Mro people

Mro

Total population
21,963 (Bangladesh) according to the 1991 Bangladesh census
Regions with significant populations
Majority populations in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh the Mros reside in Bandarban District, Rangamati Hill District of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. In Burma they reside in Arakan.
Languages
Mro Secondary Languages: Chittagonian Bengali Rangpuri[1]
Religion
Animist and Buddhism

The Mros (Bengali: ম্রো) also known as Murangs (Bengali: মুরং) or Mru, are a community inhabiting the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh and also in Burma with a population of 21,963 in Bangladesh according to the 1991 census. The Mros are the 2nd largest tribal group in Bandarban District of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. A small group of Mros also live in Rangamati Hill District.

They primarily speak the Mru language, a Tibeto-Burman language, and one of the recognized languages of Bangladesh. The Mru language is considered "definitely endangered" by UNESCO in June 2010.^[2]

The Mru people live near the intersection of Myanmar, Bangladesh and India. Many Mru live within the Yoma District and the Arakan hills of Rakhine State in western Myanmar.

History

A group of Mrus foraging in the hills

Originally the Mros lived in Arakan. But in the late 18th century they were attacked and defeated by another tribe Khumi and were forced to take shelter in the present Bandarban District^[3]. But still now there are Mros living on the bank of the Mi, a tributary of the Koladan river in Arakan, Burma.

The Mru people and language are located in the lower right hand corner of the map of Bangladesh

References

1. ^ Lewis, M. Paul, "Rangpuri: a language of Bangladesh", SIL International, 2009
2. ^ UNESCO, "Bangladesh: Some endangered languages (information from Ethonologue, UNESCO)", June 2010.
3. ^ Saradindu Shekhar Chakma. Ethnic Cleansing in Chittagong Hill Tracts. p. 38. 

• "Profile of the Mru, Mro", Joshua Project
• Brauns, Claus-Dieter, "The Mrus: Peaceful Hillfolk of Bangladesh", National Geographic Magazine, February 1973, Vol 143, No 1

Further reading

• "Indigenous Peoples Development Planning Document: Indigenous Peoples Development Plan: Bangladesh: Chittagong Hill", Asian Development Bank
• "Become Acquainted With The Peace-Loving Mru", bangladesh.com
• "From the land of the sunrise", Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 18–24, 2006, Life & Struggles of the Mro People in Bangladesh.
• van Schendel, Willem, "A Politics of Nudity: Photographs of the ‘Naked Mru’ of Bangladesh", Modern Asian Studies, 36, 2 (2002), pp. 341–374. Cambridge University Press
• Chowdhury, Mohammad Shaheed Hossain; et al., "Indigenous knowledge in natural resource utilization by the hill people: A case of the Mro tribe in Bangladesh"
• Brauns, Claus-Dieter; Löffler, Lorenz G., Mru: hill people on the border of Bangladesh, Birkhäuser Verlag, 1990
• "Asian People Group Profiles: Bangladesh: The Mru", Asia Harvest
• Peterson, David A., "Where does Mru fit into Tibeto-Burman?", The 42nd International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics (ICSTLL 42), November 2009, Payap University, Chiangmai, Thailand. Cf. p. 14.

External links

• "Meet the indigenous people of the Bandarban Hilltracts, The Mru: A hidden tribe", Bangladesh EcoTours