[2] The Mru people are divided into five distinct linguistic and cultural sub-groups: the Anok, Tshüngma, Dömrong, Dopteng, and Rümma.

The Mru claim that their ancestors lived at the source of the Kaladan River, but are unsure about when their people migrated to the region.

[5] According to the Arakanese chronicles, first king of Arakan married the daughter of Chief of Mro people and later founded the city of Dhanyawadi.

Due to frequent invasions by the Shandu and subsequent colonization by the British, the Khumi left their homeland.

According to legend, the hilly region was once ruled by Nga Maung Kadon, who built the barriers which form the waterfalls in all the streams and tributaries connected to the Kalapanzin River.

However, on many occasions, Mrus are contemptuously called Mro-Dang or Myawktong, meaning lower type of animal being.

Both streams originate from the northern part of the region which forms the boundary between Buthidaung Township and the Arakan Hill Tracts.

[6] On the sloping banks of the two streams, the Mru grow tobacco in the alluvial deposits after clearing naturally grown kaing grass.

[12][13] Several scholars also observe that many of the religious practices and rituals of the Mru often lack explicit Buddhist characteristics.

Other traditional beliefs hold that rainbows are bridges by which Nats descend upon the earth and eclipses are caused by the divine imprisonment of the sun and moon.

[6] The Mru, like other ethnic groups from the hilly regions of Southeast Asia, practice taungya cultivation.

Around March, they burn the trees that are taken down for taungya paddy cultivation and they start sowing in April.

When they sow the seeds separately in pits, they use spades, which are made with a long handle from an old taungya-cutting-dah (knife) that is no longer usable.

[20] Before the start of a new taungya cultivation, the villagers collectively buy two goats, and two fowls are gathered from each household.

If anyone enters the village during this time period, a compensation has to be paid to cover all the expenses incurred.

Then the rice is mixed with the khaung and then together with the fowl, they made an offering in various different baskets to the nats who live in the staircase of the house.

[21] After all the crops have been harvested, every household kills a pig or two and cooks some pieces of pork in a bamboo tube.

[21] Upon the death of a Mru individual, their body is put in a coffin made of split colored bamboos and in some cases rugs and blankets.

In the case of death by contagious disease (especially small-pox and cholera) the deceased individual is buried immediately and no hut is constructed.

Similar procedures as the one mentioned above take place, except that the groom's family does not stay over for a night but return home with the couple.

If either party breaks the promise of marriage, no action is taken as long as either the bride or the groom claims that one does not love the other.

If the husband dies, the heir is entitled to nothing; she has to abandon the issue of marriage, if any, with her father-in-law or a brother-in-law.

[24] Men wear Burmese jackets, called "Kha-ok", and a cloth on their heads that does not cover its top.

They cover the lower part of their bodies with a loincloth, which is tied around the waist twice and passed between the thigh with both ends hanging downwards, one at the front and the other at the back.

At least one cow or more are sacrificed in devotion to the sacred spirit with the intention of being free from ill or any curse that has been suffered.

According to one witness, they were told: "Long time ago, almighty summoned the Mru to take their letters.

On return, the Mru people learned the story of losing the letters and fired on the cow.

Hence, the angered Mru people decided to kill the cow and then cut off the tongue as punishment.

[26]Among the distinctive cultural aspects of the Mru is the ploong, a type of mouth- organ made of a number of bamboo pipes, each with a separate reed.

A small ball of wax pressed onto the base of the reed is used to fine-tune the pipe to give the orchestra a homogeneous sound.