Bawm people
{{Short description|Ethnic community in Bangladesh}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Bawm
| native_name = Bawmzo
| image = PortraitBawmCHT.jpg
| caption = Bawm woman from the Chittagong Hill Tracts
| region1 = Bangladesh
| pop1 = 13,193
| region2 = India
| pop2 = 5,000 {{citation needed|date=February 2024}}
| region3 = Myanmar
| pop3 = 2,500
| languages = Bawm, Chittagonian, Bengali
| religions = Protestant Christianity
| related = Hmar{{·}} Chin{{·}} Kuki{{·}} Mizo
}}
The Bom, Bawm or Bawmzo ({{langx|bn|বম}}), are an ethnic community inhabiting the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. According to the 2022 Bangladeshi census the population of Bawms in Bangladesh is 13,193.{{Cite web|url=https://bbs.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/bbs.portal.gov.bd/page/b343a8b4_956b_45ca_872f_4cf9b2f1a6e0/2023-09-27-09-50-a3672cdf61961a45347ab8660a3109b6.pdf|title=Table 1.4 Ethnic Population by Group and Sex|year=2021|publisher=Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics|page=33|access-date=22 November 2022|archive-date=15 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315104610/http://bbs.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/bbs.portal.gov.bd/page/b343a8b4_956b_45ca_872f_4cf9b2f1a6e0/2022-07-28-14-31-b21f81d1c15171f1770c661020381666.pdf|url-status=live}} In 2004, around 10,000 Bawm inhabited India{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}. 2,500 Bawms reside in Myanmar.Kim, Roy & Sangma. 2011. The Kuki-Chin Communities of Bangladesh: A sociolinguistic survey. SIL International. They speak the Sino-Tibetan Bawm language.
The Bawm are victims in the Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict, especially in the continuation of it. Bawms are targeted by the Bangladesh Army as well as by the Arakan Army,According to the prayer list of AKREF, a working group of the German Evangelical Alliance, from May 16th, 2024 ([https://web.archive.org/web/20240516081522/https://akref.ead.de/gebet-fuer-verfolgte archived]).
History
The origin of Bawm is traced to the founding of a village called Tiphul in Chin State{{Cite web |url=https://ijcrt.org/papers/IJCRT2010241.pdf |title=A Brief Historical Account of the Bawm (Bwmzo)}}{{unreliable source?|date=November 2024|reason=Predatory journals such as IJCRT are of very low quality and have only token peer-review.}}
Bawm people were among the earlier settlers in the Lushai Hills, along with Tlanglau, Khiang and Chawrai. These groups of people entered Lushai Hills through an area south of Lunglei, passing through Tlabung, and entered an area what would later become Chittagong Hills Tracts of Bangladesh. The period of this migration and a possible brief halt in Lushai Hills is to be roughly between A.D. 900–1500. Though the reason of migration from the Chin Hills to Bangladesh is unknown, the Bawm and other groups of people could have left Myanmar due to pressure from stronger tribal forces.
Geographical distribution
According to the 2022 Bangladeshi census, there are 13,193 Bom in Bangladesh. Among them, 11,854 (89.85%) Boms live in Bandarban District, constituting 2.46% of district's population. They also live in Belaichhari Upazila of Rangamati District and surrounding areas.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{cite book |last=Loncheu |first=Nathan |editor-last=Dena |editor-first=Lal |title=Bawmzos: A Study Of The Chin-Kuki-Zo Tribes Of Chittagong |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6waNlwEACAAJ |access-date=17 March 2013 |year=2013 |publisher=Akansha Publishing House |isbn=9788183703468 }}
External links
- {{Official website|http://bawm.info/}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20040617182147/http://bawm.info/bawmchristianity.htm Bawm Christianity]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100404075735/http://www.gaszyn.six.pl/cht27.htm Dance of the Bn tribe in Ruma]
- [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=bgr Ethnologue profile]
{{Kuki-Chin-Mizo tribes}}
{{Ethnic groups in Bangladesh}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bawm People}}