Bangladesh: A young Marma woman smoking a pipe, c.1947

The Marma, also known as Magh or Mog, are Arakanese descendants inhabiting the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh since the Arakan kingdom period in the 16th century AD. In the late 20th century, their population stood at over 210,000. Ethnically related to the Burmese, they are largely followers of Theravada Buddhism. They are the second largest ethnic minority group in Bangladesh. Most Marmas live in the three hill districts of Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachhari.

The headquarter of the Raja or Chief of the Marma society is located at Bandarban, CHT. Marmas speak Arakanese dialect and their language is written in Burmese characters. Marma language belongs to the Burmano-Arakan group within the broad classifications of Tibeto-Burman languages. In recent times, Marmas in urban areas and nearby settlements speak the corrupt local language of Chittagongnian.

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