|
[replace with] Bawm, The a small
[replace with] tribe in chittagong hill tracts. Ethnically, Bawms belong to the Mongolian
[replace with] stock. They look like the chakmas and the marmas. The word Bawm means ties.
[replace with] The concept of such ties has developed from their culture of doing
[replace with] collectively all things of life, including hunting, singing and dancing,
[replace with] eating and drinking or offering homage to gods. Bawms live in 70 villages of
[replace with] ruma, thanchi, rwoangcchari and bandarban Sadar upazilas of Bandarban
[replace with] district. According to the census of 1991, there are 1,349 Bawm families in
[replace with] Bangladesh with a total population 6,978.
[replace with]
[replace with] Social System:
[replace with]
[replace with] Social Structure: Bawms
[replace with] are very gentle in nature. They have their own social structure to regulate
[replace with] their conduct and settle disputes. They do not go to court or to any
[replace with] government agency to settle disputes. They regulate their life according to
[replace with] their own customary laws.
[replace with]
[replace with] Livelihood:
[replace with] Bawms have little interaction with Bangalis. The Marmas and Arakanese of the
[replace with] Bandarban district call the Bawms Langi or Langay. The main occupation of
[replace with] the Bawms is jhum cultivation on the slopes of hills. They grow paddy,
[replace with] papaya, banana, vegetables and some other crops. Bawms love to live in dense
[replace with] forests and rarely come to the plains. The scarcity of land for jhum
[replace with] cultivation and gradual deforestation have affected the lifestyle of the
[replace with] Bawms to a great extent. Many Bawm children now attend schools. Christian
[replace with] missionaries have been propagating christianity among the Bawms since the
[replace with] middle of the 19th century. Almost all Bawms have now become Christians.
[replace with]
[replace with] Lifestyle: In the past, the Bawms would build their houses
[replace with] on hilltops away from the rivers. They used to fortify their villages with
[replace with] fences of tree trunks. Their houses are called machang and are made of
[replace with] bamboo and timber and erected on a high platform. Bawm society is
[replace with] patriarchal. A significant element in Bawm culture is the bamboo dance. It
[replace with] is performed only when there is a tragedy in the family, especially in the
[replace with] case of an unnatural death. Through this dance Bawms console their families.
[replace with] [Sadat Ullah Khan]
[replace with] |
[replace with]