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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).
In 1791 the Board of the East India Company authorised the Collector of
Chittagong to replace the cotton tribute by a cash payment which was
fixed at 1,775 rupees. In 1829 the Commissioner of Chittagong, Mr Halbed.
in his report clearly stated:
"The hill tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts are not British subjects,
but merely tributaries, and we have no rights on our part to interfere with
their internal arrangements".
Sources:
- All That Glisters: by M.K. Khisha
- The Chittagong Hill Tracts: Militarization, Oppression and Hill Tribes, Anti Slavery
International, 1984
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