仏教文化研究所紀要48 009Marma, Anu Ching「The
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研究員報告 The Livelihood of Marma Community in Bangladesh Anu Ching Marma Though Islam is the domi nan t force , Bangladesh isa multi-cultural and multi-r eli gi ous co u ntry sha r ed by Mus li ms ,Hindus ,C hri st ians, Buddhist and a few animi sts .Th e Buddhi st comm lmit y of Ba ngl adesh compr ises var ious et hni c minority groups ,s uch as Marma , Chakm a,K heyang ,Lusai ,Tanchanga ,C hak ,νlurn g etc. , a ll of w hom follo w th e Thera va da B ucldhi st Traclition ll y.They resicle in clifferent reg io ns; u se diff ere nt languages ,scr ipt s and fo ll ow diff erent soc io-re li gio us popu l ar cul ture . Amo ng them ,all othe r communities ar e termecl termecl as Tribes or A di vasi (Incli geno us people) ancl res id es in the hill y ancllittor al re g ions of of C hitt ago ng H ill Tr acts , the sout h -easte rn sid e of Bangladesh geog rap hical id entit y. Acco rclin g to 199 1 Ce nsus,th e Marma is seco ncl lar gest group contained 1,42 , 339 peo ple w ith in the tr ib al group s. He re 1 w ill descr i be the li ve lihoocl of Marma Buddhist in Ba nglacl es h through their or igin ,gro up or cl ans,res icl en ti al areas ,a dmini strat ion ,hou sin g, foocl foocl habit ,profession ,utensil s ancl too ls,mu sica l in str um ent s etc Origin Origin of the Marma: Th e Marm as are kn ow n to the Bengal i or ig in peop le as 'Mag¥The worcl Marma h as signi fica n ce m eanin g ancl hi st ory ancl var ious op ini onsa re founcl as to it. Some sc holars t hink th at th e wo rd 'Ma nη a' is cler ive d from th e M ya mm ,a B urm ese (Myanmar) word Accorcli ng to them ,it sc han ges as fo ll ows : Myamma > Mamma > mara > Marma. So m e ot hers think that it cl eri ves from C hin ese wor cl 'M in g' or ‘Mi rma ' and in C hin a th ese two wor cl sa re u se cl to cl enote the Burmese of peop le of Myanma r. They al so belie ve that th e Marmas are the Mango li acl ori gin . Fro m the olcl Myanmar's coi n it is l earnt th at the B urm ese we re ca ll ecl Meyama. So m eo th ers think that th e wo rld B ur ma is deri ve cl fro m Sa nsk rit B rahm a an cl as they are inh abit a nt of Burma so th at they are calle d Marma. It is true th at the forefather s of Marmas were tbe inh ab it ant of Myanma r. As their or ig in was in in Myanmar so that they pr efer to ca ll them as Marma. So it ca n be cl educed that the wo rcl Marma is cl er ive cl from M ya nmar The Mar m as are not Bang lacles hi orig in. The y are migrated from Araka n. A rakan was a co untr y w hi ch was incorporatecl i nto the Myanma r's geogra phical id entity in 1 795 ( 18 ) The Livelihood of Marma Comm unit y in Bangladesh Th e hi story says that the fir st large wave of Marma immi grant s came to settle in Bangladesh Bangladesh in the 15th century w h en Arakan king Ali Khan (1434- 1459) occupied the so uthern part of Chitta go ng. But the present Marm as are those w ho came to Bang l adesh after after 179 4,when kin g Bodawpaya of Burma (M ya nm ar) conq uere cl Arakan and annexed Arakan w ith Burm ese kingclom . Be in g oppressecl by tyranny and inhuman tor tur e of the Burmese , these Arakanese people were compe ll ed to l eave th eir hom elancl and took their asy lum in Chittagong .King Boclawpa ya threatened the Br iti sh Government ,now ancl then , to to hand him over all the Arakanese immigrants in C hi ttagong ,wh ich ultimately turned to the the A nglo・Burmese wa r of 1824 . 1n the war ,th e British ca m e victo ri ous ,w hich made the position position of the Aral 王anese immi gr ants more secure to live U1 Bang lad es h. With th e help of British British Government ,t h ey se ttl ed in va ri ous place of Chittagong Hill Tract s. H oweve r, so m e yea rs back man y Marmas went back to Arakan w hen they we re prom ise d to gi ve shelt er by U. N u, the then prime minister of Burma. It is noteworthy that th ey speak Araka nese ,a for m of Burmese c1 ialect , a ncl use theB ur mese scrip t. The religion of Marmas has has been described by C laude Levi-Strauss as a 'Syancretic re li gion' , in w hi ch eleme nt s of anc ie nt animistic cults continue in spite of th e official confession of B udclhi sm. It can be saicl saicl t hat Budclhism practiced by th e Ma rm as is not c1i fferent from that of Burma. The monasteries of them ha ve typica l character istics of B ur mese temples. N owa days , alth ough the Marmas Ii ve in Bangladesh and co nsid er ed as Ba nglacl es hi but they do n ot like to to in troduc e them se l ves as Benga li . Group or Clans: There r¥tI ar m a Comm unit y consists of many s mall gro ups or clans. Th ey are: are: Rigre -cha ,Pelain-cha ,Pelainggri-cha ,Kekda in- cha ,We in- cha ,Sorun g-ch a,Phran- groya-c ha ,Kyakpia-cha ,Ce reyan-cha ,Maro-cha ,Savo k- cha ,Chrokkhya-cha ,Teingta- ch iyat-c ha,Kyakma-cha ,Langudu-cha ,Melhuin-cha , Rakhain-cha or Rakhain etc Residential Residential Area : All the Marmas li ve in Chittagong Hill Tr ac ts (Khagrac hari ,Bandarbon , Ran ga mati ancl Cox's ba zaar ), the so uth- easte rn hilly reg ion of Bangl aclesh ,w h ere com mu- nicatioo nicatioo is ve ry difficul t. 10 th ev ill age ar ea electricit y is n ot reache d till date and ve hicl es are not run. (1 9) The Li ve lih ood of Marma Community in Ba ng ladesh On ly town areas about soli ng (brick struct ur e) Road is fo und. Moreover ,sc hoo l and co ll eges are also very few. They make their h ouse in the top of th e hills. Ho wever ,a gro up of of Ma rm a,ca ll ed Rakha in ,li ve in Pat uakh ali and Coxes Baza r District , the littoral regions of of Ba nglad es h. Social Social Adm ini stratio n: Though the Marmas follow and every regards for the Bangladeshi N ationa l] urisdictions , they have the ir own adm ini strat ive body of juri sdicti on. Th e Marmars are di vi d ed into two circles an d there are two adm ini st rati ve bodi es that co ntr ol the the Marmas. They are : Bomang C ircl e and Mong C irc les . The Marmas who li ve in th e Ban da rban region follow the Bomang admini strat ion an d w ho li ve in the Khagrachari follow follow the Mong Administration. Every circ le h as a king. Th e Bomang kin g is known as Boma ng king or chie f. The present Boma ng kin g is Kyas hipru Marma and the pre sen t Mong kin g is Penglhapru Marma . T he administrative body of both circles is formed thu s: |K in g - Chief of the Circle I ↓ |Headman / Roaza - C hi ef of the Ma u za I ↓ |Kar bar i-Ch ief of th e Vi ll age Every circl e is di vide d int o fo ll owi ng adm ini strative steps or formation: Circle → Mauza → V illa ge. Every village has ac hi ef w ho known as Karbar i. H e so l ves all judi cia l problems problems of thev illa ge and controls the vil1 age peop les. Every Ma u za h as ac hi ef w ho known as H ea dman or Roaza ,who controls the Karba ri s, the head of the Villages. Finally , the the king contro lsa l1 these admin istrative bodies .If a Karbari is fai led to so lve the prob lem , then then the case is pl aced to Headman ,and thus ,Headman to King. The Kin g co ll ects the tax from hi ss ubj ects (people) through Headman and Karbari. Through the se ad mini st r ative bocli es the Ma rm as so lve their all judi cia l problems.