Chakma History

 The Chakmas ( Chakma or ), also known as the Changhma (চাংমা), are a community that inhabits the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, the North-East India and Rakhine state of Myanmar. The Chakmas are the largest ethnic group in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, making up more than half the tribal population. In Myanmar the Chakmas are known as Daingnet people. Chakmas are divided into 46 clans or Gozas. A tribal group called Tongchangya (তঞ্চংগ্যা) are also considered to be a branch of the Chakma people. Both tribes speak the same language, have the same customs and culture, and profess the same religion, Theravada Buddhism.

Chakmas are Tibeto-Burman, and are thus closely related to tribes in the foothills of the Himalayas. The Chakmas are believed to be originally from Arakan who later on moved to Bangladesh, settling in the Cox's Bazar District, the Korpos Mohol area, and in the Indian states of Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura.

The Arakanese referred to the Chakmas as Saks or Theks. In 1546, when the king of Arakan, Meng Beng, was engaged in a battle with the Burmese, the Sak king appeared from the north and attacked Arakan, and occupied the Ramu of Cox's Bazar, the then territory of the kingdom of Arakan.