Md. Arif Khan
Department of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Mawlana Bhasani Science and Technology University, Santosh-1902, Bangladesh
Md. Khirul Islam
Pharmacy Discipline, Life Science School, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh.
Md. Afjalus Siraj
Pharmacy Discipline, Life Science School, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh.
Sanjib Saha
Pharmacy Discipline, Life Science School, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh.
Apurba Kumar Barman
Pharmacy Discipline, Life Science School, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh.
Khalijah Awang
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Md. Mustafizur Rahman
Pharmacy Discipline, Life Science School, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh.
Jamil A. Shilpi
Centre for Natural Products and Drug, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Rownak Jahan
Department of Biotechnology & Genetic Engineering, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka 1209, Bangladesh
Erena Islam
Department of Pharmacy, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka 1209, Bangladesh.
Mohammed Rahmatullah*
Department of Pharmacy, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka 1209, Bangladesh.
Garo hills, Tribal people, Use value, Informant consensus factor, Fidelity level
Tangail, Mymensingh, Gazipur and Netrakona
Development of Host and Medicinal Plants
Medicinal Plants
Study area: The Garo tribal people can be found in districts north of Dhaak district in Bangladesh. These districts are Tangail, Mymensingh, Gazipur and Netrakona. They speak six dialects of the Mandi language, which are A’tong, Abeng, Brak, Chibok, Dual, and Megam. The Garos can also be found in the the adjacent bordering areas of India like Meghalaya. Most of the Garos are poor and their main occupation is agriculture or agricultutal labourers. In recent years, they are converting in mass numbers to Christianity. The Garos call themselves A-chik Mande, literally meaning the hill people. The Hajongs are also a tribal community living alongside the Garos and can be found in districts like Mymensingh, Sherpur, Sylhet and Netrakona districts in Bangladesh, and Meghalaya in India. They have apparently come to their present region several hundred years ago. The Hajongs are basically a farming community, and by religion close to the Hindus. The Hajongs have their own language but do not have any alphabets. Some hajongs are lately converting to Christianity. In economic terms, like the Garos, most hajongs are poor and their literacy rate is very low. The Bangalees belong to the mainstream population of Bangladesh. They have settled in the present region of survey along side the Garos and Hajongs from as early as 50 to 100 or more years. Their interaction with the Garos and Hajongs has largely been peaceful. Like the Garos and the Hajongs, the Bangalee community is also engaged in farming, and are mostly poor and illiterate. The survey was carried out at Garo hills, Durgapur subdistrict which is under the district of Netrakona in Dhaka division, Bangladesh (Fig. 1). The area of Durgapur is 293.43 sq km. The study area is located in the most northern part of Durgapur, having the coordinates of 25.1250 °N and 90.6875 °E. Durgapur is surrounded by Meghalaya state of India on the north, Purbadhala and Netrakona Sadar on the south, Kalmakanda on the east, and Dhobaura sub-district on the west. The main rivers of this sub-district are Old Someshwari, Kangsa and Someshwari. The Garo valleys and hills are situated in the northern part of this sub-district. The Garo villages in Durgapur where the survey was conducted were Noluapara, Gupalpur, Bhobanipur, Badambari, Farongpara, Dahapara, and Fulbari. The Hajong villages were Gupalpur, Bhobanipur, Badambari, Shamnogor, and Baromari. The villages where the Bangalee communities resided and which were included in the survey were Atrakhali, Noluapara, Baromari, Fanda, and Cholk Lengura. It may be noted that the village of Noluapara contained both Garo and Bangalee communities, while the village of Badambari contained both Garo and Hajong communities, and the village of Baromari contained both Hajong and Bangalee communities. Thus to some extent, the three communities co-resided in the same village, and all the villages fell within Durgapur sub-district and thus were close to or adjacent to each other. As a result, there was a large amount of crosscultural relationships between the three communities. Government establishments are the only health facilities provided for inhabitants of Durgapur which include one health complex, one health center and seven family planning centers. However, such establishments lack adequate facilities and trained medical professionals. Geologically all part of the study area is almost identical. Topographically, the study area is characterized by its large hillocks, known as tilla. The soil pH fluctuates from 6 to 6.5. This area is located in the semi-drier part of Bangladesh. The highest temperature reaches to 30 °C during May and coldest to around 10 °C during January. The most common ethnic group of this area is Garo and Hajong with Bangalee community settlers interspersed within the two communities. So far, a total of 2924 Garo households and 505 Hajong households have been recorded in this sub-district; the number of Bangalee households have been recorded as 4778.
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (2015) 11:44
Journal