Indigenous Communities and their Colourful Culture

Different ethnic groups of Bangladesh and their colourful lifestyles have significantly enriched the entire culture of Bangladesh. For centuries, Bangladesh has been the dwelling place of different ethnic groups. In fact, 35 smaller groups of indigenous people covering about two percent of the total population have been living in different pockets of the hilly zones and some areas of the plain lands of the country. Their historical back­ground, economic activities, social structure, religious beliefs and festivals make them distinctive. The beauty of the hilly zones as well as the plain areas has been enhanced by the colourful culture and traditional practices of different ethnic groups, like the Mandi and Hajong in the northern part, the Manipuri and Khasia in the northeast, the Chakma, Tripura, Marma, Rakhain, Mru, Tanchyanga, Murong in the eastern and southeastern parts and the Santal and Rajbangshi in the western part of the country.

Almost all tribal languages have rich folk literatures, consisting of poems, songs, fairy tales and legends relating to their past nomadic life. There are plenty of narratives, similar to the Mymensinh Gitika, in the Mogh, Chakma, Khasia and Garo languages. The folk tales of the tribal languages have similarities with those in Bangla.

The ballads in some of the languages of the Himalayan foothills are similar to those in Bangla folk literature. Their linguistic aspects are similar to those of early Bangla. The rhymes in Bangla and the tribal languages are similar in subject, rhythm and vocabulary.

The people of different tribes have been using musical instruments from time immemorial. These instruments are all closely linked with their feelings and emotions, lifestyle, economy and, above all, their philosophy and earthly and spiritual aspirations.

Tribal dances arc based on the customs and beliefs of the tribal people. Tribal dance evolved through the experience of the aborigines. They had to fight ferocious beasts of the jungle and hunt animals and birds for food. Before going out for a hunt, hunters would draw pictures of their prey and dance in a body, imitating a hunt. People danced to placate or defeat evil spirits, to prevent decay and disease, to cause rainfall to help the production of crops, or to prevent drought or famine. With the evolution of society, human activities have undergone many changes resulting in differences in dance styles .Most tribes perform dances, songs and music on religious festivals, births, deaths, marriage ceremonies and other occasions. They perform dances individually or collectively, in traditional dress accompanied by their own songs. They make their own musical instruments. Their dances are named after their tribes, e.g. Santhal dance, Garo dance, Manipuri dance, etc. They perform dances not only on such occasions as the construction of houses, cultivation and fishing, but also to celebrate the creation of man. They also perform dances to pray for rainfall in time of drought. Most tribal dances are traditionally performed without any stage, make-up room, lighting, etc. There are no elaborate arrangements for music or singing.

The dancers themselves sing. As in the bamboo dance, the musical instruments can simply be a pair of bamboos. Television and tourism have had an impact on tribal dancing, and stage, musical instruments, lighting, make-up, and decoration have all become more elaborate.

The Manipuri

The Manipuris are one of the major ethnic communities of Bangladesh. They migrated to Bangladesh during the reign of Rajarshi Bhagyachandra (1764-1789) and the process was accelerated by the Manipuri-Burma war. After the war with Burma, Manipur was ruled by the Burmese invaders for about seven years. During that period, King Chourajit Singh accompanied by a large following of Manipuri subjects moved to areas ­now in Bangladesh. At present they live in different places of Sylhet Division, like Kamalganj, Sreemongal, Kulaura and Baralekha thanas of Moulvi Bazar district; Chunarughat thana of Habiganj district and Chhatak thana of Sunamganj district. According to the 1991 population census, there were about 25,000 Manipuris in Bangladesh.

As a result of their changing geographical locations and various kinds of religious and political interaction, Manipuri society became the meeting point of different ethnic groups and cultures.

The mother-tongue of the Manipuris belongs to the Kuki-chin group of the Tibeto-Burman sub-family of the Mongolian family of languages. Manipuri literature is very old.

It has a rich and variegated history and traditions. Interestingly, a characteristic of the old Manipuri script is that each and every letter of the alphabet has been named after a part of the human body. The shape of a letter is also based on the body part it is named after. Some books on Manipuri subjects have been published in Bengali.

Manipuri men and women work together in the field. Men clear the jungles and till the soil, while the women sow seeds and do the transplanting. They celebrate seed planting and crop harvesting in their own colourful way. Although some changes have taken place in the livelihood, religious beliefs and lifestyles of some of these tribes, there has been no radical change in their way of life. Even today collecting fruits and roots from the jungle, hunting and jhum cultivation continue to be the main sources of their livelihood and they still tend to follow their ancestors' ways in their various religious and cultural festivals.

Manipuri culture has a rich and colourful tradition where dance and music play vital role. The most vibrant branch of Manipuri culture is dance. Rasa dance is the finest product of their culture. Manipuri dance is characterized by gentleness, tenderness and devotion. The dress they wear during a dance is really gorgeous and beautiful. Most of the festivals of the Manipuris are accompanied by the consumption of alcoholic beverages.

A very popular festival of the Manipuris is a type of Gopi dance celebrating the romantic liaison of Radha and Krishna. In the spring, Manipuris celebrate Holi, when they drench each other with colour. Most religious rites and festivals of the Manipuris are based on the seasons of the year. They also celebrate the rice harvest through a singing contest.

Manipuris put up colourful wedding pandals, and the bride and groom go round the pandal to be greeted with paddy and durva grass. Manipuris cannot marry within their own clans. A Manipuri bride comes to visit her parents for the first time on the fifth day after marriage, providing an occasion for a lavish feast. According to tribal custom, all members of the clan are invited to this ceremony and they come with presents of rice, meat, fowls, pigs, money and alcohol.

Monipuris have their own rituals regarding disposal of the dead body. They keep the dying person outside the house on a banana leaf, while Kirtans are chanted. Dead bodies are washed with the head pointed northward. They bury bodies of adolescents and cremate bodies of older persons. After disposing of the body, the pallbearers take a bath and dry their hands by holding them above a fire before entering their house.

The Rajbangshi

The Rajbangshi is another small ethnic group of Bangladesh. They entered this country from the Himalayan region and the Brahmaputra valley. They live mostly in Rangpur, Dinajpur and Rajshahi districts and a small number of them in Bogra and Mymensingh. In 1991, their total population was a little more than five thousand. They are now a declining community in Bangladesh. They are short and have flat noses with raised jaws. They are the followers of Vaisnavism. Some of them recently adopted Islam or Christianity.

Agriculture is the main profession of the Rajbangshi. They are also involved in the fishing industry. Rajbangshi women are adroit at handicrafts and good at running cottage industries. Among the Rajbangsis, the father is the head of the family and only male children inherit the property of their father after his death as a result of a strong patriarchal bias.

Rajbangshis have their own religious rites and rituals related to fertility and procreation. Many are animists, while others worship nature, including mountains, rivers, forests and the soil. Their religious festivals are full of indigenous songs and dances. Rajbangshis have no written language or alphabet. Their spoken language is considered by many to be a distorted

version of Bangla. All of them can speak in their own language as well as Bangla. The Rajbangshis burn the bodies of the dead and organize sraddha after one month of death.

The Khasia

'Better the dance, better the crop...' a saying of the Khasias, one of the ethnic groups of Bangladesh.

Earlier, Khasia people used to live along the northeast border of Sunamganj district. At present they are spread over Bishwamvarpur, Tahirpur and Chhatak in Sunamganj. Most Khasias live in the border region. Many Khasia children are found working in the tea gardens in Kulaura.

According to the census in 1991, the total number of Khasias in Bangladesh was 12,300; but the Bangladesh Khasia Society claims the number to be around 30,000. In fact, the birth rate is very high among the Khasias. Khasias are short people with flat noses, high jaws and small slanting black eyes. They are fond of hills, mounds, bushes and forests. Khasias are very hard working, and neat and clean. They have healthy dieting habits but they don't eat beef.

Usually they build their cottages with a balcony and on stilts made of wood and bamboo. Recently, they have begun to build houses like the Bangalis. Their kitchen is attached to the bedroom and almost every Khasia house has a pig-shed near it. The Khasia houses are clustered and hence they call their villages Punji. The villages are clusters of houses within the cultural boundary of their own community.

At present, more than 80% of these communities are Christians and almost every punji has its own church. But they also maintain their age-old customs and traditions. Khasias are always on the look-out for danger. They believe that the spirits of dead children and of one's ancestors may visit a house and therefore they erect a stone platform to propitiate these spirits.

The Khasia language does not have an alphabet. Tradition has it that once upon a time they had a written script, which was destroyed by a calamity. They are bilingual and can speak Khasia as well as Bangla. Because of the existence of a social system based on matriarchy, Khasia girls choose their own bridegrooms from tribes other than their own. Men live in their wives' houses and their offspring are known by their maternal names.

A Khasia woman cannot marry someone from another tribe. After being blessed by his mother and elders, the Khasia groom leaves his mother's house wearing dhuti & turban and accompanied by the bridal party. Khasia wedding feasts consist of rice and dry fish followed by alcohol.

As with other indigenous people, dance is the most vital part of their festivals. Dance is also included in all their ceremonies. The Khasias believe that a better harvest can be obtained if they perform more dances.

The Tripura

The Tripuras are another large ethnic group in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region. At present they live in CHT, especially in Ramgarh and Khagrachhari. It is also believed that Tripuras currently living in Bangladesh originally came from the Indian state of Tripura. The number of Tripuras in CHT areas was close to 80,000 in 1991, and it has no doubt increased considerably by this time.

Tripuras call their society Dafa. Among the Tripura community, all the groups and subgroups have their own dialects, dresses and ornaments. This tribal group does not have a uniform lineage system. In some groups, sons draw their lineage from the father's side while daughters draw their lineage from the mother's side.

Kokborok, the language of the Tripuras, belongs to the Bodo group which had its origin in the Assam branch of the Tibeto-Burma family. Kokborok was widely used in writing letters, performing magic and preparing lists of indigenous medicines. But due to lack of use, their script is on the verge of extinction.

Tripuras are mainly Hindus though their beliefs and religious practices are different from those of caste Hindus in many aspects. They worship the god Shiva and the goddess Kali along with 14 other gods and goddesses. They also believe in a number of evil spirits, incorporeal beings and demons, who have their domicile in jungles and who do harm to people by inflicting diseases. They sacrifice animals and birds in the name of their gods and goddesses. The Tripuras build their houses on hilltops. They also build stairs to climb into their houses. Their houses lie somewhat scattered throughout their villages.

The traditional dress of the Tripura man includes dhuti (a narrow piece of cloth wound round the waist between the legs with a fringed end hanging down from the rear) and a Khaban (turban). During the winter they wear a ruggedly sewn jacket. Both men and women wear crescent-shaped silver ear rings. The women wear necklaces made of beads and shells, nose skewers and ornaments on the hair, neck, wrist and ankle.

The most important social festival of the Tripuras is the Baisuk that lasts for three days. It commences from the penultimate day of the Bengali calendar. On the first day of the festival called hari baisuk, children decorate homes with flowers, wear clean clothes and visit neighbours.

Elders also visit neighbours and are treated to drinks. A group of about 15 dancers performs folk dances and are offered chicken, Tice and drinks by the householders they visit. Their dances are really colourful and enjoyable.

This ethnic community follows a custom of arranged marriage which is traditionally not allowed within one's group. The father of the bridegroom has to pay the expenses for the bride's dress and ornaments. Before marriage the bridegroom takes up residence in the bride's home for two years and becomes a member of her family.

When a child is born in a Tripura family, the mother has to observe certain so-called days of impurity when she cannot cook. Some days after the birth, a ceremonial feast is organised to give a name to the new­born. The Tripuras burn their dead and when the fire is extinguished the ashes and unburned bones are collected and thrown into a river or pond. The Sraddha is observed 13 days after the death.

The Marma

The Marmas are the second largest ethnic minority in Bangladesh. Most Marmas live in the three hill districts of Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachari. Some Marmas, however, live in the coastal districts of Cox's Bazar and Patuakhali. According to the 1991 census, the number of Marmas in Bangladesh was 1,57,301.

Marmas belong to the Mongoloid race. They are relatively short and have prominent cheekbones. They have a yellow complexion, black hair, small eyes and snub noses. They speak an Arakansese dialect and their language is written in Burmese characters. The Marmas' language belongs to the Burma-Arakan group within the broad classification of Tibet-Burma languages. In recent times, Marmas in urban areas and nearby settlements have learnt to speak the local dialect of Chittagong.

Marmas are divided into several clans. Each clan is named after the place from where it migrated. The material culture of the Marmas includes many basic tools and weapons of primitive societies.

The houses of the Marma people are made of bamboo, wild grass and straw. These are built on elevated bamboo or wooden platforms (machang). Every room is a bedroom cum store. The space underneath the machang is used for various purposes such as keeping livestock and storing fuel wood. Some of their houses, however, are made of mud and built without a machang. Rice and boiled vegetables are major food items of the Marma people. Nappi, a paste made of dried fish, is a favourite food item. They enjoy rice beer and smoke indigenous cigars.

Marma men and women typically wear thami and angi. However, the angi used by men is more a waistcoat than a blouse. Marmas make their own clothes using traditional weaving technology, although many Marmas now purchase Bangali dresses from the market. Kitchen utensils in a Marma family are mostly earthen or made of bamboo and wood. Marma men drink wine and play card games in their leisure time.

The nuclear family is predominant in the Marma community. Although the husband is the head of the household, the wife also has a significant role in the family. Agriculture is the main occupation of the Marmas and Jhum cultivation is their primary agricultural pursuit. They also supplement their food requirement by gathering tree leaves, roots, and rubbers from the hill forests. Weaving is a very common activity of the Marma women. Recently they have become involved in trade and commerce. What they produce is sold mostly through middlemen.

Marmas believe that their birth, death and all activities in life take place under the influence of a supernatural power, which they try to satisfy through their rites and rituals. They celebrate Buddhist religious festivals and also perform various forms of ritual worship to placate different gods. Dreams have a very strong influence in decision making in their everyday life.

Marriage is a very important part of the social life of Marmas. Cross-cousin marriage and monogamy are predominant features of this society. Polygamy is also allowed. Child marriage is practically forbidden. Pre­marital love is common.

The traditional political adminis­trative system in the Marma commu­nity is a three-tier one. Village level administration is headed by a Karbari and mouza level administration by a headman, while the circle level is headed by the Circle Chief (Raja). The main responsibility of these leaders is the collection of Jhum tax. In addition, each is entrusted with various socio-cultural responsibilities including arbitration of disputes, pronouncing judgment as well as maintaining law and order at their respective levels of administration.

The Mandi

Once a nomadic tribe of the Bodo group of Mongoloids, they now live in different areas of Bangladesh and in the adjacent parts of India. Their faces are round, black hair and eyes, deep eyebrows, small eyes, flat noses and high jaws. Beards rarely grow on their cheeks and they have almost no hair on their body. Mandis are short but usually have stout bodies with wide chest and thick arms and legs. Their skin is yellow and smooth. Mandis are said to have an ancestral relationship with China. There are some similarities between the Chinese and Mandis in language as well as folk culture.

The Mandi language is called Achichik Katha (spoken language of the hill people). It does not have any written alphabet. It is rich in proverbs, legends, rhymes and folk tales. The Mcmdi songs are similar in melody to BangIa folk songs. Mandis dance and sing in groups and have their own musical instruments. Mandi dances and songs are very similar to those of the Malaysian hill tribe Orang Achlis. Mandis speak in both Mandi and Bangla. Christian missionaries tried to introduce the Latin letters into the Mandi language, but the effort proved unsuccessful. However, the Mandi language can now be easily written in Bangla alphabet. Many Mandis perform Bangla dances very well and are good at singing Bangla songs.

In the past Mandis used to put on barks of trees. The common dress of modern- day Mandi males is Jana or nengti (a narrow piece of cloth worn around the waist), although the Mandi people of a relatively higher status wear short skirts woven by themselves. The women cover their breasts by a short piece of cloth and knotting it on their backs. The males also wear gamcha or dhuti and many women put on saris, shirts and trousers.

Mandis are very conservative in their outlook. At present almost all Mandis are Christians and only a few are Muslims. However, Mandis have retained their traditional culture and customs even after being converted to Christianity.

Besides traditional beliefs, Mandis follow their own religion, Sangshareq, which has roots in agriculture. They are not concerned about worshipping idols and do not bother about virtue, gods and goddesses or heaven and hell. They observe thirteen or more brata (vows) and festivals in a year and pray for the fertility of the soil, safety for the harvests and protection from evil spirits, diseases and epidemics.

When someone dies, Mandis sacrifice animals, offer food to guests and observe different vows before and after the funeral rites, so that the soul of the deceased cannot do them any harm. Their funeral ceremonies are observed in prolonged rituals, where the dead body is bathed and then thoroughly anointed with oil by a woman while other women sing traditional mourning songs. The last offering of food to the dead is marked by a feast with plenty of wine. The celebration includes dances, songs and rhythmic beating of drums.

The rate of literacy in the Mandi community is higher among the women than among the men. The reason is the matriarchal system. This imbalance makes it difficult for a girl to find a husband of equal standing. While working or walking, mothers carry their babies on their backs, wrapped round with a piece of cloth. In the Mandi community, marriage within the same clan is considered as undesirable as incest.

Polygamy is not forbidden in the Mandi community; after the death of the husband the wife can claim any male without a wife in the husband’s clan as her new husband. In such a marriage, the bride and the bridegroom may often not match in age. After the death of the husband a woman can even have her own son-­in-law as her husband. In such a situation, the daughter and the mother may live peacefully as co-wives. If, on consideration of any special situation in a clan, someone marries a minor girl, he can have sexual relationship with his mother-in-law until such time as his wife attains maturity.

The Hajong

This ethnic group has been living for many generations in the hilly parts of Mymensingh district. Some of them also live in the Sherpur, Sylhet and Netrokona regions. Hajong people are divided into two main classes-­ Paramarthi and Byayabchhadi.

Like many other aborigines, Hajongs are basically a farming community.

At one time they were accustomed to Jhum farming but now they practise plough farming. Side by side with rice and other crops they grow cotton and make fabrics at home. In addition to these activities, people belonging to the Hajong community collects wood from the jungle and does some other kinds of work.

In terms of religious belief Hajongs are close to Hindus. They worship Durga and other Hindu gods and goddesses and also believe in reincarnation.

Hajong society is patriarchal. After the death of the father the sons inherit his property. Daughters, however, are given a dowry and ornaments at the time of their marriage. Young men and women marry with their parents' consent.

Rice is the staple food of Hajongs. Rice, vegetables, mutton, pork, ducks and chicken are other major items of their diet. Hajong men wear dhuti and women wear a piece of cloth to cover the upper part of the body and a separate piece for the waist down­ward. They usually wear homemade clothes. Hajongs lead simple lives. Most families live in thatched houses. Relatively better-off families have tin­-shed or brick-built houses. Houses are neat and clean, reflecting the neatness of their lifestyle.

Hajongs build and maintain commu­nity houses to meet their social needs as well as for other purposes. Hajongs have their own language, but do not have an alphabet. Their spoken language is a mixture of local dialects. Speaking in colloquial Bangla is a common practice among them.

In their lifestyle, Hajong people maintain, to a large extent, their tradi­tional ethos of simplicity, honesty, and hospitality. Dishonesty and deceit are rare in their society.

The Chakma

The Chakmas are the largest ethnic tribal minority in Bangladesh. They are concentrated in the central and northern parts of the Chittagong Hill Tracts where they live amidst several other ethnic groups. According to the 1991 population census, there were about 2,53,000 Chakmas. More than 90 percent of them are concentrated in Rangamati and Khagrachhari districts.

In 1906, a hydroelectric project was proposed to be built, using the flow of the water in the Karnafuli river. But it was not until the 1950s that the plan took concrete shape and a large hydroelectric project was commi­ssioned at Kaptai, a riverside village close to Rangamati. When the Kaptai Dam was built in the Karnafuli Valley, many villages were permanently inundated, leading to the great exodus (or Bara Parang, as the Chakmas call it). About 100,000 people are thought to have fled the waters, most of them Chakmas. Many settled elsewhere in the district, including reserved forest areas.

The Chakmas are divided into different clans (Chosti) that maintain cordial relations among themselves. A sheaf (Gosa) is made up of a number of clans. The people of a clan or a sheaf are considered near relatives of each other. This social lifestyle is called relation-based. A name is given to each clan from the names of trees, animals, fruits and shelters. The head person of the Chakma tribe is called the Chakma Raja (King). He is the only judge presiding over all sorts of activities of the Chakma. Chakmas can get married within or outside their clan/sheaf. Traditionally they sing and dance before the day of marriage and arrange 'Chungulong' worship (puja) on the day of marriage.

The Chakmas call their village the 'Adam'. The Chief of an adam is called 'Karbari’. Most of the Chakmas of rural areas live on bamboo-made platforms with huts on them also made of bamboos. They use ladders for climbing up and down.

The Chakma language has its own alphabet. They have their own dance, songs and literature. They use their own system of numbers for counting. A good number of Chakmas are engaged in weaving cotton fabrics and producing bamboo-made baskets. The vast majority of Chakmas are Buddhists, and they form the largest Buddhist population in Bangladesh. Integrated in their Buddhist practice are older religious elements, such as worship of the power of nature. One of their annual highlights is the Bjzu festival held in Chaitra, the last month of the Bengal year.

The male Chakmas wear dhuti or lungi, panjabi and shirt while the women wear short saree and blouse. The women wear the saree almost like a lungi. The Chakmas wear very colourful clothes during their festivals.

The Chakmas possess good health and are physically fit as a result of climbing hills. They are very hard­working. Nowadays more and more of them are becoming literate and many are studying in schools, colleges and universities.

The Rakhain

The Rakhain, belonging to the Bhotbarmi community of the Mongoloids, came from the land Rakhain Pre, which is now known as Arakan in Myanmar. The word Rakhain originates from the word Rakshan, which means the people who preserve and safeguard their heritage and culture. The census of 1991 recorded the Rakhain population in Bangladesh at about 7,000. More than eighty percent of them live in Ramu, Cox's Bazar, Bandarban, Manikchhari and Teknaf.

The skull of Rakhains is round, their nose is flat, they have black hair, they are usually short in height and their complexion is light brown. Though Buddhists by faith, Rakhains, like other tribes and sub-tribes, believe in superstitions, magic and supernatural powers. They lead very simple lives.

The language of Rakhains belongs to the Bhotbarmi group of languages. Rakhain children start their education at Buddhist Patshalas (primary schools) or Khyangs (monastery). They receive both religious and linguistic education there. The rate of literacy in the Rakhain community is very high and some of them are highly educated.

The main profession of Rakhains is farming. They also weave fabrics and make salt and molasses. Both males and females take part in agricultural work. But women take the leading role in livestock rearing and poultry. In some remote areas, Rakhain women are engaged in fishing and some of them are involved in small business and in making handicrafts. Educated Rakhains are now engaged in teaching, practising medicine, and working as engineers and in other jobs. Their diet includes rice, fish, pulses and vegetables. Pork and dried fish are favourite foods. They serve decorated pithas (cakes) and sweet rice porridge on ceremonial occasions.

The common dress of Rakhain men is the lungi and fatua and women wear a dress known as nima. They wear turbans and use self-woven lungis and bags. While the women wear embroidered lungis and blouses of colourful designs and also various types of ornaments on their bodies and flowers on their heads, some of them also use blouses similar to the angi in design. They are very hard working. They are skilled in crafts, especially in making handloom items.

As a nation, the Rakhains have their own culture. Different festivals are a part of their culture. As Buddhists, they perform religious festivals distinctively their own. It is a custom amongst the Rakhain people to honour their parents and elders and the Lord Buddha at the beginning of any special occasion. The birth anniversary of Gautam Buddha is one of their major religious ceremonies. They observe the spring festival and the Baisaki, Maghi Purnima and Prabarana Purnima. "Shangrain" is their greatest community festival and is observed for three days on the occasion of Chaitra Sankranti.

They consider water the symbol of purity as it carries the essence of the power that washes away all sins and for thousands of years Rakhain society has evolved with this notion in some form or the other. Rakhain people use water for recreation and for fun, and enthusiastically celebrate "Shangrain", popularly known as the water festival. During the month of April on the eve of Pahela Baisakh, the Rakhain community arranges this festival, which occurs due the basis of their religious belief. The community follows Buddhism and they believe that water acts as a cleansing agent, which purifies the mind and the body, and washes away the impurities of the past and ushers in a New Year free from stain.

Marriage is a religious and social obligation in Rakhain society. Gene­rally guardians arrange marriages, but nowadays love marriages are also recognized. Dowry is not accepted among Rakhains. Though the father is the formal head of the family, male and female members have equal rights. Sons and daughters inherit parental property in equal proportion. During marriage the groom comes to the bride's place wearing a turban.

Rakhains burn the bodies after death and bury the remains. The Shraddha ceremony for the deceased is held seven days after that person's death.

The Santal

The Santals are known as one of the oldest and largest indigenous communities in the northwestern belt of Bangladesh. They have been living in the pristine natural surroundings of the area for thousands of years. They might be described as children of nature who are nurtured and reared by its bounty. Santals are largely seen in the northern districts of Dinajpur, Naogaon, Thakurgaon, Panchagar, etc.

The Santals are of ebony colour with little growth by way of beard, are generally of stocky build and capable of undertaking hard labour. Physically the Santals are not prepossessing. The face is round and softly contoured; the cheekbones moderately prominent; eyes full and straight, nose broad and depressed, mouth large and lips full, hair straight, black and coarse. They are long-headed and of medium height. The general appearance approximates to the "Negroid" type.

By nature, they are very peace loving, honest, industrious and trustworthy people. They always respect their social customs and are satisfied with what they earn and what they eat. They have profound respect for the land they live in, the soil they till and the community they live with. They are not acquainted with hypocrisy, double-dealing, deception, fraudulent practices and tricks and artifices used to obtain things illegally. Their bravery, courage and righteousness are well known. They have actively participated in the Tebhaga movement led by Ila Mitra in 1950, the Santal revolt, Birsa Munda Uprising, Kol revolt, Jitu Samur Rebellion, Pandu Raja Insurgency, Swadeshi Movement and the War of Liberation in 1971.

Santal women, especially young girls, are by nature very beauty-conscious. Santal women wear ornaments on their hands, feet, nose, ears and neck and also wear peculiarly shaped ornaments on their ankles. They fix flowers on their heads and hair-buns, and make themselves graceful with simple ornaments. Like their simple, plain and carefree way of life, their dress is also very simple. Santal dresses are called panchi, panchatat and matha. The Santal women wear coarse homespun cotton sarees of bright colours that barely reach their knees, while the upper end is flung over the shoulders. Santal men and women wear tattoos on their bodies.

Most of their houses are usually neat and clean even though built of mud. Their homestead often includes a garden. The peculiarity of the houses is that they have small and low doors and almost no window. There is practically no furniture except a wooden bedstead and bamboo machang on which the people of the comparatively well-to-do class spread their beds.

The Nabanna ceremony is undoubtedly of great importance to the rural people, and is observed during the harvest time when delicious preparations from newly harvested food grains are made and friends and relatives are entertained. Santals have their own language, culture and social patterns, which are clearly distinct from those of other tribes. They speak Bangla fluently and have adopted many Bangla words for their own language. Most Santals are Christians now but they still observe their old tribal rites.

The Santals are excessively addicted to tobacco, alcohol and wines prepared by them locally. They can't think of performing any religious or social ceremony without drinking wine. Although the Santals used to lead a prosperous and peaceful life in the past, their economic and social conditions are now very backward. Agriculture is their main source of livelihood.

Principal food items of Santals are rice, fish and vegetables. They also eat crabs, pork, chicken, beef and the meat of squirrels. Jute spinach (nalita) is one of their favourite food items. Eggs of ducks, chickens, birds and turtles are delicacies in their menu. Liquor distilled from putrefied rice called hadia or (pachai) is their favourite drink. Santal women are skilled in making different kinds of cakes.

Most of the Santals are animists. The main weapon used for hunting and self-protection is the bow and arrow made of locally available materials. They are fond of flowers and music. Hunting and collecting food from the forest were their primitive economic activity.

Santals are divided into twelve clans and all these clans are fond of festivities. They are very proficient in music and dance. Like Bangalis, they also have 'thirteen festivals in twelve months' and many other festive occasions around the year. Their year starts with the month of Falgun (roughly, 15 February - 15 March). Almost each month or season has a festival celebrated with dances, songs and music. In the spring, Santals celebrate holi when they drench each other with colours. To express gratitude to the god of crops is also a part of this festival. It turns into a carnival with dances, songs, music and food and drinks. Probably its greatest attraction is the choral dance of Santal girls. Another important ceremony of Santals is called Baha or the festival of blossoms. The purpose of this festival at the beginning of spring is to welcome and offer greetings to the freshly blossoming flowers. It is also characterized by dancing, singing and music.

The Santals cremate their dead bodies. But nowadays, many of them bury the dead. When an inhabitant of a village dies, the village headman's duty is to present himself at the place of the departed and arrange for the last rites with due respect.

The Tanchyanga

The Tanchyanga are a small ethnic community living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. In terms of population they rank 5th among the ethnic communities of Bangladesh. Accor­ding to the 1991 census, their number was 21,057 and the number of Tanchyanga households was 4,043.

Tanchyangas live in the Hill districts of Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachhari in Rangunia upazila in Chittagong district and in Ukhia and Teknaf areas of Cox's Bazar district. Like other tribals, Tanchyangas build their habitations on the forested slopes of hills. Tanchyangas also live in the southeastern regions of Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur States of India, as well as in the Arakan region of Myanmar. In Arakan they are known as 'dounnak'. Anthropologically, they belong to the Mongoloid group. They speak Pali, Prakrit and ancient Bengali, all belonging to the Indo-­Aryan group of languages. Tanchyangas are modest in nature.

They have seven clans. Agriculture is their main occupation. They cultivate crops and practise horticulture on hill slopes. Even today they do Jhum cultivation, but not to the extent they used to do before. Literacy among Tanchyangas is low. A few of them serve in government and non­government organizations.

Tanchyangas wear traditional costumes. Their women look very attractive in their costumes. Tanchyanga women excel all other hilly women in wearing colourful clothes and ornaments. Among the variety of their ornaments are Rajjur and jhango for ears, baghors and kuchikhadu for wrists, tajjur for arms, chandrahar, hachuli and sikichada for the neck. Usually these ornaments are made of silver.

Tanchyanga women wear five kinds of clothes which are attractive and colourful. The men of this tribe wear simple clothes without designs. Tanchyanga men usually wear loincloth and long-sleeved shirts. However, there have been changes in their attire and ornaments in recent years. They now use the same clothes as men and women of other communities of Bangladesh. For instance, their women wear saries, blouse, salwar and kameez and their men wear shirt, trousers and lungi.

Tanchyangas are Buddhists and observe such religious rites as worshi­pping Gautam Buddha, listening to sermons, Kathin Chibor Dan, Maghi Purnima, etc. They have Buddhist Viharas in their localities. They celebrate 'biju' to mark the end and beginning of the Bengali year.

Their laws of inheritance reflect the values of a patriarchal society. The male children of a deceased Tanchyanga father divide the property including furniture and cattle equally among themselves,. The daughters cannot claim any share of the property except when they have no brothers.

There are 3 types of marriages among Tanchyangas - the groom is taken to the bride's house; the lovers elope and marry; and widows remarry. The wedding practices of the mugcha group of Tanchyangas are very colourful. Their word for marriage is Sanga.

After death, the body is covered with a white cloth after being bathed. People attending the ceremony pray for the departed soul and offer gifts and money. They offer chicken and rice to the guests and observe different vows before and after the funeral rites. The eldest son or a close relative of the deceased then shifts the body to the funeral pyre. On the next day, they collect the burnt bones in a pot and cover it with a piece of cloth. Finally they throw the pot into a river.

The Murong

Murongs are one of the famous tribes of aborigines of Arakan and two Murong Kings ruled Arakan in the tenth century AD.

Murongs live in Lama, Ruma, Alikadam and Thanchi upazilas near Chimbuk Mountain of Bandarban district. In 1991, the Murong popula­tion in Bangladesh was 22,178 and constituted the fourth largest tribe in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Murongs are patriarchal. Sons inherit the property. They have different clans and many sub-clans.

Murongs do not marry within the same clan or sub-clan. Their boys and girls are also not allowed to marry within two different clans involved in war even after they enter into a truce or peace agreement and become friends. Murongs have many different ways of performing the marriage ceremony but the ceremony is usually very short. Once a couple is ready for marriage, a cock is slaughtered in the presence of the couple. When the blood gushes from the veins, someone dips the middle finger and anoints the forehead of the bride and groom. Then follows the declaration that the two are husband and wife. After this brief ceremony, the bride and groom eat together and the invitees and guests sprinkle water and rice to bless the couple.

Most Murongs are Buddhists and some are Christian converts. In general, however, they are still animists and they worship nature. They revere Thurai as the creator of this universe. All their pujas are directed to Oreng, the God of the household and day-to-day business affairs. They have many superstitions. They believe in signs and omens and their immediate undertakings are affected by these beliefs. Sungteung is another deity Murongs pay homage to, although this puja has little importance in society. Before the harvest, the Murongs observe a puja called Kumlang, in which they ceremonially kill a cow. The young men and women dance, sing, eat and drink homemade beer during this ceremony.

The main profession of the Murongs is jhum cultivation and lumbering wood from the jungle. Before jhum cultivation in the month of Srabon they offer Oreng puja. The women work harder than the men. They have a distinct language but no written script. Murongs love songs and dances. They use homemade musical instruments, which are made of bamboo. The flute is the dominant instrument. Rice and homemade beer are their main food and drink. They eat the tiger, dog, goat, pig, cow and many other animals. Their delicacy is nappj, made of the fermented fat of fish, frog, deer or boar, mixed with fermented rice. Murong men wear length and women wear wangloi (short skirt). These are all locally made. Murongs build houses on machangs (platforms) on hilltops. Their houses are bigger than the houses of other tribes. Murongs burn the bodies of the dead. Murong tribesmen do not mourn when someone dies. This is because they believe that mourning will hurt the soul of the deceased instead, they indulge in dances and songs and make merry. They also exhibit the articles used by the deceased and keep these beside the dead body because they believe that deceased persons will use these in the after life.