(A working paper)
Barua is a name found in both India and Bangladesh. Barua is commonly used for buddhist people of Bengal and Assam. However, there are Hindus in Assam who use their last name as Barua.(1) Even some proto-historians identify the tribes of Chittagong as being Baruas,(2). During the 1971 liberation war I have seen some Barua villages even put up signs at the entrance of the village identifying themselves as being Chinese buddhists, making the maruding Pakistani soldiers to believe that Baruas are neither Awami Leaguers nor Hindus. Some in Chittagong believe that they migrated from Thailand and Cambodia or even from China but it is true that some Baruas have mongoloid features.In Chittagong Baruas who also called who have been mostly employed in cooking and catering business. Another situation with the Barua people is that unlike Hindus and Muslims, they have hardly and dark colored people.It is a bizzare situation to find history's miracle black box of the origin of barua people. There is no written history about their origins but it is interesting to know who they are? What are their origins? The answers probably lie in that some Barua's are Theraveda and others are Mohaya Buddhists.
Baruas are not from one racial or ethnic origin
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It seems that Barua in general are not people from an original racial group. "Barua" seems to be a title similar to "Sing" in India in this case the title used for Buddhists people in Bengal before the arrival of Islam in Bengal.(3) From 13th century Bengali buddhists enmass became Muslims, Buddhism declined between 13th and 19th century, but it seems there survived some pockets of Bengali buddhists in Bengal as historian Abdul Karim says they were the ancient people of Bengal. In order to locate them and Baruas in general, it seems interesting to know what happened to the Bengali alike Chandras of Arakan in Burma.
Chandras in Arakan
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Chandra kings of Arakan who were originally Hindus began their kingdom in the coastal areas of Arakan before the beginnig of the christian era. They were caste Hindus eventually converted to Mohayana Buddhism by the Indian buddhists fleeing the Hindu oppression afterr Ashoka's demise. Chandra kings built the giant Mohamuni statue which was in Arakan until 1784 when it was robbed by the forces of King Budapaya of Burma now in exile placed in Mandalay of Burma. The Arakani Chandras were the causins of the Bengali Mohayana Buddhists. The name Chittagong was known to have given by an a Tibeto Burman king of Arakan doesn't seem likely. It says, an Arakani king eracted a pillar at Chittagong in the nineth century A. D. with a remark "to make war is improper." It is true during this time a Chandra king ruled Arakan not a Tibeto-Burman. There was no Mogh king in Arakan yet. During this time, Arakan was ruled by Chanda king Shoe Ratan. It appears that the language of the king was not the Burmese Mogh to have the stone say "Tsit-ta-gungin", "to make war is improper" interpreted in Mogh language. This seems a latter tendentious interpretation by the Burmese. This seems more unlikely because to make war improper seems an empty slogan by a warrior king. The original statement "to make war improper" seems more like the declaration of a peace treaty between two parties than the declaration of a victory by an Arakani king. Under the circumstances of the nonexistance of Burmese language in Arakan at the time, instead of the Burmese "Tsit-ta-gungin", it would seem that the Chandra language "Shoukeet Thakong" to the present English meaning "We live in peace" made between two chandra perhaps related Chandra rulers in Chittagong and Arakan in Chittagonian/ sanskrit pali seems historically more relevant.
This Chandra rule in Arakan was going to end when a great flow of Tibeto Burman population penetrated into Arakan with Theravada buddhism and in the year 957 AD. the Bengali look alike of Chandras appear to have lost their hold in Arakan. History is not clear on this period but starting from the 11th century. Habib Siddiqui notes:
"The Anand Chandra Inscription, which contains 65 verses (71 and a half lines) and now sited at the Shitthaung pagoda, provides some information about these early rulers. Interestingly, neither the name of the kingdom or the two premier cities – Dhanyavati and Vaishali – is mentioned. This 11-foot high monolith, unique in entire Burma, has three of its four faces inscribed in a Nagari script, which is closely allied to those of Bengali and north-eastern India."
"The script on the panel on the east face is believed by Johnston to be the oldest. According to Pamela Gutman it was similar to the type of script used in Bengal (Bangladesh) during the early 6th century CE. As to the panel on the north face, Johnston mentioned that several smaller inscriptions in Bengali characters had been added in the 10th century. Gutman however felt that the principal text in this section is of the mid-11th century CE. The panel on the west face, which is reasonably preserved, is believed by Gutman to be of the earlier part of the 8th century. This priceless document not only lists the personalities of each monarch but also some of the major events of every reign.
"So who is this Ananda Chandra? In verse 64, it clearly says that he was a descendant of the Saiva-Andhra monarchs [presumably of Banga or Bangladesh] whose kingdom was located between the Godavari and Krishna Rivers of Bengal, and close to the Bay of Bengal. The founder of this new dynasty was Vajra Sakti who reigned circa 649-665 CE. His successor was Sri Dharma Vijaya, who reigned from circa 665-701. As noted by Singer, and much in contrast to Rakhine claims, Dharma Vijaya was not a Theravada Buddhist, but probably a Mahayanist. The next in line was Narendra Vijaya who reigned from circa 701 to 704 CE. The next to rule was Sri Dharma Chandra, who reigned from 704 to 720 CE. He was the father of Ananda Chandra who was a munificent patron of Mahayana Buddhism and Hindu institutions.(3)
Chandras in Bengal
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With the end of Chandra rule in Arakan, simoultaniously from the 11th century we see the rise of Chandra rule in Chittagong. It is true, some buddhists of the Chandra period in Chittagong from 11-13 century could be the original settlers of Bengal and Arakan. However, those were the ones who practised Mohayana buddhism of the Tibatan varirty. History records the existance of Chandra Dynesty in Southeastern Bengal (Chittagong). The Dev Papar of Chittagong was perhaps the site of the Chandra kingdom.(capital of Dev kings). Having said this howcome the Chittagonian buddhists practice Theraveda buddhism (which originally came from Sri Lanka via Mon and Moghs of Arakan) came to Chittagong?.
Baruas and Chakmas of Theraveda Buddhism
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.The Chittagonian Baruas seem to have undergone a massive transformation during the Arakani Mogh pirate kingdom that ruled Chittagong. The Mogh rule of Chittagong began from 1538 AD and lasted upto 1666 AD when the Moghuls chased them out to Arakan. During this period, the original Mohayana bengali buddhists mingled with the ruling Moghs as probably as their cooks, and Moghs also took Bengali buddhists women and Barruas changed themselves into Theraveda buddhists.That is why Chittagonian Bengali buddhists are called both as Baruas as well as Moghs. As for the Chakmas, who speak the protochittagonian language of the Chandras, were driven out of Arakan quite late by the Mogh kings during the forteen century during Sultani period, who entered Chittagong and were for a while lived in Rangunia and finally settled in the north East of Chittagong Hill Tracts. Chakmas practise Theraveda Buddhist but they are different from the Bengali Baruas of Bangladesh.Baruas kept their mother-tongue as Bengali and are Bangladeshi citizens and ulike the Chakmas, some Baruas perhaps are the aboriginals of Bangladesh.(5)..
References:
(1) A Brief Introduction to Barua community of Bangladesh. http://www.booksie.com/all/all/kabyasikhari/a-brief-introduction-to-barua-community-of-bangladesh
(2) Wikipedia "Barua."
(3)Ibid
(4)Habib Siddiqui,Muslim Identity and Demography in the Arakan state of Burma (Myanmar)
(Sunday, October 23, 2011)
(5) Abid Bahar, Mystery behind the linguistic Similarities between the Chakmas and the Rohingyas. http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1721:mystery-behind-the-chakma-and-the-rohingyas-linguistic-similarities&catid=35:rohingya&Itemid=29
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