Sakya lineage claim The association of the Chakmas with Buddhist origins lie in effort to connect the term Chakma to the Sakya| clan of the
Buddha. Chakma-Kormi in 1941 wrote the Rājnāmā (Chronicle of Chakma Kings) in the Bengali language. Chakma-Korni claimed the document was written in the 19th century by a
pandit named Śaṅkarācārya. The document traced the Chakma Chiefs of the Chittagong Hill Tracts back to mythical times such as the
Lunar Dynasty among the Indo-Aryan peoples. The earliest figures were attested to be semidivine figures of Indian mythology and rulers of the Gangetic plains. The document claims a Śākya prince of unknown renown called Abhiratha ruled Kapilavastu. His descendants left Kapilavastu and founded a kingdom in Kalpanagar. Sudhanya, a descendant is said to have become the contemporary of the Buddha and joined the Sangha. Following his son Langaldhana's death, the prime minister Shyamala became King and moved east into the Himalayas. His son Champakali was stated to have built a capital on the bank of the
Irrawaddy River called Champaknagar.
Origins The Chakmas descend from ancient Tibeto-Burman groups of Southwest China. These groups were categorically labelled as the Southwest barbarians () () and
Qiang (). The Qiang splintered into many groups over time in the southwest. The most powerful group becoming the which in Old Chinese is analgous to
Kontu or
Kondu. This suggests the Chakma who have commonality with the
Kadu people both descend from the Qiongdu of Southwest China. Early British colonialists argued that the Qiongdu derived Kadu entered Burma through the passes north of Bhamo. The Kadu became the most powerful tribe of the Chindwin and that the Kadu contributed to the formation of the
Bamar people. The Kadu in Burmese transcriptions were also pronounced as "Thet" when
Sak was transcribed. The Kadu also formed one of the three great races of the Burma delta, namely the Burmese, Kadu and Pyu. According to Fan Chuo's Man Shu (), a passage discusses a little Brahmin Kingdom () discuss that it maintains close relations with Big Ears Kingdom (). Luce argues that these big eared polity in Burma were the early Kadu who have a tradition of wearing heavy earrings and stretching their lobes.
Contemporary records in the medieval era The proposed migration of the Sak-Kadu Qiongdu has been proposed to be around the beginning of the Common era. Excavations of the central Irrawaddy basin have shown evidence of a thriving Pyu culture. In the 8-9th centuries, the Kadu lived in upper central Myanmar with
Tagaung Kingdom as their capital. Sak villages were also found further south such as () and (). The
Glass Palace Chronicle also states that a Sak settlements is mentioned as the "mount of the Theks" in the Kingdom of Macchagiri. Local Sak history states a king name Cho-phru settled and ruled the hill in the Turang mountains (Tuiwindaung) near Pagan. Most Chinese records of the Qiongdu/Kadu people are from the 13th century during Mongol rule. The Yuan History Chroncile records about the Jiandu (). During this period, the explorer
Marco Polo records of the
Caindu people in his book,
Travels of Marco Polo. Scholars have argued the Caindu and the Jiandu to be the same group being referenced. Mongol records mention that a general was killed by the Jiandu in 1264. Jiandu is used loosely as a term for a neghbouring kingdom. However, Jiandu is also used as a proper name for an ethnic group with the label "barbarian" (). In 1267, a punitive expedition against the Jiandu was sanctioned according to volume 6 of the Yuan History. The city of Tagaung was described as the nest and hole of the rebels being used to resist the Mongol armies. Tagaung was captured and the twelve towns of Jiandu, Jingchi (Gold Teeth and others submitted. Jiandu lands were stated to be gold abundant and a foundry was established to extract the captured people to regine the gold for the government. Other records mention Jiandu outside of Burma in the territory of Yuexi, which the Mongols named Jianchang (now
Xichang in
Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture). Marco Polo's records state that the Caindu reside in the upper part of the River Brius which is equated to the
Yangzi River in the area between Sichuan, Yunna and Tibet. Hence the Caindu and Jiandu were originally Southwestern Chinese inhabitants. The other branch of the Jiandu were the Burmese ruled Jiandu of Tagaung. The absence of the Jiandu in China suggest that the Burmese branch is the remaining branch left. According to
Gordon Luce, Kadu used in Burman inscriptions are just a transcription of the middle Chinese pronunciation of Jiandu (Kantu). Burmese records claim the kingdom of the Kantu was known as Santhway Pran with their capital at Tagaung. It is likely the Jiandu in South Sichuan became absorbed into the various tribes and Han populations over time and diluted their identity and traditions. Later on, the expansion of the
Bamar people and the
Shans led to political centralization and agricultural growth in the Irrawaddy and Chindwin valleys. This also meant many groups were forced to migrate west and south. According to the Mahārāzāweng (Royal Chronicle of the Kings of Burma) the Saks were located West of the Chindwin River.
Arakan era According to the Arakanese Chronicles, King Tsulatheng Tsandya (Śūraśiṃhacandra) of
Waithali Kingdom died as the last ruler of the Candra dynasty. This death prompted two Mru chiefs to briefly rule Waithali for a period and allowed the Saks to consoldate their power under Nga-Maung-Kadon in the northern Arakan region of Sambowet in
Pyinsa and Lemro. Legends of Nga-Maung-Kadon claim that he was the posthumous son of Tsulatheng Tsandya who raiswed among the Sak tribe (which they called
Thek) in the hills of the upper course of the Mayu River. Theories have been proposed that the Buddhist Saks allied themselves with the declining Candra dynasty and that the 10th century oversaw Sak domination in the Arakan region briefly with their seat of power at Sambowet. The king Nga-Maung-Kadon was killed in 1018AD when resisting a Burmese invasion. His head was severed and displayed as a trophy, which was mentioned in the Glass Palace Chronicles as the name "Thekminkaton" (King of the Saks), where his head was decapitated and presented to the Burmese King. Following the Burmese takeover of Arakan, the Saks left the Lemro region. Burmese Chronicles allege following this that some Kanran and Sak groups migrated into
Prome, which is recorded in Burmese inscriptions depicting the Saks in the vicinity of the
Pagan Kingdom. Luce argues that the Old Burmese title of Mahā-sak-thit meant the "Terror of the Sak" which explains the constant tension between the two groups. The Saks of Macchhagiri eventually became an issue, leading to war with the Burmese. The Glass Palace Chronicle records the events of this encounter. Macchagiri is said to have rebelled when
Yazathingyan of Pagan went into exile. When he was recalled, an army of two hundred elephants, two thousand horses and twenty thousand soldiers were assembled against Macchagiri. However, the army was poorly disciplined and fled in haste. A second army under four generals (Yazathingyan, Tharevadanna, Sitturbinko and Sitturinkathu) were deployed. Four thousand elephants, forty thousand horses and four hundred thousand men were sent to Macchagiri. The outlying settlements and villages were razed to the ground. The Macchagiri king waited on the mount of the Theks and surrendered. Chakma accounts also claim this story. Their narrative focuses on the period during the Arakan reign of Mangthi (Mengdi), son of Mang Bhilu (Meng-Bhilu). Yengcho ruled the Saks and held court at Macchagiri as a ruler. Four generals were dispatched to the kingdom with a beautiful maiden. A messenger was sent to Yengcho that King Mangthi offered his sister Brahmi's hand in marriage and agreed on 12 February 1333. A general of Arakan was arranged and led ten thousand mecernaries as an escort for Brahmi to Macchagiri. Yengcho who became captivated with her beauty lost sight of managing his state affairs and army. Hence the four generals took advantage and surrounded the capital. While the Saks rested, the army took Yengcho, his three queens, two sons (Chophru and Chothung) and two daughters captive. Chochung however escaped and took refuge with the Burmese king. Yengcho was made a tributary ruler of Kyathkya and his sons were made governors of Ming and Kang provinces. The Saks were thus in disarray as a result and were resettled on the Aeng and Ro rivers. Chakma traditions claim that Prince Chothung later settled in the Chittagong Hill Tracts where some Sas followed him and settled in Yangcha and Gengowa in the Lama subdvision. However some Saks remained in Arakan. Chakma groups maintain folklore stories that during migration, one camp took too long to cook their fish and thus were left behind and explained the reason for disaporic populations. This folklore is used among the Saks of Manipur and the Daingnaks of Sittwe. The
Rakhine people referred to the Chakmas as
Saks, Theks, or Thaikhs. In 1546 CE, while the Arakanese king
Min Bin was fighting a battle with the Burmese, the
Sak king attacked Northern Arakan Roma and occupied the Arakanese-controlled Chacomas of the Northern
Arakan Mountains. Chak and Marma traditions claim that the Sak migration to Chittagong occurred during the late 14th or early 15th century. An Arakan Chronicle
Dhagnawadi Areḥdopũ mentions that a group of Saks entered Chittagong at the beginning of the 15th century. Mangrekyaz the son of Maungswe and Sak king of Maunzamru were at war with the king of Arakan but were defeated and forced to migrate to Chittagong where the Muslim governor permitted them to settle in twelve villages. According to Chakma history, in the early 15th century, a group of Saks joined forces with the Baruas (Bengali Buddhists) from Chittagong and attempted to gian control of the upper Koladyne during the period of unrest in Arakan. However, they were defeated by the Arakanese. The
Daingnets joined their alliance and entered the war as well. The Daingnet migrated to the Matamuri valley while the Min Sak Chakma group were left at
Sa-cuḥ-tong. The
Tanchangya people record in oral tradition various memories of the Arakan War. Their oral history also record how the first of thir people settled in Chittagong were known as
Sāppye. In 1418, many Arakan Saks travelled through the forrested frontier and arrived at
Alikadam. The Governor of Chittagong, Jamal-ud-din permitted them to establish homes in twelve villages known as
Bāra Tāluk () which were renamed from the twelve gosās settled there already. The Tanchangya gained their name as they settled in the Tain Chari in the hill tracts. The Daingnets settled in the mountains south of the Marma areas, and the Mrus resided in the middle of the hill tracts of the Karnaphuli region. The Buddhist Saks traditionally dominated the southern part of the hill tracts and had influence over the native mountain people, the Daingnet and the Tanchangya. The Tannchangya claim that migrations of people further west led to the making of the modern Chakma people. The Chakma and Tanchangya were once one people, and the Chakma identity consolidated when Dhabana became king. The Tanchangya refer to the Chakma as Ānokyā ().
Diego de Astor created a map of
Bengal, which was published as
Descripção do Reino de Bengalla in the book
Quarta decada da Asia (Fourth decade of Asia) by
João de Barros in 1615. The map shows an area named
Chacomas on the eastern bank of the
Karnaphuli River in what is now
Chittagong Bangladesh, suggesting that the Chakmas inhabited this area during the time. The Chakma began to develop their political system in Chittagong with the leadership of four chiefs belonging to four different Kingship groups: Dhurjya (Bogā gojhā), Kurjya (Tainnyā gojhā), Pirabhanga (Dhāmei gojā) and Dhabana (Mulimā gojhā). The Baruā or Barbwa gojhā was a fifth kinship group that had a line of rājās to the Matamuri Saks; however was excluded from sharing political power. The last ruler in the Barua lineage was Sattwa also known as the
Pagla Raja. The king was killed in a popular revolt against his madness. His widow Kattwa Rani fled to Fatikchari with her sons and daughter and formed relations with the Tipperah King. The Tripura King wedded Kattwa's daughter Amangali and produced Pirabhanga of the dhāmei gojhā. Kattwa Rani returned to the hill tracts later with mercenaries and became the Chamka chieftainess. After her death, her two sons became co-rulers but were killed by aristocrats. During a period of uncertainty, as Chakma nobles conspired against each other, Dhabana became the Chakma chief with the assistance of the Marmas. The Rājnāmā states that Dhabana fostered solidarity among the ethnic groups of Chakma, Tippera, Kuki, Tanchangya, Riang, Murung, Mags and Khyangs and bestowed titles on chiefs of the tribes. In 1666, the
Mughal Governor of Bengal,
Shaista Khan, defeated the Arakanese,
conquered Chittagong, and renamed it Islamabad. Mughal rule, however, was confined to the plain areas of Chittagong early on, leaving the Chakmas largely unaffected. The Mughals eventually demanded tribute from the Chakmas after a trade dispute developed between the two groups. In 1713, the conflict was resolved, and a stable relationship developed between the Chakmas and the Mughals; the latter never demanded complete subjugation of the former. The Mughals also rewarded the Chakma king Shukdev Roy; he established a new capital in his name in an area still known as Shukbilash. Ruins of the royal palace and other historic buildings still exist. Subsequently, the capital was shifted to Rajanagar,
Ranirhat, Rangunia Upazila, Chittagong District. The Mughals signed a treaty with
Jallal Khan,
Raja of the Chakma, in 1715. While the Mughals controlled significant amounts of
yam and cotton crops in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), the Chakma's independence from the Mughals was recognised.
The East India Company Three years after the
Battle of Plassey,
Mir Qasim, the new
Nawab of
Murshidabad, rewarded the East India Company with Chittagong,
Burdwan and
Midnapur. On 5 January 1761, company representative
Harry Verelst took charge of Chittagong from
Subedar Mohammad Reza Khan, but the Chakma king Sher Doulat Khan, who was practically independent though nominally paid tribute to the Mughals, did not accept the
hegemony of the company and its demand for increased taxes. Encroachments on the Chittagong Hill Tracts by the British led to a protracted war between the
East India Company and the Chakmas from 1777 to 1787. The East India Company launched four offensives against the Chakmas in 1770, 1780, 1782 and 1785. In 1785, the Company started peace negotiations with the Chakma king Jan Baksh Khan, son of Sher Doulat Khan. In 1787 a peace treaty was signed in
Calcutta. Raja Jan Baksh Khan pledged loyalty to the British in exchange for autonomy in administering Chakma territory. • The East India Company recognised
Jan Baksh Khan as the Raja of the Chakmas • It was agreed that revenue collection was the responsibility of the Raja • The British government would preserve tribal autonomy and migration from the plains would be restricted • Jan Baksh Khan was bound by the treaty to maintain peace in his territory • British troops would remain in the Chakma territory, not to terrify the Chakmas but to protect the land from hostile tribes In 1829, Halhed, then Commissioner of Chittagong, reaffirmed that: Jan Baksh Khan shifted his capital to a new place near present-day
Rangunia, naming it Rajanagar. After Jan Baksh's death in 1800, his son Tabbar Khan became king but died shortly after. In 1802, Tabbar Khan's younger brother Jabbar Khan became king and ruled for ten years. After his death, his son Dharam Baksh Khan became king in 1812 and ruled until his death in 1832. Without any male heir, the government appointed Suklal Dewan as manager.
Rani Kalindi, the widow of Dharam Baksh Khan, applied to the government to allow her to run state affairs. The government accepted her application and in 1844 issued an order to that effect. In 1846, the annual revenue payable to the company was reset to 11,803.00
Rs. After the great
Sepoy Mutiny in 1857, the British government assumed direct control of the administration of India, including the Chittagong Hill Tracts, which were not yet formally separated from Chittagong, from the East India Company. The territorial jurisdiction of the Chakma Raja, however, was fixed by a proclamation dated 6th
Shraavana 1170M.S (1763 CE) by the company as "All the hills from the
Feni River to the Sangoo and from Nizampur Road in Chittagong to the hills of Kooki Raja". The
Lushai hills were now the
Mizoram state of India. Later, the British through the Deputy Commissioner took over absolute control of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (including the Chakma circle) after the implementation of the
Chittagong Hill Tracts manual. The Chittagong Hill Tracts (Lushai Hills) were again designated an "Excluded Area" under the
Government of India Act 1935. Bengal and Assam did not govern the CHT during this period. Rather the CHT was a distinct administrative unit that enjoyed a large degree of self-rule. Despite the CHT being 97.2–98.5% non-Muslim, it was given to Pakistan by the Boundary Commission Chairman Sir
Cyril Radcliffe in 1947 upon
independence. The decision by Radcliffe to draw this boundary paved the way for future war, violence, and conflict. Under Pakistan in 1955, the special safeguards were undone and the Rule of Regulation was passed. The three rulers of the Chittagong Hill Tract and the Deputy Commissioner could not act but in accordance with the direction of the Central Government in Karachi. The Chittagong Hill Tract Police Force was disbanded and the offices belonging to the tribal section were transferred to different places in the plains areas and Muslim Bengali officers overtook such posts. The 1956 Pakistani Constitution, which designated the CHT as an "excluded area," kept things as they were. It was the fact that the CHT was governed under a different set of rules since 1900 in order to prevent mainlanders from acquiring ownership of the tribal land. The CHT underwent a significant change when the Pakistani armed forces overthrew the government in 1958 and renamed the protected area "Tribal Area." Finally, the 1962 Constitution was amended in 1963 to repeal the earlier designation, making the CHT accessible to all non-tribals. As in India's Tripura State, the Chakmas lived in Bangladesh before it gained its independence. Recent migrations of ethnic Bengalis into traditionally Chakma regions of Bangladesh have raised tensions in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Successive governments have dealt forcefully with Chakma uprisings and finally ended the conflict with
the 1997 peace treaty. This force and the construction of Kaptai Dam by the then-Pakistan government in Chakma areas which submerged cultivable lands and displaced thousands resulted in the migration during 1964–1969 of a large population of Chakmas into
Diyun, Arunachal Pradesh. Many Buddhist Chakmas migrated from
East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to India. Projects for infrastructure development negatively impacted CHT tribals starting in the 1950s. These included the
Kaptai Dam hydro-electric project, built-in 1959–1963 by the Pakistan government, with the assistance of the
United States Agency for International Development, to provide electricity for much of East Pakistan. The project flooded forty per cent of the farmland in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and displaced nearly 100,000 Chakmas. About sixty per cent were resettled, and forty per cent fled to India. Chakmas made up 90% of the 10,000 people whose 54,000 acres of farmland were flooded in 1962 by the Karnafuli power plant and Kaptai Dam. Inept relocation and insufficient compensation were offered to the Chakmas. The Chittagong Hill Tracts Chakma population was estimated at 250,000 in 1964. The CHT was described as being hilly, forested, a verdant green landscape filled with fountains of water. A deputy commissioner administered the Chittagong Hill Tracts Division under Pakistani rule.
Bangladesh Rule Under the Bangladesh rule, since independence, the Bangladeshi freedom fighters dispossessed the tribals of their land in Ramgarh (Khagrachari sub-division) and Nakhuangchari (Bandarban sub-division) and sent in more than 50,000 Muslim Bengali settlers. These settlers ransacked houses, crops, robbed and looted property, raped women and killed resisting tribals. Buddhist temples in the region were burnt, and Buddhist priests were tortured. Following the Bangladeshi withdrawal, the Bangladeshi Army plundered and ransacked Panchari before leaving on 5 December 1971. It resulted in the torture of 16 persons and the death of two. Other atrocities include the killing of 18 individuals who came out to greet the liberation army. Many tribals were accused of being Pakistani supporters and were executed extrajudicially. In Kukichera alone, 176 houses were burnt down. Following this, the Bangladesh Rifles killed five Tuikuk men at Bangalkothi on 16 December 1971 with no justification. This was continued with the killing of 9 people and the rape of women at Tarabarmia on 21 December. On 22 December, they extorted money from the people of Panchari. Between 24 and 29 December, the Bangladesh Rifles continued extorting from the Mag of Ramgarh living within the Sonai Police Station. Between late December 1971 and early January 1972, the Awami League arrested teachers and educated Chakmas on false accusations and suspicion. Many educated Chakmas were forced to take shelter in the jungle. Mawng Prue Sain, ruler of the Mawng sent the message to the central government to Mujibur Rahman and his cabinet to cease indiscriminate reckless treatment of the tribals being alleged as Pakistani collaborators and to release detained tribals. On January 9, the ruler of Bohmong and the Mag held a public meeting in Bandarban which was interrupted by Muslim students. The students accused the tribes of moving against the new state of Bangladesh and threatened them to convert to Islam to save their life or to go to Burma. Declining conversion, 4000 Mag families of thirty thousand individuals fled into Burma.
Manabendra Narayan Larma requested autonomy in 1970. Tripura state had to deal with the issue of Chakma families. Agriculture, employment, and education are dominated by Chakmas compared to Arunachal natives because they are more skilled and have a higher literacy rate. The hill tribes' conflict with Bangladesh caused the exodus of 50,000 Chakmas to India from the Chittagong Hill Tracts. A 1992 deal between India and Bangladesh arranged that Bangladesh would take them back. A March 1997 agreement between Chakma leaders and Bangladesh provided for the repatriation to Bangladesh of Chakma refugees in Tripura. Both East Pakistan's partition and Bangladesh's independence caused an influx into India of Chakma refugees. In the 1960s, hundreds of Muslim families from other parts of East Pakistan were resettled in the Matamuhuri Valley region of Alikadam, Feni Valley regions of Belchari and Tulanchari, and the regions of Lama, Bandarban, and Ramgarh.
Tridev Roy continued to collaborate with Pakistani forces and declined to join the freedom movement of Bangladesh. Pakistani president
Yahya Khan assigned a south-east Asian diplomatic post to Tridiv Roy during the war as a reward for his collaboration. Roy chose the Pakistani side, fearing that an independent Bangladesh would likely have democratic rule and he might lose his feudal interests. Pakistan retained his support and allegiance, Roy agreed on 25 March, and in exchange British artillery would refrain from shelling the CHT capital,
Rangamati. Roy believed Bangladesh would not award autonomy to CHT and the Chakmas and earned the enmity of the
Awami League by rejecting
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's offer to stand as the Awami League candidate. Autonomy was refused to the CHT tribals. CHT hills people were enrolled as Mujahids and
Razakars by the Pakistan army during the
Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. On 7 January 1973,
Shanti Bahini (Peace Force) was founded as the military army of PCJSS. In an effort to win independence for the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the Shanti Bahini launched guerrilla attacks against the government. Jumma guerrillas made up of Shanti Bahini forces. The party heads of PCJSS are mostly Chakma because of their 59% literacy rate, which is more than other CHT tribes, so they control the PCJSS. During the war, most of the Pahadis remained passive, although the
Mukti Bahini enrolled some. In 1971, the Pakistan army enrolled CHT hill men. After the war, Tridev Roy maintained his allegiance to Pakistan, which he supported in the war. In 1970, he served as independent in the
Parliament of Pakistan while serving as Raja of the Chakma. The Awami League candidate Sheikh Mujibur Rahman lost the election to Roy. Roy was in Southeast Asia when Bangladesh came under Indian army control in December 1971. Bhutto assigned the position of Minorities Affairs Minister to Roy and he helped lobby the United Nations (UN) for Pakistan after the war. The post of ambassador and tourism was also awarded to Roy. Pakistan retained the allegiance of only
Nurul Amin and Tridiv Roy among their East Pakistan MPs. Roy refused to join Bangladesh because the hill tracts were not granted autonomy and stayed on Pakistan's side despite Mujib trying to urge Tridiv to quit Pakistan. "The Muslim World" complained about alleged immigration from Bangladesh to Arakan by Buddhists of
Magh and Chakma background. In 1974, the
Garo people were stripped of their property by the
XLVI Vested and Non-President Property Act by Bangladesh and affected by the 1964 Enemy Property Ordinance. Lands in CHT were taken by Bengali colonists; the hill peoples of the CHT were not afforded any cultural or ethnic recognition, and sympathy from successive Bangladesh governments, despite culture and ethnicity being used as an argument against Pakistan by Bengalis during the war. The Chittagong Hill Tracts showed that only Bengalis were to be beneficiaries of
Bengali nationalism and its "liberalism", which was aimed against the hegemony of Pakistan. Even the "pro-minority" and participant of the CHT peace agreement, the Awami League, refused to grant the status of Adibashi, declaring that according to the constitution, Bengali is the nationality and Bangladeshi is citizenship and refused to acknowledge that Bangladesh had indigenous people. Bengali nationalism is part of the BNP's ideology. Jumma nationalism was spawned from Bengali nationalism due to the hegemony exerted by the Bengalis. The rights of CHT natives were ignored when the Rangmati Kaptai Dam was built. Because the CHT Jummas were apathetic towards Bangladeshi independence, the Bengali majority regarded them as disloyal. No autonomy was awarded to the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the Bangladesh Constitution of 1972. The Chakma conflict is both a religious and ethnic problem in Bangladesh. The Chittagong Hill Tracts saw tribal Chakma leave the area due to religious and ethnic strife caused by Bangladesh's
Islamisation policy. The Chittagong Hill Tracts was colonised by Northern
Burmese and Bangladeshi Muslims. The label "genocidal" has been used to describe actions by the Bangladeshi government upon the non-Islamic Chittagong Hill Tracts Jumma natives. In 1972, the prime ministers of India and Bangladesh made a pact in which India agreed to grant citizenship, under §5(1)(a) of
the Citizenship Act, 1955, to Chakma refugees who had entered India prior to 1971. Despite this, the state of Arunachal Pradesh has taken no action on applications by Chakmas for citizenship, effectively blocking them. The persecution of the ethnic tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, of which the Chakma are the predominant ethnicity, has been greatly reduced after the 1997
Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord.
Indian representation The Chakmas now have representation in the
Mizoram Legislative Assembly,
Tripura Legislative Assembly and
Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council. The only seat of political power and identity is the
Chakma Autonomous District Council in India, the legitimacy of which is questioned by the
Mizo people. There are another 80,000 Chakmas in
Rakhine state, Myanmar, who are known as
Daingnet people. In 2015, the Supreme Court of India directed the government of India and the state government of Arunachal Pradesh to finalise the conferment of citizenship on eligible Chakmas. ==Population==