas and Marmas displayed
formal tribal organization, although all groups
contained distinct clans. By far the largest tribe,
the Chakmas were of mixed origin but reflected more
Bengali influence than any other tribe. Unlike the
other tribes, the Chakmas and Marmas generally lived
in the highland valleys. Most Chakmas were
Buddhists, but some practiced Hinduism or animism.
Of Burmese ancestry, the Marmas regarded Burma as
the center of their cultural life. Members of the
Marma tribe disliked the more widely used term Maghs,
which had come to mean pirates. Although several
religions, including Islam, were represented among
the Marmas, nearly all of the Marmas were Buddhists.
The Tipperas were nearly all Hindus and accounted
for virtually the entire Hindu population of the
Chittagong Hills. They had migrated gradually from
the northern Chittagong Hills. The northern Tipperas
were influenced by Bengali culture. A small southern
section known as the Mrungs showed considerably less
Bengali influence.
The Mros, considered the original inhabitants of the
Chittagong Hills, lived on hilltops and often
fortified their villages. They had no written
language of their own, but some could read the
Burmese and Bangla scripts. Most of them claimed to
be Buddhists, but their religious practices were
largely animistic. |
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Major Destinations
of tribes in Bangladesh |
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1.
Mymansing (Madhupur/Halua Ghat)
2.
Sylhet region
3.
Rangamati
4.
Bandarban
5.
Khagrachori
6.
Cox's Bazar
7.
Patuakhali |
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Major Tribes in
Bangladesh |
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Chakma, |
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The
the largest ethnic group of Bangladesh. They also
call themselves Changmas. They are concentrated in
the central and northern parts of the Chittagong
hill tracts where they live amidst several other
ethnic groups. Exact population figures are lacking
but the most reliable estimates put their number at
140,000 in 1956 and 230,000 in 1981. According to
the 1991 population census, there were about 253,000
Chakmas. More than 90 percent of them are
concentrated in rangamati and khagrachhari
districts. About 100,000 Chakmas also live in India,
particularly in the states of Arunachal, Mizoram and
Tripura. Small groups have settled in other
countries as well |
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Marma |
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The second largest
ethnic minority group in Bangladesh. Most Marmas
live in the three hill districts of Rangamati,
Bandarban and Khagrachhari. Some Marmas, however,
live in the coastal districts of cox's bazar and
Patuakhali. These Marmas name themselves rakhain and
many consider them as a separate ethnic community.
According to the 1991 census, the number of Marmas
in Bangladesh is 157,301 |
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Tripura |
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The
after chakmas and marmas, the third largest tribal
group of population in the chittagong hill tracts (CHT)
region. Tripura people now living in Bangladesh had
their original residence in the Indian state of
Tripura, although many believe that they are in fact
descendents of the Bodo group of people, considered
as the forefathers of the peoples of Assam, Burma
and Thailand. Tripuras initially migrated to
Comilla, Sylhet and Chittagong areas as well as to
some other regions like Noakhali, Dhaka, Faridpur
and Barisal. In course of time, however, they
concentrated largely in the CHT, especially in and
around ramgarh and khagrachhari accounting for
nearly 80% of all Tripuras now living in the CHT
area. Tripuras call themselves Tipara and also Tipra,
while Marmas call them Mrong, lusheis call them
Tuibuk and pankhos Bai. The 1881 census recorded the
distribution of Tripura people as: CHT 15,054,
Comilla 1,895, Faridpur 101, Barisal 45, Noakhali
16, Dhaka 4, and Sylhet and other areas 268. The
number of Tripuras in the CHT area was 79,772
in1991. This figure accounts for 6.6% of the total
tribal population in the CHT |
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Santals, |
The
Santals
an ethnic group in Bangladesh. Mainly living in the
Himalayan sub-mountain region in different districts
of Rajshahi division. Their principal home is in
radha (in West Bengal), the forests of adjacent
Bihar (Jhadkhand) and Orissa, and Chhota Nagpur. The
British government assigned a special territory for
their living and named it Santal Pargana. It is
difficult to definitely say when and why they
settled in the East Bengal region. But the census of
1881 shows that there were Santal settlements in the
districts of pabna, jessore, khulna and even in
chittagong. A survey of the Santal population of
present Bangladesh area conducted in 1941 recorded
their number as 829,025. The censuses organised
after the Partition of Bengal (1947) did not count
Santals as a separate group of people, and
consequently, their exact number in East Pakistan
could not be determined. According to an estimate
made by Christian missionaries in the 1980s, the
Santal population in northern Bangladesh was over
one hundred thousand. According to the 1991 census,
the Santal population was over two hundred thousand.
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Garo |
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Garo, The once a nomadic tribe of the Bodo group
of Mongoloids now living in different areas of
Bangladesh and in the adjacent states of India.
Their faces are round, hair and eyes black,
foreheads extended to eye area, eyebrows deep, eyes
small, noses flat and jaws high. Beards rarely grow
on their cheeks and they almost have no hair on
their body. Garos are short but usually have stout
bodies with wide chests and bulky arms, legs and
muscles. Their skin is yellowish and smooth. Garos
are said to have an ancestral relationship with
China. There are some similarities between the
Chinese and Garos in language as well as folk
culture.
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Manipuri |
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The one of the
many ethnic communities in Bangladesh. Their
original homeland is Manipur, once a sovereign state
and now the northeastern zonal state of India. In
the early days, Manipur had different names such as
Kyangleipak, Kyangkleipang, Kyanglei, Meitrabak, and
Mekhali and the Manipuris were known as Meitei.
During the reign of Maharaj Garibniwaz (1709-1748),
some missionaries arrived here from sylhet. There
was an opinion that these missionaries named this
land 'Manipur' and its principal inhabitants,
Manipuris. The mahabharata has a mention of Manipur
and the missionaries but as it was discovered later,
Manipur of Mahabharata and Manipur of Sylhet were
not in the same place.
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Rakhain |
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Rakhain, a small tribe of arakan origin
belonging to the Bhotbarmi community of the
Mongoloids. Many consider that Rakhains and their
neighbours, marmas are in fact, the same tribe. The
skull of Rakhains is round, their nose is flat, they
have black hair, they are usually short in height,
and their complexion is light brown.
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Tanchangya |
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Tanchangya, The a small ethnic
community living in the chittagong hill tracts. In
terms of population they rank 5th among ethnic
communities of Bangladesh. According to the 1991
census, their number was 21,057 and the number of
Tanchangya households was 4,043. Tanchangyas live in
the Hill districts of rangamati, bandarban and
khagrachhari, Boisyabili area of rangunia upazila in
chittagong district, and in ukhia and teknaf areas
of cox's bazar district. Like other tribals,
Tanchangyas build their habitation in forested
slopes of hills. Tanchangyas also live in the
southeastern regions of Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur
States of India, as well as in the arakan region of
Myanmar. In Arakan they are known as 'dounnak'.
Anthropologically, they belong to the Mongoloid
group. They speak pali, prakrit and ancient Bengali,
all part of the Aryan group of languages.
Tanchangyas are modest in nature
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Hajong, |
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Hajong,
an ethnic group living in the hilly parts of
mymensingh district. Some of them live in the
sherpur, sylhet and netrokona regions. Their main
settlements are in sreebardi, haluaghat, nalitabari,
Susong durgapur, kalmakanda and Birishiri areas. In
terms of ethnicity, they are descendents of the
Kachhari people of the Mongoloid race. Several
hundred years ago they came to the region adjacent
to the Garo hills and started living there. Hajong
people are divided into two main classes -
Paramarthi and Byayabchhadi.
In their life-style, Hajong people maintain, to a
large extent, their traditional ethos of simplicity,
honesty, and hospitality as well as other common
plebeian characteristics. False play and deceit are
rare in this society. Like mundas, Santals and Garos,
Hajong people have protested vehemently against
injustice, oppression, exploitation and persecution
in the past and have histories of rebellion against
feudal and imperialist forces. They took part in
historic movements like the Hatikheda movement, the
tonk movement, agitations against zamindars, and the
tebhaga movement |
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Magh, |
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Magh,a
major tribe of Bangladesh comprising marmas of the
hills and rakhains of the plains. Ethnically, Maghs
are Mongoloid and culturally, they are close to the
population of Myanmar. The Marma community is headed
by two chiefs (Raja): the Bohmoung and the Mong. The
former resides at bandarban, while the latter at
ramgarh (khagrachhari). Maghs are one of the major
Buddhist groups of the Arakanese stock |
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Mru |
Mru,
(also Mro) a small ethnic minority, who live
scattered in the hill district of bandarban. They
live mostly in Toin, Mangu, Toinfa, Luloing,
Uttarhangar, Dhakkinhangar, Tankabati, Harinjuri,
Takerpanchari, Renikhyong, Pantola, Thankhyong,
Swalok, Tindow, Singpa, Alikhoung and Bhariyatali
mouzas. The Mru population in chittagong hill tracts
in 1956 was 17000 and in 1981, it stood at 20,000.
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Bawm |
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The a small tribe in chittagong hill tracts. Ethnically, Bawms belong to
the Mongolian stock. They look like the chakmas and
the marmas. The word Bawm means ties. The concept of
such ties has developed from their culture of doing
collectively all things of life, including hunting,
singing and dancing, eating and drinking or offering
homage to gods. Bawms live in 70 villages of ruma,
thanchi, rwoangcchari and bandarban Sadar upazilas
of Bandarban district. According to the census of
1991, there are 1,349 Bawm families in Bangladesh
with a total population 6,978.
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Bedey |
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Bedey, a community belonging mainly to the ethnic
Mong-tong (Mangta) of arakan, who in 1638,
accompanied the fugitive king of Arakan, Ballal
Raja, and later settled in Bikrampur area near dhaka.
Many of them were converted to islam over time.
Later, the Bedeys spread out to remote areas of
Bengal and Assam. The Mangta people were popularly
called Bedey after the Bangla word Baidda meaning
village doctor. Bedeys pretend to know the art of
healing, which they use as a source of living. They
are skilled in hunting. Physically, they are quite
close to Bangalis |
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Murong |
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Murong, The a tribe of
Bangladesh. Murongs are one of the famous aborigines
of arakan and the two Murong kings, who ruled Arakan
in the tenth century, were A-mya-thu (957) and
Pai-phyu (964). At that time Wathaly was the capital
city of Arakan. Murongs had a bloody war with the
khumis on the bank of the Koladain. The Khumi tribe
defeated the Murongs and ousted them from Arakan.
Murongs moved to chittagong hill tracts sometime
between the 17th and 18th centuries. Many, however,
believe that this happened in the 14th century.
Murongs now live in lama, ruma, alikadam and thanchi
upazilas near Chimbuk Mountain of bandarban
district. In 1991, the Murong population in
Bangladesh was 22,178 and constituted the fourth
largest tribe in Chittagong Hill Tracts |
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History
