An Ethnic House Form at the Western Margins of Southeast Asia: The Elusive South Asian Stilt Architecture of the Chittagong Hill Tracts

Abstract

Descriptive and somewhat elusive, sketchy historical notes exist for possible cultural links between ethnic people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh, South Asia, and ethnic people across the national borders in Southeast Asia. Yet, there is a curious lack of research that uses vernacular architecture or ethnic architectural building typology as a key tool to establish, or reiterate, the common proposition that CHT is the western fringe of a Southeast Asian cultural sphere. Historically, language has been a standard tool used by both colonial British rulers and a few anthropologists to consider the topic of reconstruction of cultural heritage in this geographically complex region, while architecture has played an incidental part. In this article, we examine the stilt or platform typology of vernacular architecture of the CHT as a tool to reflect on the inter-ethnic cultural position of the CHT. The chosen analytical framework hinges on the notion that architecture is constructive, in parallel to language, in establishing a heritage position. The concluding findings of the article establish CHT as a historic region with shared Southeast Asian building-cultural features, notwithstanding the possibility of correspondence to early Austronesian building heritage.

Keywords:

• Building Technology and Culture
• Stilt Architecture
• Austronesian Heritage
• Southeast Asian-Type Vernacular House Form

Notes

1 Shifting or swidden cultivation is a traditional form of highland agricultural practice in the CHT in response to the lack of flat land suitable for intensive agriculture. This practice is known locally as jhum, hence the generic name jumma or jhumia to describe the ethnic people of the area.

2 ‘Bangali’ is also spelt ‘Bengali’ which is a distortion of the native expression.

3 The ethnographic and architectural findings as well as the accompanying images used in this article draw on fieldwork conducted in ten hamlets in Bandarban, the southernmost district of the CHT. Collection of ethnographic and architectural data was done through participant observation involving narrative interviews, photography, measured drawings (on site), sketches and other forms of visual notes. Two Marma interpreters and guides helped in the survey and interview process.

4 Thomas Herbart Lewin (T. H. Lewin) was the first Deputy Commissioner of CHT and acted as an ‘administrator-ethnographer’ to the region. Lewin's (1869) book was the first in-depth account, recording a brief history, the polity, society and language of the ethnic groups, including the geography and flora and fauna of CHT. These records are still considered invaluable as little research has since been grounded in solid ethnographic fieldwork and in situ observation. Reliance on colonial-classical records in relatively new works is inevitable as Löffler (Brauns & Löffler 1990, 22) notes: ‘Lewin’s earlier report may even today be counted among the best and most reliable existing descriptions of the culture of the hill peoples’. Relatively more information is available for the larger valley ethnic groups: Chakma, Marma and Tippera (Tripura).

5 This article is limited by a deliberate focus on architectural elements and features. Ethnographic information related to kinship, clan and social organisation of the Mru can be found in Brauns and Löffler (1990).

6 Debate continues on the exact origin of the ethnic communities in the CHT, however it is established that they are the original inhabitants of the hills. The mainstream Bangali population settled in the hill area much later. Regarding the Mru, anthropologist Löffler (Brauns & Löffler 1990, 34) suggests that they immigrated from Arakan several hundred years ago.

7 The idea of ‘connected histories’ discussed by Subrahmanyam (1997) in relation to the formation of early modern Eurasia has much validity here. Other authors have also discussed this historical connection between South Asia and Southeast Asia (for example, Lockard 2009). In relation to borderlands and their transnational significance for any attempt of historical reconstruction of ethno-cultural landscapes, see Horstmann and Wadley (2006).

8 Löffler (Brauns & Löffler 1990, 28) claims that this script is wrongly classified with the Khmer script of Cambodia, and may be more closely linked to the Burmese language. Chakma language is now classified under the Indo-European language family (see Faquire 2010, 309).

9 As it is commonly referred to in notes on the CHT.

10 The earliest cross-cultural work on pile-built houses in Southeast Asia was undertaken by Nguyen Van Huyen cited in Waterson (1990, 3), but the survey result was inconclusive as it concentrated mostly on floor plans. A subsequent study was undertaken by Clement and Charpentier (1974) cited in Waterson (1990, 3). More recent understanding comes from Waterson (1990) and Knapp (2003).

11 The most recent studies postulate that Austronesian migration began from South Taiwan some 4500 to 5000 years ago during the Neolithic age and through the Philippines and Sulawesi, and from there to the rest of island Southeast Asia and beyond. The Malay Peninsula was then settled in a westward movement around 2500 to 3000 years ago.

12 For example, see Naonori's (Naonori & Keiichiro 2003, 309) critique of French geologist Jaques Pezeu-Massabuau and Heinrich Engel's description of a Japanese house minka as inefficient with regard to bad weather. Naonori stresses that Japanese people prefer to experience seasonal changes despite physical discomfort.

13 Popular terms for vernacular dwellings in different countries.

14 See Waterson (1990, 11–26) for a detailed discussion of Austronesian culture and the possibility of recurring features in this culture.

15 See, for example, Fox (2006).

16 These two shrines are the most venerated ancient religious monuments situated in Honshu Island in Japan.

17 The number of freestanding posts on the shorter axis of the kim-tom is in odd numbers in almost all cases.

18 Widely observed in Indonesia, in the traditional Acehnese house in northern Sumatra; also found in regional variations of the kampong house, such as those found in Negri Sembilan and Malacca.

19 This is recorded in geographically contiguous ethnic areas dispersed by modern state borders.

20 Detailed descriptions of rituals of jhum/agricultural cycles can be found in Brauns and Löffler (1990, 109–141).