History of the Chakma and Barua Buddhists. Bengali Muslim settlers are killing Chakma Buddhists not only in Islamic country Bangladesh but also in Buddhist country Myanmar. There is a small offshoot of the Chakma people in South western part of Myanmar. Their ancestors are believed to have migrated from Kapilavasthu when Vidudhava massacred the Sakya people. It appears that Lt. General Sir Arthur P. Phayer identifies them to be Indian settlers. He writes, The Indian settlers do doubt, in a few generations, became merged in the mass of the Mongoloid tribes whom they found in the country (Burma). Only three names have been handed down as borne by original tribes, or the conjunction of such tribes, that is, Kanran, Pyu or Pru, and San or Thek. The last one, however, is not an original native term, but probably an abbreviation of the Santa, and may have been retained by at least a portion of the earliest Indian settlers and their descendants for some time. (History of Burma, London 1883, reprint 1967, p. 5.) After the said Vidudhavas massacre, many Sakyas were forced to leave Kapilavasthu for shelter in Eastern India, particularly Bihar and Bengal. And they were again subjected to massacres committed by Bakhtiyar Khilji in the 13th century when he invaded Bihar and Bengal and destroyed Nalanda University. Many Sakyas and Vrijis or Vajjis (including other Buddhists) fled to Tripura and Chittagong who came to be known respectively as the Chakma and the Barua in the mid 15h century. Chakmakul, Rajanagar, Pandita Vihara etc. of Chittagong still bear the witness of the Chakma, the Barua and Arakanese Buddhist civilization in the area. With the conquest of Chittagong by Shayesta Khan in 1666 from the Arakanese king, Muslims stared ruling Chittagong and its periphery. And they gradually stared converting and dominating Buddhists and Hindus of the area. As a result, the Chakma were forced to move to the hinterland of Chittagong now called Chittagong Hill Tracts. There were no Muslims in Chittagong Hil Tracts before the mid of the 18th century. Now they constitute about 65% of the total population of the region. And unofficially they have set to increase the figure to 80% for extermination of the identity and culture of the local minority Buddhists, Hindus and converted Christians (converted mostly during British rule here from 1860-1946).
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 05:02:47 +0000
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