The Chaks ( ), are a community inhabiting the

Chittagong Hill Tracts The Chittagong Hill Tracts (), often shortened to simply the Hill Tracts and abbreviated to CHT, refers to the three hilly districts within the Chittagong Division in southeastern Bangladesh, bordering India and Myanmar (Burma) in the east: Kh ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, northeastern states of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and also in

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

History

By the mid-13th century, the Saks had diverged from the Kadu people, who now reside in northwestern Myanmar's

Sagaing Region Sagaing Region (, ; formerly Sagaing Division) is an administrative divisions of Myanmar, administrative region of Myanmar, located in the north-western part of the country between latitude 21° 30' north and longitude 94° 97' east. It is border ...

. The Chaks entered the

in the 14th century after their kingdom was overrun by the Arakanese. Despite this, there are still Chaks living in

Arakan Arakan ( or ; , ), formerly anglicised as Aracan, is the historical geographical name for the northeastern coastal region of the Bay of Bengal, covering present-day Bangladesh and Myanmar. The region was called "Arakan" for centuries. It is ...

Thet people

The Chak people are called Thet ( in Myanmar. They are considered a subgroup of the Rakhine people under Myanmar's 1982 ethnicity law. According to the

Joshua Project The Joshua Project is an Evangelicalism, evangelical Christian organization based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs, United States, which seeks to coordinate the work of Christian_mission#Contemporary_concepts_of_mission, missionary ...

and Asia Harvest evangelical groups, the population ranges from 5,000 to 29,000. However, community leaders claimed to Arakanese regional media that there were nearly 6,000 ethnic Thet in Myanmar with 3,000-4,000 in

Rakhine State Rakhine State ( ; , ; ), formerly known as Arakan State, is a Administrative divisions of Myanmar, state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady Re ...

alone.Ethnic Thet People Fear a Fading Identity
Development Media Group. July 27, 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chak People Ethnic groups in Bangladesh Ethnic groups in Myanmar Ethnic groups in South Asia