1. INTRODUCTION This paper concerns about the indigenous people of Chittagong Hill Tracts (2)--the only extensive hilly area located in the south-eastern part of Bangladesh comprising 5,089 square miles (3) and the hill ranges contain limited cultivable land (3.2 percent) (4), most of it of low quality, in contrast to the fertile multi-cropped alluvial plains of Bangladesh. The Hill Tracts hosts about 11 different indigenous communities (5) (Paharis (6)) who are divided into nearly a hundred different sects. These mongoloid populations of this region differ significantly from the mainstream Bengali populations (Bangalis) in terms of physical appearance, language, religion, economy and socio-cultural organizations. It is one of the Asia's most ignored mountainous belts where Southeast Asian meets South Asia, which forms a bridge between Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar) and India (Schendel 2000: 1).
