Magh does not refer to Marma and Rakhain

8/10/2019 Magh does not refer to Marma and Rakhain

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before taking up other districts. The accounts of the various districtsof Bengal and Bihar written by Dr. Francis Buchanan contained inwhat are known as "Buchanan Manuscripts" deposited in the IndiaOffice Library, have not been published. Buchanan carried out hisexhaustive Statistical Survey during 1807-14. In 1838, or some nineyears after his demise, Montgomery Martin compiled and publishedabridgement of Buchanan's lengthy reports in "Fastern India"consisting of three volumes. The abridgement was, however,considered to be "ill-conceived" and "ill-executed". In l8l4-15,Walter Hamilton wrote the East India Gazetter of Britishpossessions, provinces, cities, towns, districts, fortresses, harbours

and lakes in present Indo-Pakistan region and Eastern Archipelago'.As far as systematic account of Chittagong was concerned it wasincluded in the Statistical Account of Bengal, Vol. VI written in 1876by Sir W. W. Hunter. The Distrtct Gazetteer of Chittagong was firstwritten by L.S.S. O'Malley, I.C.S. in 1908. He reproduced in hisbook much of the Chittagong Survey and Settlement Report (1900)written by Charles Allen.

My note on Magh community, the Buddhist people of Bengal, isbasically from these and contemporary records. Efforts to study theorigin of present Chittagonian Buddhist Society, the Barua group,cannot be taken as complete without undertaking the study of originof word Magh and the communities represented by it.

On the name MaghCredit goes to Risley to give elaborate details on the Buddhist

communities of Bengal known by ethnologists and administrators bythe name of Maghs. He adopted this name as was applied toBuddhists of Bengal by other communities among whom they lived.According to his researches there are several sections of people whoare known by name Magh and is basically a popular designation of agroup of Indo-Chinese tribes, who describe themselves by thevarious titles of Maramagri, Bhuiya Magh, Barua Magh, RajbansiMagh, Marma or Myam-ma, Roang Magh, Thongtha or Jumia Magh.He divided all the above groups into three major branches. Thesethree major branches or groups within Magh have been accepted assuch by all the ethnographers even to this day. The three basicclassification or sections represented by Magh community are : (i)

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The Thongtha, Thongcha, or Jumia Magh; (ii) The Marma,Mayamma, Roang or Rakhaing Magh ; and (iii) The Maramagri,otherwise known as Rajbansi, Barua or Bhuiya Magh. But it ispvzzling despite the classification as such by the administrators andethnologists or anthropologists none of the groups of Maghs like tobe known by this name while introducing themselves to the largerBengali communities among whom they dwell. The only reasonseems to be that the term Magh became synonymous with pirates inBengal and is now a very insulting sobriquet for which reason theydisown this name.

How this name came to be applied to these people is shrouded in

mystery. Some ethnographers, anthropologists and administrators areof the view that the name Magh applied only to the people ofArakan, a province in Burma (Myanmar), while still others suggestedthat application of the name Magh to the people of Arakan is ananthropological error and it should be restricted only to the peoplewho are 'Buddhists of Chittagong' and specifically called by name

Rajbansi or Barua, also known as Marmagri. A fewearly

correspondences from the Chiefs of Chittagong to Arakan Rajahsindicate that entire populetion of Arakan was addressed as Muggs.One of such letter from Warren Hastings to Francis Law, Chief ofChittagong, dated 2lst May 1777 and reply from Mr. Law dated23rd November 1777 is reproduced in REVENUE HISTORY OFCHITTAGONG (18S0). For the general information of readers I mayrecord that the records of eighteenth and early nineteenth centuryused term Mugg for these people. The spelling changed to Magh andMag in later half of nineteenth century. Some writers are seen usingterm Mogh for these people now. Portuguese records used termMogen for them. In dealing with the etymology of names, it isusually held that several tribes (communities) have two or more set

of names-one of which is given by their neighbours by which theyare commonly known, and another name is used by themselves, andthey like to be called by that name only. Again there are someappellations that are derogatory and insulting (or evencomplententary) in character. All these names are used by thecommunities around them to address these people.

Sir Arther Phayre was totally opposed to giving name Magh to


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Jumias and Marmas who are sometimes called Hill Maghs orKhyongtha of Hill Tracts or Rakhaing Maghs of Cox's Bazaar. Hewould restrict this name only for the people who are now using'Barua' for title name. T. H. Lewin called Hill Maghs by nameKhyongtha only. Risley however had a different view. According to

him "there has been much discussion about the use of name Maghand the question cannot be considered as having been finallysettled". The Tribes and Castes of Bengal, 1891, Vol. (ii), page 29informs that Wilson, followed by Ritter, Fr. Muller, and ColonelYule, define it as "a narne commonly applied to the natives ofArakan, particularly those bordering on Bengal or residing near the

sea-the people of Chittagong". Acareful study of Arthur Phayre

shows he was largely influenced by the Magadha origin theorypropounded by the Buddhist people of Chittagong. His view wasquoted by Colonel Yule as Maghs derive the name from "'Maga, thename of the ruling race for many centuries in Magadha (modernBihar). The kings of Arakan were no doubt originally of this race ;for though this is not distinctly expressed in the histories of Arakan,there are several legends of kings from Benares reigning in thatcountry, and one, regarding a Brahman, who marries a nativeprincess and whose descendants reign for a long period." Daltonappears to take much the same view regarding the Arakanese as anoutlying branch of the Burmese, and adding that the name Magh isexclusively a foreign "epithet, unknown to the Arakanesethemselves". Montegazza follows Dalton on the whole, but seems tolook upon the term Magh as rather a tribal name than the generaldesignation of the people who inhabit a particular tract of country.Arakanese are not Maghs

Arther Phayre, who was then serving as Commissioner in Arakan,had a very valid reason in support of his views. After deepinvestigations he came to a conclusion that the word 'Magh' wasnever used by the Arakanese themselves. There was no communityin Arakan known by this term. Giving description of ,people inArakan in his article 'Account of Arakan' in Journal of the AsiaticSociety of Bengal, vol-X, l84l (page 680) he said they were knownby different names in Arakan. The inhabitants were, in the Plains : l.

Rakhoing-tha.Z. Ko-la. - 3. Donr. In the t{ills.-l . Khyourtg-tha.-2.45


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Kume or kwe-me.- 3. Kheyng. 4. Doing-nuk, Mroong, and othertribes. No one was called by name Magh. Further, "the Ra-khoing-tha and Khyoung-tha are of the same race. Like the Burmese theirnational name is Myam-ma, the first appellations here given beingmerely local, the former signifying inhabitant of Ra-khoing country

;the latter, or Khyoung-tha, being the name given to those whoinhabit the banks of mountain streams within the same villages asthe hill tribes, and support themselves by hill cultivation. ...," (page681). He never referred Khyonghtha or Rakhaing people as Maghs.Phayre added a footnote on page 683 in this article on the peoplewho are now using surname Barua. He said, "there is a class ofpeople residing in the Chittagong district, who call themselves Rc7-bunse, and in Burmese Myam-ma-gyee, or 'great Mayam-mas'. Theypretend to be descendants of the kings of Arakan, a flattering fictionwhich they have invented to gloss their spurious descent. They aredoubtless the offspring of Bengalee women by Mayammas, when thelatter possessed Chittagong, and other districts of Bengal. Their dress

and language are Bengalee ; but they profess the religion of theirfathers, viz. Buddhism. These people are called Mugs in Bengal."This commentary shows that phayre was influenced by the early

writers on the community that Rajbansis (Barua), the Buddhistlreople of Chittagong, were basically Maghs and they originated as'hybrid' group of people from the Arakanese fathers when they cameto possess Chittagong.

His further researches on this subject forcedhim to form a different opinion about the hybrid character ofBuddhists of Chittagong. on rhe application of name Magh ro allArakanese people, he said in "Note on the name Mog or Magaapplied to the Arakanese by the people of Bengal", HISTORY oFBURMA, (Page 47, 48) that.

"The Rakhaing people of Mongoloid race do not know thisterm. It is given to them by the people of Bengal, and arso toa class of people now found mostly in the district ofchittagong, who call themselves Rajbansi. The latter claim tobe of the same race as one dynasty of the kings of Arakan, andhence the name they have themselves assumed. They areBuddhists in religion ; their language now is Bengali of thechittagong dialect ; and they have a distinctive physiognomy,


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but it is not Mongolian. Their number in the Chittagongdistrict, by the census of 1870-71, was 10,852 (Hunter's"Bengal," vol.-vi, p. 250). A few are found in the district ofAkyab. I was formerly of opinion that these people were a

mixed race, the descendants ofArakanese,

who,when

theirkings held Chittagong during the seventeenth century, hadmarried Bengali wives. Further inquiry and consideration haveled me to a different conclusion. I now think it most probablethat the self-styled Rajbansi descend from immigrants intoArakan from Magadha, and that the name given to them by thepeople of Bengal correctly designates their race or the countryfrom which they came. It is very probable that one of theforeign dynasties of Arakan came' from Southern Bihar,though, from modern jealousy of foreigners, the fact has beenconcealed by Arakanese chroniclers. The former existence inSouthern Bihar of princes having the race name of Maga is anundoubted fact. The researches of Dr. Francis Buchanan, andlater inquiries instituted by Dr. W.W. Hunter, show that thekings of Magadha reigned at Rajagriha in the modern districtof Patna. They were Buddhists, and that a dynasty of this racereigned in Arakan may be considered to be true. The nameRajbansi has no doubt been adopted by the remnant of thetribe in later times, from a desire to assert their importance as

belonging to the same race as the kings of Arakan. This termhas been adopted in the district of Rangpur by the Chandalasand other low castes, who had not the reasonable claim to itpossessed by the class now under consideration. The nameMaga having been extended to the whole of the Arakanesepeople, who are Mongoloid in race, is an ethnological error

which has caused confusion among European writers upon thissubject. But this error does not extinguish the fact of peopledescended from an Aryan race called Maga, who migratedfrom Bihar, being still in existence in Arakan and theadjoining district of Chittagaon."

Basically even if these references go to the extent of suggesting

that name Magh applies to the people of Arakan, a glance of stillearlier records restrict the use of word Magh for the community


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largely known as 'Buddhists of Chittagong'. The theory of origin ofthe community from the country of Magadha was very much prevalentin the Buddhist community of Chittagong for some decades before theclose of eighteenth century and in the beginning of nineteenth century.But even during those days the Chittagonian Buddhists were hesitantin using the name Magh applied to them by the general communitiesaround them. Countrary to this view these people would reserve thisname for the group of people who call themselves by name Marma,Roangs or Jumia etc. On the other hand Marma, Roangs or Jumiaswould not like to be called by this name at all as this name was notapplicable to them in the country of their origin.

Early Maghs were BrahminsFrancis Buchanan (later Montgomery Martin) referring to the

papers of Dr. Leyden said, "that gentleman supposes, if I am correctin quoting from memory, that Magadha is the country of the peoplewhom we call Muggs, a supposition in which I believe he isperfectly singular". Francis Buchanan (Montgomery Martin) further

revealed that "the term Mugg, these people assure me, is never used,by either themselves or by the Hindus, except when speaking thejargon commonly called Hindustani by Europeans, and it is totallyunknown to the people of Ava ; but whether it is of Moslem,Portuguese, or English origin, I cannot take upon myself to sil),many words among the natives being now in use as English, which it

is impossible to trace in our, or indeed in any other language. Theoriginal country of the Muggs, which is the district of Chittagong,although the name has been extended also to Arakan (Rakhain) is bythe Hindus called I blank in M S. ]" (page l8). HISTORXANTIQUITIES, TOPOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS OF EASTERNINDIA ; VOL II, MONTGOMERY MARTIN (1814). The Buddhistpeople of Chittagong even to this day univocally say that they werehaving roots in Magadha before shifting to the country of Chittagongor Arakan. They are not alone in this supposition. Some (Burmese)people in Arakan maintain that they were the original people fromMagadha who brought the religion of Buddhism in Arakan. Theyalso address themselves as Marmagri.

Dispute does not seem to settle here. It is further disputablewhether it was the people from Magadha who migrated to Arakan


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and Ava and got name Magh applied to them ; or, there existed somebranch of people known by name Maga, who gave their name to thecounrry they inhabited. While discussing elaborately on the Magadhacountry of yore Montgomery Martin did not even hint any link withthe Muggs of Chittagong and Maga tribes that once inhabited the

country of Magadha. If the conclusion of Phayre is to be believedthat present Buddhists of Chittagong were descendents of Magasthen the theory now current among Buddhists of Bengal thatMagadha people on getting planted in Chittagong or Arakan got theappellation Magh is certainly wrong. Some groups of people knownby name Magh already existed even before coming to the country

later calledMagadha. These people were imported from somewhere

in Central Asia and were planted in place now called as Magadha.Before conversion into Buddhism they were Brahmins and wereworshipper of Sun God

According to Martin the "colony from Sakadwip, first settled inthe country called Kikat or South Behar, to which theycommunicated the name Magadha, from their ancestor Maga". MajorWilford (Asiatic Researches, vol. 9, page 74) referring to a bookcalled Rudrajamal, supposed to be composed by Siva, and publishedby Parsuram, says "the Brahmans came from Sakadwip toJambudwip, and after some generations went to Kanyakubja. Aftersome generations they dispersed over different countries, as theDakshin, Angga, Bangga, Kalingga, Kammrup, Odra, Bata,Magadha, Barandra, Chila, Swarnagrama, China, Karnata, Saka, andBarbara, according as they were favoured by different Rajas. Thisbook mentions no other Brahman". Wilford did not contradict thereport of the Rudrajamal ; as the descendants of those, who remainedbehind in Kikat, might retain the original name of Magas orSakadwipis. Mentioning about the Sakadwipis narration goes on

saying "that in Sakadwipis there were four classes of men : First,Magas, from whom the Brahmans are descended. Secondly,Magadhas, who were the military tribe of the country. Thirdly,Manasas, who were the merchants ; and fourthly, Mangadas, whowere the labourers : but none of the three lower tribes came with theMagas from their original country. They still retain the name of

Magas".Which country was called Saka he did not elaborate.

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.,

Martin's view was that "the most rational derivation of the termMagadha is that given by Major Wilford (As. Res. Vol. 9, p.32).Samba, the son of Krishna, in order to cure himself of a disease,introduced a colony of Magas or Brahmans from a country calledSaka. But Krishna being contemporary of Jarasandha, theintroduction of a colony of Magas by his son Samba must have beenafter the death of Jarasandha". Martin opined that althoughJarasandha is usually called King of Magadha, that Madhyadesa wasthe proper denomination of his empire, and the term Magadha wasnot given to the territory of his family until its extent was reduced byhis overthrow ; but even atter that event the kingdom seems to havebeen more extensive than that to which the term Magadha is everapplied (page 22). "These Magas are supposed to have introducedthe worship of the sun, and there are many traces to show that theworship of this luminary is here of great antiquity ; although Isuspect that it was rather introduced by the conquests of the Persiansunder Darius than by the Magas or Brahmans, who probably camefrom Egypt, the only country I know where the doctrine of casteprevailed, and prevailed as prescribed in the books of the Brahmans,and in a manner quite different from what they have been able toestablish in India". HISTORY, ANTIQUITIES, TOPOGRAPHYAND STAIISTICS OF EASTERN INDIA ; VOL. I, BYMONTGOMERY MARTTN (18 l4).

That Magas were not from Magadha roots get the support from a

passage in the Ashokan Rock Edict XIII which reads "...... wherereigns the Greek King named Amtiyoga and beyond the realm of thatAmtiyoga in the land of the four king Tulamaya, Antekina, Maka,and Alikyashudula ....." (translated by Prof. R. Thapar : Ashoka andthe decline of Mauryas pp. 255). They have been identified by Prof.Romila Thapar as Antiochus II Theos of Syria (260-246 BC) ; thegrandson

ofSelucus Niketor Gonatus of Meccadoinia (276-239 BC);

Maga of Cyrene ; and Alexander of Epirus. (A History of India, Vol-l, p.73). Since Ashoka had diplomatic relations with those countriesit can be easily supposed that their embassy accompanied by severalMaga people from 'Cyrene' might have settled in Magadha andfollowed Buddhism in later times. The word 'Maga' might havetravelled with their descendants to Bengal and Arakan.


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In ancient time, a good number of Hindu and Buddhistmissionaries went to Arakan for preaching religion but in course oftime, some of them settled there. In the struggle among differentreligious groups that followed only Buddhism survived with thesupport of the ruling class. The Indian immigrants, subsequently, gotabsorbed into the local population. It is quite probable that thedescendants of the said immigrants alongwith local Buddhists beganto assert their descent from Magadha. They did so with a view toestablishing superiority before the people of Arakan. At that time,most of the people of Arakan were animist by faith. The presentterm, 'Magh' therefore, seems to be a derivation of Magadha and is

used to mean the Buddhistswho

claim Magadha Origin. Atleast this

is the general belief now.

Present Remains of Maghs

Though the present generation of Barua (Magh) consider that theyhave descended from the Arian migrants of Magadha to Chittagong,their main thrust is to trace the name Barua derived from the so

called 'elder' Arian (bara ariyo) race, a concept alien to the Ariansthemselves. This they have manufactured for their own consumptionsand has nothing to do with Arians. This theory appears to be makingrounds for not more than seventy to a hundred years. The wordMagh being considered highly insulting, they appear to have found asubstitute name to identify them with. A reference to the recordsauthored by the people from this community indicate that even ahundred to 150 years ago the name Magh was very much used bythe community itself even if there was widespread objection to theuse of this name- As narrated by Dr. Ramchandra Barua, "a fewMaghs of Chittagong have adopted the title name Barua",Chattagramer Mager ltihash, ( i,905). Qradually efforts were made toreplace the name 'Magh' by word 'Bengali Buddhist Community'

for identification. Bangla Sahitye Boudho Dharmo O Santskritimentions that "Mrigalubdho Kahinir prachin kobi Ramraiasambondlte bola hoi tirti jatite magh chilen. Chattagramer adhibashimaghgan boudhodharmabolombi. Tanhara 'Rai' o 'Barua' upadhidharan koren". Its English rendition reads thus : about the writer ofMrigalubdo story, Ramraj, it is said, was Magh by caste. The Maghpeople of Chittagong are Buddhists by religion and they use Raj(read Rajbansi) and Barua for surname (p 124-125).

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The names, surnames and titles reflect the identity, status andlevel of aspirations. Many communities have adopted names, titlesand surnames of other communities, particularly of those placedhigher in the regional hierarchy. This reflects both the process ofupward mobility and of sharing among communities of the regionalheritage in the cultural-linguistic context. The regional situation alsoinfluences the pattern of distribution of names, surnames, titles andnomenclature of exogamous units across communities. There areseveral writers in this community who maintain that 'Barua' peoplewere one block in sixth century A.D. They shifted to Arakan viaAssam. One stream of people remained in Assam and in course of

time adopted Hinduism. Another stream migrated to Chittagong viaArakan and remained Buddhist. To say that name Barua (corruptedfrom boro-Ariyo) was prevalent in the community for severalcenturies is nothing but an effort towards self-glossification.

Surname Barua and Other Names

Students of ethnology (in India) know that name 'Barua' ispresent in a wide spectrum of communities. Several communities inIndia use name Barua. In Assam besides Brahmins name Barua isused by other communities also. Several years ago while functioningas Deputy Director in the University Grants Commission, Delhi Imet two professors from Assam who were husband and wife. Onewas using surname 'Hathi-Barua' and other was using name 'Ghora-Barua'. On the use of this name they informed me that theirancestors were in-charge of elephant division and cavalry divisionduring the time of Ahom kings. Their ancestors retained thisdesignation for their name. The designation "Barua' was created byAhom kings to defend themselves from outside forces. The Tripuraroyal dynasty also created designation Barua for use in their forces.These do not indicate the name 'Barua' is corruption of word 'Boro-Ariyo'. In Sweden several people who originated in that country usename Barua. They are in no way connected with the people holdingname Barua in Assam or Chittagong. They are Christians by faith. (Igot this information through one of my friends who had to be thereon official duty and had the occasion to interact with them. He was

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In my conclusion the present Buddhists of Chittagong ui" f.ornArakan roots. They migrated to Chittagong some four or fivehundred years ago. Before getting planted in that country they werefrom different groups and not from one composite group. And nameMagh has been derived as corrupted form of appellation Mang orMeng. In my researches I discovered that use of name Mang orMeng was widely prevalent in Chittagong among the ancestors ofBuddhist communities now using the name Barua. Appellation Mangwas generally used to signify royal or aristocratic descent. They weremostly Arakanese in origin. By the end of seventeenth century thesepeople dropped name Mang or Meng and did not prefer to use any

appellation. They started asserting themselves as 'Rajbansi' and itwas favoured by many of them for name though most of them werewithout any general name. During my searches I found in one casefollowing names in the genealogy :

Place of Origin : Loungra- (Bengali : "Logora").( I ) Narabodhi-(2) Meng kheyee-(3) Mangkha Meng-(4)

Meng Palang-(5) Meng Kheyuo-(6) Meng Kethocheyee-(7)Hyog- (8) Chadaingye-(9) Anga- (10)Kheyaphru (gomasta) -(ll) Kalachand (gomasta) - (12) Nanda muhuri -(13) Harish

Chandra - (14) Narendra - (15) Dibakar.Had the last man shown in the list not breathed his last some

seven or eight years ago, he would have been seventy-five years of

age by now. In my own estimates the first person in the list can belinked to 1500-1520 A.D. The place of origin as shown in the listwas Loungra. One of the persons in the lineage (name not shown dueto paucity of space) claimed the place Loungra (Bengali : lngora) isin Magadha. He could not say anything more then making a merestatement. It appears to me that it was again an effort to ignoreArakan connection. But

itis history that Loungra (correct

spelling-Loungrett or Laoungkret) was in Arakan and was its capital cityfrom 1237 A.D. to 1404 A.D., before arrival of Marak U period. Atotal of seventeen kings ruled in this era, starting with Hlama-Phruand ending with Thin-Kha-Thu. Most likely these people hadaristocratic origin. I say this on hearsay only. Whether it is true ornot I cannot say. They shifted to Chittagong during the period ofturmoil in Arakan and made Chittagong their permanent abode.

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People from these families are found in several villages in northernpart of Chittagong, popularly called as Uttarcool. (According to oldrevenue parlance, the district of Chittagong was divided into two girdsor division-Uttarcool, or that part to the north of the Kurnaphooleeriver; and Dakhincool, to the south of that river. MEMORANDUM

ON THE REVENUE HISTORY OF CHITTAGONG BY H.J.S.COITON, (1880). Present generations do not seem to know this fact).Even much before use of name Barua and Rajbansi some people

of this community were using different names. For example, amongthe forefathers of renowned Dr. Arabindo Barua (1907-1982) wasone Phule Tangya. It is said the name Thngya was given to him bythe Arakanese kings. This does not appear to be correct. Sir ArthurPhayre mentioned 'Thng-ya' meant hill cultivation only. Thus thisword was retained by some settlers on hills who did hill cultivation.It may be that some people with name Tangya migrated to plains andin later times they settled in the area called Pahartoli. This is thereason why several Thngya groups of people in Magh (Barua)community is now found in Pahartoli. In this

family following namesare found in the genealogy for last 250 years or so: (l) Phul Tangya

- (2) Pushka Chand - (3) Nayan Chand Talukdar - (4) KirtiChand (Jamadar) - (5) Joylal Munshi (Barua) (6) GaganChandra Barua - (7) Dr. Arabindo Barua (born : 1907, died : 1982).This family adopted surname 'Barua' sometimes in the first half ofnineteenth century. (Conclusion based on several articles publishedin 'Dr. Arabindo Barua, 75th Bitth Anniversary' 1982).

Some persons in the first half of nineteenth century adopted nameBarua. It was widely used in later half of nineteenth century. This isat least apparent from the records of Risley when he says MarmagriMaghs are "otherwise called as" Rajbansi and Barua. Any surnamewill not become widely prevalent overnight. It takes at least four orfive decades to become acceptable. There are other surnames whichcame into use among the Buddhists of Chittagong. Some peoplestarted using appellation Thlukdars and Mutsuddis in their name.Name Mutsuddi appears to be in existence even prior to the adventof East India Company. Islam Khan Mutsuddi ( 1638) was a famc,'nsgeneral in Mughul times. Titan, a person of this Buddhist community

was appointed as Mutsuddi by the Nawabs of Bengal durings5


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Alawardi Khan's time (1740-1756). He retained this appellation forname,.and his subsequent generations are using this name till today,though some have preferred using name Barua or Barua Mutsuddinow. One female progeny from this family tree is now a daughter-in-law in our present family. Many persons of the Buddhist community

of Chittagong who were later appointed as Mutsuddies after EastIndia Company took control of Chattagong administration statedreraining name Mutsuddi. Regarding actual job of these Mutsuddiessome records speak thus :

Mutasiddy was basically 'A clerk of the cheque, or anywriter employed about the revenue". Glossary to the

Appendix"The History of Hindostan-Vol-Ill, Alexnader

Dow, 1803.Mutsaddy is "a writer or clerk" Affairs of the East lndia

Company Fifth Report from Select Committee of House ofCommons28.7.l8l2(WalterKellyFirminger)Vol-I.

verelst : View etc. Appendix, page 217-18. Verelstexplains "Muttaseddee" as a general name for all officersemployed in taking the accounts of Government, or anyperson of consequence".

There were other designations which were connected withcollection of revenue. After East India Company took control of theterritory of Chittagong Mr. Verelst was appointed its Chief onNovember 8, 1760 (Took charge on 1.12.1760). Revenueadministration was reorganized a few years later. Assignment forrevenue collection was given to some people who had conflictinginterests in the yield. W. W. Hunter, A Statistical Account of Bengal,Chittagong, 1876, (page l16) records that "there were four distinctclasses, each with a separate and conflicting interest in the land.There was first the landholder-in-chief (hmindar), who collected

revenue from the number of intermediateholders, and paid into the

treasury. Next in order were the intermediate holders (talukdars),each of whom gathered in the land-tax for a certain number ofvillages, but from the villages in their corporate capacity' Thevillage-heads formed the third set of persons interested in the land,under the name of chor.rclharis. They collected revenue from thecultivators, each man in his own village, and paid it in a lump-sum

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to the intermediate holder or talukclan The actual tillers of the soilheld the fourth and lowest rank". There was no principal landholderfrom this community in Chittagong. Some were intermediatelandholders and a few were chouclharies of the villages. But largeportion was of actual tillers with small land holdings or mostlyemployed on wages. It was from this period only that land recordsshow the holdings in the name of people of the Buddhist communityof Chittagong. Name Choudhari and Thlukdars have since beenretained by some of them.

Position after 1638 A.D.

O'MALLEY furnishedgraphical details on the community of

Barua group of Maghs (also known as Marmagris or Rajbansis) inhiS WOTKS EASTERN BENGAL DISTRICT GAZETTEER,CHITTAGONG (1908). The narration inch.rdes their origin and othercultural aspect of the community which suggests that the communitycame into existence in Bengal in the seventeenth century, and madeChittagong its permanent home. A fraction of the communitymigrated to other parts of Bengal and nearby district, includingChittagong Hill Tract.

According to his view Chittagong long possessed a large colonyof Maghs especially Barua Maghs. Some among them are HillMaghs whom Arther Phayre and Lewin referred to as Khyonghtha orJumia or Hill Burmese, others are later immigrants called by nameMarma or Rakhaing, and yet another are of mixed birth whom ArtherPhayre called as scions of the royal race and called them as Maghs.According to Phayre Magh was a forgotten name that shouldproperly belonging to people of mixed birth. They are known by titlename Barua or Rajbansi.

The District Gazetteer records that "CHITTAGONG is the only

district in Eastern Bengal in which Buddhism still survives as thereligion of a large propoltion of the population-a survival due partlyto its proximity to the Buddhists country of Burma and partly to itsisolation. This isolation has only been broken into in recent years, andin earlier days Chittagong afforded a shelter to Buddhist refugees frcrnother parts of India. In course of time, the Buddhism of its people

became comrpted, but there is nowa revival, and the Buddhist leaders

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are striving to shake off the influence of Hinduism and to put a stop tothe Hindu superstitions and observances which have crept in".

O'Malley's account on the Buddhists of Chittagong was basicallyprepared from the records available in Bengal at that time, and was

helped by Babu Nabin Chandra Das, M.A., 8.L., Deputy Magistrateand Deputy Collector, a well-known poet, scholar and antiquarian ofChittagong. That view says thus :

"Buddhism is a living religion in Chittagong proper, inthe Hill Tracts, and in Tippera. It was introduced in thesedistricts about the ninth century A.D. direct from Magadha,

when the eastern provinces of Bengal, extending fromRangpur down to Ramu (Ramya Bhumi) in Chittagong,were under the sway of a Rajput prince named Gopipala.The Mahayana Buddhism, which about that time prevailedin Magadha and Tibet, was preached in Chittagong byBengali Buddhists. In the lOth century A.D. Chittagong, ina manner, became the centre of the Buddhism of Bengal.The chief feature of Mahayana Buddhism is that it hastaken in the entire Hindu pantheon and added innumerablefancied deities to it. In this enlarged pantheon the rulingdeity is Arya Tara (a personification of Nirvana), who isidentified with Sakti or the female principle. In Tibet she iscalled Yum-chenmo, the great mother ; in Nepal she ispersonified as Prajna Paratnita or transcendental wisdom ;in the dialect of the Ramu Magh of Chittagong she iscalled Phra Tara, Phra being the Burmese equivalent ofArya. The Chittagong people called her Phora Tara, theMagh goddess. From the l0th to the 13th century A.D.Chittagong possessed a mixed population of Buddhists and

Hindus, the former being distinguished from the latter bythe name Magha, meaning the excellent or blessed a termwhich is still preserved in Bihar in its original signification.Then came Islam to convert the whole district ofChittagong. About this time, the more earnest Buddhiststook shelter in the Hill Tracts, and then converted the hill

tribes to Buddhism. In the lTth century, when the Mughalsextended their conquest to Chittagong, Hindu settlers from

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Bengal poured in large numbers and founded Chaksala(Chakralashala) which is now called Patiya Pargana. TheHindu settlers mostly occupied the places which had beenleft vacant by the flight of the Maghs. In the beginning ofthe lgth century, the remnant of the Chittagong Maghs,

who had almost forgotten the tenets of their religion,largely took to the worship of Hidnu deities, offering themsacrifices of fowls and pigs in the place of goats andbuffaloes. This they continued to do for upwards of fiftyyears, until at last a Buddhist priest coming from Burmaled them back to Buddhism. The degenerate half-Hinduized

Maghs had, in themeantime,

adopted Hinduand

Muhammadan names and titles. They had entirely forgottenthe Mahayana doctrines of Buddhism, which their ancestorsfollowed. The modern Maghs have no idea of the goddessPhra Tara and do not worship her, though she has beengiven by the Chittagong Hindus a place a little outside theirpantheon, is propitiated by them with animal sacrifices, andis worshipped under the name of Magheswari, the goddessof the Maghs. The Brahmans of Chittagong now identifyher with the goddess Kali, in the form in which, accordingto them, she was known in Magadha, and call herMagadheswari. The earlier headquarters of the ChittagongBuddhists were at Mahamuni in Pahartali and the later ones

at Ramu".O'Malley also supported the Magadha origin theory that was

widely prevalent among the Buddhist community of Chittagong. But itwas not a straight connection directly from Magadha to Chittagong.Before migrating to Chittagong they got neutralized in Arakan andbecame locals there. Subsequently a section of Arakanese were forced

to shift to Chittagong due to unstable political condition in Arakan. Itis from these people that roots of present Buddhists of Chittagong aretraced. They informed O'Malley that they were the descendants fromroyal race of Arakan. He observed :

"Buddhism is still a living religion in the south and eastof Chittagong among the Barua Maghs, though they have

adopted some Hindu customs and ceremonies. These Barua59


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Maghs also call themselves Rajbansis or scions of the royalrace, because they claim to be descended from the kings ofArakan who migrated from Magadha, the modern SouthBihar. The name Maghs is said to be derived from that ofthe country of their origin, and even the most illiterateMaghs call themselves Magadha Kshattriya on the groundthat their ancestors were Kshattriya princes of Magadha.They date back their residence in Chittagong to the time ofconfusion and anarchy following the death of SriSudhamma, King of Arakan, in 1638, when one of hisministers Narapati (Nga Ra Padi) usurped the throne and

put to death several nobles and members of the royalfamily. According to the Maharaja-wang, "during thesetroubled times, the son of Sri Sudhamma, Naga Tun Khin,made his escape from the town and lived in the wilderness;and certain members of the royal family and other noblesleft for Kantha, a place in Chittagong, and settled downthere. Of the 100,000 guards who were stationed inMyohammy, 50,000 deserted the king and left the capital,taking with them Naga Lut Roon, who was then a priest,and settled down in Kantha under Naga Tun Khin. Then theKalas called the governor of Kantha the king ofMarmagri". The Barua (i.e., great) Maghs claim descentfrom these immigrants and are still called by the ArakaneseMramagri or great Maghs, a word which is a corruption ofBrahmagri (Mranta or Brahma, i.e., the first inhabitants ofthe world, a term applied to the inhabitants of Burma bythe Aryan settler, and gri, i.e., great)".

It looks doubtful that people who came in large numbers in themiddle of seventeenth century got completely detached from theirroots after Mughal forces annexed Chittagong in 1666. At this pointof time the Marmagri Maghs branched off in several groups. Someshifted to Arakan and some are now found in Mizoram settlement inIndia. They are called by name Marmagri only and still maintaintheir Burmese character. Then why the Marmagri branch whichremained in Bengal got a different characteristic that looks moreclose to Bengali culture. Can a period of five to eight decades after

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1666 and the political conditions prevailing then in Chittagongcompelling enough that a section which branched off from the mainbody of Arakanese people should take a different identity totallyalien to the parent body? Answer to this is not easily available. Thatis the reason why Risley said the matter couldn't be easily resolved.

Some present day writers from this community go to suggest thatthis group of Buddhists in Bengal are the offspring of 'Viriiis'theLicchavis of Vaisali, Bihar and name 'Barua' is derived from Virjis.This is not true simply for the reason name Barua was thought ofand adopted in early nineteenth century as a substitute for nameMang or Meng which was dropped by several of them and apolitical compulsion was there to abandon Arakanese connection.References to the texts authored by Ven. Dharmmadhar Mahasthavirand Umesh Mutsuddy, two illustrious persons of this community,about the socalled ancestor of this community, Mukut Rai, thegovernor of Chittagong ( 1638) is also not supporting a conclusionthat they were not Arakanese people. Arthur Phayre's view about

Mukut Rai was that the wordwas actually a corruption

of'Meng Re'

which was official title of the governor of Chittagong. JadunathSarkar lined him with the royal family of Arakan and as a paternaluncle of Thiri Thudamma Raja (1622-1638) the murdered king ofArakan. S.N.H. Rizvi has different story to tell. According to himMukut Rai was son of Gaureswar Rai who settled at Kulgaon,Chittagong. His ancestors hailed from Tippera. The descendants ofMukut Rai now live in village Kadurkhil, Chittagong. Further, acomparison of the trend of population figs available since 1872onwards in respect of this community gives a brief hint that thiscommunity came into being in Chaittagong somewhere in 1600 to1638 A.D. only. Population trend was I 1233 (1872, excluding a fewhundred in Akyab), 39620 ( l89l ), 5 I 860 ( l9l I ). Thus the views ofthe authorities who say that this Buddhist community is the remainsof earlier Arakanese people, who in later times adopted Bengaliculture and language appears to be true.

BIBLIOGRAPHYWalter Hamilton : East India, Vol-I, 1828.H. H. Risley : Tribes and Castes of Bengal, Calcutta, 1891.J.A.S.B., Vol-X, l84l .

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I.S. S.O'Malley : Eastern Bengal District Gazetteer, Chittagong, 1908.W. W. Hunter : A Statistical Account of Bengal., Vol-VI, Chittagong, 1876.Arthur Phyare : The History of Burma, 1883.Jadunath Sarkar : The Conquest of Chittagong 1666, An I.A.S.H., Vol-III, 1967.Census of India, 1872, 1901, l9l l, 1921, 1931.

Abdus Sattar : In the Sylvan Shadows, East Pakistanr 971.Romila Thapar : Ashoka and Decline of Mouryas.Romila Thapar : A History of India, Vol-I.Arthur Phyare : J.A.S.B., Vol-X, 1841 (Account of Arakan)C.G.H. Allen : Final Report of the Survey and Settlement of District ofChittagong, 1888 ro 1898.H.J.S. Cotton : Memorandum on the Revenue History of Chittagong, 1880.

Montgomery Martin : History, Antiquities, Topography and Statistics ofEastern India, Vo.I, and Vol-II, l8l0Wilford : Asiatic, Researches, Vol-9.India Tcrday, 25.6.2001.Walter Kelly Firminger : Allexander Dow, Glossary to the Appendix "TheHistory of Hindostan-Vol-Ill, 1803.Affairs of the East India Company : Fifth report from Select Committee of

House of Commons, (28.7.1812), Vol-I, II, III.J.P. Mills : Notes on a tour in the Chittagong Hills Tracts, 1928.R. H. Sneyd Hutchinson : An Account of Chittagong Hills Tracts, 1909.Allexander MaCkenjie : History of the Relations of the Govt. with HillsTribes of North Eastern Frontier of Bengal, 1884.Dr. G. A. Grierson : Linguistic Survey of India, Vol-V Part III.B. C. Allen : Gazetteer of Bengal and North East India, 1909.

Mc. Crindle : Ancient India as Described by Magasthenese and Arians, 1877.C.G.H. Allen : Chittagong Survey and Settlement Report, 1900.T.H. Lewin : The Hill I. Tracts of Chittagong and Dwellers therein, 1869.K. S. Singh : People of India, Scheduled Tribes, 1992.S. N. H. Rizvi, Bengladesh District Gazeteer, Chittagong, 1975. (Bengali)Dr. Ram Chandra Barua : Chattagramer Moger ltihas, 1905.Umesh Muchhuddi : Matry Pujae Manaob Dharma, 1926.

Umeswh Mucchuddi': Barua Jaati, 1959.Ven. Dharmmadhar : Sadharmer Punurthan, 1964.Bangla Sahitye Boudho Dharmo o SamskritiArticles published in "Dr. Arabindo Barua, 75 Thm Janmo JayantiSmaranika 1982".Abdul Haq Chowdhur : Prachin Arakan, Bangla Academy, Dhacca.Abdul Haq Chowdhury : Chattagramer Samaj O Sanskriteer Rooprekha.,

Documents

Magh does not refer to Marma and Rakhain