Ethnic minorities in Bangladesh mostly live in Chittagong Hill Tracts (southeastern), Sylhet Division (northeastern), Rajshahi Division (west), and Mymensingh Division (north-central). Assumed as ethnic groups and tribal races, total population of ethnic minorities in the country was estimated to be over 2 million in 2010. They are diverse communities including Tibeto-Burman, Austric, Dravidian and Indo-Aryan peoples.
According to the Ethnologue, there are 36 indigenous living linguistic communities, which include 17 Sino-Tibetan, 10 Indo-European, 7 Austro-Asiatic and 2 Dravidian language-speaking groups. Quite a few of these groups, such as the Chakmas and Marmas (the largest and second largest respectively), live in before the British period from modern Burma. Most of these groups are often disadvantaged compared to ethnic Bengalis since Bangladesh was created as a Bengali nation-state. Ethnic minorities of Bangladesh have their own cultural traditions and, frequently, languages. Vast number of ethnic tribes of Bangladesh are traditionally Buddhists and Hindus by faith while others are largely Christians and small animists.
The government of Bangladesh has referred to the Chittagong Hill Tracts' non-Bengali ethnic groups as such, rather than indigenous people.
Population The primary census report of 2011 gives number of ethnic population groups of Bangladesh as 27. The first is Chakma, consisting of 444,748 people while the Marma, the second largest ethnic group compares with 202,974 people.
+Population of minority tribal community of Bangladesh (2022 census) Tribal communities Population Bagdi 12,092 Banai 2,851 Barman 44,657 Bedia 7,207 Bhil 95 Bhuimali 1,930 Bhumij 9,664 Bom 13,193 Boraik/Baraik 3,444 Chak 3,077 Chakma 483,299 Dalu 386 Garo 76,846 Gonju 4,137 Gorait 2,727 Gurkha 100 Hajong 7,996 Ho 223 Hudi 1,503 Kharia 3,099 Kharwar/Kherwar 312 Khasia/Khasi 12,421 Khyang 4,826 Khumi 3,780 Koch 13,702 Kol 3,822 Kondo 1,898 Kora 816 Lohar 3,418 Lusai 380 Mahali 6,614 Kurmi Mahato 19,271 Malo/Ghasimalo 14,771 Marma 224,261 Monipuri 22,978 Mro 52,455 Munda 60,191 Musahar 4,600 Oraon 85,846 Pahari/Mal Pahari 8,801 Pankhoa/Pankho 1,857 Patro 3,100 Rajoar 2,327 Rakhain 11,195 Santal 129,049 Sabar 1,980 Teli 2,082 Tanchangya 45,972 Tripuri 156,578 Turi 3,792 Others 68,538 Total 1,650,159
Major ethnic group Chakmas
The Chakmas are the largest ethnic minority group of Bangladesh. Buddhism is the most common religion within the tribe. They refer to their tribal chief as Chakma Raja or Sardar. Chakmas are considered more privileged than most other tribal Bangladeshi tribes. They speak Chakma, an Indo-Aryan language; and have distinctive culture, tradition, and ethnic history. Women wear pinon-hadi and men wear dhuti. They grow crops via a special eco-friendly method called "Karpas Jhum cultivation".
Marmas
Marmas are the second largest ethnic group in Bangladesh and they are of Burmese (Myanmar) ancestry. The Marmas regarded Burma (Myanmar) as the centre of their cultural life. They are regarded as the descendants of the Rakhine people. The region they inhabited before was the Kingdom of Mrauk U, which was later conquered by the Konbaung Dynasty. For a time being, the kingdom also functioned as a vassal state of the Bengal Sultanate. Their cultural traits are connected to their ancestral heritage, including dress (which is called thumbui—the lower part, and angi—the upper part), food (mostly spicy, sour, and hot), writing (Burmese script), traditional songs and musical instruments (for example, kappya, jjea, and kharra). They speak Marma, and the majority are Theravada Buddhist. They have many festivals during the year, but Sangrai is regarded as the biggest celebration among them. It is a tradition to welcome the new year according to the Buddhist lunar calendar. This festival held for three days, and the popular ritual during the second and third day of the festival is to splash water on each other. They believe that the water takes away all the sorrow and pure up our soul and body, so one must to greet others (even strangers) by splashing water on them. But the culture of marma is unique. It has also their own language, tradition, culture etc.
Tripura/Tripuri
The Tripuris are one of the major ethnic community living both in the plains and the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. During the partition of the Indian subcontinent, the princely state of Tripura were merged neither into India nor Pakistan. However, Tripura Kingdom was merged in 1949 with India through a merger agreement. The peoples of Tripura, both in Bangladesh and the Indian State of Tripura, shared common culture, history, tradition, and way of life. Tripuri language is called Kokborok, of which there are more than one million speakers. Tripuri's main festival is Buishu.
A minority of Tripuris have adopted Islam as their religion and have been subject to violence by some Tripuri Christians. On 18 June 2021, a Tripuri imam and farmer called Omar Faruq Tripura (formerly known as Bennichand Tripura) of Tulajhiri Aga Tripurapara was shot whilst heading home from Isha prayers at a makeshift mosque. Five out of the 38 families in this Tripurapara are Muslims and the rest are Christians.
Tanchangya
The Tanchangya (তঞ্চংগ্যা) people are one of 13 ethnic communities living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).
Due to lack of research, there is also confusion about the numbers of Tanchangyas. According to census of 2001 there are 31,164 Tanchangya in CHT (source: solidarity2002, Bangladesh Adivasi Forum).
Mrus
The Mru people (also Mro and Moorang) are considered the original inhabitants of the Chittagong Hills where they migrated from Arakan of Burma from the 14th–15th century. They lived on valleys and often fortified their villages. They had no written language of their own, but some could read the Burmese and Bengali scripts. Most of them claimed to be Buddhists, but their religious practices were largely animistic.
Santals
The Santal people are one of the largest and most ancient ethnic groups in the Indian Subcontinent. They are descendants of one of the oldest Austric-speaking Proto-Austaloid populations.
The Santals are known as one of the oldest and largest ethnic communities in the northwestern belt of Bangladesh.
Santals are largely seen in the northern districts of Dinajpur, Naogaon, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh, etc. They have actively participated in the Tebhaga movement led by Ila Mitra in 1950, the Santal revolt, Birsa Munda Uprising, Kol revolt, Jitu Samur Rebellion, Pandu Raja Insurgency, Swadeshi Movement and the War of Liberation in 1971.
Santal women wear ornaments on their hands, feet, nose, ears and neck and also wear peculiarly shaped ornaments on their ankles. They fix flowers on their heads and hair-buns, and make themselves graceful with simple ornaments.
Their dress is also very simple. Santal dresses are called , and . The Santal women wear coarse homespun cotton sarees of bright colours that barely reach their knees, while the upper end is flung over the shoulders. Santal men and women wear tattoos on their bodies. Most of their houses are usually neat and clean even though built of mud. Their homestead often includes a garden.
The peculiarity of the houses is that they have small and low doors and almost no window. There is practically no furniture except a wooden bedstead and bamboo machang on which the people of the comparatively well-to-do class spread their beds.
The Nabanna ceremony is of importance to the rural people, and is observed during the harvest time when delicious preparations from newly harvested food grains are made and friends and relatives are entertained. Santals have their own language, culture and social patterns, which are clearly distinct from those of other tribes. They speak Bangla fluently and have adopted many Bangla words for their own language. Most Santals are Christians now but they still observe their old tribal rites.
Agriculture is their main source of livelihood. Principal food items of Santals are rice, fish and vegetables. They also eat crabs, pork, chicken, beef and the meat of squirrels. Jute spinach (nalita) is one of their favourite food items. Eggs of ducks, chickens, birds and turtles are delicacies in their menu. Liquor distilled from putrefied rice called hadia or (pachai) is their favourite drink. Santal women are skilled in making different kinds of cakes.
Most of the Santals are animists. The main weapon used for hunting and self-protection is the bow and arrow made of locally available materials. They are fond of flowers and music. Hunting and collecting food from the forest were their primitive economic activity.
Santals are divided into twelve clans and all these clans are fond of festivities. They are very proficient in music and dance. Like Bengalis, they also have 'thirteen festivals in twelve months' and many other festive occasions around the year. Their year starts with the month of Falgun (roughly, 15 February – 15 March). Almost each month or season has a festival celebrated with dances, songs and music. In the spring, Santals celebrate holi when they drench each other with colours. To express gratitude to the god of crops is also a part of this festival. It turns into a carnival with dances, songs, music and food and drinks. Probably its greatest attraction is the choral dance of Santal girls. Another important ceremony of Santals is called Baha or the festival of blossoms. The purpose of this festival at the beginning of spring is to welcome and offer greetings to the freshly blossoming flowers. It is also characterised by dancing, singing and music. The Santals cremate their dead bodies. But nowadays, many of them bury the dead. When an inhabitant of a village dies, the village headman's duty is to present himself at the place of the departed and arrange for the last rites with due respect.
Khasi people
The Khasi tribes, the majority of whom live in the State of Meghalaya (former Khasi Federate Kingdoms) in north east India, with small populations in neighbouring Assam, and in parts of Bangladesh. They call themselves Ki Hynñiew trep, which means "the seven huts" in the Khasi language. Their language Khasi is the northernmost Austroasiatic language. This language was essentially oral until the arrival of European missionaries. Particularly significant in this regard was a Welsh missionary, Thomas Jones, who transcribed the Khasi language into Roman Script. The Khasi people form the majority of the population of the eastern part of Meghalaya. A substantial minority of the Khasi people follow their tribal religion; called variously, Ka Niam Khasi and Ka Niam Tre in the Jaintia region and within that ethnic religious belief the rooster is sacrificed as a substitute for man, it being thought that the rooster "bears the sins of the man and by its sacrifice, man will obtain redemption" [https://www.cambridgescholars.com/resources/pdfs/978-1-0364-0474-1-sample.pdf A Sociological Study of the Khasi Religion] Sharalyne Khyriemmujat (compare Kapparot). Other religions practised include Presbyterian, Anglican, Unitarian, Roman Catholic and very few are Muslims. The Khasi people who reside in the hilly areas of Sylhet, Bangladesh are of the War sub-tribe. The main crops produced by the Khasi people living in the War areas, including Bangladesh, are betel leaf, areca nut and oranges. The War-Khasi people designed and built the living root bridges of the Cherrapunjee region. Bridges of Memory. Paul Salopek. National Geographic. November 11, 2019 In several States of India, Khasis have been granted the status of Scheduled tribe. The Khasis are a matrilineal society.
Jaintia