Bohmong Circle
{{Short description|Tribal chieftaincy in Bangladesh}}
{{Bengal Zamindars series}}
File:Bandarban Marmas with Bohmong in centre.png
The Bohmong Circle ({{langx|my|ဗိုလ်မင်းထောင်}}) or Bomang Circle ({{langx|bn|বোমাং সার্কেল}}) is one of three hereditary chiefdoms (or "circles") in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of modern-day Bangladesh. The jurisdiction of the Bohmong Circle encompasses parts of Bandarban District. The chiefdom's members are of Marma descent and are known as ragraisa. Most inhabitants of the Mong Circle settled in the south during a migration wave from the Kingdom of Mrauk U (modern-day Arakan State in Myanmar) between the 16th and 18th centuries, while inhabitants of the other Marma chiefdom, the Mong Circle, settled in the northwest and are known as phalansa (ဖလံသား).{{Cite book|title=Nationalism and Intra-State Conflicts in the Postcolonial World|last=I|first=Fonkem Achankeng|date=2015-09-28|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=9781498500265|language=en}}
Leadership
The Bohmong Circle is led by a hereditary chieftain called a "raja." The Bohmong chieftains appoint and oversee headmen called mouza and village chiefs called karbaris.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-71831|title=Saching Prue new Mong King|date=2009-01-18|work=The Daily Star|access-date=2018-09-19|language=en}} The incumbent chieftain is Chaw Prue (ချောဖြူ), an engineer by training.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/country/raj-punnah-begins-december-21-1323697|title=Raj Punnah begins December 21|date=2016-12-02|work=The Daily Star|access-date=2018-09-19|language=en}} The Bohmong chieftain leads an annual three-day festival called "raj punnah," which has been held since 1875.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/country/raj-punnah-begins-dec-21-1495024|title=Raj Punnah begins Dec 21|date=2017-11-23|work=The Daily Star|access-date=2018-09-19|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/country/full-implementation-during-govt-1508530|title=Full implementation during this govt|date=2017-12-22|work=The Daily Star|access-date=2018-09-19|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/raj-punnah-fest-begins-hills-189367|title=Raj Punnah fest begins in hills|date=2015-12-19|work=The Daily Star|access-date=2018-09-19|language=en}} The Bohmong chieftain also sits on the Advisory Council for the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs and the Bandarban Hill District Council.{{Cite web|url=https://peaceaccords.nd.edu/sites/default/files/accords/Chittagong_Hill_Tracts_Peace_Accord.pdf|title=Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord|date=1997-12-02|access-date=2018-09-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121094208/https://peaceaccords.nd.edu/sites/default/files/accords/Chittagong_Hill_Tracts_Peace_Accord.pdf|archive-date=2018-11-21|url-status=dead}}
In 1975, Circle King Mong Sue Rru Chowdhury was appointed governor of Bandarban District during Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League government.{{Cite book|last=Chakma|first=Saradindu Shekhar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qAhuAAAAMAAJ&q=Mong+Prue+Sain|title=The Untold Story|date=2002|publisher=Jatiya Grantha Prakashan|isbn=978-984-560-184-9|pages=12|language=en}}
History
The Bohmong chieftains claim descent from Tabinshwehti and Nanda Bayin of the Toungoo Empire.{{Cite news|url=https://www.lostfootsteps.org/en/history/the-history-of-raja-of-the-bohmong-circle|title=The history of Raja of the Bohmong Circle|access-date=2018-09-19|language=en|archive-date=2018-09-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919132247/https://www.lostfootsteps.org/en/history/the-history-of-raja-of-the-bohmong-circle|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.horniman.ac.uk/get_involved/blog/five-go-collecting-kingly-swords|title=Five Go Collecting: Kingly Swords|last=Gardens|first=The Horniman Museum and|website=Horniman Museum and Gardens|language=en|access-date=2018-09-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919094441/https://www.horniman.ac.uk/get_involved/blog/five-go-collecting-kingly-swords|archive-date=2018-09-19|url-status=dead}} During British rule, the Chittagong Hill Tracts were administratively divided into three circles in 1884, namely the Chakma Circle, the Bohmong Circle, and the Mong Circles, each presided over by a hereditary chief from the Chakma and Marma peoples.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GZtEAQAAMAAJ&q=bohmong+circle&pg=PR17|title=An Account of the Chittagong Hill Tracts|last=Hutchinson|first=Robert Henry Sneyd|date=1906|publisher=Bengal Secretariat Book Depot|language=en}}{{Cite report |last1=Kundu|first1=Debasish |last2=Samadder|first2=Mrinmoy |last3=Khan|first3=Ashrafuzzaman |last4=Shajahan Naomi|first4=Sharin |date=2011-01-04 |title=State of Justice in Chittagong Hill Tracts: Exploring the Formal and Informal Justice Institutions of Indigenous Communities |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281294250 |publisher=BRAC}} The circles were codified into law with the Chittagong Hill Tract Regulations, 1900, eased revenue collection and administrative burdens on British authorities by delegating tax collection, land administration management and social arbitration responsibilities to the chieftains.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-121974|title=Bandarban wears festive look as Rajpunyah starts|date=2010-01-15|work=The Daily Star|access-date=2018-09-19|language=en}} In 1901, the Bohmong Circle extended {{Convert|2064|mi2|km2}}.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GZtEAQAAMAAJ&q=mong+circle&pg=PA122|title=An Account of the Chittagong Hill Tracts|last=Hutchinson|first=Robert Henry Sneyd|date=1906|publisher=Bengal Secretariat Book Depot|language=en}} This administrative structure remained in place until 1964, when the introduction of local self-government abolished the special status of these circles and brought local administration under the control of the central government.{{Cite journal|last=Zaman|first=M. Q.|date=1982|title=Crisis in Chittagong Hill Tracts: Ethnicity and Integration|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=17|issue=3|pages=75–80|jstor=4370578}}