History
of the Chakmas: Descendants of Sakya
The
Chakmas belong to Tibeto-Mongoloid race, just like the Mizos and majority
tribes of the Northeast, but speak a language which is Indo-European. They are
one the rarest tribal groups having their own script called Ajha Path which has
been found to be closely linked to the Burmese scripts. The community is
divided into 46 gozas (clans).
The
history of the Chakmas is obscure. They are the descendents of the Sakya race
to which Lord Buddha belonged. Some centuries before Lord Buddha was born, a
Sakya king/prince named Abhi Raja had left Kapilavastu on the foothills of the
Himalayas (in present-day Nepal) and founded the Tagaung kingdom, the first
Burmese kingdom, on the banks of Irrawaddy in Upper Burma. Burmese histories
namely Maha Rajaweng (or, Great History of Kings) and The Glass Palace
Chronicle of the Kings of Burma confirm the arrival of this Sakya king/prince
from Kapilavastu. The Burmese chronicles handed down names of three original
tribes namely Kanran, Pyu or Pru, and Sak or Thek. Sir Arthur P. Phayre, former
Chief Commissioner of British Burma and authority on the Burmese history,
opined that “The last [Sak/Thek], however, is not an original native term, but
probably an abbreviation of Sakya, and may have been retained by at least a
portion of the earliest Indian settlers and their descendants for some time”. A
few centuries later and a few years before the death of Lord Buddha, another
migration of Sakyas to Burma occurred, this time under the leadership of prince
Daza Raja. Both these two great migrations happened because of murderous
attacks on Kapilavastu by the ruler of Kosala, a powerful kingdom in north
India. Sakyas’ pride which did not allow to marry off their pure-blood women
outside the community was responsible for these attacks on them. The second
attack had brought near total annihilation of the Sakyas as Kosala king
Virudabha had ordered massacre of every Sakya including infants to avenge
deceit committed by the Sakyas upon his father, Pasenadi or Prasenajit. King
Prasenajit wanted to marry a Sakya princess but the notorious Sakyas thought it
beneath their dignity to marry off a pure-blooded Sakya princess to anybody
outside their clan. Therefore, Sakya raja Mahanama, a cousin of the Buddha,
deceitfully sent his illegitimate daughter Vasabha, born from a slave-woman
called Nagamunda, whom king Prasenajit married and Queen Vasabha gave birth to
a son named Virudabha. Sir Phayre claimed that the modern Burma race are
descendants of Sakyas who had migrated to the valley of Irrawaddy from
Kapilavastu.
According
to Pamela Gutman, the Saks ruled the Central Burma in the 9th century while the
Burmans (Mranma) ruled the plains. The Saks were a powerful and fearful nation
but for some reasons they further migrated to Arakan in very ancient times.
They had attained “a higher cultural level than any of the other minority
peoples in Arakan.” Their descendents, the Loi conquered people of Manipur.
The
period of migration of the Saks, who came to be known as Chakma in modern
sense, to their present territory in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and
adjoining parts of Mizoram is not accurately known. But their Arakanese roots
are beyond any doubt. All modern historians-scholars tend to agree that at some
point of time the Chakmas had lived in Arakan where they are still known as
“Daingnets”. Captain TH Lewin stated, “Whatever opinion may be formed of the
primal origin of the Thek, or Chukma tribe, no doubt can exist as to their
having been at one time inhabitants of the province of Arracan, from whence
they have migrated to these hills (Chittagong Hill Tracts).” H.H.S. Hutchinson
held that “The Chakmas are undoubtedly of Arakanese origin. They immigrated into the Chittagong District
where they intermarried largely with the Bengalis, whose language they speak.”
According to H.H. Risley, “The evidence at present available does not appear to
warrant any more definite conclusion than that the Chakmas are probably a
people of Arakanese origin, whose physical type has been to some extent
modified by intermarriage with Bengali settlers.” Satish Chandra also held the
opinion that “That at one point of time they had lived in the Arakan there is
no doubt about it. They have been using the scripts imitated (from Arakanese)
since then.” Dr Francis Buchanan and B.H. Hodgson also called the Thek (Chakma)
“aboriginal” of Arakan.
The
Saks (also spelt as Tsak) were also known to the Burmese as “Thet” or “Thek” as
the Burmese sometimes pronounced “S” as “Th”. The name “Chakma” is a modern
appellation of the tribe name “Sak”. As Lewin stated, “The names of Chukma,
Tsak, Thek, and Doingnak, may all therefore be taken as names representing the
(Chakma) tribe”. Risley also identified the Chakma as Tsakma, Tsak, and Thek.
In 1798, Dr Buchanan stated that “the Sak are the same people with those, who
in the Northern parts of the province are called Sakma, or Chakmas.” Dr
Buchanan further mentioned, “They call themselves Saksa, which word corrupted
has, I suppose, given rise to their Bengalese name Sagma or Chakma.”
In
Burmese, “tha” or “tsa” means “son”. Therefore, the literal translation of
“Saksa” would be “son of Sak”. Since “Chakma” has been derived from “Saksa”,
the accurate meaning of “CHAKMA” is “CHILDREN OF SAKYA”. Or, in other words,
they are the descendants of the Sakya tribe to which Lord Buddha himself
belonged. Chakmas still call themselves “Sakma” or “Sangma”.
Sadly,
the Chakmas do not have a written history. They, however, have carried an oral
tradition till today which claims that they are the descendents of Sakya who
had ruled a legendary kingdom called “Champaknagar” whose location has yet to
be accurately identified. Oral traditions of Chakmas say a prince of
Champaknagar named Bijoygiri marched southwards to conquer parts of Chittagong
and Arakan with the help of his military commander Radhaman. When he decided to
return home after the victorious expedition, news about the death of his aged
father and usurpation of the throne by his younger brother Samargiri reached
him. Prince Bijoygiri was against the idea of bowing down to his younger
sibling who was now the king, and hence decided to settle in the conquered land
with his army. Bijoygiri had snapped all the communications with Champaknagar
and its people who sank into the oblivion and the modern Chakmas are believed
to be the descendants of Bijoygiri and his dewans (chiefs). In 1909, Hutchinson
termed the Bijoygiri story as “a myth” but Risley had opined in 1892 that
Bijoygiri had invaded the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) about the end of the
14th century. The Chakmas strongly believe that Demagiri (now in Mizoram)
abutting the hills of CHT was founded by Chakma prince Bijoygiri.
