A bi-monthly publication of the National Mission for Manuscripts Vol. 5 nos. 5-6 April – July 2010 Origin and Evolution of Chakma Language and Script Jyotirmoy Chakma The Chakmas are one of the tribes Ghose stated that the original language residing mostly in Chittagong Hill Tracts of the Chakmas was Bengali.7 Some British of Bangladesh. They are also residing in writers also classified the Chakma language the States of Mizoram, Tripura, Assam as Bengali-offshoot or Bengali or broken and Arunachal Pradesh in India and in the Bengali. Hutchinson viewed, “They (Chakmas) Arakan province of Mayanmar. The total migrated into the Chittagong District where Chakma population is estimated to be around they intermarried largely with the Bengalis, 5,50,000. The majority, approximately whose language they speak”.8 He also said in 2,39,4171 are residing in Chittagong Hill An Account of Chittagong Hill Tracts that the Tracts, around 15,000 in Assam, 64,2932 Chakma language is a dialect of the Bengali in Tripura, 71,2833 in Mizoram, 42,3334 in language. G.A. Grierson viewed that: Arunachal Pradesh, and 20,000 in Arakan. “…… a broken dialect of Bengali, peculiar to The origin of the Chakmas is obscure. the locality and of a very curious character However, the history of the Chakmas, called is spoken. It is called Chakma, and is based on 5 Bijag and Radhamohan-Dhanpudi Palha claim South-Eastern Bengali, but has undergone that they are the descendents of the Sakya so much transformation that it is almost race. In appearance, the Chakmas resemble worthy of the dignity of being classed as a the Tibeto-Burman stock of Mongolian race. separate language”.9 However, they speak a dialect belonging According to some others, the Chakmas to the Indo-Aryan family which has close speak a corrupt Bengali.10 However, all of the proximity with the Assamese language. This above assumptions may not be accepted is puzzling indeed and in this context, the as true. The Chakmas are Mongoloid and paper will try to trace the origin and draw hence Bengali language can never be their the history of evolution of the Chakma language and script. original language. It can not be denied that the influence of Bengali was enormous upon Chakma Language: The Chakma language the Chakmas when they came in contact in use at present has close similarity with with them. S.P. Talukdar rightly viewed, “This the Assamese and Bengali and abundant of is because of the fact that the Chakmas vocabularies belonging to Sanskrit, Oriya, Pali, have been living in the adjoining parts of Thai, and Prakrit can also be followed. Scholars put forward different opinions regarding Arakan and Bengal since very ancient time. the Chakma language. Some of them are of Therefore, their language has an admixture 11 the view that the Chakmas originally spoke of many Bengali words”. It is to be noted Bengali. According to S.R. Maitra, “It may be that the Chakma language is closer to the fact that the Chakmas originally spoke Assamese. Can it be identified as a corrupt or Bengali language but due to its admixture broken or offshoot of Assamese? Similarly, with Magh, Tripuri and other language, it all the Indo-Aryan languages have similarity has changed considerably”.6 Satish Chandra with each other. Is it appropriate to call a National Mission for Manuscripts 3 particular language a corrupt or broken terms from their neighbours are not language of the other? different. However, there are abundant of There is a group of scholars who are of vocabularies used by the Chakmas which are the view that the Chakmas originally spoke neither Indo-Aryan nor Arakanese in origin Arakanese (Burmese) language. According and probably this is the original language of to Capt. T.H. Lewin, “The elders among the Chakmas. According to S.P. Talukdar, “The them (Chakma) are still acquainted with Chakmas used many words of non-Sanskrit the Arakanese vernacular, but the present origin in their daily life. Most probably these generation due to fast amalgamation with words have come down from their original the rest of the tribe use among them a language carried through the collective corrupt species of Bengali”.12 H.J.S. Cotton memory of the race and passed on from 15 in his book, Revenue History of Chittagong generation to generation”. From history, mentioned that the Chakmas are Buddhists, it is found that a group of people who formerly spoke Arakanese and due to some entered India and settled on the foothills of remarkable circumstances that they should Himalaya are mongoloid in origin and their have changed their language while retaining language was Tibetan but they adopted their old character. Here Mr. Lewin and Aryan terms liberally. According to Sunity Cotton tried to establish that the Chakmas Kumar Chaterjee, “The eastern tribe like the formerly have spoken Arakanese dialect. How Sakyas, the Koliyas, the Licchavis, the Vrijis, could the Chakmas, despite being a distinct the Moryas and others were in reality of tribe from Arakanese, speak a different Mongoloid origin or were mixed people with language as their own? Further, there are a strong Mongoloid elements who adopted no Arakanese words found in the Chakma or adopting Aryan speech”.16 The Chakmas language at present except a very few terms claim that they are the descendents of Prince which they have adopted when they came in Bijoygiri of Sakya clan who came to Roang contact with them. (Arakan) from Kalapnagar situated on the foothills of Himalya.17 Thus, it can be assumed Further, some writers found similarity that the Chakmas originally spoke Tibetan of the Chakma language with Sanskrit, but gradually adopted Indo-Aryan dialects in Maghdi Prakrit and with Pali. According to course of time after entering into India. Dr. Bankim Chandra Chakma, “Pali originated from Magadhi Prakrit and its impression is Chakma Scripts: The Chakmas possessed still found in the Chakma language”.13 Besides their own script which makes them proud Dr. Bamkim Chandra, Dr. Sugata Chakma also and distinct from other tribes in the Indian found similarity of the Chakma language with sub-continent. These scripts are preserved the Magadhi Prakrit. It is true that there are in their oldest religious manuscripts called a few terms of Pali origin deeply rooted in Agartara and the medicinal manuscripts called Vadyali Pudhi. The custodian of and still prevalent in the Chakma language. It these manuscripts are the Loris (Mahayani clearly suggests that the Chakmas have been Buddhist Monks) and the Vadyas (traditional residing in Indian Subcontinent since very physicians) respectively. The Chakma script ancient time. According to D.C. Ahir, “They has distinctive similarity with the Brahmi, (Chakmas) are a tribe which is a survival from Tamil and Burmese scripts. According to 14 the Buddhist period”. Grierson, “It is written in an alphabet (Chakma It is obvious that the cultural exchanges Script) which, allowing for its cursive form, is take place among different communities almost identical with the Khmer characters, when they come in contact with each other. which were formerly in use in Cambodia, The cases of the Chakmas who adopted Laos, Annam, Siam and at least, the southern 4 National Mission for Manuscripts parts of Burma. This Khmer script is, in turn, with 7 (seven) Mahayani monks during Roang the same as that was current in the south of expedition in 9th century AD. It is interesting India in the sixth and seventh centuries. The to note that a person, namely Suleiman Burmese characters derived from it, but is Badshah appears in the Radhamohan- much more different than the Chakmas”.18 Dhanpudi Palha (a ballad) was a Persian trader S.P. Talukdar found similarity of the Chakma who imported cowries from Maldives to scripts with the ancient Tamil scripts Bengal in around 850 AD20 and from whom engraved in a copper plate in Canjevaram. He the Magh Raja and the Kuki Raja sought help th said that the cursive style of the 13 century against the Chakmas. From the above fact, script of ancient Tamil has a great similarity the Roang expedition of Bijoygiri can be with the Chakma script.19 assigned to 9th century AD. It is not possible to ascertain the exact The total number of characters period of origin of the Chakma script. But has been mentioned by many writers we get the references of the existence of differently, viz., 33, 36 and 37. However, Agartara in a ballad called Radhamohan- there are forty characters in all and these Dhanpudi Palha which narrates: characters are divided into two groups- Bijoygiri Somare Anya Tara Agare, 36 alphabets are called Ojhaphat and the Mani Labang Egeme, Cholibong sagale sudine. remaining four are called Agju Harag. The The above lines imply that Bijoygiri, a Agju Harag are said to be the creator of all Chakma king brought Agartara with him along vowel signs. Ojhāphāt a p r m f Chuchyāngyā KĀ Gujangyā KHĀ Chāndyā GĀ Tindālyā GHĀ Chilemu ŃĀ j z s y “ Didāchyā CĀ Majarā CHĀ Dipadalā JĀ Urourih JHĀ Chelosyā ÑĀ $ % ^ & * Thutyā ŢĀ Duobānyā ŢHĀ Adhubāngā DĀ Lejbhoreyā DHĀ Pettuo Ņ̣̣Ā o b u w g Ghangadāt TĀ Jangadāt THĀ Dhuloni DĀ Talmwā DHĀ Pārbanyā NĀ e i v d l Phallyā PĀ Lejbhoreyā PHĀ Ubormwā BĀ Cherdālyā BHĀ Bugotdalā MĀ x h t ¹ c ChimusyāYĀ Didāchyā RĀ Talmwā LĀ Bhājonyā VĀ Bhudibukyā/ Ubormwa SĀ n k q • • • Uburmwā HĀ Pejpedā LHĀ Pejpujo/ Ek Pudo Di Pudo Talmwā Ā • È Chānd Pudo National Mission for Manuscripts 5 Āgju Harag ³ ± ² ¹I ú Lejubho E Deldyā I Borsi U Bi Jwilyā JĀ It is to be noted that the three certain vowel signs, which are mixed with the letters a, p and n are not pronounced consonants.