Chakma Circle

The Chakma Circle is led by a hereditary chieftain called a raja, whose role encompasses judicial, administrative, ceremonial, legal and social responsibilities. Political power is passed from the father to the first-born son.{{Cite journal |last=Ahmed |first=Kawser |year=2010 |title=Defining 'Indigenous' in Bangladesh: International Law in Domestic Context |journal=International Journal on Minority and Group Rights |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=47–73 |jstor=24675834 |doi=10.1163/157181110X12595859744169}}

The incumbent chieftain is Devasish Roy (b. 10 April 1959), according to the Chakma Bijok, a compilation of the Chakma history (1876-1934 CE). The Chakma chieftain also sits on the Advisory Council for the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs and the Rangamati 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 }} The Chakma chieftain leads a rajpunyah festival.{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-74322 |title=Rajpunnah in Bandarban today |date=2009-02-04 |work=The Daily Star |access-date=2018-09-19}}

The lineage of Chakma chieftains may date to the 11th century or mid-16th century.{{Cite journal |last=Dowlah |first=Caf |date=October 2013 |title=Jumma insurgency in Chittagong Hills Tracts: how serious is the threat to Bangladesh's national integration and what can be done? |journal=Small Wars & Insurgencies |volume=24 |issue=5 |pages=773–794 |doi=10.1080/09592318.2013.866419 |s2cid=144593890 |issn=0959-2318}} Chakma folklore and tradition ascribe the Chakma origins to the warrior castes of Bhagalpur in modern-day India.{{Cite journal |last1=Serajuddin |first1=A. M. |last2=Buller |first2=John |year=1984 |title=The Chakma Tribe of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the 18th Century |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |volume=116 |issue=1 |pages=90–98 |doi=10.1017/S0035869X00166146 |jstor=25211628|s2cid=161939360 }} The legendary raja Bijoy Giri (c. 1630), who is believed to have migrated the ancestors of the Chakma people north of the Naf River.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.460846 |title=An Account of the Chittagong Hill Tracts |last=Hutchinson |first=Robert Henry Sneyd |date=1906 |publisher=Bengal Secretariat Book Depot |page=xvii |language=en}} Through intermarriages with the Rakhine people, the Chakmas eventually converted to Buddhism. Extant historical records date to the 1700s. Following the expansion of the Mughal Empire into Chakma territory, Chakma chieftains adopted Mughal names and titles (e.g., Khan) in exchange for tributary payments.{{Cite journal |last=Jhala |first=Angma D. |date=January 2013 |title=Daughters of the Hills: legacies of colonialism, nationalism and religious communalism in the Chakma Raj family, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bengal c. 1900–1972 |journal=South Asian History and Culture |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=107–125 |doi=10.1080/19472498.2012.750460 |s2cid=145139430 |issn=1947-2498}}

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 report |last1=Kundu |first1=Debasish |last2=Samadder |first2=Mrinmoy |last3=Khan |first3=Ashrafuzzaman |last4=Shajahan Naomi |first4=Sharin |date=January 2011 |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 Tracts Regulations, 1900, which 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}} In 1901, the Bohmong Circle extended {{Convert|2421|mi2|km2}}.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.460846 |title=An Account of the Chittagong Hill Tracts |last=Hutchinson |first=Robert Henry Sneyd |date=1906 |publisher=Bengal Secretariat Book Depot |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.460846/page/n145 122] |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=16 January 1982 |title=Crisis in Chittagong Hill Tracts: Ethnicity and Integration |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=75–80 |jstor=4370578}}

{{unreferenced section|date=June 2023}}

• Chakma people
• Marma people
• Bohmong Circle
• Mong Circle

{{Reflist}}

{{Bengal Zamindars}}

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Category:Chakma people

Category:Rangamati Hill District

Category:Subdivisions of British India

Category:Dynasties of Bengal

Category:Quasi-princely estates of India

Category:Lands inhabited by indigenous peoples

Category:History of Chittagong Division

Category:Bangladeshi families