Wild Races of South-Eastern India by Capt. T. H. Lewin

Capt. T. H. Lewin’s account of the Chittagong Hill Tracts and its peoples, published in London by Wm. H. Allen & Co. in 1870 while he was Deputy Commissioner of the Hill Tracts. Part I describes the country itself — boundaries, rivers, climate, forests and fauna — then the rise of British power there, the old records, Portuguese influence, the revenue system and the standing of the hill chiefs under the British. Part II turns to the hill peoples: clans, religion, festivals, dress, songs, proverbs, marriage and funeral custom, with a chapter on the Chakma covering their origin, a chronological list of chiefs, their language, clans and music, and a further chapter on the Khyoungtha. Lewin says in the introduction that the pages were written day by day among the people during a three years’ sojourn among them.