Murung woman preparing for dry paddy
Introduction:
Murung is a indigenous hill tribe of Chittagong Hill Tracts(CHT), Bangladesh.
They are divided into five major clans and ten sub-clans. The five major clans are Dengua, Premsang, Kongloi, Maizer and Ganaroo Gnar. And other ten different sub-clans are Yarua, Yaringcha, Tang, Deng, Kough, Tam-tu-chah, Kanbak, Prenju, Naichah and Yomore. The Yarua is said to be the most influential and powerful among the Murung clans. It has four subdivisions and they are Khatpo, Chimlung, Zongnow, and Chawla. These sub-clans are also considered by some as independent clans.
Origin:
Murungs are one of the famous aborigines of Arakan. They have King that in the ninth century two Murung Kings was ruled Arakan. They were King A-mya-Thu (957-964 A. D) and King Pai-Phyu (964-975 A. D). At that time, the Wathaly was the capital city of Arakan. In 14th century, according to their ancestral sources that a historical bloody war was happened in between Murung King and Khumi King on the bank of River Koladain in Arakan. The Khumi King defeated the Murung King and ousted them from Arakan. As a result that the Murungs moved to CHT from Arakan in 14th and 15th centuries and settled permanently.
Location:
Murungs now live in Lama, Ruma, Alikadam and Thanchi upazilas near Chimbuk Mountain in the Bandarban district of CHT.
Population:
According to 1991 census, the Murung population in Bangladesh was 22,178 and constituted the fourth largest tribe in CHT. At present, approximately 35,000 in 2006.
Lifestyle:
Murungs are patriarchal. Sons inherit the property. Murungs build houses on the top of the hills. Their houses are bigger than the houses of other tribes. The house is consisted with many rooms and windows. They have partition in every rooms. The houses made by bamboos and timbers; and the roof of the houses is covered by straw and different kind of leaves. They are peace loving people and like to live isolated with other tribes in the region. They love hunting.
Livelihood:
The main profession of the Murungs is Jhum cultivation and lumbering wood from jungle. Before jhum cultivation in the month of April, they organise worshipped Oreng, the god of household. They also practice agriculture near the bank of river and plain lands. The agricultural production are tobacco, maize, tomato, paddy, chilly, etc. They go to the nearest market to sell their agricultural good for their day to day life. The women work harder than the men. The women go deep forest to collect vegetables and eat able fruit which is very favourite to them.
Religion:
Most Murungs are Buddhists and recently some are converted into Christianity. In general, however, they are still animists and they worship nature. They revered “Thurai” as the creator of this universe. All their worshipped are directed to “Oreng”, the God of household and day-to-day business. They have many superstitions. They believe in signs and omens and their immediate undertakings are affected by these beliefs. “Sungteung” is another deity. Murungs pay homage to, although this worshipped has little importance in the society. Before the harvest, the Murungs observe a worshipped called “Kumlang”, in which they ceremonially kill a cow. The young men and women dance, sing, and eat, and drink home-made bear during this ceremony.
Language:
They have a language but no written script. They used Bengali language for communication with other people in the region. Very few people can read and write Bengali and literacy rate is very very low. Now a day, some of the Murung people found in the schools and colleges. Even one or two people are also found abroad.
Marriage:
Murungs do not marry within the same clan or sub-clan. Their boys and girls are also not allowed to marry within two different clans involved in war even after when they enter into truce or peace agreement and become friends, since in such situation, they become brothers in practice and therefore, their children can not marry each other. Murungs have many different ways of performing marriage ceremony but the ceremony is usually very short. Once a couple is selected for marriage, they slaughter a cock in presence of the couple. When the blood gushes from the vein, someone dips his middle finger and anoints the forehead of the bride and groom. Then follows the declaration that they are husband and wife. After this brief ceremony, the bride and groom eat together and the invitees and guests sprinkle water and rice to bless the couple. Divorce is allowed in the Murung society. But the husband can not divorce his wife without a legitimate cause. If a man divorces his wife without any cause, he will be left alone in a deep jungle only with an axe to defend himself from wild animals. A widow may marry but the remarriage is allowed only with a plebeian. Bigamy or polygamy is not socially allowed.
Songs and Music:
Murungs love songs and dances. They use home-made musical instruments, which are made of bamboo. Flute is the dominant instrument. Their dances have four classes: Plees Pleesing, Chat Chet Plee, Dengram Tek Plee, and Rowlata Ting Plee. They dance in a group of 10 to 12 unmarried boys and girls with jingling anklets tied around their feet. “Gong” is their main instrument in dancing.
Food:
Rice and home-made bear are their main food and drink. They eat tiger, dog, goat, pig, cow and many other animals. Their delicacy food is “Nappi” made of fermented fat of fish, frog, deer or boar, mixed with fermented rice. Boiled vegetables also one of the best food of them.
Traditional Dress:
Murung men wear “Lengti”, which is a narrow length of cloth. Some of them also wear “Lungi”and women wear “Wanglai”, which is short skirt for lower part of their body. The Wanglai is 9 to 11 inches in breadth and while wearing it they keep 4 to 6 inches on the left side near the waist empty as a matter of custom. They also use a piece of cloth like “Risa” to cover their chest. These are all locally made and woven by the women.
Death:
Murungs burn the bodies of the dead. The dead body is covered and wrapped with clean cloths and invite Buddhist monks of funeral chanting for his or her departed soul. After the chanting, they take dead body in the bank of the river or deep forest to burn. All the relatives and members of the family have to go in the funeral place.