Mru people

The Mru (မရူစာ; মুরং), also known as the Mro, Murong, Taung Mro, Mrung, and Mrucha, refer to the tribes who live in the border regions between Myanmar (Burma), Bangladesh, and India. The Mru are a sub-group of the Chin people, a few of whom live in western Myanmar. They are also found in the northern Rakhine State. In Bangladesh, they reside in the Chittagong Hills in southeast Bangladesh, primarily in Bandarban District and Rangamati Hill District. In India, they reside in West Bengal. The Mru people are divided into five distinct linguistic and cultural sub-groups: the Anok, Tshüngma, Dömrong, Dopteng, and Rümma. The Mru of Bangladesh and Myanmar are known as the Mro, Mrucha and Taung-Mro, respectively. The Mru claim that their ancestors lived at the source of the Kaladan River, but are unsure about when their people migrated to the region. They have no division of different exogamous clans or groups of clans, nor do they have a chieftain class or a ruling class. The origin of the Mru (Mrucha) people cannot be fully depicted without including the Khami (Khumi) people. Due to frequent invasions by the Shandu and subsequent colonization by the British, the Khumi left their homeland. They emigrated to the hilly regions of the Kaladan River headwaters, and to the Pi Chaung and the Mi Chaung streams in the Arakan Hill Tracts where another group of Khami (Khumi), the Mru and Khumi, lived. According to legend, the hilly region was once ruled by Nga Maung Kadon, who built the barriers which form the waterfalls in all the streams and tributaries connected to the Kalapanzin River. He did this to prevent the escape of a crocodile that had kidnapped his wife. The Khumi tribe defeated the Mrus and ousted them from Arakan. They moved to the Chittagong Hill Tracts some times between the 17th and 18th centuries. Many however believe that this happened in the 14th century. Mrus living in the district of Khagrachari are in fact a clan of the Tripura. There is a linguistic affinity between the two groups of people.