Indigenous peoples in Bangladesh

The indigenous 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 Australoid, Tibeto-Burman and Sino-Tibetan races. Vast number of indigenous tribes of Bangladesh are Buddhists and Hindus by faith while the remaining few are Christians and animists.

The primary census report of 2011 gives the number of ethnic population groups of Bangladesh as 27. The first is Chakma, consisting of 444,748 people while the Marma, the second largest ethnic group compares with 202,974 persons.

Indigenous Tribal Groups in Bangladesh

The Chakmas are the largest tribe of Bangladesh. The Chakmas are of mixed origin but reflect more Bengali influence than any other tribe.

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.

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