marma culture
The MARMA
The Marmas sometimes referred as Mogh and live mostly in the CHT. They call themselves “Marma lumya” (Nue 2007). According to Marma writer Kya Shai Pro the word “Marma” is derived from “mryma” carrying the concept of Myanmer's nationalism. They are the second largest ethnic group in Bangladesh. According to the National Census 1991 Bangladesh has a Marma population of 1,57,301.
They are called in different name by the different ethnic groups living around them e.g. 'Mran' by the Mrora tribe, 'Mrang' by the Lusai and the Pangkhua Indigenous community, 'Mraing' to the Chakma tribe, 'Mukhu' to the Tripura tribe, 'Kramo' to the Khumi tribe and 'Ooa' to the Khyang Indigenous community (Ching 1998). Marmas are divided into several clans. Each clan is named after the place from where it migrated. The Marmas are fair complexioned and nose is slightly flat. They show similarities with the Burmese. They also belong to the Mongoloid. The material culture of the Marma society includes many basic tools and weapons of primitive societies.
Language
According to the philologists, the Marma language belongs to the Burmese group of Tibeto-Burman language family (Nue 2007). The Marma alphabet 'Marmaza' or 'Marimacha' originates from the 'ancient sub-continental Brahmin alphabet that had left-to-right writing style. It is known from a book on the ancient history of Burma, entitled, Mraina Samoing Rajwong that the people of Krishna and Godabar' areas of south India migrated to several areas of southeast Burma in the sixth century.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the Marma tongue is a dialect descended from the Burmese language. It is because a language is always like a flowing river. Therefore, as the word 'Marma' is derived from the Burman word 'Mraima'. The Marma language, which has become a dialect, has been obtained from the Burmese language, one of the branches of Tibeto-Burman tongue (Shoi Pro 2002). There are 45 letters in the Marma alphabet, of them 33
The Marmas sometimes referred as Mogh and live mostly in the CHT. They call themselves “Marma lumya” (Nue 2007). According to Marma writer Kya Shai Pro the word “Marma” is derived from “mryma” carrying the concept of Myanmer's nationalism. They are the second largest ethnic group in Bangladesh. According to the National Census 1991 Bangladesh has a Marma population of 1,57,301.
They are called in different name by the different ethnic groups living around them e.g. 'Mran' by the Mrora tribe, 'Mrang' by the Lusai and the Pangkhua Indigenous community, 'Mraing' to the Chakma tribe, 'Mukhu' to the Tripura tribe, 'Kramo' to the Khumi tribe and 'Ooa' to the Khyang Indigenous community (Ching 1998). Marmas are divided into several clans. Each clan is named after the place from where it migrated. The Marmas are fair complexioned and nose is slightly flat. They show similarities with the Burmese. They also belong to the Mongoloid. The material culture of the Marma society includes many basic tools and weapons of primitive societies.
Language
According to the philologists, the Marma language belongs to the Burmese group of Tibeto-Burman language family (Nue 2007). The Marma alphabet 'Marmaza' or 'Marimacha' originates from the 'ancient sub-continental Brahmin alphabet that had left-to-right writing style. It is known from a book on the ancient history of Burma, entitled, Mraina Samoing Rajwong that the people of Krishna and Godabar' areas of south India migrated to several areas of southeast Burma in the sixth century.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the Marma tongue is a dialect descended from the Burmese language. It is because a language is always like a flowing river. Therefore, as the word 'Marma' is derived from the Burman word 'Mraima'. The Marma language, which has become a dialect, has been obtained from the Burmese language, one of the branches of Tibeto-Burman tongue (Shoi Pro 2002). There are 45 letters in the Marma alphabet, of them 33