Chakma - Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent. The paribar (family) is the basic kinship unit in Chakma society. Beyond the paribar and bari (homestead), multihousehold compounds are the next widest unit, the members of which may form work groups and help each other in other activities. Next are the hamlets, comprised of a number of bari. They form work groups for Economic activities requiring travel, such as swidden cultivation, fishing, collecting, etc. Hamlet people are organized and led by a leader called the karbari. The village is the next larger group who arrange a few rituals together. Descent among the Chakma is patrilineal. When a woman marries, she leaves her own family and is incorporated into that of her husband. Property is inherited in the male line. Despite the patrilineality, some recognition is given to maternal kin. For example, an individual's mother's family will participate in his or her cremation ceremony.

Kinship Terminology. The patrilineal nature of the Chakma kinship system is partially reflected in the kinship terminology. Thus, different terms are used to address a Father's brother and a mother's brother and to address a Father's sister and a mother's sister. On the other hand, in the grandparental generation the distinction between paternal and maternal kin disappears, with all grandfathers being called aju and all grandmothers nanu. In the first descending generation, there is again no distinction between patrilineal and other types of kin. Thus father's brother's children, Father's sister's children, mother's brother's children, and mother's sister's children are all termed da (male) and di (female).