Rajban vihara, Rangamati Hill District
The early history of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, a record of
constantly recurring raids on the part of the eastern hill tribes and of the
operations undertaken to repress them, of which narrative will be found in the
article on the Lushai Hills (Eastern Chakma kingdom).In the early 16th century
the chakma people came from Arakan(Burma) due to repression and hostility by
Rakhaine people. The Chakma are the single largest tribe, comprising half of
the tribal population. The Marma people are the second largest tribe. They came
from Burma when Arakan was conquered by Burmese king Bodawpaya. The tribal
peoples emigrated from Burma due to repression by the Burmese king settled in
the hill tracts with the consent of subedar of bengal who is the
representattive of Mughal emperor. The Bengali people lived in chittagong hill
tracts from the later period of British rule. The Bengali People comprised
majority of the population of Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Mughal and early British records name the region Jum Bungoo,
Jum mahal or Kapas mahal.[5][6] In 1787, the East India Company made the region
its tributary after battling tribal leaders.
The use of the name Chittagong for this area dates to the
1860 British annexation of the region, bringing it under direct control of British
India. Situated beyond the inland hills, Chittagong proper is a coastal area in
the plains where the British were based. As colonial influence grew,
"Chittagong" enlarged as well, expanding eastwards[7] to subsume the
Hill Tracts under its revenue-collection territory.[6]
The recorded population increased from 69,607 in 1872 to
101,597 in 1881, to 107,286 in 1891, and to 124,762 in 1901. The census of 1872
was, however, very imperfect, and the actual growth of population has probably
not exceeded what might be expected in a sparsely inhabited but fairly healthy
tract.[8]
When the 1901 census was taken there were no towns, and 211
of the villages had populations of less than 500 apiece; only one exceeded
2,000. The population density, excluding the area of uninhabited forest (1,385
square miles), was 33 persons per square mile. There was a little immigration
from Chittagong, and a few persons had emigrated to Tripura. The proportion of
females to every 100 males was only 90 in the district-born, and 83 in the
total population. Buddhists numbered 83,000, Hindus 36,000, and Muslims
5,000.[9]
The Chittagong Hill Tracts, combining three hilly districts
of Bangladesh, were once known as Korpos Mohol, the name used until 1860. In
1860 it was annexed by the British and was made an administrative district of
Bengal. As of today, it is a semi-autonomous region within Bangladesh
comprising the districts of Chengmi (Khagrachari District), Gongkabor
(Rangamati Hill District), and Arvumi (Bandarban District).
End of British rule
No comments:
Post a Comment