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AN ANALYSIS OF THE ETHNO-LINGUISTIC ROOTS AND CONNECTIONS OF THE
CHAKMA-TANCHANGYA PEOPLE
The Chakma and Tanchangya are two tribes with very little
difference, aboriginal to the area of Chittagong Hill Tracts and the
Rakhine state of present day Bangladesh and Myanmar respectively.
Although the Tanchangyas are at times identified as a subtribe of
the Chakmas, it is seen that Tanchangyas prefer to be identified as a
distinct tribe. However in terms of their languages, their similarities
are more than the differences and their dialects are almost always
mutually intelligible. The main distinctness of the Tanchangyas come
out more in their culture and dress. By religion both are Buddhist,
but Tanchangyas follow many animistic practices, prevalent in their
community prior to their conversion to Buddhism. For those who are
familiar with tribes of north eastern part of India, the analogy of the
relationship between the ChakmaTanchangya can be best drawn to
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the KhasiJaintias (KhasiPnars) of the Meghalaya state of India.
In analyzing the ethnolinguistic roots and connections of the
ChakmaTanchangya people the following points are taken into
consideration.
1. The language of the ChakmaTanchangya people.
2. The physiognomy of the ChakmaTanchangya people.
3. Cultural elements of the ChakmaTanchangya people.
4. Oral history as passed on traditionally for generations.
5. Recorded history as recorded by other peoples like the British,
the Mughals and others.
LANGUAGE
ChakmaTanchangya language is very close to the Assamese and
hence it can be called one of its allied languages. The other languages
allied to Assamese are the Hajong and the Bisnupriya languages.
Therefore the similarities of the ChakmaTanchangya language will
extend to them as well. Mr G A Grierson, the Englishman, editor and
compiler of the Linguistic Survey of India made a big mistake among
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his many mistakes in the matter of representation of languages
located to the west and north of the Bengali speaking areas. Lot of
intellectual and cultural pressure forces many have caused him to do
so. His misrepresentation of the ChakmaTanchangya language as a
mere dialect of the Bengali is nothing sort of a big folly.
Although the ChakmaTanchangya and Assamese are closely related,
till date no institutional scholars have come up with any comparative
study of these languages. The basic grammatical structure and the
larger proportion of the ChakmaTanchangya vocabulary is very
similar with the Assamese. The Assamese differs with the Chakma
Tanchangya in the phonology part. In fact by its phonology, Assamese
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differs with almost all of the languages of the Indian subcontinent.
The complete discussion of the whole subject of Assamese and
ChakmaTangchangya similarities is too extensive to be dealt with in
this article with size limitations. Moreover the study is yet to be
completed and work is under way. The facts and data that have
surfaced till now, are more than enough to prove the presence of a
strong Assamese and ChakmaTangchangyas' linguistic connection.
In this article only few random examples are illuminated in Table1
and Table2.
TABLE1
A,a= অ : as in “hot” Ā,ā = আ : as in “but”
“x” used in Assamese is pronounced like the “ch” in German names
like Bach, Ulrich , Scottish loch and Greek “ ” (chi)χ . It is not
present in any of the Indian languages. It is by phonology, a voiceless
velar fricative.
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Assamese Chakma Tanchangya English
Mai Mui Mui I
Āmi Āmi Āmi We
Tai Tui Tui You (sing.)
Tomālok Tumi Tumi You (plu.)
Teo Te Te He
Tāhāt Tha They
Bā, Batāh Ba Ba Wind
Beli Bel Bel Sun
Zon Jun Moon
Zārkāli Jākāl Winter
Zār Jār Cold (weather)
Zuri Juri Stream
Bārixā Bārijhā Bāsyakāl Rainy season
Āthu Ādhu Āruh Knee
Āthughilā Ādhughilā Kneecap
Gā Keiyā Gyā Body
Nāi Niyei Navel
Āi, Mā Mā Ijo Mother
Po Maratpwā Pāwā Son
Zi, Ziyori Ji Jhi Daughter
Bāidew, Bāi Bebhei Bei Elder sister
Burā Buru Buwā Old
Kāpor Khābo Khābo Cloth
Khar (খৰ) Kharā Fast
Lāhe (লােহ) Lāhre Lāi Slow
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Assamese Chakma Tanchangya English
Lā Lāh Lac
Bisār Bijār Ask
Bān Bān Flood
Nāo No No Boat
Pohar (োপাহৰ) Pahr Light
Bātsā Bātsā(nā) Bātsā(nā) Wait
Bāt Way, road,lane
Bhuku Bhuk A blow with clenched fist
Bhukuwā Bhukkānyā To give a blow with clenched
fist
Bizal Bijal Slimy
Burā(nā) Burā To drown or dip
Dānğar Dānğar Big, large, great
Dānğariya Dānğu A respectable address for a
person like Mr, Shri, Janab etc
Darab Darab Medicine
Dighali Dighali long
Gazang gazang Gajāng gajāng To walk with long steps
Gāt Gāt A hole, pit, trench
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TABLE2
CHAKMA ASSAMESE ENGLISH
Sibhā kannāh ? Xeiyā kon? Who is that ?
Te Asim Teo Axim He is Asim/Axim
Ibhā kannāh ? Eo kon? Who is he
Te Sāntu Teo Xāntu He is Santu/Xantu
Ku'bhayā tar? Konto tor ? Which is yours?
Ibhā la Eito la Take this
Sibhā de Xeito de Give that
Sibhā me de Xeito mok de Give that to me
Iyān tha Eito/eikhan tha Keep this
Iyān mar Eito/eikhan mor This is mine
Siyān de Xeikhan de Give that
Siyān tar Xeikhan tor That is your
Siyān tāre de Xeikhan tāk de Give that to him
Uān me de Xeikhini/xeibor mok de
Give those to me
Iyāni mar Eikhini mor These are mine
Siyāni mar Xeikhini mor Those are mine
Tui ki gara? Tai ki kara? What do you do?
Mui sāgri garang Mai sākari karo I do service/job
Tamāre sini napāllang
Tomak sini nāpālo/Aponāk sini nāpālo
I could not recognise you
Ma gar Aizawlat Mor ghar Aizawlat My residence is in Aizawl
Mui ādāmat jem Mai gāot zām I will go to village
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The Tables give an overview of the linguistic connections between the
Assamese and the ChakmaTanchangya languages. Apart from
Assamese the Chakma languages has many words drawn from the
Hindustani languages namely Hindi and Urdu. Many of such words
have their roots in Persian and Arabic. Please refer to Table3.
TABLE 3
CHAKMA AND HINDUSTANI or HINDI/URDU
CHAKMA HINDUSTANI or HINDI/URDU
ENGLISH
Ārā Āri Saw
Bānyā Bāniyā Trader
Barāh Beherā Deaf
Bhuji Bhouji Sisterinlaw
Dhāgā Dhāgā Thread
Dajak Dojā kh Hell
Hābālā Hāvālā Custody
Had Had d Limit
Hāmijā Hāmeshā Always
Le Le Take
Lussā Lucchā Greedy
Makkā Matkā Pitcher
Malai Malāi Cream(Milk)
Nuyā Nayā New
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CHAKMA HINDUSTANI or HINDI/URDU
ENGLISH
Rāh Rāh Road, way
Sabare Sabere Morning
Thāgārā Tāgrā Strong
Being in close contact with the Bengali people they have imbibed
many Bengali words and expressions. But these influences which are
are there persistently in the whole history of ChakmaTanchangya
people, could not alter the basic structure and vocabulary, which is,
without any controversy, almost wholly similar with Assamese. The
presence/absence and the degree of Hindustani and Bengali influence
in the language of the ChakmaTanchangya in their various sub
dialects could be a means to know the sources and the reasons of the
difference that are there between the Chakmas and Tanchangyas and
their internal subgroups.
The script of the ChakmaTanchangyas has similarities with the
script used in Myanmar by most of the communities there the
Bamah, Rakhine, Karen, Shan, Mon etc. That script originally
belonged to the Mon or Talaing people and it is derived from the
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South Indian form of the Brahmi scheme of alphabets.
FEW EXAMPLES OF IDENTICAL GLYPHS
MYANMAR AND CHAKMA SCRIPTS
IN ISO 10646 STANDARD
MYANMAR CHAKMA
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PHYSIOGNOMY
The spectrum of physiognomy of ChakmaTanchangya has more of
AustroMongoloid features compared to Caucasoid physical features.
However unlike the common misconception of many observers, their
physical features should never be described as being totally
Mongoloid. Like many communities of the IndoBurma region, the
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physiognomy of the ChakmaTanchangyas to be described properly is
mixed, with the spectrum tilting more towards the AustroMongoloid
side. The dark Austroasiatic element is more prominently manifested
in the Tanchangyas than in the Chakmas. The physiognomy related
affiliation of these people on the other hand is not in line with their
linguistic affiliations. The language of ChakmaTanchangyas in the
reverse of this as described above, is a proper IndoEuropean
originated tongue.
CULTURAL ELEMENTS
Being almost overwhelming a Hinayana Buddhist people the
ChakmaTanchangyas have imbibed all the cultural elements of that
school of Buddhism. A very small number of Chakmas in the recent
times have converted to Christianity. So Buddhist religious festivals
like Kathin Chibar Dan and others have an important part in the
lives of these people. However one cultural element have persisted
amongst them which predates the time of conversion and adoption of
Buddhism as the main religion enmass. This is the festivity known
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as the Biju/Bisu among the ChakmaTanchangyas.
The KukiChin tribes like the Lushai, Hmar, Paite and Kukis like
Thadou, Biate, Gangte etc. bound by a common cultural heritage in
the celebration of a festival they all call “KUT”. In almost the same
way, the Assamese, the Chakma and the Tanchangya people have
their Bihu, Biju and the Bisu festivals and their similar festival
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associated dances of the same names. But the Assamese have three
Bihus, Rongali or Bohag Bihu, Bhogali or Magh Bihu also called
Domahi and the Kongali or Kati Bihu. The Rongali or the Bohag
Bihu coincides with Chakma Biju and the Tanchangya Bisu, at the
beginning of the Assamese New Year, in mid April.
The Assamese Rongali or the Bohag Bihu is a springtime
merrymaking festivity involving all the fun, frolic and dances, with
some religious rituals in the first day of the festival. All Assamese be
they Hindu or Muslim or Buddhist or Christian or Sikh or Animistic
invariably become part of the Rongali and Bhogali Bihu festivities.
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This will also probably apply to the small number of Chakmas who
have taken up Christianity in the recent times, in terms of the
observance of the Biju festival.
The ChakmaTanchangya
womenfolk's dress exhibits
commonality with the near
similar attire of most of the
tribes bearing a dominantly
AustroMongoloid
physiognomy, whose habitat extends from Assam in the west, up to
the eastern most parts of SouthEast Asia. Similar is the case of the
ChakmaTangchangya loom and their smoking habits.
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On occasions the costume of
ChakmaTangchangya women
also include a drape like the
“sadar” of the Assamese
women's attire, supplanted
over the basic lower garment,
which is similar with all the
other tribes of Asia mentioned
above.
ORAL HISTORY PASSED ON
TRADITIONALLY
As per the oral traditional history as passed on from generations and
as heard from a large crosssection of the ChakmaTanchangya
people in the present times, they connect their origin to a kingdom
they call Champak Nagar. This story is heard by the author solely
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from the ChakmaTanchangya people of India and Bangladesh. There
are books and webpages published with this view with various
alterations and variations, however the oral traditions regarding
their origin from the side of the ChakmaTanchangya people of
Myanmar could not be collected by the author. The propagators of
this view of the origin of the ChakmaTanchangya people places the
location of the mythical Champak Nagar in the Bihar state of India.
By another variation and alteration of the story, the Champak Nagar
is also connected to the ancient kingdom Anga in the present
Bhagalpur area of Bihar state of India and claims that the royal
family of this kingdoms belonged to the Sakya clan. All these stories
tells about a king named Bijoy Giri as being the originator king of
the ChakmaTanchangyas. This story about the origin of the
ChakmaTanchangyas was recorded and written by R H Sneyd
Hutchinson of the Indian Police Service of the British Administration
in his book Chittagong Hill Tracts published in 1909. He wrote thus
“The tribes consider themselves descendants of emigrants from Bihar
who settled in Chittagong District in the days of the Arakanese
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kings. The assistance of the Brahmans have been invoked and the
following history compiled.” That piece of the writeup is pasted
below :
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The points to be noted on the narrative of Mr Hutchinson are that it
was published in 1909 and he commented on the role of Brahmans in
the compilation of this part of history of the ChakmaTanchangyas.
Prior to the publication of the Hutchinson's book another book was
published in 1869 by Captain H T Lewin, who was the Deputy
Commissioner of Hill Tracts, in the British times.
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The following lines are quoted below from the book.
“Intelligent persons among them, however, have informed
me that it has been handed down from father to son ; that
they came originally from a country called Chainpango, or
Champanugger.”
The colloquial form of the mythical Champak Nagar was
something like “Chainpango” as recorded by Capt. Lewin in
1869.
“Those who hold to this latter view say that they are
descended from a Khettrie family of the name of Chandra.”,
“The majority of the tribe, however, hold that they are
descended from a Hindoo family of good caste.”
“His followers took wives from among the country people
who were Buddhists ; and to this it is attributable that they
forsook the religion of their forefathers, and have altered
also somewhat in complexion and appearance.”
The complete extracts are pasted as an image below, with
highlighting :
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FACTS FROM RECORDED HISTORY
The present habitat of the ChakmaTanchangyas includes many
places in India after the exodus of a section of their people from
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Bangladesh due to persecution. But the historical homeland of these
people are in the contiguous territories of Chittagong Hill Tracts of
present Bangladesh and the Arakan or Rakhine state of present
Myanmar. A small slice of area from the Mizoram state of India can
also be added to that. In the ancient most of the times, as per all
available facts and inferences this whole area was under the rule of
kings having capitals in the Arakan/Rakhine area. The descriptions
and the views of the western and the Arakanese/Rakhine scholars
and researchers vary considerably regarding these ancient kingdoms
of Arakan/Rakhine area. The major point of dispute is in the
temporal dating of the era of these civilisations. Arakanese/Rakhine
scholars placed them much earlier in time than the western scholars.
Whatever the controversies one thing is certain that there existed a
line of flourishing kingdoms in Arakan/Rakhine area, predating
the presence of the presently dominating Arakanese/Rakhine people.
As per available information and inferences the rulers of these
ancient kingdoms were in the initial part followers of Hinduism and
later got influenced and converted to Buddhism. Two important
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kingdoms attracting notice has been named as the Dhanyabady and
the Wethali kingdoms, based on their seats of capital. As per writings
of Arakanese/Rakhine scholars citing sources of Arakanese/Rakhine
chronicles these kingdoms were founded by adventurers from India.
As per Arakanese/Rakhine scholar U Shwe Zan, they came down the
Kaladan river and founded this civilisation. In one place in his book
“The Golden MraukU”, U Shwe Zan mentions about the king of
Kamrup (older name of Assam) sending his forces there and founding
the kingdom. Image pasted below.
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A large majority of the rulers of these kingdoms had the title
“Sandra/Chandra”. Below are given images of a silver coin of king
Niti Sandra of Wethali kingdom, Arakan/Rakhine, courtesy British
Museum, London.
Presently the Arakanese/Rakhine people use the same script as the
Bamah/Bamar, the largest community of Burma/Myanmar. As
mentioned above the Burmese script is derived from the script of the
Mon/Talaing, which in itself is a derivative of the south Indian
scripts. The Arakanese/Rakhine language likewise is also quite close
to the Bamah/Bamar language, in fact they are considered sister
languages. But the scripts of the Dhanyabady and Wethali period
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differ radically from that of the present script in use in
Burma/Myanmar. The scripts of DhanyabadyWethali era of
Arakan/Rakhine closely resemble the Assamese script, even in its
current form, maintaining the difference Assamese forms have with
Bengali letters.
In the same way, in case of preBamah period of Burmese history, the
inscriptions which the scholars have ascribed to be of the Pyu period
of Burmese history also come close to the Assamese script, though
not as close as those of the Arakan/Rakhine area as mentioned above.
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Similar lore of the beginning of
the earliest of the ancient
kingdoms of Burma by rulers
originating in India are also
prevalent there. Ruins of such
ancient kingdoms are well
preserved in places like
Srikhetra, Halin and
Beikthano in Myanmar. But
the place to be noted, for
importance from the point of
view of the history of the
ChakmaTanchangyas is in the Kachin state of upper Burma, in the
town of Bhamo (Banmaw). In Bhamo lies the ruins of an ancient city
called by the local people as Sampanago. Although no major
monuments are preserved till the present times, ruins of the city
walls are quite visibly reminiscent of an ancient city.
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Although nothing is known in detail about the people, who were
associated with ancient ruins of Sampanago, but the bricks seen
there bear close similarity with the types seen in ancient sites in
Assam, India. The name Sampanago as told by many, is supposedly
an alteration of the name Sampa Nagar. There are multiple mentions
about migrations of various group of people from the ancient upper
Burmese kingdoms to the Arakan/Rakhine area, in most of the
Burmese history books both Burmese and western. The line of
DhanyabadyWethali kingdoms of Arakan/Rakhine were broken in
later period of history coinciding with the migration of the Bamah
and its related tribes which includes the Rakhines into Burma from
the north. Thus started the rule of the Rakhine kings in
Arakan/Rakhine. This line of rulers were also in the later part
overthrown by Bamar invasion from the east and from then onwards
Arakan/Rakhine began to be a province of Burma.
In the east as per British records, the entire Chittagong area
changed hands several times between the Arakanese, Tripura and
the Muslim rulers. As per Arakanese/Rakhine historical records
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Chittagong area was part of Arakan but they mention about
intermittent rule of the Mrungs, which is the name by which the
Tripuras are known to the Arakanese/Rakhine people. Pasted below
is an excerpt from U Shwe Zan's book “The Golden MraukU”, having
reference to the Tripuras .
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As per British records, the Mughal governor of Bengal, Shaista
Khan, at around 1666 AD brought the whole of Chittagong area
completely under the Mughal dominion and it continued to be so, till
the British came into the scene. With this development the Chakma
Tanchangyas were divided into two groups one under the Mughal
dominion and the other in Arakan/Rakhine. Although the Chakmas
remained Buddhist even under Mughal dominion, for some
generations theirs chiefs had adopted Muslim names and it was
during this period of the history of the Chakmas that large number of
Persian and Arabic words crept into their language, something which
will certainly not be there with the ChakmaTangchangyas who
remained in the Arakan/Rakhine. The difference between the
Chakmas and the Tanchangyas may hence be explainable in terms of
the degree of Mughal influences on them respectively. Mentionable is
the fact that Tanchangyas call the Chakmas “Anakya”, meaning the
westerners. As per British gazetteers the Tanchangyas of Chittagong
Hill Tracts are later migrants from the Arakan/Rakhine area and
also adds that their migration continued as late as 1818 AD.
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ASSAM AND KAMRUP
Formation of a race or a community is comparable metaphorically to
the formation of big river from its major sources and from the
contributions received from various streams joining it, big and small.
In the formation of all human community there will always be two
sources one paternal and another maternal. In patriarchal or
patrilineal societies, generally the paternal ancestry is invariably
overemphasised and remembered. This is true until and unless the
characteristics of paternal inheritance is so diluted by exogamous
intermarriages, that causes the very existence of such contributions
to be forgotten and missed in the crypts of time and history. The
reverse may be true in the context of societies that are matriarchal or
matrilineal. To say it simply “To remember the Grandpa and forget
the Granny” or “To remember the Granny and forget the Grandpa”.
Assam comes into relevance in the whole subject of the origin of the
ChakmaTanchangyas because it is in all probability one of the
sources of the origin of the ancestry of these people. What is now
known as Assam, was in the past part of an ancient country known
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as Kamrup. To the Persians Kamrup was known as Kamru.
Sometime in 13th century AD a group of nonBuddhist Tai people
called Ahoms migrated to Kamrup from the area of present Yunnan
state of China, led by a dynamic leader named SuKaPha. They
assimilated into the realm of ancient Kamrup and founded a
kingdom named Assam. With time this Assam kingdom expanded to
included a large percentage of area of ancient land of Kamrup. The
excellent military system of the Ahom rulers maintained the
independence in the face of repeated invasions from the west by
TurkoAfghanMughal rulers of India. As this Assam signified
independent part of Kamrup, this name remained dear and
acceptable to all the people and supplanted the original name. The
name Kamrup remained attached to the small area in the last
bastion of the community who dominated the scene in the times of
the ancient Kamrup. Thereby Kamrup became a district of Assam
state. Hinduised Brahminical myth ascribed the origin of the name
Kamrup to be the land where the Hindu god of love Kamdev regained
his form, after being burnt to ashes by the fiery beams emanating
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from the third eye of another Hindu god Shiva. This is far from the
actual truth and fact and is nothing more than another of the typical
HinduBrahminical myths. Reality is, it was started by a community
or a may be race of people who went by the name “KAM” and by other
groups who accompanied them in their itinerary to this land. The
name Kamrup is connected to the place names like Kambrom or
Kamdesh in the region previously called Kaffirstan and now
Nuristan, the capital of which is called Kambrom or Kamdesh. The
main tribe of this area is a tribe which goes by the same name Kam.
It is also connected to several other places situated between them and
to the east. Coming from west to east first is Kambrom/Kamdesh,
then there are two places named Kamru. One in Himachal Pradesh
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gesand another in Tibet located just above the culturally important
Tezpur town of Assam. The Kamru of Kinnaur district of Himachal
Pradesh state, India, has a temple dedicated to Goddess Kamakhya
and Assam has several of them, all of which dates back to the
Kamrup era, the largest of them is in Guwahati.
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gesTo the north east of Assam is the Tibetan province of Kam or Kham.
The natives of Kam or Kham are called Kampa or Khampa. “Pa” in
Tibetan means man or people, Kampa or Khampa literally means
people of Kam or Kham. The Khampas are only people among all the
Tibetans who shows distinctly mixed Caucasoid and Mongoloid
features, both the elements manifesting in the phenotypes of the
people noticeably. The Assamese folk songs namely Bihu geets and
Borgeets have striking similarity with the Namther and Thrukse folk
songs of the Kampa or the Khampa people. The present Kam tribe of
Nuristan region of present Afghanistan is in all probability nothing
but a remnant portion of a large movement of people across the
northern side of Himalayas into the eastern part of India and Asia,
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deep in the historical times. Such a group of IndoEuropean speakers
in all probability, with the ancestors of the Kam people as one of the
constituents gave birth to the Kamrup its people and language with
invariable interaction and intermixing with other communities who
had been preinhabiting the area. Another similar left over group
like the Kam are the Kalash people of northern Pakistan.
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While the Kam were forcibly converted to Islam in 1895 AD, the
Kalash still follow their own religion. Just before the conversion of
the Kam to Islam in 1895 AD, an Englishman and a scholar G S
Robertson visited, stayed and studied the Kam people. The pre
Islamic religion and culture of the Kam and that of the present
Kalash which are still in vogue, reveals their similarities with the
elements of the primeval religion of the Assamese people. So also is
the case of the Assamese language and the Kam (Bashgali) and the
Kalash languages. The connection between these two languages and
Assamese have been initially brought to light by the pioneer linguist
of the Assamese language Mr
Devananda Bharali, way back in
1912 AD. Apart from these
similitude there are many other
evidences which can conclusively
prove that these IndoEuropean
speakers who moved along the
northern face of the Himalayas and
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founded the entity called Kamru/Kamrup were definitely not
followers of the Hindu (Sanatan) religion, when they reached the area
of Kamrup/Assam. They were in course of time converted to
Hinduism by influences coming from Indian mainland. But the
conversion to Hinduism however could not fully do away with their
beliefs and customs accrued from their original religion. These
elements of their original religion got amalgamated with the later
acquired Hinduism and survives till date perceptibly in the the
Assamese form of Hinduism. Along with Hinduization came the
influence of the Sanskrit language, large number of Sanskrit words
were imported into the Assamese language, but still it could not
change the basic character of the Assamese language. Since the basic
structure of the Assamese and Sanskrit, a highly Dravidian
influenced language, is markedly different, particularly in the aspect
of phonology, most Sanskrit words imported are Assamized for use in
Assamese. To say it in a Sankritized way “Sanskrit loan words in
Assamese are all Tadbhava, there are no any Tatsama”. It is
mentioned above that the Persian used to call Kamrup as Kamru,
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hence there are enough reasons to believe that the suffix “rup” to the
name “Kam” may itself be another element of HinduBrahminical
contortion of the actual name for the sake of religious conformity and
justification. Whatever the speculations regarding the name,
Kamrup developed in the ancient times into a powerful kingdom
attaining the level of an empire at several points of time in history. It
was undoubtedly started by the groups of nonIndian origin, Indo
European languages speaking people migrating along the Himalayan
trail, the stamp of which can be prominently seen in the present
Assamese language, till date. But in the overall formation of the
entity called Kamrup which later on became Assam, contributions
were provided by people amalgamating into the milieu from various
sources like streams flowing into a big river. The preexisting natives
of the land starting from tribes of MelanesioNegritic stock and tribes
with AustroAsiatic and AustroNesian affiliations, migration of
tribes with Mongoloid physiognomy from the northern and eastern
borders and migrants from the mainland India at various points of
time in different layers, all intermixed and assimilated with the Kam
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and their related and allied tribes, the founding fathers of Kamrup,
in giving this entity a distinct form. In the present times traces of
those original tribes who started the Kamrup kingdoms have
vanished except one, the Kalita segment of the Assamese people.
When the Assam kingdom of the Ahom rulers became the dominant
power in Kamrup, the name Kamrup became associated with a small
constricted area in western portion of midAssam, signifying the last
of remaining bastion of the original founding people of the Kamrup.
This area was a district in the British times and it was further split
into several districts in the present times. Historically India had been
more of a continent or a subcontinent with many countries within its
realm. Kamrup was one such country having definite boundaries,
marked by the rivers. The present Assam state of Indian Union
consists of only of a part of the area of ancient Kamrup. This is
because part of the area of the ancient Kamrup now lies within the
socalled northBengal area of the present West Bengal state of India
and the Rangpur division of the present country of Bangladesh. In
the preMuslim era of Indian history, Kamrup attained the status of
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a very strong power, its soldiers/adventurers forayed into the areas of
Indian mainland westwards. The great Bengali scholar's comment in
this regard is worth mentioning, the same is pasted below.
There are records of Indian areas mainly whole of present Bengal,
eastern part of present Bihar (Mithila) and Orissa being
intermittently under the rule of the Kamrup rulers. The inscriptions
inside the compound of the Pashupati temple of Kathmandu, Nepal
and the clay seals of King Bhaskarbarman discovered in Bihar are
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few of the examples that testifies these records. The use of the
Assamese (Kamrupi) script by the Bengalis and the Maithilis
(Eastern Biharis) is also because of the said reason of these areas
being under the influence of the Kamrup kingdom. The Assamese
allied Hajong people of eastern Bengal are the living proof of this
fact. Hajong were Assamese (Kamrupi) soldiers who stayed back in
eastern Bengal, albeit maintaining their Assamese cultural and
linguistic root and heritage. Similar examples are there in Orissa
also, the presence of the Kolita/Kuilta/Kolta/Kulta people there. To
compare them with events of the present times, they are the ancient
Orissa's version of the Assamese community of the Chittagong Hill
tracts, the remnants of the Assamese soldiers of the British
government, brought there in 1860 AD to control marauding raids by
many tribes.
Studies on the Assamese military movement on the western front in
the Kamrup era has been studied by historians like Kanak Lal
Barua, with full documentations supporting dispassionate and
intellectually neutral research. But the Assamese soldiers from
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Kamrup era not only moved westwards but eastwards also, towards
Burma and further east.
This fact can be ascertained from
the discovery of Assamese alike
scripts in various preBamah
historical sites in various part of
Burma mentioned above and from
the historical records of Burma
proper and Arakan/Rakhine, one
such extract from the works of U
Shwe Zan is pasted above. The
historical records of the Indian origin of many of the ancient states of
Burma except those of the Mon people, should therefore be more
properly ascribed as being Assamese (Kamrupi) in origin. The Mon
people were influenced by Telinga migrants/adventurers from south
India, so much so, that Mons acquired Talaing as another identifying
name.
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In the present times the mark of the Assamese connections can be
seen in several aspects of the culture elements of Burma still alive in
the language, culture, physiognomy and food habits of the Bamah
and Arakanese people.
ANALYSIS OF THE ETHNO-LINGUISTIC
ROOTS OF THE CHAKMA-TANCHANGYAS
An analysis of the sources of the ethnolinguistic roots of the
ChakmaTanchangya people is possible, based on the facts and
inferences elucidated in the chapters described above. But the
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primary and essential requirement for making such an analysis
dispassionate, neutral and free from all sorts of bias, requires it to be
free from information based on woven myths and base it solely on
facts, information and inferences derived from reliable, logical and
rational sources.
ChakmaTanchangyas by their physical characteristics falls in the
same category as the multitude of tribes showing varied degree of
Mongoloid and AustroAsiatic features, inhabiting the large tract of
land extending from the socalled northeastern part of India up to
the heartland of southeast Asia. Added to that they also exhibit
discernible traces of Caucasoid influences in their physical features
often missed and neglected by most scholars and researchers. The
dress of their womenfolk is almost completely similar to most of the
tribes mentioned above.
But the linguistic affiliation of the ChakmaTanchangyas on the
other hand is exactly opposite to their anthropological affinities. The
language of the ChakmaTanchangyas is an IndoEuropean tongue
very closely related to the Assamese language. From the reliable
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information from the oral history it can be known that they have not
retained the physical features of their primary ancestors due to
intermixing. Such oral history says that they have descended from
Hindu people of Khetri caste from their paternal source of ancestry
and that these families had the family name of Chandra. It is also
said that, their ancestors had intermarried with various local tribes
with caused their community to acquire physical features from their
maternal source of ancestry which changed their appearance
markedly from that of their primary paternal ancestors. Another
reliable part of oral history says that they have migrated from a
kingdom with a good level of civilisation, which they call as
Chainpango or Champanagar. It has been found that indeed there
exists a place called Sampanago in upper Burma. It known from
Burmese historical sources that the early kingdoms of Burma were
founded by Indian adventurers. Ancient Kamrup (Assam) is the place
of origin of many of these Indian adventurers with the exception of
those who contributed to the Mon/Talaing civilisation, they came
from southern India. Oral history thus suggests that they came to
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their present habitat in Arakan/Rakhine and the Chittagong area
from Chainpango/Champanagar. The present Chittagong area was
once part of one same kingdom having capital in Arakan/Rakhine
area, during era of Dhanyabady and Wethali kingdoms. Chandra was
the title of most of the kings of these kingdoms. Following these facts
it is possible suggest that the ChakmaTanchangyas are none but the
descendants of the people who dominated the DhanyabadyWethali
civilisations of the Arakan/Rakhine area. When their domination was
ended due to the rise and dominance of the Arakanese/Rakhine
people in the area, they lost their former prominence. They probably
originated as the soldier groups who were instrumental in the
founding of these civilisations. Like it happens in many parts of the
world, these soldiers took wives from among the local tribes who pre
inhabited the area. The intermixing took place, but possibly due to
their strength of numbers they managed to keep alive their original
language with an expected degree of alterations. But their womenfolk
imbibed and imported most of the characteristics of the tribes from
whom their paternal ancestors had acquired their spouses. It is
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almost certain that early civilisations of upper Burma were started
by adventurers from Kamrup (Assam), so it may also be a possibility
that ChakmaTanchangyas came from one such kingdom of upper
Burma whose name may have been Sampanago/Champanagar and
migrated south to ArakanRakhine area to start or to contribute to
the DhanyabadyWethali civilisations. Another important fact to note
is that the ChakmaTanchangyas are only other people in the world
who have Bihu like culture like the Assamese, they call it Biju in
case of the Chakmas and Bisu in case of the Tanchangyas. This
primary and basic element of Assamese has been preserved since
their time of migrations from their ancient homeland in Kamrup as
soldiers and adventurers.
In the following example illuminated below, it is shown how such
intermixing mentioned above causes changes in physical features of
the progenies. An Assamese of Kalita segment married a lady from
the Deuri segment of the Assamese. While the Kalita segment shows
more of Caucasoid physiognomy the Deuri go more towards
Mongoloid type. The lady is no more alive, before she passed away
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she gave her husband Mr Deka two sons.
The above example is shown to give an idea about the actual
processes that takes place in the formation of the community. This
type of phenomenon have their role in the formation of both the
Assamese and also the ChakmaTanchangya communities and many
others who inhabit the extensive tract of land from Assam to the edge
of southeast Asia. The ultimate form of the progenies is determined
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by the proportion of contributions from various streams of humanity.
In case of the ChakmaTanchangyas although the anthropological
composition has been towards one end the linguistic affiliation more
or less remained as before as it was there from the side of the
paternal ancestry.
CONCLUSION
From the analysis analysed from the facts, information and
inferences given above, it can be summarised that Chakma
Tanchangyas are descendants of the people who founded the
DhanyabadyWethali civilisations in the ArakanRakhine and
Chittagong region from their paternal side and from the tribes who
gave their female to these people from their maternal side. Since the
soldier/adventurers who started the DhanyabadyWethali
civilisations are in all probability came from ancient Kamrup
(Assam), the ChakmaTanchangyas are a people of Kamrup origin.
Since Assamese themselves have undergone similar type of
admixture with preexisting tribes in the nationality's formative
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stage, part of the AustroMongoloid phenotypes was carried right
from Assam itself, which was further buttressed by additions from
local tribes in their habitat.
Dr Satyakam Phukan
General Surgeon
Jorpukhuripar, Uzanbazar
Guwahati, Assam (INDIA)
P.I.N : 781001
Phone : +91 99540 46357
Email : [email protected]
Website : http://drsatyakamphukan.wordpress.com
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