AN ANALYSIS OF THE ETHNO-LINGUISTIC ROOTS AND CONNECTIONS OF THE CHAKMA-TANCHANGYA PEOPLE

The Chakma and Tanchangya are two tribes with very little difference, aboriginal to the area of Chittagong Hill Tracts and the

Rakhine state of present day Bangladesh and Myanmar respectively.

Although the Tanchangyas are at times identified as a sub­tribe of Phukan's the Chakmas, it is seen that Tanchangyas prefer to be identified as a distinct tribe. However in terms of their languages, their similarities are more than the differences and their dialects are almost always mutually intelligible. The main distinctness of the Tanchangyas come out more in their culture and dress. By religion both are Buddhist, Satyakam but Tanchangyas follow many animistic practices, prevalent in their Dr community prior to their conversion to Buddhism. For those who are familiar with tribes of north eastern part of India, the analogy of the Webpages relationship between the Chakma­Tanchangya can be best drawn to

1 the Khasi­Jaintias (Khasi­Pnars) of the Meghalaya state of India.

In analyzing the ethno­linguistic roots and connections of the

Chakma­Tanchangya people the following points are taken into consideration.

1. The language of the Chakma­Tanchangya people.

2. The physiognomy of the Chakma­Tanchangya people.

3. Cultural elements of the Chakma­Tanchangya people.

4. Oral history as passed on traditionally for generations.

5. Recorded history as recorded by other peoples like the Phukan's British,

the Mughals and others.

LANGUAGE

Chakma­Tanchangya language is very close to the Assamese and hence it can be called one of its allied languages. The other languages Satyakam allied to Assamese are the Hajong and the Bisnupriya languages.

Therefore the similarities of the Chakma­Tanchangya language will Dr extend to them as well. Mr G A Grierson, the Englishman, editor and Webpages compiler of the Linguistic Survey of India made a big mistake among

2 his many mistakes in the matter of representation of languages located to the west and north of the Bengali speaking areas. Lot of intellectual and cultural pressure forces many have caused him to do so. His misrepresentation of the Chakma­Tanchangya language as a mere dialect of the Bengali is nothing sort of a big folly.

Phukan's

Although the Chakma­Tanchangya and Assamese are closely related, Satyakam till date no institutional scholars have come up with any comparative study of these languages. The basic grammatical structure and the Dr larger proportion ofWebpages the Chakma­Tanchangya vocabulary is very similar with the Assamese. The Assamese differs with the Chakma­

Tanchangya in the phonology part. In fact by its phonology, Assamese

3 differs with almost all of the languages of the Indian subcontinent.

The complete discussion of the whole subject of Assamese and

Chakma­Tangchangya similarities is too extensive to be dealt with in this article with size limitations. Moreover the study is yet to be completed and work is under way. The facts and data that have surfaced till now, are more than enough to prove the presence of a strong Assamese and Chakma­Tangchangyas' linguistic connection. In this article only few random examples are illuminated in Phukan's Table­1 and Table­2.

TABLE­1

A,a= অ : as in “hot” Ā,ā = আ : as in “but” “x” used in Assamese is pronounced like the Satyakam “ch” in German names like Bach, Ulrich , Scottish loch and Greek “χ ” (chi). It is not present in any of the Indian languages. It is by phonology, a voiceless Dr velar fricative. Webpages

4 Assamese Chakma Tanchangya English Mai Mui Mui I Āmi Āmi Āmi We Tai Tui Tui You (sing.) Tomālok Tumi Tumi You (plu.) Teo Te Te He Tāhāt Tha They Bā, Batāh Ba Ba Wind Beli Bel Bel Sun Zon Jun Moon Zārkāli Jākāl Phukan's Winter Zār Jār Cold (weather) Zuri Juri Stream Bārixā Bārijhā Bāsyakāl Rainy season Āthu Ādhu Āruh Knee Āthu­ghilā Ādhu­ghilā Knee­cap Gā Keiyā Gyā Body Nāi Niyei Navel Āi, Mā SatyakamMā Ijo Mother Po Marat­pwā Pāwā Son Zi, Ziyori Ji Jhi Daughter Bāidew, BDrāi Bebhei Bei Elder sister Burā Buru Buwā Old Kāpor WebpagesKhābo Khābo Cloth Khar (খৰ) Kharā Fast Lāhe (লােহ) Lāhre Lāi Slow

5 Assamese Chakma Tanchangya English Lā Lāh Lac Bisār Bijār Ask Bān Bān Flood Nāo No No Boat Pohar (োপাহৰ) Pahr Light Bātsā Bātsā(nā)Bātsā(nā) Wait Bāt Way, road,lane Bhuku Bhuk A blow with clenched fist Bhukuwā Bhukkānyā To give a blow with clenched Phukan's fist Bizal Bijal Slimy Burā(nā) Burā To drown or dip Dānğar Dānğar Big, large, great Dānğariya Dānğu A respectable address for a person like Mr, Shri, Janab etc Darab SatyakamDarab Medicine Dighali Dighali long Gazang gazang Gajāng gajāng To walk with Dr long steps Gāt Gāt A hole, pit, Webpages trench

6 TABLE­2

CHAKMA ASSAMESE ENGLISH Sibhā kannāh ? Xeiyā kon? Who is that ? Te Asim Teo Axim He is Asim/Axim Ibhā kannāh ? Eo kon? Who is he Te Sāntu Teo Xāntu He is Santu/Xantu Ku'bhayā tar? Konto tor ? Which is yours? Ibhā la Eito la Take this Sibhā de Xeito de Give that Sibhā me de Xeito mok de Give that to me Iyān tha Eito/eikhan thaPhukan's Keep this Iyān mar Eito/eikhan mor This is mine Siyān de Xeikhan de Give that Siyān tar Xeikhan tor That is your Siyān tāre de Xeikhan tāk de Give that to him Uān me de Xeikhini/xeibor mok Give those to me de Iyāni mar Eikhini mor These are mine Siyāni mar SatyakamXeikhini mor Those are mine Tui ki gara? Tai ki kara? What do you do? Mui sāgri garangDr Mai sākari karo I do service/job Tamāre sini Tomak sini nāpālo/ I could not recognise napāllang Aponāk sini nāpālo you Ma gar AizawlatWebpages Mor ghar Aizawlat My residence is in Aizawl Mui ādāmat jem Mai gāo­t zām I will go to village

7 The Tables give an overview of the linguistic connections between the

Assamese and the Chakma­Tanchangya languages. Apart from

Assamese the Chakma languages has many words drawn from the

Hindustani languages namely Hindi and Urdu. Many of such words have their roots in Persian and Arabic. Please refer to Table­3.

TABLE ­3

CHAKMA AND HINDUSTANI or HINDI/URDU

CHAKMA HINDUSTANI or Phukan'sENGLISH HINDI/URDU Ārā Āri Saw Bānyā Bāniyā Trader Barāh Beherā Deaf Bhuji Bhouji Sister­in­law Dhāgā Dhāgā Thread Dajak Dojā kh Hell Hābālā SatyakamHāvā lā Custody Had Had d Limit Hāmijā Hāmeshā Always DrLe Le Take Lussā Lucchā Greedy Makkā WebpagesMatkā Pitcher Malai Malāi Cream(Milk) Nuyā Nayā New

8 CHAKMA HINDUSTANI or ENGLISH HINDI/URDU Rāh Rāh Road, way Sabare Sabere Morning Thāgārā Tāgrā Strong

Being in close contact with the Bengali people they have imbibed many Bengali words and expressions. But these influences which are are there persistently in the whole history of Chakma­Tanchangya people, could not alter the basic structure and vocabulary, which is, Phukan's without any controversy, almost wholly similar with Assamese. The presence/absence and the degree of Hindustani and Bengali influence in the language of the Chakma­Tanchangya in their various sub­ dialects could be a means to know the sources and the reasons of the difference that are there between the Chakmas and Tanchangyas and their internal sub­groups. Satyakam The scriptDr of the Chakma­Tanchangyas has similarities with the script used in MyanmarWebpages by most of the communities there the Bamah, Rakhine, Karen, Shan, Mon etc. That script originally belonged to the Mon or Talaing people and it is derived from the

9 South Indian form of the Brahmi scheme of alphabets.

FEW EXAMPLES OF IDENTICAL GLYPHS MYANMAR AND CHAKMA SCRIPTS IN ISO 10646 STANDARD

MYANMAR CHAKMA

Phukan's

Satyakam Dr Webpages

10 Phukan's

PHYSIOGNOMY

The spectrum of physiognomy of Chakma­Tanchangya has more of Satyakam Austro­Mongoloid features compared to Caucasoid physical features. Dr However unlike the common misconception of many observers, their physical features Webpages should never be described as being totally

Mongoloid. Like many communities of the Indo­Burma region, the

11 physiognomy of the Chakma­Tanchangyas to be described properly is mixed, with the spectrum tilting more towards the Austro­Mongoloid side. The dark Austroasiatic element is more prominently manifested in the Tanchangyas than in the Chakmas. The physiognomy related affiliation of these people on the other hand is not in line with their linguistic affiliations. The language of Chakma­Tanchangyas in the reverse of this as described above, is a proper Indo­European originated tongue. Phukan's

CULTURAL ELEMENTS

Being almost overwhelming a Hinayana Buddhist people the

Chakma­Tanchangyas have imbibed all the cultural elements of that school of Buddhism. A very small number of Chakmas in the recent Satyakam times have converted to Christianity. So Buddhist religious festivals like Kathin Chibar Dan and others have an important part in the Dr lives of these people. However one cultural element have persisted Webpages amongst them which pre­dates the time of conversion and adoption of

Buddhism as the main religion en­mass. This is the festivity known

12 as the Biju/Bisu among the Chakma­Tanchangyas.

Phukan's

The Kuki­Chin tribes like the Lushai, Hmar, Paite and Kukis like Satyakam Thadou, Biate, Gangte etc. bound by a common cultural heritage in the celebration of a festival they all call “KUT”. In almost the same Dr way, the Assamese, the Chakma and the Tanchangya people have Webpages their Bihu, Biju and the Bisu festivals and their similar festival

13 associated dances of the same names. But the Assamese have three

Bihus, Rongali or Bohag Bihu, Bhogali or Magh Bihu also called

Domahi and the Kongali or Kati Bihu. The Rongali or the Bohag

Bihu coincides with Chakma Biju and the Tanchangya Bisu, at the beginning of the Assamese New Year, in mid April.

Phukan's

Satyakam The Assamese Rongali or the Bohag Bihu is a springtime merrymaking festivity involving all the fun, frolic and dances, with Dr some religious rituals in the first day of the festival. All Assamese be Webpages they Hindu or Muslim or Buddhist or Christian or Sikh or Animistic invariably become part of the Rongali and Bhogali Bihu festivities.

14 This will also probably apply to the small number of Chakmas who have taken up Christianity in the recent times, in terms of the observance of the Biju festival.

The Chakma­Tanchangya

womenfolk's dress exhibits

commonality with the near

similar attire of most of the

tribes bearing a dominantly

Phukan'sAustro­Mongoloid physiognomy, whose habitat extends from Assam in the west, up to the eastern most parts of South­East Asia. Similar is the case of the

Chakma­Tangchangya loom and their smoking habits. Satyakam Dr Webpages

15

On occasions the costume of

Chakma­Tangchangya women

also include a drape like the

“sadar” of the Assamese

women's attire, supplanted

over the basic lower garment,

which is similar with all the

Phukan'sother tribes of Asia mentioned

above.

ORAL HISTORY PASSED ON SatyakamTRADITIONALLY As per the oral traditional history as passed on from generations and as heardDr from a large cross­section of the Chakma­Tanchangya people in the present times, they connect their origin to a kingdom Webpages they call Champak Nagar. This story is heard by the author solely

16 from the Chakma­Tanchangya people of India and Bangladesh. There are books and web­pages published with this view with various alterations and variations, however the oral traditions regarding their origin from the side of the Chakma­Tanchangya people of

Myanmar could not be collected by the author. The propagators of this view of the origin of the Chakma­Tanchangya people places the location of the mythical Champak Nagar in the Bihar state of India.

By another variation and alteration of the story, the Champak Nagar is also connected to the ancient kingdomPhukan's Anga in the present

Bhagalpur area of Bihar state of India and claims that the royal family of this kingdoms belonged to the Sakya clan. All these stories tells about a king named Bijoy Giri as being the originator king of the Chakma­Tanchangyas. This story about the origin of the

Chakma­TanchangyasSatyakam was recorded and written by R H Sneyd Hutchinson of the Indian Police Service of the British Administration Dr in his book Chittagong Hill Tracts published in 1909. He wrote thus

“The tribes consider themselves descendants of emigrants from Bihar Webpages who settled in Chittagong District in the days of the Arakanese

17 kings. The assistance of the Brahmans have been invoked and the following history compiled.” That piece of the write­up is pasted below :

Phukan's

Satyakam Dr Webpages

18 The points to be noted on the narrative of Mr Hutchinson are that it was published in 1909 and he commented on the role of Brahmans in the compilation of this part of history of the Chakma­Tanchangyas.

Prior to the publication of the Hutchinson's book another book was published in 1869 by Captain H T Lewin, who was the Deputy

Commissioner of Hill Tracts, in the British times.

Phukan's

Satyakam Dr Webpages

19 The following lines are quoted below from the book.

“Intelligent persons among them, however, have informed

me that it has been handed down from father to son ; that

they came originally from a country called Chainpango, or

Champanugger.”

The colloquial form of the mythical Champak Nagar was

something like “Chainpango” as recorded by Capt. Lewin in

1869.

“Those who hold to this Phukan's latter view say that they are

descended from a Khettrie family of the name of Chandra.”,

“The majority of the tribe, however, hold that they are

descended from a Hindoo family of good caste.”

“His followers took wives from among the country people

who were Buddhists ; and to this it is attributable that theySatyakam Drforsook the religion of their forefathers, and have altered also somewhat in complexion and appearance.”Webpages The complete extracts are pasted as an image below, with highlighting :

20 Phukan's

Satyakam

FACTSDr FROM RECORDED HISTORY

The present habitatWebpages of the Chakma­Tanchangyas includes many places in India after the exodus of a section of their people from

21 Bangladesh due to persecution. But the historical homeland of these people are in the contiguous territories of Chittagong Hill Tracts of present Bangladesh and the Arakan or Rakhine state of present

Myanmar. A small slice of area from the Mizoram state of India can also be added to that. In the ancient most of the times, as per all available facts and inferences this whole area was under the rule of kings having capitals in the Arakan/Rakhine area. The descriptions and the views of the western and the Arakanese/Rakhine scholars and researchers vary considerably regarding these ancient kingdoms Phukan's of Arakan/Rakhine area. The major point of dispute is in the temporal dating of the era of these civilisations. Arakanese/Rakhine scholars placed them much earlier in time than the western scholars.

Whatever the controversies one thing is certain that there existed a line of flourishing kingdoms in Satyakam Arakan/Rakhine area, pre­dating the presence of the presently dominating Arakanese/Rakhine people. Dr As per available information and inferences the rulers of these ancient kingdoms were in the initial part followers of Hinduism and Webpages later got influenced and converted to Buddhism. Two important

22 kingdoms attracting notice has been named as the Dhanyabady and the Wethali kingdoms, based on their seats of capital. As per writings of Arakanese/Rakhine scholars citing sources of Arakanese/Rakhine chronicles these kingdoms were founded by adventurers from India.

As per Arakanese/Rakhine scholar U Shwe Zan, they came down the

Kaladan river and founded this civilisation. In one place in his book

“The Golden Mrauk­U”, U Shwe Zan mentions about the king of

Kamrup (older name of Assam) sending his forces there and founding the kingdom. Image pasted below. Phukan's

Satyakam Dr Webpages

23 A large majority of the rulers of these kingdoms had the title

“Sandra/Chandra”. Below are given images of a silver coin of king

Niti Sandra of Wethali kingdom, Arakan/Rakhine, courtesy British

Museum, London.

Phukan's

Presently the Arakanese/Rakhine people use the same script as the Bamah/Bamar, Satyakam the largest community of Burma/Myanmar. As mentioned above the Burmese script is derived from the script of the

Mon/Talaing,Dr which in itself is a derivative of the south Indian scripts. The Arakanese/Rakhine language likewise is also quite close Webpages to the Bamah/Bamar language, in fact they are considered sister languages. But the scripts of the Dhanyabady and Wethali period

24 differ radically from that of the present script in use in

Burma/Myanmar. The scripts of Dhanyabady­Wethali era of

Arakan/Rakhine closely resemble the Assamese script, even in its current form, maintaining the difference Assamese forms have with

Bengali letters.

Phukan's

Satyakam In the same way, in case of pre­Bamah period of Burmese history, the inscriptions which the scholars have ascribed to be of the Pyu period Dr of Burmese history also come close to the Assamese script, though Webpages not as close as those of the Arakan/Rakhine area as mentioned above.

25 Similar lore of the beginning of

the earliest of the ancient

kingdoms of Burma by rulers

originating in India are also

prevalent there. Ruins of such

ancient kingdoms are well

preserved in places like

Phukan'sSrikhetra, Halin and

Beikthano in Myanmar. But

the place to be noted, for

importance from the point of

view of the history of the

Chakma­Tanchangyas is in the Kachin state of upper Burma, in the Satyakam town of Bhamo (Banmaw). In Bhamo lies the ruins of an ancient city Dr called by the local people as Sampanago. Although no major monuments are preserved till the present times, ruins of the city Webpages walls are quite visibly reminiscent of an ancient city.

26

Phukan's

Satyakam Dr Webpages

27 Although nothing is known in detail about the people, who were associated with ancient ruins of Sampanago, but the bricks seen there bear close similarity with the types seen in ancient sites in

Assam, India. The name Sampanago as told by many, is supposedly an alteration of the name Sampa Nagar. There are multiple mentions about migrations of various group of people from the ancient upper

Burmese kingdoms to the Arakan/Rakhine area, in most of the

Burmese history books both Burmese and western. The line of

Dhanyabady­Wethali kingdoms of Arakan/RakhinePhukan's were broken in later period of history coinciding with the migration of the Bamah and its related tribes which includes the Rakhines into Burma from the north. Thus started the rule of the Rakhine kings in

Arakan/Rakhine. This line of rulers were also in the later part overthrown by Bamar invasion from the east and from then onwards Satyakam Arakan/Rakhine began to be a province of Burma. Dr In the east as per British records, the entire Chittagong area changed hands several times between the Arakanese, Tripura and Webpages the Muslim rulers. As per Arakanese/Rakhine historical records

28 Chittagong area was part of Arakan but they mention about intermittent rule of the Mrungs, which is the name by which the

Tripuras are known to the Arakanese/Rakhine people. Pasted below is an excerpt from U Shwe Zan's book “The Golden Mrauk­U”, having reference to the Tripuras .

Phukan's

Satyakam Dr Webpages

29 As per British records, the Mughal governor of Bengal, Shaista

Khan, at around 1666 AD brought the whole of Chittagong area completely under the Mughal dominion and it continued to be so, till the British came into the scene. With this development the Chakma­

Tanchangyas were divided into two groups one under the Mughal dominion and the other in Arakan/Rakhine. Although the Chakmas remained Buddhist even under Mughal dominion, for some generations theirs chiefs had adopted Muslim names and it was during this period of the history of the Chakmas that large number of Phukan's

Persian and Arabic words crept into their language, something which will certainly not be there with the Chakma­Tangchangyas who remained in the Arakan/Rakhine. The difference between the

Chakmas and the Tanchangyas may hence be explainable in terms of the degree of Mughal influences on them respectively. Mentionable is Satyakam the fact that Tanchangyas call the Chakmas “Anakya”, meaning the Dr westerners. As per British gazetteers the Tanchangyas of Chittagong

Hill Tracts are later migrants from the Arakan/Rakhine area and Webpages also adds that their migration continued as late as 1818 AD.

30 ASSAM AND KAMRUP

Formation of a race or a community is comparable metaphorically to the formation of big river from its major sources and from the contributions received from various streams joining it, big and small.

In the formation of all human community there will always be two sources one paternal and another maternal. In patriarchal or patrilineal societies, generally the paternal ancestry is invariably overemphasised and remembered. This is true until and unless the Phukan's characteristics of paternal inheritance is so diluted by exogamous intermarriages, that causes the very existence of such contributions to be forgotten and missed in the crypts of time and history. The reverse may be true in the context of societies that are matriarchal or matrilineal. To say it simply “To remember the Grandpa and forget Satyakam the Granny” or “To remember the Granny and forget the Grandpa”. Assam comes into relevance in the whole subject of the origin of the Dr Chakma­TanchangyasWebpages because it is in all probability one of the sources of the origin of the ancestry of these people. What is now known as Assam, was in the past part of an ancient country known

31 as Kamrup. To the Persians Kamrup was known as Kamru.

Sometime in 13th century AD a group of non­Buddhist Tai people called Ahoms migrated to Kamrup from the area of present Yunnan state of China, led by a dynamic leader named Su­Ka­Pha. They assimilated into the realm of ancient Kamrup and founded a kingdom named Assam. With time this Assam kingdom expanded to included a large percentage of area of ancient land of Kamrup. The excellent military system of the Ahom rulers maintained the independence in the face of repeatedPhukan's invasions from the west by

Turko­Afghan­Mughal rulers of India. As this Assam signified independent part of Kamrup, this name remained dear and acceptable to all the people and supplanted the original name. The name Kamrup remained attached to the small area in the last bastion of the community who dominated the scene in the times of Satyakam the ancient Kamrup. Thereby Kamrup became a district of Assam Dr state. Hinduised Brahminical myth ascribed the origin of the name

Kamrup to be the land where the Hindu god of love Kamdev regained Webpages his form, after being burnt to ashes by the fiery beams emanating

32 from the third eye of another Hindu god Shiva. This is far from the actual truth and fact and is nothing more than another of the typical

Hindu­Brahminical myths. Reality is, it was started by a community or a may be race of people who went by the name “KAM” and by other

Phukan's

groups who accompanied them in their itinerary to this land. The name Kamrup is connected to the place names like Kambrom or

Kamdesh in the region previously called Kaffirstan and now

Nuristan, the capital of which is called Kambrom or Kamdesh. The Satyakam main tribe of this area is a tribe which goes by the same name Kam. Dr It is also connected to several other places situated between them and to the east. Coming from west to east first is Kambrom/Kamdesh, Webpages then there are two places named Kamru. One in Himachal Pradesh

33 and another in Tibet located just abovePhukan's the culturally important Tezpur town of Assam. The Kamru of Kinnaur district of Himachal

Pradesh state, India, has a temple dedicated to Goddess Kamakhya and Assam has several of them, all of which dates back to the

Kamrup era, the largest of them is in Guwahati. Satyakam Dr Webpages

34 To the north east of Assam is the Tibetan province of Kam or Kham. The natives of Kam or Kham are called Kampa or Khampa. “Pa” in Phukan's Tibetan means man or people, Kampa or Khampa literally means people of Kam or Kham. The Khampas are only people among all the

Tibetans who shows distinctly mixed Caucasoid and Mongoloid features, both the elements manifesting in the phenotypes of the people noticeably. The Assamese folk songs namely Bihu geets and

Borgeets have striking similarity with the Namther and Thrukse folk Satyakam songs of the Kampa or the Khampa people. The present Kam tribe of Dr Nuristan region of present Afghanistan is in all probability nothing Webpages but a remnant portion of a large movement of people across the northern side of Himalayas into the eastern part of India and Asia,

35 deep in the historical times. Such a group of Indo­European speakers in all probability, with the ancestors of the Kam people as one of the constituents gave birth to the Kamrup its people and language with invariable interaction and intermixing with other communities who had been pre­inhabiting the area. Another similar left over group like the Kam are the Kalash people of northern Pakistan.

Phukan's

Satyakam Dr Webpages

36 While the Kam were forcibly converted to Islam in 1895 AD, the

Kalash still follow their own religion. Just before the conversion of the Kam to Islam in 1895 AD, an Englishman and a scholar G S

Robertson visited, stayed and studied the Kam people. The pre­

Islamic religion and culture of the Kam and that of the present

Kalash which are still in vogue, reveals their similarities with the elements of the primeval religion of the Assamese people. So also is the case of the Assamese language and the Kam (Bashgali) and the

Kalash languages. The connection between these two languages and Phukan's

Assamese have been initially brought to light by the pioneer linguist

of the Assamese language Mr

Devananda Bharali, way back in

1912 AD. Apart from these

Satyakamsimilitude there are many other Dr evidences which can conclusively prove that these Indo­European

Webpagesspeakers who moved along the

northern face of the Himalayas and

37 founded the entity called Kamru/Kamrup were definitely not followers of the Hindu (Sanatan) religion, when they reached the area of Kamrup/Assam. They were in course of time converted to

Hinduism by influences coming from Indian mainland. But the conversion to Hinduism however could not fully do away with their beliefs and customs accrued from their original religion. These elements of their original religion got amalgamated with the later acquired Hinduism and survives till date perceptibly in the the

Assamese form of Hinduism. AlongPhukan's with Hinduization came the influence of the Sanskrit language, large number of Sanskrit words were imported into the Assamese language, but still it could not change the basic character of the Assamese language. Since the basic structure of the Assamese and Sanskrit, a highly Dravidian influenced language, is markedly different, particularly in the aspect Satyakam of phonology, most Sanskrit words imported are Assamized for use in Dr Assamese. To say it in a Sankritized way “Sanskrit loan words in

Assamese are all Tadbhava,Webpages there are no any Tatsama”. It is mentioned above that the Persian used to call Kamrup as Kamru,

38 hence there are enough reasons to believe that the suffix “­rup” to the name “Kam” may itself be another element of Hindu­Brahminical contortion of the actual name for the sake of religious conformity and justification. Whatever the speculations regarding the name,

Kamrup developed in the ancient times into a powerful kingdom attaining the level of an empire at several points of time in history. It was undoubtedly started by the groups of non­Indian origin, Indo­

European languages speaking people migrating along the Himalayan trail, the stamp of which can be prominently seen in the present Phukan's

Assamese language, till date. But in the overall formation of the entity called Kamrup which later on became Assam, contributions were provided by people amalgamating into the milieu from various sources like streams flowing into a big river. The pre­existing natives of the land starting from tribes of Melanesio­Negritic stock and tribes Satyakam with Austro­AsiaticDr and Austro­Nesian affiliations, migration of tribes with Mongoloid physiognomy from the northern and eastern borders and migrants from the mainland India at various points of Webpages time in different layers, all intermixed and assimilated with the Kam

39 and their related and allied tribes, the founding fathers of Kamrup, in giving this entity a distinct form. In the present times traces of those original tribes who started the Kamrup kingdoms have vanished except one, the Kalita segment of the Assamese people.

When the Assam kingdom of the Ahom rulers became the dominant power in Kamrup, the name Kamrup became associated with a small constricted area in western portion of mid­Assam, signifying the last of remaining bastion of the original founding people of the Kamrup.

This area was a district in the British times and it was further split Phukan's into several districts in the present times. Historically India had been more of a continent or a subcontinent with many countries within its realm. Kamrup was one such country having definite boundaries, marked by the rivers. The present Assam state of Indian Union consists of only of a part of the area of ancient Kamrup. This is Satyakam because part of the area of the ancient Kamrup now lies within the Dr so­called north­Bengal area of the present West Bengal state of India and the Rangpur division of the present country of Bangladesh. In Webpages the pre­Muslim era of Indian history, Kamrup attained the status of

40 a very strong power, its soldiers/adventurers forayed into the areas of

Indian mainland westwards. The great Bengali scholar's comment in this regard is worth mentioning, the same is pasted below.

Phukan's

There are records of Indian areas mainly whole of present Bengal, Satyakam eastern partDr of present Bihar (Mithila) and Orissa being intermittently under the rule of the Kamrup rulers. The inscriptions inside the compound of the Pashupati temple of Kathmandu, Nepal Webpages and the clay seals of King Bhaskarbarman discovered in Bihar are

41 few of the examples that testifies these records. The use of the

Assamese (Kamrupi) script by the Bengalis and the Maithilis

(Eastern Biharis) is also because of the said reason of these areas being under the influence of the Kamrup kingdom. The Assamese allied Hajong people of eastern Bengal are the living proof of this fact. Hajong were Assamese (Kamrupi) soldiers who stayed back in eastern Bengal, albeit maintaining their Assamese cultural and linguistic root and heritage. Similar examples are there in Orissa also, the presence of the Kolita/Kuilta/Kolta/Kulta people there. To Phukan's compare them with events of the present times, they are the ancient

Orissa's version of the Assamese community of the Chittagong Hill tracts, the remnants of the Assamese soldiers of the British government, brought there in 1860 AD to control marauding raids by many tribes. Satyakam Studies on the Assamese military movement on the western front in Dr the Kamrup era has been studied by historians like Kanak Lal

Barua, with full Webpages documentations supporting dispassionate and intellectually neutral research. But the Assamese soldiers from

42 Kamrup era not only moved westwards but eastwards also, towards

Burma and further east.

This fact can be ascertained from

the discovery of Assamese alike

scripts in various pre­Bamah

historical sites in various part of

Burma mentioned above and from

thePhukan's historical records of Burma

proper and Arakan/Rakhine, one

such extract from the works of U

Shwe Zan is pasted above. The historical records of the Indian origin of many of the ancient states of

Burma except those of the Mon people, shouldSatyakam therefore be more properly ascribed as being Assamese (Kamrupi) in origin. The Mon Dr people were influenced by Telinga migrants/adventurers from south

India, so much so, that Mons acquired Talaing as another identifying Webpages name.

43 Phukan's

Satyakam Dr Webpages

44 In the present times the mark of the Assamese connections can be seen in several aspects of the culture elements of Burma still alive in the language, culture, physiognomy and food habits of the Bamah and Arakanese people.

Phukan's

ANALYSISSatyakam OF THE ETHNO-LINGUISTIC ROOTSDr OF THE CHAKMA-TANCHANGYAS An analysis of the sources of the ethno­linguistic roots of the

Chakma­TanchangyaWebpages people is possible, based on the facts and inferences elucidated in the chapters described above. But the

45 primary and essential requirement for making such an analysis dispassionate, neutral and free from all sorts of bias, requires it to be free from information based on woven myths and base it solely on facts, information and inferences derived from reliable, logical and rational sources.

Chakma­Tanchangyas by their physical characteristics falls in the same category as the multitude of tribes showing varied degree of

Mongoloid and Austro­Asiatic features, inhabiting the large tract of land extending from the so­called north­eastern part of India up to Phukan's the heartland of south­east Asia. Added to that they also exhibit discernible traces of Caucasoid influences in their physical features often missed and neglected by most scholars and researchers. The dress of their womenfolk is almost completely similar to most of the tribes mentioned above.Satyakam But the linguisticDr affiliation of the Chakma­Tanchangyas on the other hand is exactly opposite to their anthropological affinities. The language of the Chakma­Tanchangyas is an Indo­European tongue Webpages very closely related to the Assamese language. From the reliable

46 information from the oral history it can be known that they have not retained the physical features of their primary ancestors due to intermixing. Such oral history says that they have descended from

Hindu people of Khetri caste from their paternal source of ancestry and that these families had the family name of Chandra. It is also said that, their ancestors had intermarried with various local tribes with caused their community to acquire physical features from their maternal source of ancestry which changed their appearance markedly from that of their primaryPhukan's paternal ancestors. Another reliable part of oral history says that they have migrated from a kingdom with a good level of civilisation, which they call as

Chainpango or Champanagar. It has been found that indeed there exists a place called Sampanago in upper Burma. It known from

Burmese historical sources that the early kingdoms of Burma were Satyakam founded by Indian adventurers. Ancient Kamrup (Assam) is the place Dr of origin of many of these Indian adventurers with the exception of those who contributedWebpages to the Mon/Talaing civilisation, they came from southern India. Oral history thus suggests that they came to

47 their present habitat in Arakan/Rakhine and the Chittagong area from Chainpango/Champanagar. The present Chittagong area was once part of one same kingdom having capital in Arakan/Rakhine area, during era of Dhanyabady and Wethali kingdoms. Chandra was the title of most of the kings of these kingdoms. Following these facts it is possible suggest that the Chakma­Tanchangyas are none but the descendants of the people who dominated the Dhanyabady­Wethali civilisations of the Arakan/Rakhine area. When their domination was ended due to the rise and dominancePhukan's of the Arakanese/Rakhine people in the area, they lost their former prominence. They probably originated as the soldier groups who were instrumental in the founding of these civilisations. Like it happens in many parts of the world, these soldiers took wives from among the local tribes who pre­ inhabited the area. The intermixing took place, but possibly due to Satyakam their strength of numbers they managed to keep alive their original Dr language with an expected degree of alterations. But their womenfolk imbibed and imported most of the characteristics of the tribes from Webpages whom their paternal ancestors had acquired their spouses. It is

48 almost certain that early civilisations of upper Burma were started by adventurers from Kamrup (Assam), so it may also be a possibility that Chakma­Tanchangyas came from one such kingdom of upper

Burma whose name may have been Sampanago/Champanagar and migrated south to Arakan­Rakhine area to start or to contribute to the Dhanyabady­Wethali civilisations. Another important fact to note is that the Chakma­Tanchangyas are only other people in the world who have Bihu like culture like the Assamese, they call it Biju in case of the Chakmas and Bisu in case of the Tanchangyas. Phukan's This primary and basic element of Assamese has been preserved since their time of migrations from their ancient homeland in Kamrup as soldiers and adventurers.

In the following example illuminated below, it is shown how such intermixing mentioned above causes changes in physical features of Satyakam the progenies. An Assamese of Kalita segment married a lady from Dr the Deuri segment of the Assamese. While the Kalita segment shows more of CaucasoidWebpages physiognomy the Deuri go more towards

Mongoloid type. The lady is no more alive, before she passed away

49 she gave her husband Mr Deka two sons.

Phukan's

The above example is shown to give an idea about the actual processes that takes place in the formation of the community. This Satyakam type of phenomenon have their role in the formation of both the

Assamese and also the Chakma­Tanchangya communities and many Dr others who inhabit the extensive tract of land from Assam to the edge Webpages of south­east Asia. The ultimate form of the progenies is determined

50 by the proportion of contributions from various streams of humanity.

In case of the Chakma­Tanchangyas although the anthropological composition has been towards one end the linguistic affiliation more or less remained as before as it was there from the side of the paternal ancestry.

CONCLUSION From the analysis analysed fromPhukan's the facts, information and inferences given above, it can be summarised that Chakma­

Tanchangyas are descendants of the people who founded the

Dhanyabady­Wethali civilisations in the Arakan­Rakhine and

Chittagong region from their paternal side and from the tribes who gave their female to these people from their maternal side. Since the Satyakam soldier/adventurers who started the Dhanyabady­Wethali civilisationsDr are in all probability came from ancient Kamrup (Assam), the Chakma­Tanchangyas are a people of Kamrup origin. Webpages Since Assamese themselves have undergone similar type of admixture with pre­existing tribes in the nationality's formative

51 stage, part of the Austro­Mongoloid phenotypes was carried right from Assam itself, which was further buttressed by additions from local tribes in their habitat.

Dr Satyakam Phukan

General Surgeon

Jorpukhuripar, Uzanbazar Guwahati, Assam (INDIA) Phukan's P.I.N : 781001

Phone : +91 99540 46357

Email : [email protected]

Website : http://drsatyakamphukan.wordpress.com Satyakam Dr Webpages

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