Chittagong Hill Tracts in British Period (1787-1947).
Before the colonization started by the British, the indigenous Jumma people of Chittagong Hill Tracts
Overview of Chittagong Hill Tracts
The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), situated in the south-eastern part of Bangladesh
The coastal plains of Chittagong have always been coveted by the peoples of the region, the Chakmas, the Arakaneses and the Tripuras. In 1666 the Chittagong area was annexed by Shaista Khan the Mughal governor of Bengal. Fighting broke out between the Mughals and the Chakmas. In 1713 an agreement was reached under which the Mughal Emperor granted the right to conduct trade and commerce with the adjoining areas in the plains to the Chakma Raja on payment of a small tribute in cotton.
Before the colonization started by the British, the indigenous Jumma people of Chittagong Hill Tracts
Overview of Chittagong Hill Tracts
The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), situated in the south-eastern part of Bangladesh
The coastal plains of Chittagong have always been coveted by the peoples of the region, the Chakmas, the Arakaneses and the Tripuras. In 1666 the Chittagong area was annexed by Shaista Khan the Mughal governor of Bengal. Fighting broke out between the Mughals and the Chakmas. In 1713 an agreement was reached under which the Mughal Emperor granted the right to conduct trade and commerce with the adjoining areas in the plains to the Chakma Raja on payment of a small tribute in cotton.
At the Battle of Plassey, on June
23, 1757 the British East India Company defeated the army of Nawab
Siraj-ud-daulla with the collaboration of his deputy Mir Jafar the 'traitor'.
As a result of this victory, the British East India Company became the virtual
rulers of Bengal. In 1760 Mir Jafar was replaced as Nawab of Bengal by his
son-in-law, Mir Kasim, who, in a secret treaty, ceded the three districts of
Burdwan, Midnapore and Chittagong to the British. Once the British extended
their authority to Chittagong, the Chakma Raja agreed to pay his yearly tribute
in cotton amounting to nine maunds (about 35Okgs) to the British in
order to enjoy the privileges of trade in the plains.
The first contact between the Chakma
Raja and the British East India Company was in 1763 when Mr Henry Verelest, the
Chief of the Chittagong Council, issued a Proclamation recognising the
jurisdiction of the Chakma Raja over "All the hills from the Pheni River
to the Sangu, and from Nizampur Road to the hills of the Kuki Raja". In
April, 1777 the Chief of Chittagong wrote to the Governor General, Warren
Hastings, complaining that Rono Khan (who was a general of the Chakma Raja) was
"committing great violence on the Company's landholders by exacting
various taxes and making several demands without authority or legality".
In November, 1777 the Chief of Chittagong asked Captain Ellesker, the Commander
of the Twenty- second Battalion of sepoys, to send some of his men to protect
the people from Ronu Khan's ravages. It is interesting to note that many of the
Chakma Rajas had Muslim names and adopted the title Khan though they continued
to be Buddhists and never embraced Islam.
Rono Khan the general of the Chakma
King formally declared war against the British in 1777, the war lasted for ten
years until 1787. In 1784 under instructions from the British authorities Mr
Irwin, who was then the Chief of Chittagong, conducted negotiations with the
representative of the Chakma Raja for a peaceful solution without any success.
The war ended in 1987 when the British had imposed an economic blockade and
forced the Chakma Raja Jan Bakhsh Khan for a negotiated settlement. This was
the begining of the British hegemony over the Chakma Kingdom of Chadigang
(Chittagong).
Source:
http://www.angelfire.com/ab/jumma/bground/early.html