Chakma History & Culture

Chakma History & Culture

The Chakma people (also called Changma people ) are an ethnic

group closely related to the Daingnet people who are distributed
throughout
Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura , Assam , Mizoram, Meghalaya and West
Bengal of India and in Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. Today,
the geographic distribution of Chakmas is spread across
Bangladesh and parts of
northeastern India , western Burma, and diaspora communities in
Yunnan, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France ,
South Korea , Japan and Australia .
The Chakmas are one of the indigenous Jumma peoples of the
Chittagong Hill Tracts. They are the largest ethnic group there and
make up half of the region's population. The Chakmas are divided
into 46
clans or Gozas. They have their own language, customs and
culture , and practice Theravada Buddhism. The community is
headed by the Chakma Raja .
Etymology
The name Chakma derives from the Sanskrit word Sakthiman, which
means beholder of power.[6] This name was given to Chakmas by
one of the Burmese kings during the Bagan era. Burmese kings
hired Chakmas as ministers, advisers, and translators of Buddhist
Pali texts. As employees of the king, the Chakmas wielded power in
Burmese court disproportionate to their number. The Burmese
people still refer to Chakmas as Sak or Thit, which are shortened
and corrupted forms of Sakthiman . At one stage, the accepted
name of the tribe was

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 Sakma. Later, it was further altered to
Chakma .[7]
Ethnic origins
Chakmas are Tibeto-Burman , and are thus closely related to tribes
in the foothills of the
Himalayas. The Chakmas are believed to be originally from greater
Arakan Yoma North, presently Chin State, who later on immigrated
to Bangladesh in the fifteenth century, settling in the Cox's Bazar
District , the Korpos Mohol area, and in the Indian states of
Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and
Mizoram. [citation needed]
Genetics
The Chakma possess strong genetic affinities to Tibeto-Burman
groups in
Northeast India and to East Asian populations. They also have high
frequencies of mainland Indian genetic ancestry. [8]
History
The Arakanese referred to the Chakmas as Saks, Theks, or Thaikhs.
In 1546 CE, while the Arakanese king Meng Beng was engaged in a
battle with the Burmese, the Sak king attacked Northern Arakan
Roma and occupied the Arakanese-controlled Chacomas of the
Northern Arakan Mountains. [9]
Diego de Astor created a map of Bengal which was published as
Descripção do Reino de Bengalla in the book Quarta decada da Asia
(Fourth decade of Asia) by João de Barros in 1615.[10] The map
shows a place called Chacomas on the Eastern bank of the
Karnaphuli River in what is now Chittagong, Bangladesh, suggesting
that the Chakmas inhabited this area during this time.
The Arakan king Meng Rajagri (1593–1612 ) conquered these areas
and addressed himself as the highest and most powerful king of
Arakan, Chacomas and Bengal in a 1607 letter to a Portuguese

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 merchant named Philip de Brito Nicote. [11] After the defeat by the
Arakanese, the Chakmas migrated to the present Chittagong Hill
Tracts and founded their capital city Alekyangdong (present-day
Alikadam ). From Alekyangdong, they continued North and settled
the present-day Rangunia, Raozan, and
Fatikchari Upazilas of Chittagong District.
In 1666, Mughal Governor of Bengal Shaista Khan defeated the
Arakanese, conquered the Northern bank of Kaladan river, and
renamed it Islamabad. [12] However, Mughal rule was confined only
to the plain areas of Chittagong early on, leaving the Chakmas
largely unaffected. The
Mughals eventually demanded tribute from the Chakmas after a
trade dispute developed between the two groups. [13]
In 1713, the conflict was resolved, and a stable relationship
developed between the Chakmas and the Mughals; the latter never
demanded complete subjugation from the former. The Mughals also
rewarded the Chakma king Shukdev Roy; he established a new
capital in his own name, in an area still known as Shukbilash. Ruins
of the royal palace and other historic buildings still exist.
Subsequently, the capital was shifted to Rajanagar, Ranirhat ,
Rangunia Upazila, Chittagong District.
The East India Company
The Mughals signed a treaty with Jallal Khan, Raja of the Chakma, in
1715. While the Mughals controlled significant amounts of yam and
cotton crops in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), its independence
from the Mughals was recognized.
The British government also received payment from the Chakmas
and recognized their kingdom as independent.[14] The CHT was
guaranteed and delineated their own tribal preserve area by the
treaties between the King of the Chakma and the British.
A war was waged from 1777 to 1789 between the East India

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 Company and the Chakmas. In exchange for leaving the Chakmas
as tributaries and giving them autonomy, the British received an
oath from Jan Baksh Khan, king of all Chakmas in 1787.[15]
Three years after the Battle of Plassey , Mir Qasim, the new Nawab
of
Murshidabad, rewarded the East India Company with Chittagong,
Burdwan and Midnapur . On January 5, 1761, the company
representative Harry Verelst took charge of Chittagong from
Subedar Mohammad Reza Khan. But the Chakma king Sher Doulat
Khan, who was practically independent though nominally paid
tribute to the Mughals, didn't accept the hegemony of the Company
and their demand of taxes at enhanced rate. A protracted war
started and continued until 1787. The East India Company launched
four offensives against the Chakmas in 1770, 1780, 1782 and 1785.
In 1785 the Company started peace negotiations with the Chakma
king Jan Baksh Khan, son of Sher Doulat Khan. Later in 1787 the
king accepted the sovereignty of the Company and agreed to pay
500 Maunds of cotton annually. The peace treaty was signed at
Kolkata. [16]
The main provisions of the treaty between Governor-General Lord
Cornwallis and the Chakma king were as follows: [17]
The East India Company recognised Jan Baksh Khan as the Raja of
the Chakmas.
It was agreed that the collection of revenue was the responsibility of
the Raja.
The British Government would preserve the tribal autonomy and
migration from the plains would be restricted.
Jan Baksh Khan was bound by the treaty to maintain peace in his
territory.
British troops would remain in the Chakma territory not to terrify the
Chakmas but to protect the land from hostile tribes.

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 In 1829, Halhed, then Commissioner of Chittagong reaffirmed that:
Jan Baksh Khan shifted his capital to a new place, naming it
Rajanagar, near present-day Rangunia . After Jan Baksh's death in
1800, his son Tabbar Khan became king but died shortly thereafter.
In 1802 Tabbar Khan's younger brother Jabbar Khan became king
and ruled for ten years. After his death, his son Dharam Baksh Khan
became king in 1812 and ruled until his death in 1832. Without any
male heir there was chaos, and the government appointed Suklal
Dewan as the Manager. Rani Kalindi , widow of Dharam Baksh Khan,
applied to the government to allow her to run state affairs. The
government accepted her application, and in 1844 issued an order
to that effect. [19] In 1846 the annual revenue payable to the
Company was refixed at 11,803.00 Rs. Today, the Chakma people
are predominantly followers of Theravada Buddhism due to 19th
century reforms and institutionalization by regent Queen Rani
Kalindi.
After the great Sepoy Mutiny in 1857, the British Government
assumed direct control of the administration of India from the East
India Company along with the Chittagong Hill Tracts, which was not
yet formally separated from Chittagong. But the territorial
jurisdiction of the Chakma Raja was fixed by a proclamation dated
6th Shraavana 1170M.S (1763 CE) by the Company as "All the hills
from the Feni river to the Sangoo and from Nizampur Road in
Chittagong to the hills of Kooki Raja". [20]
After Rani Kalindi's death in 1873, her grandson Harish Chandra
became the Chakma Raja and was vested with the title Roy Bahadur
.
British colonial rule
After the war with the English, the Chakmas became very weak
militarily.
The Lushai used to make frequent murderous raids on the British

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 subjects on the grounds that their hunting ground was converted to
a tea garden by the British in Cacher, Noakhali , Comilla and other
neighbouring tracts under Rani Kalindi. They raided Chittagong Hill
Tracts and the neighbouring tracts in 1847, 1848, 1859 and 1860.
[21] As a consequence, with a view to paying the necessary
attention to the areas of the front areas experiencing repeated raids
and to protecting the people from the aggression of the
independent tribes living further east but primarily to occupy the
Chakma land, the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal recommended the
removal of the hill tracts from the regulation district and the
appointment of a superintendent over the tribes. Both these
recommendations were adopted by act XXII in 1860 which came
into effect on August 18 of that year. [21] Thus the Hill Tracts were
separated from Chittagong district, a superintendent was appointed
for Chittagong Hill Tracts, and its headquarters were established at
Chandraghona. The hills in his charge were henceforth known by
the name of the Hill Tracts of Chittagong. For the next few years,
attention was directed to the preservation of peace on the frontier.
In 1869 the headquarters were shifted to Rangamati . The official
designation of the post of superintendent was changed to Deputy
Commissioner and full control of all matters pertaining to both
revenue and justice throughout the Hill Tracts was vested in his
office.
The frontier situation put pressure on the Chakma chief to shift his
capital, and ultimately in 1874, it was shifted from Rajanagar to
Rangamati. At that time cotton was grown in Chittagong Hill Tracts
and was important to the British for their mills. Therefore effective
control of Chittagong Hill Tracts was also important for them.
In 1881 the government decided to divide Chittagong Hill Tracts into
Chakma Circle , Bohmong Circle , and Mong Circle .
Each circle was headed by a chief. [22] Chakma circle was headed

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 by a Chakma, Bohmong circle by a Bohmong and the Burmese
circle by a Mong . The Chakma circle was centrally located and
inhabited mainly by the Chakmas, the Bohmong circle was under
the rule of a Bohmong chief of Arakanese extraction, and the Mong
circle was also inhabited by Arakanese speaking clans with a
sprinkling of Tripura immigrants and headed by another ruler of
Arakanese extraction. The reason for this division was that the
British government was not in favour of the strong power of the
Chakma Chief who held control over these hilly tribes. Further, the
government was feeling increasingly concerned about the political
and administrative affairs of these tracts. Hence they wished to lay
the foundation of administration in a restricted manner with the
following basic objectives[22] :
To supervise the rule of the Chakma chief and also to curtail some
of his powers.
To protect British subjects from the Kuki (the name given to the
Lushai by the British).
To preserve peace in the frontier areas so that cotton could be
grown and made available for their mills.
After the creation of a separate district and also the three circles,
the Kuki (Lushai) threat to the Chittagong Hill Tracts and other
adjoining areas did not stop. The Shendus, another tribe, made
occasional raids in the Hill Tracts between 1865 and 1888 and killed
many people including the massacre of Lt. Steward and his survey
party. In 1872, 1,890 military offensives were launched
simultaneously into Lushai Hills (Mizoram) from Chittagong district
and Burma in collaboration with the governments of Bengal, Assam
and Burma, and the whole of Kookie land was brought under British
control.
Autonomous police forces were created from the Hill Tract tribes in
1881. Tribals complained to Britain after the Hill Tracts experienced

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 attempts at penetration by lowlander Bengali Muslims. [15]
On 1 April 1900, the South and the North Lushai Hills (then a part of
Chittagong Hill Tracts) were merged to form the district of Assam
province with headquarters at Aizawl .[23] The Lushai hills are now
the present day
Mizoram state of India.
Later, the British through the Deputy Commissioner took over
absolute power in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (including the Chakma
circle) after implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts manual.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts (Lushai Hills) were again designated an
"Excluded Area" under the
British India Act of 1935.[24]
An independent state was demanded for the Chittagong Hill Tract
by local tribes due to the fact that Bengalis and the tribals did not
share a religion, language, or ethnicity, and they asked for their own
independent area in the 1930s when the Indian national movement
was launched. In the event of Indian independence, the tribals were
guaranteed by Britain that the Chittagong Hill Tracts would be split
off separately, since World War II was happening and the Japanese
were attacking. [15]
Modern times
In British India, there was a measure of security and protection
afforded for the non-Muslim and non-Bengali Chittagong Hill Tract
Chakmas and other tribal people. [25] Bengal and Assam did not
govern the CHT during this period. Rather the CHT was a distinct
administrative unit that enjoyed a large degree of self-rule. [26]
Despite the CHT being 97.2%-98.5% non-Muslim, it was given to
Pakistan by the Boundary Commission Chairman Sir Cyril Radcliffe
in 1947 upon
independence. [26] Native Chakmas made up most of the officials
except for some British during British India rule. [27] Pakistan

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 received the CHT from Radcliffe after the issue of Punjab districts
and the CHT revised boundaries were pushed onto him by Lord
Mountbatten on 17 August 1947.[28] The decision by Radcliffe to
draw this boundary paved the way for future war, violence, and
conflict. [29] The British awarded "Excluded area" was downgraded
to "Tribal Area" in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. [30] The Bangladeshi
Constitution does not refer to any group (inclusive of Bengalis) as
indigenous. [31]
Many Buddhist Chakmas migrated from East Pakistan (now
Bangladesh) to India. [32] Projects for infrastructure development
negatively impacted CHT tribals starting in the 1950s. [33] The
Kaptai Dam development project negatively effected the CHT
tribals. [34] Chakmas made up 90% of 10,000 people whose
farmland of 54,000 acres was flooded in 1962 by the Karnafuli
reservoir and Kaptai Dam. Inept relocation and insufficient
compensation were offered to the Chakmas for the dam. [35]
100,000 Chakmas had their lives ruined by their farmland being
flooded by over 40% by the US Agency of International
Development's hydro-electric dam in East Pakistan.[25] The
Chittagong Hill Tracts Chakma population was estimated at 250,000
in 1964. The CHT was described as filled with fountains of water,
hilly, forested, and with a verdant green landscape. [36] A deputy
commissioner administered the Chittagong Hill Tracts Division
under Pakistani rule.
Autonomy was requested in 1970 by Manabendra Narayan Larma.
India used NEFA as a resettlement area for Chakma refugees.[
citation needed ] The India Tripura state had to deal with the issue
of Chakma families. [37] Agriculture, employment and education are
heavily dominated by Chakmas compared to Arunachal natives
since they are more skilled and have a higher literacy rate. [38] The
issue of returning Chakma refugees from India to Bangladesh was

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 brought up in 1995. [39] The hill tribes conflict with Bangladesh
caused the exodus to India from the Chittagong Hill Tracts of
50,000 Chakmas. It was arranged that Bangladesh would take them
back in a 1992 deal between India and Bangladesh. [40] A March
1997 agreement between Chakma leaders and Bangladesh provided
for the repatriation to Bangladesh of Chakma refugees in Tripura.
[41] Both East Pakistan's partition and Bangladesh's independence
caused India to experience an influx of Chakma refugees. [42]
Tridiv Roy continued his collaboration with the Pakistani occupation
forces and rejected the idea of joining the freedom movement of
Bangladesh. Pakistani president Yahya Khan assigned a southeast
Asian diplomatic post to Tridiv Roy during the war as a reward of his
collaboration betraying with the tribal population and Bangladeshis.
Fearing the likely democratic rule in an independent Bangladesh and
the possibility of losing his feudal interests made him side with the
Pakistanis. Pakistan retained support and allegiance in exchange for
the capital of CHT, Rangmati, to stay free from artillery shelling in an
agreement made by Roy on March 25. [43] It was believed that the
new Bangladesh would not award autonomy to CHT by Roy and the
Chakmas and Roy earned the enmity of the Awami League by his
rejection of Sheikh Mujib's offer to him to stand as the Awami
League candidate.[44] Pakistan retained the allegiance of Roy.
Autonomy was refused to the CHT tribals. [45] CHT hills people
were enrolled as Mujahids and Razakars by the Pakistan army
during the 1971 war. [35] The Bangladesh government provided
financial support for thousands of Bengalis to settle in the tracts. By
1981, a third of the population of the tracts were Bengali migrants.
[46][47] Demands to halt Bengali settlement, have Bengali settlers
return lands back to the CHT natives, and autonomy was requested
by the PCJSS Chittagong Hill Tracts Peoples Solidarity Association
which was founded by Chakmas. [47] PCJSS stood for the

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 "Parbattya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti". On January 7, 1973
Shanti Bahini was founded as the military army of PCJSS. [48]
Shanti Bahini resisted the Bengali army in 1975 and was led by
Manabendra Narayan Larma. [49] Peace Force (Shanti Bahini) was
created in 1973 due to the estrangement between the government
of Bangladesh and the Chakma. [50] Jumma guerillas made up
Shanti Bahini forces.[51] The party heads of PCJSS are mostly
Chakma due to their 59% literacy rate which is more than other CHT
tribes, so they control the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati
Samiti. [52] In the 1960s, hundreds of Muslim families from other
parts of East Pakistan were resettled in the Matamuhuri Valley's
region of Alikadam, Feni Valley's regions of Belchari and Tulanchari,
and the regions of Lama, Bandarban, and Ramgarh. [53]
During the war, the "majority of the Phadis remained passive
throughout the nine months of the liberation war" although the
Mukti Bahini enrolled some and in 1971, the Pakistan army enrolled
CHT hill men. After the war Tridiv Roy maintained his allegiance to
Pakistan which he supported in the 1971 war. [54] In 1970 he served
as independent in the Parliament of Pakistan while serving as Raja
of the Chakma. [55] The Awami League candidate of Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman lost the election to Roy in the Parliament of Pakistan.[56]
Roy was in Southeast Asia when Bangladesh came under Indian
army control in December 1971. Bhutto assigned the position of
Minorities Affairs Minister to Roy and he helped lobby in the
United Nations (UN) for Pakistan after the war. The post of
ambassador and tourism were also awarded to Tridiv. [ citation
needed ] Roy represented Pakistan when it protested at the UN over
Bangladesh. [57] Pakistan retained the allegiance of only Noor ul
Amin and Tridiv Roy among their East Pakistan MPs. [58] Tridiv
refused to join Bangladesh since the hill tracts were not granted
autonomy and stayed on Pakistan's side despite Mujib trying to urge

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 Tridiv to quit Pakistan. [58]
Refuge in India
Meghalaya and Tripura were destinations of Buddhist Chakma
refugees fleeing from the war started by plains dwelling Muslim
Bangladeshi settling the CHT as well as the government of
Bangladesh implementing a military police force to expel Chittagong
Hill Tracts natives. [59] "The Muslim World" complained about
alleged immigration from Bangladesh to Arakan by Buddhists of
Magh and Chakma background. [60]
Garo people were stripped of their property by the XLVI Vested and
Non-President Property Act by Bangladesh in 1974 and affected by
the 1964 Enemy Property Ordinance .[61] Lands in CHT have been
taken by Bengali colonists and the hill peoples of the CHT have not
been afforded any cultural and ethnic recognition and sympathy
from the various military and democratic administrations ruling
Bangladesh, despite culture and ethnicity being used as an
argument against Pakistan by Bengalis during the war.[25] A 1997
peace agreement ended the over twenty years long war on
autonomy between Bangladesh and the Chittagong Hill Tracts
Jumma inhabitants.[62] The Chittagong Hill Tracts showed that only
Bengalis were to be beneficiaries of Bengali nationalism and its
"liberalism" which was aimed only against the hegemony of
Pakistan. Even the "pro-minority" and participant of the CHT peace
agreement, the Awami League, refused to grant the status of
Adibashi, declaring that Bengali is the nationality and Bangladeshi is
the citizenship per the constitution and refused to acknowledge the
fact that Bangladesh had indigenous peoples. Bengali nationalism is
part of the BNP's ideology. Jumma nationalism was spawned from
Bengali nationalism due to the hegemony exerted by the Bengalis.
[63] Because the Bangladesh independence movement received
apathy from the CHT Jummas, they were deemed as unfaithful by

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 the Bengalis. The natives of CHT were ignored when the Rangmati
Kaptai Dam was financed by the World Bank. [64] No autonomy was
awarded to the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the Bangladesh
Constitution of 1972. [65] The Chakma conflict is both a religious
and ethnic problem in Bangladesh. [66]
[67] The Chittagong Hill tracts saw tribal Chakma leave the area due
to religious and ethnic strife by Bangladesh's Islamisation policy.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts was colonized by Northern Myanmar and
Bangladesh originating Muslims. [68] The label "genocidal" has
been used to describe actions by the government of Bangladesh
upon the non-Islamic Chittagong Hill Tracts Jumma natives. [69]
Like in India Tripura State, the Chakmas have lived in the modern
state of Bangladesh much before it gained its independence.
However, recent migrations of ethnic Bengalis into traditionally
Chakma regions of Bangladesh have raised tensions in the
Chittagong Hill Tracts. Successive governments have dealt
forcefully with Chakma uprisings, and finally ended the conflict with
The 1997 Peace Treaty. This forceful dealing and the construction of
Kaptai Dam by then Pakistan government in Chakma areas
submerged cultivable lands and displaced thousands, resulted in
the migration of a large population of Chakmas into Diyun the state
of
Arunachal Pradesh of the present Indian Union during 1964-1969.
[70]
In February 1972, Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh issued a
joint statement by virtue of which the Government of India took a
decision to confer citizenship on the Chakmas under Section 5(1)(a)
of the Citizenship Act, 1955 but the state of Arunachal Pradesh had
reservations. Chakma was thus allowed to be rehabilitated under the
decision of the Indian government. The Election Commission of
India framed guidelines to enable Chakmas to have the right to vote

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 by having their names enrolled in the electoral rolls of the
constituency where they have been settled. [71]
Indian representation
The Chakmas now have representation in the Mizoram General
Assembly, Tipura Legislative Assembly [72] and Tripura Tribal Area
Autonomous District Council. [73] The only seat of political power
and identity is the
Chakma Autonomous District Council given in India, which however
is questioned by the Mizo people on being legitimate. There are
another 80,000 Chakmas in Rakhine state of Myanmar . The
Chakmas in Myanmar are known as Daingnet people .
In September 2015, Supreme Court of India passed a judgment
directing the government of India and of Arunachal Pradesh to grant
India citizenship rights to all the Chakmas holding that they could
not be discriminated against any other Indian. [71]
The Bengali related Indo-Aryan Chittagonian transformed the
Changma Vaj language into Eastern-Indo Aryan from its Tibeto-
Burman origins. The people themselves as classified as Mongoloid .
Hinduism and Theravada Buddhism are the religions of the Chakma.
[ citation needed ] Now it is classified as Indo-Aryan. [74]
Religion
The vast majority of the Chakma are followers of Theravada
Buddhism, a religion that they have been practicing for centuries.
Almost every Chakma village has a Buddhist Vihar (Kiyong).
Buddhist priests or monks are called Bhikhus. They preside at
religious festivals and ceremonies. The villagers support their
monks with food, gifts, and offerings to Buddha. The Chakmas also
worship Hindu deities. Sri Mahalakshmi , for example, is worshipped
as the Goddess of the Harvest.
Chakmas offer the sacrifice of goats, chickens, or ducks to calm the
spirits that are believed to bring fevers and disease. Even though

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 animal sacrifice is against Buddhist beliefs, the Chakma Buddhist
priests ignore the practice.
Language
Main article: Chakma language
Originally speaking a language belonging to the Tibeto-Burman
family, some of the Chakmas have been influenced by neighbouring
Chittagonian, an Eastern Indo-Aryan language closely related to
Assamese . Many linguists now consider the modern Chakma
language (known as Changma Vaj or Changma Hodha ) part of the
Eastern Indo-Aryan language. Changma Vaj is written in its own
script, the Chakma script, also known as Ojhopath . Chakma is
written in an alphabet which allowing for its cursive form, is almost
identical with the Khmer and the Lanna (Chiangmai) characters,
which was formerly in use in Cambodia, Laos , Thailand and
southern parts of Burma.
Culture
The Chakmas are people with their own culture, folklore, literature
and traditions. The Chakma women wear an ankle length cloth
around the waist which is also called
Phinon and also a Haadi wrapped above the waist as well as silver
ornaments. The Phinon and the
Haadi are colourfully handwoven with various designs. The design is
first embroidered on a piece of cloth known as Alaam. The first
Bangladeshi Chakma language film,
Mor Thengari, was directed by Aung Rakhine and was banned by
Bangladesh's Censor Board. [75][76]
Festivals
The most important festivals celebrated by the Chakmas are Bizu,
Alphaloni, Buddha Purnima and Kathin Civar Dan.
Chakmas celebrate various Buddhist festivals. The most important
is Buddha Purnima. This is the anniversary of three important events

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 in Buddha's life—his birth, his attainment of enlightenment , and his
death. It is observed on the full moon day of the month of Vaisakha
(usually in May).
On this and other festival days, Chakmas put on their best clothes
and visit the temple. There, they offer flowers to the image of
Buddha, light candles, and listen to sermons from the priests. Alms
(offerings) are given to the poor, and feasts are held for the priests.
The three-day festival known as Bishu, which coincides with the
Bengali New Year's Day, is celebrated with much enthusiasm.
Houses are decorated with flowers, young children pay special
attention to the elderly to win their blessings, and festive dishes are
prepared for guests.
Bizu
Bizu is the most important socio-religious festival of the Chakma.
This festival gave birth to the Bizu dance. The festival lasts for three
days and begins one day before the last day of the month of Chaitra
, falling in the month of April. [77] The first day is known as Phool
Bizu. On this day, household items, clothes are cleaned and
washed, food items are collected to give the house a new look with
the veil of different flowers. The second day is known as Mul Bizu.
This day starts with the bath in the river. People wear new clothes
and make rounds of the village. Women wear phinon and
Haadi while men wear silum and dhudi . They also enjoy specially
made vegetable curry known as "Pazon ton", different homemade
sweets and take part in different traditional sports. The day ends
with the Bizu dance.
The last day, which is known as Gojjepojje din involves the
performances of different socio-religious activities. In the context of
its nature, some say that Bizu is a festival, which revolves around
agricultural activities because it is celebrated in mid-April when the
earth is just drenched with the first rain and the jum sowing is taken

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 up. And it is believed that with the objective of getting a rich
harvest, worship of the earth was arranged, which later on took the
form of a festival. However, of late it has lost its agricultural
character.
Alphaloni
Alphaloni is a most important day for Chakma people. During
Alphaloni everyone takes a break from farming because it is harvest
season. In Alphaloni all farmers take rest and also give rest to all
animals, weapons of farmers. In this day they eat new food, fruits
from jum (harvest), offer and share with each other. This day all
people feel happy and enjoy with family, neighbors, relatives, etc. to
offering new fruits from jum. It is a historical day for Chakma people;
they have celebrated this festival for 2500 years.
It is an old tradition from the reign of King Śuddhodana, father of
Siddhartha (Buddha) . This is old festival2500 years ago when the
prince Siddharta was meditating under the tree, on the other side
had to celebrate plough festival (Alphaloni) their farmer parents and
relatives etc.
During that time he was practicing meditation and seeking an end to
all suffering.
Buddha Purnima
It is celebrated on the full moon day in the month of Vaisakha . It
encompasses the birth, enlightenment ( nirvāna), and passing away
( Parinirvāna) of Lord Buddha. On the day of the worship, devotees
go to the monastery with Siyong (offerings of rice, vegetable and
other fruits and confectionaries). The Buddhist priests known as
Bhikkhu lead the devotees for the chanting of mantra composed in
Pali in praise of the holy triple gem: the Buddha, the Dharma (his
teachings), and the Sangha (his disciples). Apart from this, other
practices such as lighting thousands of lamps and releasing
Phanuch Batti (an auspicious lamp made of paper in the form of a

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 balloon) are also done as and when possible.
Food
Bamboo shoot is a traditional food of the Chakma people. They call
it "Bajchuri". Shrimp paste and Fish paste are their traditional
ingredient of cooking. They call these, "Sidol".
The staple food of the Chakmas is rice, supplemented by millet,
corn (maize), vegetables, and mustard. Vegetables include yams,
pumpkins, melons, and cucumbers. Vegetables and fruit gathered
from the forest may be added to the diet. Fish, poultry, and meat are
eaten, despite the fact that many Buddhists are vegetarians.
Traditional diets have slowly been abandoned, as the Chakmas have
been forced to flee their homeland. Some typical Chakma dishes
include fish, vegetables, and spices stuffed into a length of bamboo
and cooked in a low fire; foods wrapped in banana leaves and
placed beside a fire; and eggs that are aged until they are rotten.
Sports and games
Gudu hara, or Ha-do-do, is a game played throughout the Chakma
region. Two teams stand on either side of a central line. They take
turns sending a player into opposing territory to touch as many
people as he or she can during the space of one breath, while at the
same time saying "Ha-do-do." If the player runs out of breath or is
caught by his or her opponents, he or she is out. On the other hand,
if the player successfully returns to his or her own territory, the
players he or she has tagged must leave the game.
Ghilay Hara is a game that can be played between two teams or two
individuals. A special type of seed called ghilay is used to play this
game.
Ghilay seeds are found and grown in wild forests of hills and are
similar to bean seeds but bigger in size. When the time comes, the
large beans dry out and the seeds known as ghilay are ready to be
collected for use in the game.

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 Other pastimes include Nadeng Hara , played with a spinning top,
and various wrestling games. Potti Hara is a complex traditional
game that is played by two teams. Due to how sophisticated its
rules are, it's becoming less and less common.
These games are enjoyed by girls and boys alike, but in recent times
their popularity among youth Chakma peoples has declined.

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