Two Mro are supposed to have helped Da-Tha-Raza, King of Arakan in his search of the place of the Mahamuni statue.(During the XIIth. Century).

(Mro Image. Taken from website .Chittagong Hill Tracts Bandarban region..)

MRO (a) Lewin writes Mru. They call themselves Mro. Sometimes the Bengalis and the Marma call them lengta, kuki, langye, words with a general meaning which is roughly « wild » and these words are applied, apparently, to all those who are neither Bengalis nor Marma. The word Mro, at the present time, has not yet been met in the inscriptions upon which is based Professor Luce's pamphlet concerning the Peoples of Burma in the XII-XIIIth centuries (cf. Sak). During the XIIth. Century, two Mro are supposed to have helped Da-Tha-Raza, King of Arakan in his search of the place of the Mahamuni statue44 Another Mro would have even been King of Arakan in the XIVth Century45. Such are the informations that one can find in second-hand writings, informations which are not to be accepted without caution. (b) According to the Census of 1901, the Mro number 308 souls in the Chakma Circle and 10.232 in the Bohmong Circle, that is to say 10.540 for the whole of Chittagong Hill Tracts46, It is difficult to subscribe the accuracy of this number. For, when the Census was counting 10.232 Mro in the Bohmong Circle, it was counting 21.779 Marma in the same area. But this date : 1901, is not so far from us, and there are still living persons, in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, who can remember that time : none, among those who have been consulted, could imagine that, fifty years ago, the Marma's number were only double of the Mro's number. Nowadays, the Mro living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts might be numbered up to a few thousands : 4.000 to 8.000 (?). In his book, printed in 1869, Lewin estimated their number at 1.500 souls. (c) Most of the Mro live in Akyab district in Arakan and Hill Tracts District, in Burma. The Censuses of 1921 and 193147 estimate they are roughly 14.000. In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, they are to be found mainly in the South, apparently they do not go northwards further than the Sangu river; they dwell far from the rivers, on the top of the hills, mainly the hills where the tributaries of the Matamuri river are flowing from. We have visited Mro villages in the Tanchi Mauza (N°362) and in the Shwalok Mauza (N°314) The Mro living in this last Mauza are the nearest to Bandarban On Chimbuk Hill, the meteorologic station was held by a Mro villager, whose village was near-by48.

References

 44. San Shwe Bu, 1916, « The Story of Mahamuni », J. of the Burma Res. Soc., 6, 3, p.225-229, 227. 

45. Lewin, 1869, Hill Tracts..p. 92. 

46. Hutchinson, 1906, Accounts..p.29. 

47. 1931, Cesus of India..., Vol. XI, Burma, Part I, Report, p.187.

 48. In this village lived for a while Dr. H. E Kauffmann whose lecture we were extremely glad to hear. This lecture « Megaliths of the Mro, Chittagong Hill Tracts » was delivered at the Intermational Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological sciences, Philadelphia, US.ASeptember, 1956.

Mro Version.

𖩃𖩓𖩑 (𖩒) 𖩍𖩘w𖩊𖩏 w𖩓𖩊𖩀𖩘𖩔 𖩃𖩓𖩑𖩮 𖩕𖩘𖩂 𖩋𖩒𖩍𖩍 𖩕𖩘𖩃𖩔𖩘𖩍𖩗𖩘𖩔 𖩃𖩓𖩑𖩮 𖩔𖩑𖩃𖩘𖩀𖩊𖩃𖩘𖩔 𖩕𖩘 𖩄𖩘𖩏𖩌𖩒𖩍𖩊𖩔 𖩒𖩏𖩅 𖩕𖩘 𖩃𖩒𖩓𖩃𖩒 𖩋𖩒𖩍𖩍 𖩕𖩘𖩃 𖩍𖩘𖩏𖩌𖩀𖩒, 𖩌𖩑𖩌𖩊, 𖩍𖩒𖩏𖩌𖩂𖩘, w𖩑𖩓𖩅𖩔 w𖩊𖩕 𖩒 𖩌𖩘𖩏𖩘𖩓𖩒𖩍 𖩃𖩘𖩒𖩏𖩊𖩏𖩌 w𖩉𖩊𖩋 𖩊𖩔 𖩓𖩑𖩑𖩈𖩍𖩂 « w𖩊𖩍𖩅 » 𖩒𖩏𖩅 𖩕𖩘𖩔𖩘 w𖩑𖩓𖩅𖩔 𖩒𖩓𖩘 𖩒𖩐𖩐𖩍𖩊𖩘𖩅, 𖩒𖩐𖩐𖩒𖩓𖩘𖩏𖩀𖩍𖩂, 𖩀𖩑 𖩒𖩍𖩍 𖩕𖩑𖩔𖩘 w𖩉𖩑 𖩒𖩓𖩘 𖩏𖩘𖩊𖩕𖩘𖩓 𖩄𖩘𖩏𖩌𖩒𖩍𖩊𖩔 𖩏𖩑𖩓 𖩃𖩒𖩓𖩃𖩒𖩮 𖩕𖩘 w𖩑𖩓𖩅 𖩃𖩓𖩑, 𖩒𖩀 𖩕𖩘 𖩐𖩓𖩘𖩔𖩘𖩏𖩀 𖩀𖩊𖩃𖩘, 𖩉𖩒𖩔 𖩏𖩑𖩀 𖩂𖩘𖩀 𖩄𖩘𖩘𖩏 𖩃𖩘𖩀 𖩊𖩏 𖩕𖩘 𖩊𖩏𖩔𖩋𖩓𖩊𖩐𖩀𖩊𖩑𖩏𖩔 𖩑𖩐𖩑𖩏 w𖩉𖩊𖩋 𖩊𖩔 𖩄𖩒𖩔𖩘𖩅 𖩐𖩓𖩑𖩇𖩘𖩔𖩔𖩑𖩓 𖩍𖩑𖩋𖩘𖩔 𖩐𖩒𖩃𖩇𖩍𖩘𖩀 𖩋𖩑𖩏𖩋𖩘𖩓𖩏𖩊𖩏𖩌 𖩕𖩘 𖩐𖩘𖩑𖩐𖩍𖩘𖩔 𖩑𖩇 𖩄𖩑𖩓𖩃𖩒 𖩊𖩏 𖩕𖩘 x𖩊𖩊-x𖩊𖩊𖩊𖩕 𖩋𖩘𖩏𖩀𖩑𖩓𖩊𖩘𖩔 (𖩋𖩇𖩮 𖩔𖩒𖩌)𖩮 𖩅𖩑𖩓𖩊𖩏𖩌 𖩕𖩘 x𖩊𖩊𖩕𖩮 𖩋𖩘𖩏𖩀𖩑𖩓𖩂, 𖩀w𖩑 𖩃𖩓𖩑 𖩒𖩓𖩘 𖩔𖩑𖩐𖩐𖩑𖩔𖩘𖩅 𖩀𖩑 𖩉𖩒𖩗𖩘 𖩉𖩘𖩍𖩐𖩘𖩅 𖩅𖩒-𖩕𖩒-𖩓𖩒𖩋𖩒, 𖩌𖩊𖩏𖩌 𖩑𖩇 𖩒𖩓𖩒𖩌𖩒𖩏 𖩊𖩏 𖩉𖩊𖩔 𖩔𖩘𖩒𖩓𖩋 𖩑𖩇 𖩕𖩘 𖩐𖩍𖩒𖩋𖩘 𖩑𖩇 𖩕𖩘 𖩃𖩒𖩉𖩒𖩃𖩑𖩏𖩊 𖩔𖩀𖩒𖩀𖩑𖩘𖩤𖩤 𖩒𖩏𖩑𖩕𖩘𖩓 𖩃𖩓𖩑 w𖩑𖩑𖩍𖩅 𖩉𖩒𖩗𖩘 𖩘𖩗𖩘𖩏 𖩄𖩘𖩘𖩏 𖩌𖩊𖩏𖩌 𖩑𖩇 𖩒𖩓𖩒𖩌𖩒𖩏 𖩊𖩏 𖩕𖩘 x𖩊𖩗𖩕 𖩋𖩘𖩏𖩀𖩑𖩓𖩂𖩤𖩥𖩮 𖩔𖩑𖩋 𖩒𖩓𖩘 𖩕𖩘 𖩊𖩏𖩇𖩑𖩓𖩃𖩒𖩀𖩊𖩑𖩏𖩔 𖩕𖩒𖩀 𖩑𖩏𖩘 𖩋𖩒𖩏 𖩇𖩊𖩏𖩅 𖩊𖩏 𖩔𖩘𖩋𖩑𖩏𖩅-𖩉𖩒𖩏𖩅 w𖩓𖩊𖩀𖩊𖩏𖩌𖩔, 𖩊𖩏𖩇𖩑𖩓𖩃𖩒𖩀𖩊𖩑𖩏𖩔 w𖩉𖩊𖩋 𖩒𖩓𖩘 𖩏𖩑𖩀 𖩀𖩑 𖩄𖩘 𖩒𖩋𖩋𖩘𖩐𖩀𖩘𖩅 w𖩊𖩕𖩑𖩑𖩀 𖩋𖩖𖩀𖩊𖩑𖩏𖩮 (𖩄) 𖩒𖩋𖩋𖩑𖩓𖩅𖩊𖩏𖩌 𖩀𖩑 𖩕𖩘 𖩋𖩘𖩏𖩔𖩑𖩔 𖩑𖩇 𖩡𖩩𖩠𖩡, 𖩕𖩘 𖩃𖩓𖩑 𖩏𖩑𖩃𖩄𖩘𖩓 𖩣𖩠𖩨 𖩔𖩑𖩑𖩍𖩔 𖩊𖩏 𖩕𖩘 𖩋𖩒𖩌𖩃𖩒 𖩋𖩊𖩓𖩋𖩍𖩘 𖩒𖩏𖩅 𖩡𖩠𖩮𖩢𖩣𖩢 𖩊𖩏 𖩕𖩘 𖩄𖩑𖩉𖩃𖩑𖩏𖩌 𖩋𖩊𖩓𖩋𖩍𖩘, 𖩕𖩒𖩀 𖩊𖩔 𖩀𖩑 𖩔𖩒𖩂 𖩡𖩠𖩮𖩥𖩤𖩠 𖩇𖩑𖩓 𖩕𖩘 w𖩉𖩑𖩍𖩘 𖩑𖩇 𖩋𖩊𖩀𖩀𖩒𖩌𖩑𖩏𖩌 𖩉𖩊𖩍𖩍 𖩀𖩓𖩒𖩋𖩀𖩔𖩤𖩦, 𖩊𖩀 𖩊𖩔 𖩅𖩊𖩇𖩇𖩊𖩋𖩑𖩍𖩀 𖩀𖩑 𖩔𖩑𖩄𖩔𖩋𖩓𖩊𖩄𖩘 𖩕𖩘 𖩒𖩋𖩋𖩑𖩓𖩒𖩋𖩂 𖩑𖩇 𖩕𖩊𖩔 𖩏𖩑𖩃𖩄𖩘𖩓𖩮 𖩇𖩑𖩓, w𖩉𖩘𖩏 𖩕𖩘 𖩋𖩘𖩏𖩔𖩑𖩔 w𖩒𖩔 𖩋𖩑𖩑𖩏𖩀𖩊𖩏𖩌 𖩡𖩠𖩮𖩢𖩣𖩢 𖩃𖩓𖩑 𖩊𖩏 𖩕𖩘 𖩄𖩑𖩉𖩃𖩑𖩏𖩌 𖩋𖩊𖩓𖩋𖩍𖩘, 𖩊𖩀 w𖩒𖩔 𖩋𖩑𖩑𖩏𖩀𖩊𖩏𖩌 𖩢𖩡𖩮𖩧𖩧𖩩 𖩃𖩒𖩓𖩃𖩒 𖩊𖩏 𖩕𖩘 𖩔𖩒𖩃𖩘 𖩒𖩓𖩘𖩒𖩮 𖩄𖩑𖩀 𖩕𖩊𖩔 𖩅𖩒𖩀𖩘 : 𖩡𖩩𖩠𖩡, 𖩊𖩔 𖩏𖩑𖩀 𖩔𖩑 𖩇𖩒𖩓 𖩇𖩓𖩑𖩃 𖩑𖩔, 𖩒𖩏𖩅 𖩕𖩘𖩓𖩘 𖩒𖩓𖩘 𖩔𖩀𖩊𖩍𖩍 𖩍𖩊𖩗𖩊𖩏𖩌 𖩐𖩘𖩓𖩔𖩑𖩏𖩔, 𖩊𖩏 𖩕𖩘 𖩋𖩊𖩀𖩀𖩒𖩌𖩑𖩏𖩌 𖩉𖩊𖩍𖩍 𖩀𖩓𖩒𖩋𖩀𖩔, w𖩉𖩑 𖩋𖩒𖩏 𖩓𖩘𖩃𖩘𖩃𖩄𖩘𖩓 𖩕𖩒𖩀 𖩀𖩊𖩃𖩘 : 𖩏𖩑𖩏𖩘, 𖩒𖩃𖩑𖩏𖩌 𖩕𖩑𖩔𖩘 w𖩉𖩑 𖩉𖩒𖩗𖩘 𖩄𖩘𖩘𖩏 𖩋𖩑𖩏𖩔𖩑𖩍𖩀𖩘𖩅, 𖩋𖩑𖩑𖩍𖩅 𖩊𖩃𖩒𖩌𖩊𖩏𖩘 𖩕𖩒𖩀, 𖩇𖩊𖩇𖩀𖩂 𖩂𖩘𖩒𖩓𖩔 𖩒𖩌𖩑, 𖩕𖩘 𖩃𖩒𖩓𖩃𖩒𖩔 𖩏𖩑𖩃𖩄𖩘𖩓 w𖩘𖩓𖩘 𖩑𖩏𖩍𖩂 𖩅𖩑𖩑𖩄𖩍𖩘 𖩑𖩇 𖩕𖩘 𖩃𖩓𖩑𖩔 𖩏𖩑𖩃𖩄𖩘𖩓𖩮 𖩏𖩑w𖩒𖩅𖩒𖩂𖩔, 𖩕𖩘 𖩃𖩓𖩑 𖩍𖩊𖩗𖩊𖩏𖩌 𖩊𖩏 𖩕𖩘 𖩋𖩊𖩀𖩀𖩒𖩌𖩑𖩏𖩌 𖩉𖩊𖩍𖩍 𖩀𖩓𖩒𖩋𖩀𖩔 𖩃𖩊𖩈𖩀 𖩄𖩘 𖩏𖩑𖩃𖩄𖩘𖩓𖩘𖩅 𖩑𖩐 𖩀𖩑 𖩒 𖩇𖩘w 𖩕𖩑𖩑𖩔𖩒𖩏𖩅𖩔 : 𖩤𖩮𖩠𖩠𖩠 𖩀𖩑 𖩨𖩮𖩠𖩠𖩠 (?)𖩮 𖩊𖩏 𖩉𖩊𖩔 𖩄𖩑𖩑𖩌, 𖩐𖩓𖩊𖩏𖩀𖩘𖩅 𖩊𖩏 𖩡𖩨𖩦𖩩, 𖩍𖩘w𖩊𖩏 𖩘𖩔𖩀𖩊𖩃𖩒𖩀𖩘𖩅 𖩕𖩘𖩊𖩓 𖩏𖩑𖩃𖩄𖩘𖩓 𖩒𖩀 𖩡𖩮𖩥𖩠𖩠 𖩔𖩑𖩑𖩍𖩔𖩮 (𖩋) 𖩃𖩑𖩔𖩀 𖩑𖩇 𖩕𖩘 𖩃𖩓𖩑 𖩍𖩊𖩗𖩘 𖩊𖩏 𖩒𖩌𖩂𖩒𖩄 𖩅𖩊𖩔𖩀𖩓𖩊𖩋𖩀 𖩊𖩏 𖩒𖩓𖩒𖩌𖩒𖩏 𖩒𖩏𖩅 𖩉𖩊𖩍𖩍 𖩀𖩓𖩒𖩋𖩀𖩔 𖩅𖩊𖩔𖩀𖩓𖩊𖩋𖩀, 𖩊𖩏 𖩄𖩑𖩓𖩃𖩒𖩮 𖩕𖩘 𖩋𖩘𖩏𖩔𖩑𖩔𖩘𖩔 𖩑𖩇 𖩡𖩩𖩢𖩡 𖩒𖩏𖩅 𖩡𖩩𖩣𖩡𖩤𖩧 𖩘𖩔𖩀𖩊𖩃𖩒𖩀𖩘 𖩕𖩘𖩂 𖩒𖩓𖩘 𖩓𖩑𖩑𖩈𖩍𖩂 𖩡𖩤𖩮𖩠𖩠𖩠𖩮 𖩊𖩏 𖩕𖩘 𖩋𖩊𖩀𖩀𖩒𖩌𖩑𖩏𖩌 𖩉𖩊𖩍𖩍 𖩀𖩓𖩒𖩋𖩀𖩔, 𖩕𖩘𖩂 𖩒𖩓𖩘 𖩀𖩑 𖩄𖩘 𖩇𖩑𖩑𖩏𖩅 𖩃𖩆𖩂𖩏𖩍𖩂 𖩊𖩏 𖩕𖩘 𖩔𖩑𖩑𖩕, 𖩒𖩐𖩐𖩒𖩓𖩘𖩏𖩀𖩍𖩂 𖩕𖩘𖩂 𖩅𖩑 𖩏𖩑𖩀 𖩌𖩑 𖩏𖩑𖩓𖩕w𖩒𖩓𖩅𖩔 𖩇𖩑𖩓𖩕𖩘𖩓 𖩕𖩒𖩏 𖩕𖩘 𖩔𖩒𖩏𖩌𖩑 𖩓𖩊𖩗𖩘𖩓; 𖩕𖩘𖩂 𖩅w𖩘𖩍𖩍 𖩇𖩒𖩓 𖩇𖩓𖩑𖩃 𖩕𖩘 𖩓𖩊𖩗𖩘𖩓𖩔, 𖩑𖩏 𖩕𖩘 𖩀𖩑𖩐 𖩑𖩇 𖩕𖩘 𖩉𖩊𖩍𖩍𖩔, 𖩃𖩆𖩂𖩏𖩍𖩂 𖩕𖩘 𖩉𖩊𖩍𖩍𖩔 w𖩉𖩘𖩓𖩘 𖩕𖩘 𖩀𖩓𖩊𖩄𖩑𖩀𖩒𖩓𖩊𖩘𖩔 𖩑𖩇 𖩕𖩘 𖩃𖩒𖩀𖩒𖩃𖩑𖩓𖩊 𖩓𖩊𖩗𖩘𖩓 𖩒𖩓𖩘 𖩇𖩍𖩑w𖩊𖩏𖩌 𖩇𖩓𖩑𖩃𖩮 w𖩘 𖩉𖩒𖩗𖩘 𖩗𖩊𖩔𖩊𖩀𖩘𖩅 𖩃𖩓𖩑 𖩗𖩊𖩍𖩍𖩒𖩌𖩘𖩔 𖩊𖩏 𖩕𖩘 𖩀𖩒𖩏𖩋𖩊 𖩃𖩖𖩋𖩒 (𖩏°𖩣𖩦𖩢) 𖩒𖩏𖩅 𖩊𖩏 𖩕𖩘 𖩔𖩉w𖩒𖩍𖩑𖩌 𖩃𖩖𖩋𖩒 (𖩏°𖩣𖩡𖩤) 𖩕𖩘 𖩃𖩓𖩑 𖩍𖩊𖩗𖩊𖩏𖩌 𖩊𖩏 𖩕𖩊𖩔 𖩍𖩒𖩔𖩀 𖩃𖩖𖩋𖩒 𖩒𖩓𖩘 𖩕𖩘 𖩏𖩘𖩒𖩓𖩘𖩔𖩀 𖩀𖩑 𖩄𖩒𖩏𖩅𖩒𖩓𖩄𖩒𖩏 𖩑𖩏 𖩋𖩊𖩃𖩄𖩑𖩌 𖩉𖩊𖩍𖩍, 𖩕𖩘 𖩃𖩘𖩀𖩘𖩑𖩓𖩑𖩍𖩑𖩌𖩊𖩋 𖩔𖩀𖩒𖩀𖩊𖩑𖩏 w𖩒𖩔 𖩉𖩘𖩍𖩅 𖩄𖩂 𖩒 𖩃𖩓𖩑 𖩗𖩊𖩍𖩍𖩒𖩌𖩘𖩓, w𖩉𖩑𖩔𖩘 𖩗𖩊𖩍𖩍𖩒𖩌𖩘 w𖩒𖩔 𖩏𖩘𖩒𖩓-𖩄𖩂𖩤𖩨𖩮 (By Aksharamukha App translation)

Observer By Elisha Mro.

September, 1956.