Tanchangya people
 |
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 51,773 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|
Majority populations in Bangladesh In Bangladesh the Tanchangya reside in the Chittagong Hill Tracts area and also in India and Mayanmar |
|
| Languages | |
| Tanchangya | |
| Religion | |
| Theravada Buddhism |
Majority populations in Bangladesh
The Tanchangya people are one of 13 indigenous ethnic communities living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh.
Tanchangya peoples have been living in CHT since its prehistoric age. Nowadays Tanchangya peoples live in Rangamati, Bandarban, Roisyabili & Sadhikyabili (Chittagong district), Ukhia and Teknaf (Cox’s bazaar district) areas of the Bangladesh. Tanchangyas also live in North-east Indian states (Assam, Tripura and Mizoram) and Rakhine State of the Myanmar. Most of Tanchangyas live in reserve forest of CHT but on 10 April 2000 Govt declared a new Forest law named “The forest (Amendment) Act; 2000”; according to this act “Cultivation & preparation of cultivation on reserve forest land are illegal." The survival of these areas peoples becomes difficult for this act.
It is difficult to form a consensus on the exact numbers and spelling of Tanchangyas. According to census of 2001 the number of Tanchangya 31,164 in CHT (source: solidarity2002, Bangladesh Adivasi Forum). According to the report of Daily Prothom-alo the number of Tanchangya is 51,773 in CHT (Published on 3 February 2012).
Traditionally a Tanchangya woman wears colourful dresses and ornaments. The full dresses of Tanchangya women are known as “Paiet kapor”. That means the total dresses consists of five parts. These five parts are:
Tanchangya women also wear various ornaments. These are “Rajjur & Jhanga” for ears, “Baghor & Kuchikharu” for Wrists and “Tajjur” for arms, “Chandrahar, hachuli & Sikchara” for neck. These ornaments are made by mainly silver. Tanchangya men generally wear loincloth and long sleeve shirts.
Day by day Tanchangya songs and dance becomes famous. There are many Tanchangya musical instruments such as Bashi, Kengkrong, Chobuk, duduk etc.
Agriculture is the main occupation of Tanchangya peoples. Even today they do jhum cultivation and they cultivate paddy, ginger, garlic, bagurpada (e.g.coriander) etc. on hill slopes. Literacy among Tanchangyas is low. A few of them serve in government and non-government organizations. Today, Tanchangya is a developing ethnic community on the international level. Nowadays many Tanchangyas are service people and professionals such as doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers etc. They also are trying hard to become retail traders.
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Wikipedia