Journal of Cultural Geography

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Tracking local dwelling changes in the Chittagong

Hills: perspectives on vernacular architecture

Dilshad Rahat Ara & Mamun Rashid

To cite this article: Dilshad Rahat Ara & Mamun Rashid (2016) Tracking local dwelling changes in
the Chittagong Hills: perspectives on vernacular architecture, Journal of Cultural Geography, 33:2,
229-246, DOI: 10.1080/08873631.2016.1159020

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/08873631.2016.1159020

Published online: 26 Apr 2016.

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JOURNAL OF CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY, 2016
VOL. 33, NO. 2, 229–246
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08873631.2016.1159020

CREATIVE MAPPINGS

Tracking local dwelling changes in the Chittagong

Hills: perspectives on vernacular architecture
Dilshad Rahat Araa and Mamun Rashidb
a
Department of Architectural Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United
Arab Emirates; bDepartment of Architectural Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah,
United Arab Emirates

ABSTRACT
Historically, geographers, anthropologists and colonial British administrators
(1860–1947) frequently mentioned two ethno-geographical categories –
khoungtha and toungtha – when referring to the tribal groups in the
Chittagong Hills of Bangladesh. Some of these early works considered the
livelihood patterns of these groups and the nature of their social and
economic interactions. However, a discussion of the changes to their
vernacular built environment has escaped any serious investigation. Using
empirical findings, this article examines the changes to architectural practices
of lowland and highland groups in the socially and ethnically complex region
of the Chittagong Hills. Narrowing the discussion to the toungtha Mru ethnic
group, this article also examines religious patterns, building techniques and
spatial changes in a remotely placed, relatively inaccessible part of the hills
where the built environment is still a strong cultural priority.

KEYWORDS Topography; ethnic vernacular architecture; history and geography; Bangladesh

Introduction
The mountainous Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) typify the main topographi-
cal frontier of largely deltaic Bangladesh. This frontier – at the southeast of
Bangladesh – shares hilly borders with Myanmar on the south and southeast,
India on the north and northeast and the Chittagong district of Bangladesh on
the west. Not only is its hilly and rugged terrain unique to Bangladesh, the
Tracts also rank among the most ethno-linguistically complex regions (Roy
2012).
CHT is home to 11 indigenous groups, often historically referred to as
“tribes”. The hill population is roughly estimated at 1.4 million, making up
only 1.1% of the country’s total (CHTDB 2016). The minority tribes of the
CHT are sharply distinct from the flatland dwellers or Bengali1 of Bangladesh.
Interestingly, the indigenous groups also foster interethnic cultural differences

CONTACT Dilshad Rahat Ara dilshadrara@yahoo.com.au

© 2016 JCG Press, Oklahoma State University
230 D. R. ARA AND M. RASHID

among themselves, often associated with differences in physical geography.

The bearing of hill topography on cultural categories such as valley/river
groups and high mountain groups was first penned by colonial British officials
in the region (Lewin 1869; Hutchinson 1906). After the partition of India
in 1947, Western historians and anthropologists (Bernot and Bernot 1957;
Bessaignet 1958; Rajput 1965; Mey 1980; Brauns and Löffler 1990) some of
whom occasionally visited this region, casually mentioned this categorization
in their works. In the 1960s, this geographic categorization was revisited by geo-
grapher Sopher (1964), who sought to understand agricultural methods and
social changes. Our interest in cultural patterns and changes in highland and
lowland groups, with a focus on tribal vernacular dwellings, mirrors these
earlier developments in historic ethnographic and geographical research.
Theoretically, this brief paper draws on the notion of vernacular dwellings
from discussions set forth by Oliver (1997), Rapoport (1969), Prussin (1969)
and Bourdier AlSayyad (1989), where culture and environment have pre-emi-
nence. Nonetheless, we foreground local architecture, outside normative par-
ameters of cultural mapping, by including topography as a particularly
dynamic environmental reference. This reference is utilized to understand
cultural building acts, as well as patterns and dynamics of acculturation.
This paper has two objectives. The first is to revisit the significance of topo-
graphy and its utilization in historically framed cultural genres, drawing on
earlier sources and older ethnographic narratives. In our view, these historical
emphases are still relevant in understanding cultural preservation, patterns
and shifts concerning CHT. The second objective is to understand evolving
tribal dwelling patterns and their relationship to recent shifts in livelihood
patterns (dry rice/jhum cultivation to wet rice/plough cultivation).
However, our findings are offered tentatively because this is a hilly area
that has for long remained very isolated and understudied, having been rela-
tively cut off from the outside world not only by its exceptionally rugged
terrain but also by tense political relations with the central nation-state of
Bangladesh.2
To study the vernacular architecture in this region, we use visual docu-
ments (graphics and images) supplemented with interpretive-ethnographic
written notes (Ara 2006). The ethnographic and architectural findings draw
upon fieldwork conducted in 10 hamlets in Bandarban, the southernmost dis-
trict of the CHT (Figure 1).
During our study, we used participant observation, interviews, photogra-
phy, measured drawings (on-site), sketches and other forms of visual notes.
Semi-structured interviews were audio recorded in the Marma and Bengali
languages, written down and transcribed off-site. In addition, we also con-
sulted selected anthropological, geographical notes and historical narrations
from secondary sources. We begin this article with a review of the historical
reconstruction of the hill tribes as geographical categories. To better
 JOURNAL OF CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY 231

Figure 1. The CHT and fieldwork locations: detailed map of Bandarban District shows
location of research sites in Ruma, Thanchi and Ali Kadam. Note that CHT is situated
in the southeastern part of Bangladesh. The region shares hilly frontiers with India
and Myanmar. Courtesy Banglapedia, National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh.
232 D. R. ARA AND M. RASHID

understand this, however, we need to introduce a cultivation method that is

common in this area. In fact, no discussion of the CHT would be complete
without a consideration of jhum, a form of shifting or slash-and-burn cultiva-
tion (Figure 2(a)).3
Jhum is an upland agricultural practice that distinguishes the CHT from
the rest of Bangladesh. In the past, this cultivation method used to account
for one-third of agricultural land use in Southeast Asia (Conklin 1954;
Rasul and Thapa 2003).
Jhum cultivation involves clearance of vegetation by cutting and burning,
temporary cultivation of crops in the cleared area and abandonment of the

Figure 2. Geography of hills and plains. Photographs by Mamun Rashid. (a) Hill Tracts
under jhum cultivation. Photo shows mountain slopes being cleared for jhum cultivation
in Alikadam (Bandarban), CHT. Note that white patches on hill slopes show land cleared
for jhum. (b) Flat land under plough cultivation. A typical rural landscape of Bangladesh.
(c) A hill settlement (para) of stilt dwellings of the ethnic people, Bandarban. (d) A court-
yard dwelling type of Bengali peasants – typical in flood plains of Bangladesh.
 JOURNAL OF CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY 233

plot by allowing a fallow period for the soil to recuperate. The jhum/swidden
cultivators need to constantly search for new patches of land. This requires the
hill dwellings to be of a semi-permanent nature, to enable a certain degree of
movement and relocation (Rashid and Ara 2015). Jhum is associated with very
low population densities (Jacobs et al. 1990; Sponsel 2000). In addition, wet
rice/plough cultivation was introduced much later in the CHT. In contrast
to jhum, however, the plough system has been the typical livelihood practice
of the majority of peasants in the rural flood plains of Bangladesh (Sopher
1964) (Figure 2(b)).
Jhum is not only a distinctive subsistence livelihood, but also implies a total
way of life for the jhumias (people who practice jhum).4 It is surprisingly easy
to connect “economy” with “culture” in the CHT as all activities and represen-
tations by “tribes” – rituals, religious activities, social feasts and building
activities – are intriguingly tied to jhum in an annual cycle. Customarily,
the hill dwellers in the CHT are labelled as the pahari by the Bengali, regard-
less of whether they live in the high hills or the low hills.5 Pahari is also a
metonym for jhumia, including the Chakma, Marma, Tripura, Tanchangya/
Tangchangya, Lushai, Pankhua, Bawm, Mru (Mro), Kheyang, Khumi and
Chak. These groups are undoubtedly the earlier inhabitants of the region
and are considered the indigenous people of the CHT (Adnan and Dastidar
2011).

Of highlanders and lowlanders – the mosaic of the hill tribes

Early British administrators, ethnologists and anthropologists who worked in
the CHT struggled to make sense of an ethnic mosaic of apparently similar but
yet “different” people and their customs (Brauns and Löffler 1990, p. 36; Gain
2000, p. 9). Historically, one of the most standard means for making sense of
these cultural differences was to “place” the ethnic groups into geographical
categories based on interethnic cultural preferences. Lewin (1869) was the
first British administrator to write about this cultural divide between the
upland and lowland groups.6 He observed that the pahari preferred to differ-
entiate among themselves based on the topographic nature of the lands they
occupied and their system of cultivation. The toungtha group, or “children of
the hills”, contrasted with the khyoungtha group or “children of the river”, as
they showed greater preference for high hills compared to river bottoms or
lower ranges (Lewin 1869, p. 28; Mackenzie 1979, pp. 329–330).7 However,
this archaic classification has a far-reaching bearing; more than a geographic
distinction, over a span of time, the highland–lowland dichotomy played an
important role in cultural identity formation. And in the twenty-first
century, it still forms a tool for assessing progress or development in the
CHT when it comes to these two geographic-cultural categories. As Lewin
(1869) observed:
234 D. R. ARA AND M. RASHID

Throughout the whole of the Hill Tracts I know no single instance of hill man
cultivating with the plough; indeed it is rare to find a man earning his livelihood
on any other way save by jhum culture. (p. 13)

Since Lewin wrote, a large number of the Chakma, Marma and the Tippera
(Tripura) – the three largest and most powerful of the tribes within the
khyoungtha – have shifted to the plains. Over the years, they have also
changed their livelihood from dry rice agriculture to that of the irrigated
plough type. Historically, living close to the plains/flat land, the river
groups in particular, were more influenced by the so-called elite cultures of
Bengal and Arakan.8 It is reasonable to say that such broader contact with
the states left a stronger incentive for changes and negotiations.9 In compari-
son, the toungtha – smaller groups of pahari – are relatively conservative and
appear uncompromising in efforts to retain their cultural identity. The high-
land/mountain toungtha culture remains preeminently un-urbanized and
alienated from the powerful cash economy-driven dynamics of nation-
states. Most toungtha continue to practice jhum in the rugged and inaccessible
part of the hills. Their dwelling landscapes are picturesque. Here, the tra-
ditional prototypical stilt dwelling form appears best preserved (Figure 2(c)).
The way in which geographic forces operate in shaping or modifying the
dwellings and habitations of the two genres is a point of investigative interest
in the remaining part of the paper. This topic we introduce with a review and
discussion of changes in cultivation methods, including a consideration of
topography and its effect on valley dwellings. Then, we describe highland
built settings, drawing on the findings of a toungtha case study.

Historic patterns of change in dwellings

Once all hillmen were jhumias living in elevated dwellings locally known as
machan ghars or elevated houses (Lewin 1869, pp. 13–15).10 This is no
longer the case as previously noted in conjunction with the khyoungtha’s
current vernacular landscape. Here, the built form is rapidly changing from
the historic type. Together with that, other changes have occurred in the cul-
tural sphere as well. Indeed, geographical proximity to the plains culture,
sedentary lifestyle and a surplus economy – a by-product of the market
economy – assist the process of assimilation and the borrowing of tangible
and intangible cultural features from the plains or Bengali culture to the
valley culture.
A number of early writers mentioned the impact of plains cultures on the
valley group; for instance, on dialects, rituals and religion. Lewin’s (1869) clas-
sical records mentioned the influence of Hinduism on the religious frame-
work of Buddhism of the Chakma group through acculturation. In turn,
others have also noted additional influences (Bessaignet 1958, p. 18; Gain
 JOURNAL OF CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY 235

1995, p. 19; Chowdhury 2001, p. 51).11 From a geographical viewpoint,

Sopher (1964) presented more detailed accounts of the influence of the
plains culture on the valley and mountain culture, through analysis of two
economic systems in the Chittagong Hills. His examination of hill geography
demonstrated how eventually the new political, economic and technological
circumstances linked to wet rice cultivation induced complementary social
and cultural adjustments in the corresponding ethnic lifestyles (Sopher
1964, p. 125). He also attempted to understand generic dwelling forms and
settlement patterns of the valley and the mountain groups.
As an inevitable result of close proximity to the flat land or plains, the
khyoungtha had a different experience with the formal, state-sponsored devel-
opment policies targeted to lift the status of pre-independence Bangladesh
(then East Pakistan) out of impoverishment (Brauns and Löffler 1990,
p. 40).12 Perennial influence by the culture and polity of the plains-dwelling
groups has resulted in physical and spatial adaptations and diffusions in the
khyoungtha’s built landscape. A number of hybrid features are illustrative
of these changes, but to understand them a brief introduction to the typical
peasant house of the plains dwelling is warranted (Figure 3(a)).
In Bangladesh, a rural plains dwelling consists of a cluster of isolated struc-
tures or huts built around a courtyard where each hut signifies a specific func-
tion such as sleeping, cooking or living. Each hut is elevated on a mud plinth
about half a meter from the ground to protect from monsoon downpour. In
the hills, however, independent detached houses are significantly different.
Hill dwellings are raised on bamboo or timber stilts and have a distinct
three-tiered division consisting of an underfloor, habitable middle floor and
an attic (Figure 4(a)).
The stark contrast in dwelling types does not escape even a casual observer.
As an example, one report from 1918 states that “any comparison with the
house of plainsman is impossible” (quoted in Ishaq 1971, p. 117). However,
eventually valley stilt dwelling culture changed, in parallel with socio-econ-
omic changes.
A hybrid vernacular prototype can be traced in the evolving valley archi-
tecture in its early contact phase. This type was perhaps more common
among the Chakma rural elite rather than Chakma peasant commoners.
The hybrid goodam house (literally a “store house”) is a fine example which
demonstrates the fusion of lowland, flatland and highland features (Figure
4(b)).13 This category survived as a transitional dwelling form among the
groups inhabiting the valleys. Erected on a raised mud platform (in place of
an elevated platform on bamboo stilts) with mud walls and roofs of corru-
gated iron sheets, swing-type wooden doors and windows, the goodam
house has a notched tree ladder to reach the raised level and a separate
stilted work platform. A kitchen and a storage room for agricultural products
are also constructed as adjuncts. Contrary to an observation made in an earlier
236 D. R. ARA AND M. RASHID

Figure 3. Contacts and exchanges between the hills and the plains. Photographs and
sketch by Dilshad Ara. (a) Typical courtyard layout of a Bengali rural dwelling. Adapted
with permission from Ahmed (2012). (b) Layout of a contemporary valley dwelling in
CHT showing current use of internal court (uthan), borrowed from the Bengali courtyard
dwelling. (c) A scene from a weekly bazaar captured during the fieldwork. On the bazaar
day, hill people trade in hill products with the Bengali and in exchange get essentials
such as oil, salt and metal products. Bartering for essential goods not produced by the
ethnic groups is a historic practice. Contrary to the perception of “isolation”, historical
trade relations and exchange records demonstrate a long history of contact and cultural
diffusion between the plains and the hill cultures.

account, one might argue here that despite a few similarities in the layout of
platform/stilt dwelling (machan ghar), the transitional goodam house, in
material selection, construction technique and independent building features,
shows noticeable borrowing of building practices from the plains-dwelling
groups (see Khan and Choudhuri 1965, pp. 29–30).14
As swidden agriculture changes to wet rice cultivation and more work takes
place away from home, inevitably the open platform15 loses much of its sig-
nificance. It shifts from its earlier frontal location and is placed as an adjunct
rather than an integral feature of the archetypal dwelling form. The spatial
sequence is changed as access in this case is from the semi-open verandah,
rather than from the open-elevated work platform/stilted terrace. A
 JOURNAL OF CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY 237

Figure 4. Changes in valley and highland dwellings. Photographs and sketch by Dilshad
Ara. (a) A prevailing Mru stilt dwelling. Photo illustrative of a distinct three-tiered elev-
ated dwelling type. The machan – the semi-enclosed elevated terrace – is at the
front. (b) A valley form in transition – Chakma goodam type dwelling – showing
changes with acculturation, after Khan and Choudhuri (1965).

changed lifestyle of sedentary living fashioned by market economy thus found

an acceptable solution in this type of transitional dwelling. The acculturation
process is traceable in a modified set of spatio-physical solutions, as illustrated
below.
Traditionally, the space in a hill dwelling serves multiple functions with a
temporal dimension attached to it as well. Such space is dynamic; its use
changes over time. These spatial characteristics have changed conspicuously
in the contemporary dwelling types of the three major groups. In valley
cases, with “individualization” and a newly adapted sense of “privacy”, the tra-
ditional open layout follows subdivisions by partitions, resulting in compart-
mentalization of spaces.16 Traditional multifunctional spaces display a greater
tendency to change into mono-functional compartments. In a contemporary
setting, though a percentage of valley dwellings continue to be built on stilts,
replacing the multifunctional “hearth” with a mono-functional cooking
“stove” or accommodating cooking functions in a separate room or compart-
ment tends to be normative solutions.17 The kitchen is now built separately as
an additional block, in a Marma or a Chakma hamlet. This is indeed a much
238 D. R. ARA AND M. RASHID

later shift borrowed from the courtyard houses of the Bengali.18 It is also
interesting to note that although domestic spatial shifts are currently strong
in the valley group, certain historical orders are nonetheless maintained
(e.g. using a ridgepole as a line of reference, as in the mountain type).
Another telling aspect is continuation of the historical naming of dwelling
parts – though uses have changed. The front room is named singkaba in a riv-
erine Chakma dwelling, which basically means “horn place”. This can easily
be referred to as the front room/part of the pagan Khumi/Mru dwelling,
which is traditionally used for the display on posts and bamboo racks,
skulls, horns of animals and trophies from hunts (Sopher 1964). Drawing
on such cognitive uses one might reasonably presume the correspondence
of different hill dwellings (ridge top and valley) to a much older and
ancient elevated mountain typology.
A further change happened when the stilt or elevated dwellings were con-
verted into a “ground house” in the valley culture. In this case, a mud plinth
replaces the platform whereas the vertical walls/enclosures are of mud or
bamboo. The notched wooden ladder is omitted. The traditional layout and
the names of the component parts of the house are maintained. The work
platform – an indispensable feature of an archaic layout – loses its signifi-
cance. This shifts from the archetypal front position – overlooking the
central meandering street – and is spatially weakened and degenerated into
a part of the service (kitchen) at the back of the dwelling.19 Although stilt
dwellings have not completely died out in valley culture, many valley peasants
are now living in courtyard-type dwellings. These dwellings consist of separ-
ate blocks arranged around a central uthan.20 The open to sky court/uthan
now replaces the machan as a connecting transitional space (Figure 3(b)).
In such examples, ways of life, co-related with similar economic practices
across plains and the valley have resulted in the parallel sharing of building
practices.

Persistence, continuity and shifts in mountain dwellings and

landscapes
Steep hills are not suitable for plough cultivation. This factor alone has safe-
guarded much of the vitality of the mountain culture (Gain 2000, p. 14).21 Out
of the 10 hamlets visited in the Bandarban mountainous area during fieldwork
we did not find a single Mru case where the stilt house had been converted
into a prototypical “ground house” or had significant hybrid features in tran-
sition. In formal expression, the house is still distinctively three tiered rather
than horizontally spread out like courtyard houses. The multiuse space is dis-
tinct in the interior where the open floor plan, rather than partitioned space,
dominates. The open hearth and the granary inside the main house remain in
the same location and retain the same geometry of a squarish timber frame
 JOURNAL OF CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY 239

filled with earth (with suspended racks above) and a cylindrical volume
weaved in bamboo strips, as in earlier accounts. The traditional naming of
different parts of the dwelling continues. The implements used in construc-
tion are similar to the ones first recorded by colonial administrator to the
Naga Hills, J.P. Mills, who also visited CHT in 1925 and 1926.22 Building tech-
niques and methods that allow a certain degree of movement and relocation –
a necessary condition of jhum – are preserved, like lashing and clipping
without nails and building with lighter, organic materials (Ara and Rashid
2016). Villagers continue to rely on a nearby forest for building materials.
Almost all houses are made from bamboo and timber. Communal help is
sought when construction and renovations are needed, though a Mru in par-
ticular is inspired to be the main builder. In some cases, the villagers are chan-
ging roofing materials from thatch to galvanized iron sheets, but these are
random. These hamlets are also located in relatively lower altitudes or close
to river or transportation nodes. Life still revolves around jhum activities in
all hamlets, however, some farming and gardening activities are also observed.
There is a strong tendency to maintain traditional building culture, as
noted over a larger area in Bandarban. Yet there are also changes to the moun-
tain vernaculars. Interestingly, these are more visible on the landscape and in
settlements rather than in individual dwellings. This change in the spatial
character of the settlement or hamlet layouts strongly corresponds to the
shifts in ritual belief, with consequences for social institutions.23 Sopher’s
earlier observation on the Lushai is salient on this:
Since then (early in the last century), the Lushai and many neighbouring
Pankhua have adopted Christianity as a result of Baptist missionary activity.
With it has come a radical change in many aspects of culture and technology.
The keeping of gayal (Bos frontalis, the mithan of Assam) for sacrifice at feasts,
which distinguishes the pagan mountain people from the valley folk has lapsed
in the new Christian villages, as have the preparation and consumption of zu, or
rice beer, and the institution of bachelor houses … (1964, p. 113)

Religious shifts were also observed in sporadic Mru cases. Since Christian mis-
sionary activity actively started in the Bandarban in 1872 (Hutchinson 1906),
neither Christianity nor Islam24 has had any significant impact on the Mru.
Even earlier predictions on possible shifts in Mru spirituality toward Bud-
dhism have not occurred as speculated.25 Although recent studies reveal
that only a very small section of the Mru may have embraced Christianity,
our fieldwork suggests that what is rapidly gaining acceptance and popularity
as a “new” religion is not any solely universalistic belief but a reinvented sym-
bolic framework based on spiritual practices, called “Kramaism” (Rafi and
Chowdhury 2001).26 The hybrid spirituality leans on the concept of high
god Turai as the only creator. Interestingly, Turai already holds an ancient
place as an otiose god in the “pagan” belief and myths of the Mru.27
240 D. R. ARA AND M. RASHID

Kramaism requires a routine form of prayers to be performed at a religious

structure named kyang which is a separate construction and a point of visual
focus in the landscape. Although traditionally in mountain hamlets separate
religious structures were absent, a few settlements now have these structures.
This detached structure on stilts is located at a higher altitude than a hamlet/
settlement.28 In the past, a separate house of religion had been mentioned as
khiong by Lewin (1869) and khyong by Hutchinson (1906); this type of sep-
arate religious structure was historically noted to be common among the
khyoungtha(/sa), as among the Chakma and Marma, but never among the
toungtha(/sa). Traditionally, this was also a structure built on stilts (Lewin
1869, p. 39; Hutchinson 1906, p. 124). In these limited upland cases, the
overall findings indicate a loss of meaning in ritual significance of the
natural landscape or dwelling. The dwelling itself and open natural landscapes
were once dominant ritualized spaces for the highlanders. This tradition
appears to be changing in the emergence of new symbolism. Confronting
the past tradition, this change opts for separately enclosed mono-functional
dedicated structures to the neglect of traditional spaces and designs resulting
in loss of building heritage.
Go-hotta (cattle sacrifice) is prohibited by the Mru who have converted to
this the adapted religion (Figure 5). These changed beliefs have predictable
consequences on the built landscape. The transformation of religious beliefs
also tends to redefine the scale of the meandering court, constricting it. As
observed during the fieldwork, these settlements are now more densely popu-
lated (Ara 2006). This change is logical as elaborate preparations for

Figure 5. Rearing of gayals is still a living tradition among most mountain Mru. However,
some changes to this practice are also noted. These semi-feral animals are mostly reared
to be sacrificed in the rituals. In this photograph, a Mru (karbari of the hamlet) is feeding
salt to gayals in Bandarban. Photograph by Mamun Rashid.
 JOURNAL OF CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY 241

communally performed large-scale ceremonies (e.g. go-hotta) are no longer

sustained within the new belief.29 As religious beliefs are changing, this is gen-
erating a shift in the social behavioral pattern. The social institutions which
thrive on elaborate rituals and communal functions promoting social cohe-
siveness are subsequently partially negotiated. Although such shifts are still
sporadic, acceptance of a new threshold for socio-spatial shifts is already in
the process of generating an emerging settlement layout.

Conclusion
We identified a close correspondence between changes in cultural practices,
including vernacular architecture and topographical distinctions in the Chit-
tagong Hills. The highlanders (indigenous people belonging to a small group
like the Mru) who are subsistence farmers and practice jhum seem relatively
more culturally conservative. The slow pace of changes in dwelling design,
and the tendency to continue their building traditions reflects this. On the
other hand, in the lowland/valley, the largest of the “tribes” (e.g. Chakma,
Marma and Tripura) that have gradually shifted to plough cultivation are
in continuous contact with the peoples of the plains and the related cash-
based dynamics of the nation-state of Bangladesh. Here, the pace of change
is faster and the culture more assimilative. Interactions among the hill and
plains dwellers or Bengali have resulted in interesting hybrid forms in
valley regions, and finally in “ground houses” that reflect flat land building
practices. In contrast, the elevated or machan houses still persist robustly in
the highlands.
In the CHT, topography is important in understanding the patterns and
pace of cultural changes. The possibility of a shift from jhum to plough culti-
vation strongly corresponds to topography as jhum cannot be practiced on flat
land in the CHT. Overall, the findings indicate that topography is relevant to
an understanding of the broad pattern of cultural and architectural changes in
the Chittagong Hills. Additional findings suggest that a shift in religion or a
change in worldviews is an independent, intangible catalyst to changes to cul-
tural meanings and spatial constructs in the mountain vernacular (e.g. in the
cases of the mountain Lushai, Pankhua or Krama-Mru). In these instances,
built and open landscapes seem to be changing faster than individual tra-
ditional dwellings.
In the end, it is hoped that our limited findings will help develop an inter-
disciplinary direction for future exploration of changes to the built environ-
ment. An integrated analytical framework – linking topography and
building culture – is invaluable to architects, geographers and anthropologists,
interested in the cultural context of this critical frontier region. Admittedly,
additional grounded, empirical works are required in this context. Though
much remains unexplored in the Chittagong Hills, we may conclude that
242 D. R. ARA AND M. RASHID

historically placed topographical references in conjunction with livelihood

patterns are useful in tracking vernacular architectural changes. These
approaches may also help sustain and direct conservation policy for vulner-
able cultural groups in the CHT whose livelihoods are threatened by
globalization.

Notes
1. Generic name for the mainstream population of Bangladesh. Almost 98%
people of Bangladesh are Bengali. The naming follows the spoken language,
“Bangla”.
2. As compared to other parts of the world, these hilly regions have received little
attention for a number of reasons. During the colonial period, they were
declared “excluded areas” with limited access. After 1947, some regional wars
for independence or autonomy were waged by hill peoples. As a result, national
governments (Burma, India and Bangladesh) were apprehensive of granting
access to these frontier areas to outsiders.
3. See Lewin (1869, p. 28). The word is of Assamese origin. Different ethnic
groups in northeast India such as the Nagas in Assam also use this term for
shifting cultivation. See Jacobs et al. (1990).
4. A generic term once applicable to the swidden/slash-and-burn cultivators only.
5. A generic Bengali term for all hillmen (pahari – from pahar or hill).
6. This dichotomy was not merely a crude colonial assumption or reconstruction
to simplify complex cultural scenes or to give the appearance of substance to
any colonial political agenda. Lewin was also an accomplished ethnographer
who established very close contacts with the hill people.
7. This classification was based on the generic term used by the major ethnic
groups. Both of these words are of Arakanese origin. Khyoung means a river
and toung means a hill in Arakanese dialect.
8. Chittagong Hills were part of Arakan State until 1666 and Bengal State under
the Moghuls until 1760.
9. By land policy, they were also brought under formal administration. The land
laws of the CHT are significantly different from the land laws of the plains dis-
tricts. Swidden or jhum cultivation, which is banned in the plains districts, is
allowed in the CHT. Secondly, usufruct rights of the hill people to unsettled
lands outside the Reserved Forests are recognized in the CHT. This is not
the case in the plains.
10. Parallel to the observation made on the mode of cultivation, Lewin (1869) also
noted that all dwellings of ethnic groups were built on stilts in the Chittagong
Hills, at that period.
11. For a general understanding of acculturation issues including economic
changes affecting the ethnic groups, see Gain (1995). For notes on introduction
of new elements of exchange geared by a shift in economy from subsistence to
commercial, in the Pakistan period (from 1947), see Bessaignet (1958). For
current works on language and religion, see Chowdhury (2001). Also see
Brauns and Löffler (1990, pp. 26–30).
12. For example, when in 1960 Kaptai Dam was constructed – to produce hydro-
electricity for urban areas – it displaced 85,000 people in the Chittagong Hills.
The worst affected were the Chakma people (nearly 70,000 Chakma were
 JOURNAL OF CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY 243

displaced by the development program). See Brauns and Löffler (1990, p. 40).
For a cultural geographic analysis of the dislocation event, see Sopher (1964).
13. A Bengali expression (this implies in the direction of the borrowing trend);
goodam ghar literally means a “storage-house”.
14. For a detailed description of this transitional dwelling, see Khan and Choudhuri
(1965, pp. 29–30). Although the writer claims, “In lay-out [sic] and orientation
there is little difference between a goodam and a platform house”, this is ques-
tionable; the analysis of the plans presented in the same paper clearly points to
some key differences in spatial arrangements other than the physical differences
discussed by the author.
15. Char in the Mru case.
16. This type of transformation is also demonstrated in a wider context. Kent
(1984), for example, argues that use of space, as a matter of cultural organiz-
ation, determines architectural form. She further argues (Kent 1990) that
social complexity in the form of specialization and stratification is expressed
in the increased partitioning and mono-functional uses of spaces in the built
forms.
17. This observation is based on a subsidiary general survey conducted in the valley
settlements, as described in Ara (2006).
18. From interviews with Marma respondents and also noted by Khan and Choud-
huri (1965, p. 28). For instance, the Chakma call the kitchen unit Baus-khana,
which is a corruption of the Bengali/Bangla term Baburchi-khana.
19. See the description of a “ground house” in Khan and Choudhuri (1965, pp. 30–
32), whose discussion focuses only on the dwellings of three major groups in
contact with the plains.
20. A vernacular term used in Bengali/Bangla language, which designates an open
court.
21. Land suitable for wet rice cultivation is only some 100,000 acres or about 3% of
the CHT. A larger proportion of the land is only suitable for horticulture, for-
estry and swidden. See Gain (2000).
22. These rare collections were later disposed to anthropologist Löffler, and were
assembled in the later work by Brauns and Löffler (1990).
23. Broadly, acculturation in the sphere of religion is a later development in the
mountains than in the valley.
24. The mainstream religion practiced in Bangladesh.
25. Hutchinson for instance prophesized that Buddhism would gain popularity
among the Mru in the nineteenth century. Much later Sopher also discusses
(in sporadic cases) the spread of Buddhism among the Mru however this
trend in adopting Buddhism was not strongly noted during fieldwork. See
Hutchinson (1906, p. 166). Also see Sopher, (1964, p. 121).
26. See Rafi and Chowdhury (2001, p. 18); Man Lei Mro – a Mru, founded the reli-
gion in 1985. He also invented script for the Mru people in 1980. According to
the rules of the belief, one must pray to Turai and acknowledge the prophet,
Krong Medi, who is Man Lei Mro. Prayers are performed specially on
Sunday and Tuesday. Clerics are now important leaders in paras where resi-
dents have converted to “Krama”. Besides, these settlements now include
adjunct prayer structures as visual foci in physical landscapes. It can be
pointed out here that the religion was initiated just about the time when
Brauns and Löffler (1990) book on the Mru was published in 1986 in the
244 D. R. ARA AND M. RASHID

German language. As a result, there is no mention of this religion in this

anthropological study.
27. Kramaism is more like a revamped religion. However, informants would be
proud to announce it as a new religion. For information on the historic role
of gods and rituals in the Mru case, see accounts by Hutchinson (1906) and
Lewin (1869).
28. This points to a cognitive imprint, which may have suggestions for associations
of higher places with sacred structures. This is a widespread traditional belief in
Southeast Asia and also in many prehistoric cultures.
29. Indigenous people are occasionally subjected to state enforced “relocation pro-
grams”. Consequently, a number of settlements exhibit random spatial changes.
Here, inevitably, the factors affecting changes such as the optimum number of
families occupying a para, are strictly exogenous.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors
Dilshad Rahat Ara is Assistant Professor in the Department of Architectural Engin-
eering, United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), UAE. She received her doctoral
degree from the Architecture Building and Planning (ABP), the University of Mel-
bourne. Her research interests are in vernacular architecture, history and building
technology.
Mamun Rashid is Assistant Professor in the Department of Architectural Engineer-
ing, University of Sharjah, UAE. Previously he taught as an adjunct faculty at the
UNSW (University of New South Wales), Sydney, Australia. He is also a practicing
architect.

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