Introduction / History

The Pangkhua are one of the people groups of the Chittagong Hill Tracts of southeast Bangladesh. Most Pangkhua villages are deep in the jungles of Rangamati district, and many must be reached by boat for most of the year.

What Are Their Lives Like?

The Pangkhua build their houses on top of hills. Their houses are made of bamboo, wood and tin. Their main profession is jhum (slash-and-burn shifting cultivation) farming, but now a few of them are working in local NGOs. The younger generation are becoming more educated than their parents.

Among themselves the Pangkhua speak their own Pangkhua language. They don't have any written materials in their language. With people from other communities they speak local Chittagonian (known as Pahari Chatgaya Vasha). Many of them can also speak Bawm as a second language. Some of them speak the national language Bangla and also neighboring languages such as Tangchangya, Chakma, and Tripura.

What Are Their Beliefs?

Some of the Pangkhua people are now Christian. Since they don't have any written materials in their language they are using Mizo (Lushai) Christian literature.