- The
Mon of lower Myanmar and the
Pyu
of central Myanmar (about 200 BC-AD
1000)
These early
Myanmar or Burma history cultures share
similarities with other prehistoric
sites in South-East Asia. A wide
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variety of arts and
crafts in Myanmar dates back to the
ancient Mon and Pyu peoples, the earliest
currently known inhabitants of
present-day Myanmar , who by the
early years of the Christian era had
developed civilizations in Central
and Lower Burma.
By the early centuries of the
first millennium AD, a branch of the
Myanmar Mon or Talaing people
had settled in southern Myanmar in
the delta area between the Sittang
and Salween Rivers with their
capital at
Thaton. Another centre
was established at Pegu or today
Bago after the sixth century AD.
This area has been generally
identified in local folklore as
being the
Suvarnabhumi of Indian
Buddhist. Myanmar tradition connects Thaton to King Siharaja, a ruler
during the lifetime of the
Buddha of
this area. |
Pyu
Peoples |
|
Legend tells about a Myanmar
Buddhist
mission, led by monks Sona and
Uttara, who were dispatched to
Suvarnabhumi after the Third
Buddhist Synod at Pataliputra in
about 241 AD. There is also a local
belief that the two merchant
brothers Taphussa and Bhallika of
the Buddhist canon or
Tripitaka , who became the
Buddha's first converts, were also
from Ramannadesa. |
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The eight
hair relics which they
received from the Buddha are
reportedly enshrined in the
Shwedagon pagoda at
Yangon.
Myanmar or Burmese chronicles also
assert that people of Thaton made a
voyage to Ceylon around AD 400 to
transcribe the Buddhist scriptures
into Mon characters.
Although historical evidence is
currently lacking to positively
verify the various above-mentioned
personages, archaeological finds do
indicate that Buddhism was well
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<">
Shwedagon Pagoda |
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established
in Lower Burma by the fifth
century AD. |
Bolts, ropes, and parts of foreign
ships unearthed at Thaton show
evidence that the city was an
important seaport during the first
millennium and most probably had
regular trading and cultural
contacts with historically important
Indian ports such as Tamralipti (now
Tamluk) in Bengal, Palura near
Gopalpur in Orissa, Madras, and the
present-day state of Gujarat, and
major Buddhist centres such as
Conjevaram south of Madras,
Amaravati on the Deccan, and Nalanda
in North-east India plus today
Phuket in Thailand
and
Penang in
today
Malaysia.
Archeological excavations in the
Myanmar Thaton area have revealed that the
old city was built on a quadrangular
plan surrounded by laterite-faced
walls and a moat with a palace at
the centre. The main pagodas such as
the Shweizayan and Thagyahpaya were
situated to the south between the
palace and city wall.
Some terracotta plaques from the
Thagyahpaya, a number of
Brahmanical images, stone carved
relief of the Buddha, and some small
bronze
Buddha statues
which predate Bagan have also been
found. Today, apart from some
terracotta and carnelian beads,
pottery and gold jewelry has been
uncovered.
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Like Thaton, the founding of the
early Myanmar Pyu kingdoms is wreathed in
legends pertaining to a king called Duttabaung. Fortunately, we also
have more extensive archaeological
information available about the art
of Pyu, a people of Tibetan
stock who appear to have
settled in the Irrawaddy
hinterland to the north
about the same time as the
Mon. Three major sites Sriksetra out of Prome,
Beikthano near Taungdwingyi
further to the north, and Halin in
the Shwebo district in the far
northhave been excavated and
findings reported.
During the
1980s, examples of Myanmar Pyu bricks,
pottery, coinage, and jewelry have
been uncovered from sites such as Hmaing-maw south of Kyaukse,
Bhindaka near Pyaw-bwe, Chun Hla
above Shwebo, Mataya north of
Mandalay, and at Kyaikatha near the
mouth of the Sittang River, not far
from Martaban. Preliminary
findings from these newly discovered
sites indicate that Pyu culture was
much more widespread and more
closely related to earlier Neolithic
cultures than previously thought. |
Art of Pyu
at Pyay museum |
|
Myanmar history archaeological evidence, buttressed
by contemporary Chinese accounts of
a Pyu settlement, possibly Sriksetra,
reveal that the Pyu had an imposing
civilization: When he goes a
short journey, the king is
borne in a litter of golden
cord: when he journeys far,
he rides an elephant. His
wives and concubines are
very numerous: the constant
number is a hundred persons
Within the walls the
inhabitants number several
myriad families.
There are
over a hundred Buddhist
monasteries with courts and
rooms all decked with gold
and silver, coated with
cinnabar and bright colors
and covered with embroidered
rugs. The king's residence
is also like this. It is
their custom to love life
and hate killing.
They have
grown vegetable such beans, paddy and millet, but not
to hemp or wheat and sold them at
the Pyu markets.. Their laws contain
no mention of punishment nor any
kind of chains or fetters. Their way
with criminals is to take fifty
shoots of bamboo ... and bind them.
If they repeat the crime, they beat
their backsfive strokes and no
more. For light offences they give
no more than three strokes.
Murderers are put to death. When
they come to the age of seven, both
boys and girls drop their hair and
stop in a monastery, where they take
refuge in the Sangha. On reaching
the age of twenty, if they have not
awaked to the principles of the
Buddha, they let their hair grow
again and become ordinary townsfolk.
There are many fortune-tellers and
astrologers
Their
money is of silver and gold.
They traffic with the
neighboring tribes in 'river
pigs' [dolphins], silk
cotton, glazed ware and
earthenware jars They have
musical instruments, made of
different substances of
metal, shells, string,
bamboo, gourd, leather,
ivory and of horn.
From such descriptions, it would
appear that the Myanmar Pyu lived in
fortified walled towns supported by
a rich Pyu agriculture hinterland. Their king maintained a splendid
court replete with numerous
retainers, wives, and concubines and
there was some stratification of
society according to wealth,
occupation, and position. A system
of justice was in place and the Pyu,
like the Mon, were devout
followers of the Buddhist
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Sriksetra
Pyu
Pyu markets
Pyu agriculture |
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faith. Archaeological excavations have
uncovered numerous votive tablets
and statues of both Theravada and
Mahayanist deities which suggest
that the Pyu were familiar with both
Buddhist sects. The presence of
Brahmanic images also indicates that
some of the citizenry or foreign
residents were either Hindu or
practiced Brahmanic rituals. The
dead were cremated and the ashes
placed in urns within the precincts
of pagodas. Huge inscribed stone
urns were used for kings, gilded
metal for the remains of priests and
senior members of the royal family,
and earthenware for commoners.
The Pyu had a system of trade with
their neighbors and there was some
sort of coinage. Like the Mon, they
had long-standing commercial and
cultural contacts with India.
Reports indicate that they had
diplomatic relations with Nanchao (a
former kingdom in present-day Yunnan)
and China. The Pyu also had their
own alphabet and writing system
based on an Indian script. |
The cause of the demise of
Myanmar Pyu
civilization is not entirely clear.
A
Chinese source (the Manshu)
indicates
that in AD 832, Nanchao, or tribes
under Nanchao, plundered the Pyu
capital (possibly Halin), taking
over 3,000 prisoners. They were
banished into servitude at Chetung,
that is Yunnan-fu, Nan-chao's
eastern capital. Other historians
have suggested internal dissension
and/or wars with neighbors as
additional factors contributing to
the demise of the Pyu. Remnants of
the Pyu seem to have survived up
until the eleventh century when they
were absorbed into the new and
flourishing kingdom of Bagan.
About the same time that the Pyu
were on the decline, the Mranma, a
Tibetan-Burmese people possibly
related to the Pyu and ancestors of
the modern Burmese, began migrating
into Burma in large numbers. Their
first major settlement was in the Kyaukse district, south of Mandalay.
From there they moved southwards to
Bagan. Due to their superior
military prowess, the Mranma
eventually attained political
ascendancy over the territories they
occupied.
- Bagan (AD 1044-1287)
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Myanmar
Bagan, or Arimadanapura as it is
known by its classical name, was
founded as a Pyu city on the left
bank of the Irrawaddy about AD 849
in Tattadesa, the dry zone of
Burma.61 It appears to have remained
a relatively obscure town for about
two centuries during which time
there flourished a variety of
beliefs, including spirit and nature
worship and the Ari cult, a sect of
Mahayana Buddhism.
The greatness of Bagan began with
the reign of Anawrahta
(1044-77), the founder of
the first great Burmese
kingdom. He united for the
first time much of what is
known as 'Burma proper'. He
led an expedition against
North Arakan in the west,
and the Shan to the |
Bagan |
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east were forced to
acknowledge his suzerainty
and pay tribute. Hismost
important conquest was that
of the Mon kingdom of Thaton
in 1057. Tradition asserts
that Anawrahta, on his
accession, was concerned
with the rather debased
state into which the
religion had fallen at Bagan. To
rectify matters he took into his
service a young Theravada priest,
Shin Arahan, from Thaton, who urged
him to obtain copies of the
Tripitaka (the Theravada Buddhist
canon), which would provide the
appropriate authority for purifying
the religion. From the young priest
he learned that the Mon possessed
thirty sets of the Tripitaka in both
Pali and Mon. According to the
Burmese chronicles, Anawrahta
dispatched a courteous request for
copies of the sacred texts to the
Mon King Manuha, which was refused,
whereupon Thaton was invaded: |
He [Anawrahta] brought away the
sacred relics which were kept in a
jeweled casket and worshipped by a
line of kings in Thaton; and he
placed the thirty sets of the Pitakas on the king's thirty-two
white elephants and brought them
away.... Thereafter he sent away
separately, without mixing, such men
as were skilled in carving, turning,
and painting; masons, molders of
plaster and flower-patterns;
blacksmiths, silversmiths, braziers,
founders of gongs and cymbals,
filigree flower workers; doctors and
trainers of elephants and horses,-
makers of shields ... forgers of
cannon, muskets and bows; men
skilled in frying, parching, baking
and frizzling; yakin hairdressers,
and men cunning in perfumes, odors,
flowers and the juices of flowers.
Moreover, to the noble Order
acquainted with the books of the
Pitakas he made fair appeal and
brought them away. He also took king
Manuha and his family and returned
home to Pugarama [Bagan].
Anawrahta is reported as bringing
back around 30,000 Mon inhabitants
to Bagan. On his way home, as part
of his plan, he also conquered Sriksetra and carried off the relics
from the Bawbawgyi pagoda to be
enshrined at Bagan, leaving some of
his own votive tablets in their
place.
The capture of Thaton was of seminal
importance for religion and
art. Theravada Buddhism, with its Pali canon, eventually became the
universal popular religion in Burma.
The Burmese, who did not have a
written language of their own,
adopted the Mon alphabet and many
important aspects of their culture.
Politically, the capture of Thaton
marked the beginning of a long
struggle for hegemony between the
Burmese and Mon people. The conquest
not only secured the kingdom from
external invasion but also offered a
window to the sea to facilitate
trade and commerce.
Diplomatic relations with Ceylon,
the pre-eminent centre for Theravada
Buddhism, were established and gifts
and sacred texts exchanged.
Anawrahta laid the economic
foundations of the state by
extending and repairing previously
established irrigation systems for
growing rice at Kyaukse and
Taungbyon in the north and Minbu in
the south. He enthusiastically
propagated the Buddhist faith and
his votive tablets may be found
enshrined in pagodas throughout
Burma. He inaugurated the great age
of temple building by constructing a
number of solid pagodas such as the
Myinkaba-zedi, Khabin Maung-di-zedi,
Lokananda, Shweihsandaw, East and
West Hpet-leik, and Shwezigon.
Despite Anawrahta much-vaunted
success in establishing Theravada
Buddhism at Bagan, Mahayana Buddhist
and Tantric elements, possibly
fuelled by close cultural contacts
with neighboring Pala Bengal,
remained popular at Bagan. Hindu
deities guarded his Shwesandaw
pagoda. He was unable to extinguish
animistic practices of spirit
worship which were deeply engrained
in the general population. As a
compromise, nat images were
permitted on the Shwezigon pagoda
platform along with orthodox
Buddhist icons.
Anawrahtas son Kyanzittha
(1084-1112), continuing the work of
his father, raised the dynasty to
new heights. On his accession, he
put down a Mon rebellion which had
taken the life of his younger
brother Saw-lu (1077-84). He built a
splendid palace and was crowned king
with full Brahmanic rituals. As an
admirer of Mon culture, he set about
repairing Mon-Burmese relations. He
affected a marriage between his
daughter and the grandson of Manuha,
former king of Thaton. Mon became
the lingua franca of his
inscriptions, some of which rank as
great literature. His life is
recorded in the Myazedi Inscription
erected by Alaung Sithu (1112-67),
his grandson and successor. Written
in four languages Pyu,
Mon, Burmese, and Pali it is known
as the Rosetta Stone of Myanmar or Burma during
his reign some of the most beautiful
of the smaller temp were built, such
as the Pahtothamya, Naga-yon, and
Abeyadai culminating in his
masterpiece, the Ananda. He also
sent missions China with the purpose
of facilitating overland trade with
Yunnan As an act of merit, he
undertook the repair of the
Mahabodhi temp at Bodhgaya in India.
By the eleventh century, with the
Muslim invasions of the subcontinent,
Buddhists were being persecuted
in India, causing many
Buddhist monks to flee to
more hospitable places such Ceylon
and Burma. Their knowledge of
Buddhist religion, art, arch
lecture, language, and Pali
literature was eagerly received in
Bagan. A number of brick monasteries
at Bagan follow Indian cella proti
types quite closely. These monastic
complex enclosed by high walls,
contained a pagoda, preaching and
ordination halls, dormitories for
monks and lay devotees, a library, a
store house an alms house, a
rest-house for travelers, and wells.
To create pleasant environment where
Buddhist learning could take place
unimpeded by the mundane cares of
the world, the donors planted fruit,
and palm, and areca palms within the
compound income-producing land and
slaves we're often dedicated to
maintain the work of merit. Such an
establishment took about a year to
build.
The population during the Myanmar Bagan
history period was divided into communities
according to occupation and ethnic
background. Craftsmen who practiced
the same craft all lived in the same
quarter and their offspring were
expected to carry on the same trade.
Artisans, however, were not
indentured. They were paid for their
services in gold, silver, lead,
horses, elephants, textiles, and
agricultural produce such as salt,
rice, pepper, tea, and areca-nuts.82
While at work on a project, artisans
were given free food and clothing.
The highest paid artisans were
carpenters, masons, wood-carvers,
and painters. Other craftsmen
included wood-turners, plane men,
blacksmiths, image makers, umbrella
makers, and goldsmiths. There were
also craftsmen who kept the populace
supplied with pots and pans, jugs,
trays, and clothing. Distinctions
were made between suppliers of
materials and artisans such as brick
makers and brick masons, stucco
makers and stucco decorators. There
were also some instances of craft
specialization such as between
carpenters, plane men, wood-turners,
and painters of temples and painters
of monasteries. Each occupational
group was under a headman who was
responsible for maintaining records
and collecting revenue. The headman
in turn was answerable to a follower
of the king who received the
revenues of a given location or
occupational unit as a fief in
return for his loyalty and
support.84 These craftsmen, along
with agriculturalists, food
suppliers, and people from other
service occupations, constituted the
nuclear or crown service area and
were the cornerstone of Bagan's
greatness and prosperity.
Kyanzittha was succeeded by Alaung
Sitha, who reigned for fifty-five
years. The chronicles portray him as
the ideal Buddhist king, traveling
widely throughout his realm, tending
to his subjects, building works of
merit, and composing exquisite
poetic inscriptions. He is credited
with developing a more 'Burmese'
culture. In his works of merit he
favored a larger, more open
two-storey temple as personified in
his masterpiece, the Thatbyinnyu.
During his reign 'old Burmese' began
to replace the Mon language in
inscriptions. In reality, much of
the travel undertaken during his
reign was brought about by the need
to quell rebellions in Arakan and
Tenasserim.
The intermittent chaos and disorder
in Myanmar which appeared during the reign of Alaung Sitha continued in subsequent
reigns and slowly began to erode the
strength and energy of the dynasty.
Palace intrigues and assassinations
also marked much of the latter
period and some of the kings were
given over more to pleasure than to
the affairs of state. A more austere
form of Theravada Buddhism was
introduced from Ceylon about 1192
which caused a schism with the
Former Order or followers of Thaton
Buddhism. Supported by the rulers,
the new or reformed order sent many
for ordination to Ceylon. It not
only made inroads in Burma, but in
Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos as
well.
Some of the more pious
Myanmar kings sought
solace by spending more time and
money on their works of merit than
on the affairs of state. Beautiful
edifices continued to be built by
Bagan royalty right up to the Mongol
invasion around 1287 which gave the
coup de grace to the Bagan Dynasty.
State patronage of monasteries and
lavish temple building activities
probably destroyed the economic
foundations of the state. In
addition to draining state
resources, the granting of
endowments to monasteries and fiefs
to retainers diffused land and labor
and so weakened central authority.
The fall of the Myanmar Bagan Dynasty at the
hands of the Mongol, immortalized by
Marco Polo's contemporary account of
the Battle of Ngasaunggyan, was
neither as dramatic nor as clear-cut
as the history books proclaim. The
Mongol hold on Bagan was fleeting;
the Shan, with Burmese help in 1303,
repelled a Mongol attack, and apart
from paying periodic tribute to the
Chinese court, Burma was left much
to its own devices. Despite the
vicissitudes of war, Bagan remained
the 'dearest and fairest of lands'
in the minds of the Myanmar's or
Burmese. Its cultural and dynastic
traditions continued. It remains an
important religious and educational
centre until well into the fifteenth
century. Various Burmese kings and
usurpers visited from time to time
to perform works of merit to enhance
their legitimacy/ Political power,
however, was no longer centralized.
It was disperse amongst the Mon,
Shan, Burmese, and Arakanese who
spent most c the following period
vying with each other for hegemony.
- The Ava Period (AD 1287-1752)
The Myanmar
history Ava period has traditionally
been portrayed by historians as a
period of political disintegration
and cultural decay.93 While there is
certainly some truth in this, a
number of factors were at work
sowing the seeds of far-reaching
changes. The kingdoms of Ava, Pegu,
and Arakan had their periods of
individual greatnesseach was at one
time or another a notable cultural
centre. The Ava period coincided
with the European 'Age of Discovery'
which was to have a far-reaching
effect on the history of Burma. The
epoch is noted for developments in
administration, the flowering of a
vernacular literature, and the
evolution of an artistic tradition
which was less Indian and more
'Burmese' in spirit.
Shan Dominance (1287-1555)
During the latter part of the
Myanmar Bagan
period, the Shan, a branch of the
Tai race, had been steadily
trickling into Upper Burma. While
the dynasty was strong they were
held in check. The capture of Yunnan
by the Mongol in 1271 upset the
equilibrium, causing large numbers
of Shan to migrate into Burma.
Taking advantage of Bagan's
weakness, they made themselves
masters of the Kyaukse, an important
rice growing area.
Through judicious marriages with
former Myanmar royalty and nobility,
and by fomenting various intrigues
and participating in a number of
shifting alliances, they gradually
made themselves the masters of upper
Burma with capitals first at Pinya
(1298-1364), then Sagaing (1315-64),
and later Ava (1364-1555). The Shan
were far from united and their
period of dominance in Upper Burma
was racked by rebellions, mass
migrations, deportations, and
general chaos.
The Shan rulers during the early Ava
period became Burmanized. They
followed the Burmese system of
administration established at Bagan,
which centered on a large nuclear
area around the capital subject to
direct rule. Outlying areas were
granted as semi-autonomous apanages
to younger brothers and other
princes of the blood. Lesser areas
were assigned to minor royalty and
to high officials. Such a system did
not encourage stability.95 As in
Bagan times, royal succession in
Burma was not governed by
primogeniture and the death of a
monarch often resulted in a struggle
between leading contenders, such as
the brothers of the former king and
offspring from different queens.96
The successful claimant, to secure
the throne, often cleaned house with
a massacre of kinsmen. Despite the
political instability, Nicolo di
Conti, a Venetian merchant who was
the first European to visit Burma by
sea (c. 1435), found the city of Ava
to 'be more noble than the rest'.
During this Myanmar history period, in the calmer
seclusion of the monasteries, monks
devoted their lives to studying Pali
texts. Out of this study, Burmese
poetry was born. Jataka stories and
homilies, panegyric odes, historical
ballads, and one- to three-line,
four-syllable nature and love poems
came to be written in the
vernacular. Notable poets include
monks such as Shin Uttamagaw, Shin
Thilawuntha, Shin Rahtathara, and
Shin Aggathamadhi. Shin Thilawuntha
is also credited with producing the
Yazawingyaw, a chronicle which
includes the first written account
of the reigns of some Burmese kings.
A number of learned courtiers,
princes, and literary ladies also
wrote verse, the most notable poet
being Adunyo, a courtier of the King
of Arakan who wrote a historical
ballad entitled Yakhaing Minthami
[Princess of Arakan] in 1455. Mi
Hpyu and Mi Nyo were noted women
writers of nature and love poems.
Since Buddhism did not generally
support the composition of poems and
songs, writers of literature looked
to the courts for patronage and
appreciation.
- Pegu or Bago (1287-1539)
On their secession from
Myanmar Bagan, the
Mon, with some help from the Thai
kingdom of Sukhothai, founded a
dynasty at Martaban under Wareru
(1287-96). Subject to intermittent
Burmese and Thai raids, the kingdom
of Pegu led a precarious existence
for its first hundred years. This
was followed by a period of relative
peace and prosperity in the
fifteenth century, during which time
monarchs devoted themselves to works
of merit. Queen Shinsawbu (1453-60)
enlarged the Shwedagon while her
son-in-law and successor Dhammazedi
(1460-92), an outstanding monarch
and former monk, sent a mission to
Bodhgaya in 1472.He used its plan to
build a unique pagoda complex at
Hpaya-thon-zu to commemorate the
events associated with the Buddha's
Enlightenment. He also 'purified'
the religion by sending twenty-two
monks in 1475 to the Mahavihara in
Ceylon to be ordained according to
the Ceylonese tradition.
Upon their return, they reordained
the
Myanmar monk hood throughout much of
Burma. The Kalyani Sima (ordination
hall) in Pegu was built to
commemorate the event which is
recorded on an inscription housed
there. By this time, Pegu had become
a prosperous centre of commerce and
a regular port of call for foreign
merchants who traded in rubies and
gems from upper Burma, and lacquer,
ivory, horn, lead, tin, Pegu jars,
pepper, and palm wine from Lower
Burma or the Shan States. Pepper
from Aceh, camphor from Borneo, and
sandalwood and porcelain from China
were also traded, as were
piece-goods, velvets, and other
European wares. Notable travelers
who mention the port of Pegu in
their writings include the Russian
Athanasius Nitikin (c.1470) and the
Genoese Hieronimo de Santo Stephano
(c.1496).Another Italian, Ludovico
de Varthema, visited around 1505-7
and described the town of Pegu as a
'walled city west of a beautiful
river with good houses and palaces
built of stone and lime'.105 In 1519
the Portuguese entered into an
official trade agreement with the
port of Martaban and opened a
trading station.106 Later foreign
visitors to Pegu who left valuable
accounts of their impressions
include the Portuguese Duarte
Barbosa (1518), Venetians Cesare
Frederic (c.1569) and Gaspero Balbi
(1583), the Englishman Ralph Fitch
(1586-7), and the Portuguese priest
Nicholas Pimento (1598).
- Arakan (1287-1752)
With the fall of
Myanmar Bagan, the Arakanese no longer felt the need to
acknowledge Burmese hegemony. In
asserting their independent status
they resorted to raids on Burmese
territory. In retaliation, the
Burmese invaded from Ava in 1406,
forcing the incumbent Minsawmwan
(1404-34) to flee and seek refuge in
the sultanate of Bengal. After
twenty-four years of ignominious
exile, he prevailed upon the Bengal
ruler, Nariruddin Shah, to restore
him to his rightful inheritance in
return for vassal status. To
celebrate his restoration,
Minsawmwan founded a new capital at
Mrauk-U (also called Myohaung) in
1433. His successors, anxious to
ensure their continuing
independence, offered itinerant
Portuguese adventurers, such as Jao
de Silviera, territorial and trade
concessions in return for assistance
in the construction of
fortifications, arms production, and
in the training of a hardy fleet of
mariners. The arrival of the
Portuguese coincided with a
rebellion in Bengal which gave
Min-bin (1531-53) the opportunity to
turn tables, occupy Bengal, and make
it a tributary of Arakan.
With that success, Arakan was ready
to embark on a golden age. According
to reports by the Augustinian friar
Father Sebastien Manrique, who
visited Arakan between 1628 and
1633, the outer city had a
circumference of 19.2 kilometers. It
was cleverly designed with
Portuguese help to make use of
natural obstacles such as lakes,
tidal rivers, and rocky hills as
fortifications to counter the
possibility of a Burmese invasion. A
sumptuous moated palace surrounded
by three concentric sandstone walls
lay at the heart of Mrauk-U. Its
main buildings consisted of an
audience hall and private apartments
built in the Burmese style of gilded
and lacquered teak. Unfortunately,
no traces of these wooden buildings
have survived.
- Taungngu (1531-1752)
Shan penetration of
Myanmar or Burma at the
time of the Mongol conquest caused a
number of Burmese nobles to move
south to Taungngu on the Sittang
River. Taungngu eventually became a
stronghold of resistance to the
Shan-dominated Ava. Tabinshwei-hti
(1531-50) aimed at uniting Burma
under one leader. With help from
hired Portuguese mercenaries, he
laid siege to Pegu in 1539 and
shortly after assumed control of the
entire Mon kingdom down to Tavoy or
Dawai. He then moved northwards,
marched on Prome, and defeated the
Shan ruler of Ava. He designated
Pegu or Bago as his capital and attempted to
conquer Arakan but was unsuccessful.
He then turned his attention to
Ayutthaya and invaded Siam in 1548
in retaliation for attacks on Tavoy,
present day Dawai but was unable to
take the city. The final years of
his reign were marked by Mon
rebellions. These rebellions were
subdued by his successor Bayinnaung
(1551-81), a remarkable military
commander who extended Myanmar or Burmese
boundaries to their greatest extent.
In 1554 he launched a two-pronged
attack against Ava from Taungngu and
Bagan. By 1559 he had subdued all of
Upper Burma, the Shan States,
Manipur, Chiang-mai, and Vientiane.
His action marked the end of Shan
attempts to dominate Burma. Control
over Chiang-mai gave him the
opportunity to invade Ayutthaya in
1564, so marking the beginning of a
series of Burmese-Siamese wars which
were to continue intermittently for
two centuries.
In the style of the Indian monarch
Asoka and Bagan's Anawrahta, after
his wars Bayinnaung strove to be a
good Buddhist king by building
pagodas, distributing copies of the
Pali scriptures, feeding monks, and
promoting the collection and study
of the Dhammathat (customary law).
He also banned sacrificial practices
amongst Muslim and Shan subjects.
Despite his remarkable military
career and subsequent good
intentions, Myanmar or Burma was
exhausted and after his death his
empire rapidly disintegrated,
ushering in a further century of
chaos. In an attempt to hold his
father's empire together, Ngazudayaka (1581-99) directed much
of his military efforts towards
recapturing Ayutthaya. Siam
retaliated in 1593 by taking the
ports of Tenasserim and Tavoy and
threatening Pegu.
Arakan, taking advantage of
Ngazudayaka's preoccupation with
Siam or today
Thailand, sacked the city of Pegu in
1599 and carried off much booty and
thousands of prisoners. The Arakanese placed Syriam in the hands
of the Portuguese
mercenary-adventurer Felipe de Brito
y Nicote. Anaukhpetlun (1606-28)
succeeded in reuniting Burma by
taking Prome in 1607, Taungngu in
1610, and Syriam in 1613. By the
time of his death, he had largely
succeeded in regaining control from
Tavoy in the south to Bhamo in the
north and Chiang-Mai in the east.King Thalun (1629-48) moved the
capital from Pegu to Ava. To bring
about some stability and to increase
rice production, he made a number of
administrative changes. The nuclear
area was strengthened with deportees
from captured areas, while work
units of people providing goods and
services to the crown were
reorganized. Members of royalty
continued to be granted apanages and
received revenue from them, but
residency was no longer a
requirement. Instead, recipients had
to remain in the capital and
administer their grants through
agents, or local governors, and
subordinate officials whose loyalty
was to the king. Local officials
were expected to enforce royal
decrees and to see that the crown
received its due revenues and
services. The crown conducted
periodic 'inquests', and provincial
authorities were expected to compile
regular reports pertaining to the
area under their jurisdiction.
In the administration of the kingdom
a Myanmar or Burmese monarch was traditionally
assisted by wungyi (ministers of
state), usually four in number, who
sat in the Hlut-taw (the Supreme
Council of State). This body handled
all legislative, executive, and
judicial matters pertaining to the
realm. It conducted the foreign
affairs of the kingdom and dealt
with military problems and questions
involving the religion or religious
lands. It served as the supreme and
final court of appeal and none could
ignore its summons. It was also
responsible for issuing death
warrants. Royal orders were
registered and issued through it and
officials appointed by the king had
their positions confirmed by this
body. All petitions and
communications from provincial
officials to the king were funneled
through it. The president of the
Supreme Council of State was
nominally the king, who was usually
represented by one of his sons or
senior ministers.
In addition to the Myanmar ministers of
state, there were eight atwinwun
who resembled government
secretaries. They were ministers of
the Byedaik (administration), and
like members of the Supreme Council
of State they had access to the king
and were consulted on all matters.
The Byedaik sorted petitions for the
Supreme Council of State,
administered the finances of the
realm, handled problems of public
safety, and controlled the army. To
keep the machinery of government in
motion, these two administrative
bodies were assisted in their work
by a fleet of attendants,
messengers, and clerks who formed a
liaison between the various
ministries and the outlying
provincial areas.
Under the more peaceful conditions
of Thalun's reign, pagodas were
built and literature and the arts
flourished. Burmese literature
during the Taungngu period was noted
for poetry which glorified
imperialism and romance. By the
middle of the sixteenth century,
prose works had become popular. One
of the more notable is a chronicles
of the Burmese kings down to the
seventeenth century, the
Mahayazawingyi, compiled by U Kala
about 1714-33. Besides a history of
Burma's kings, his chronicle gives a
list of 'twelve arts' which he
claimed to have been in existence in
Burma since Bagan times: goldsmith,
blacksmithing, bronze- and
coppersmith, wood-carving,
wood-turning, wickerwork, painting,
stucco work, masonry, stone-carving,
gem-setting, and singing.
During the late Taungngu period,
Myanmar or Burma turned more inward and kings
from their distant capital in Ava
took little interest in events
outside Burma. Trade was largely in
the hands of resident Portuguese and
Indians. The Dutch, French, and
English set up factories at various
times in the ports of Lower Burma
for the purpose of trade and ship
repair, but were forced to close
them due to unstable internal
conditions and raids from Siam.
Periodic forays from the Hindu state
of Manipur in the west and from
remnants of rebel Ming forces on the
Chinese border contributed to
unstable conditions in Upper Burma.
Banditry was common and famine was
endemic. The issue of excessive
taxation levies on the Mon
population led to a rebellion in
Pegu in 1740 which overthrew the
Burman governor. The Mon moved on to
capture the King of Ava,
Mahadamayazadipati (1733-52),
thereby sweeping away the Taungngu
Dynasty and leaving a vacuum at the
centre.
The Konbaung Period (1752-1885.
Alaungpaya (1752-60), the son of a
local hereditary official in the
Shwebo area, became the leader of
Burmese resistance to the Mon. By
1757, through bravery and aggressive
leadership, he had retaken Lower
Burma, united the country, and had
succeeded in establishing a new
dynasty, known as the Konbaung, with
the peacock as its insignia. The
overall population of the crown
service nuclear area was reorganized
and expanded. Colonies of Myanmars
were settled in the south to lessen
Mon dominance, and in the east as a
barrier to Shan infiltration. Large
numbers of Mon were resettled in the
western delta. The kingdom of Burma,
now united, was poised for a period
of military glory which was to make
it greatly feared by its neighbors.
To secure the borders, retaliatory
raids were launched Manipur to the
west by Alaungpaya and his
successors until 1 As a result,
thousands of people were deported
and settled in riverside villages of
Sagaing and Amarapura districts.
Manip served as boatmen and
silversmiths. Their weavers are
credited introducing important
weaving innovations to the Burmese w
their famous Kathe horsemen were
incorporated as an import cavalry
regiment in the Burmese army.
Manipuri Brahmins became astrologers
at the Burmese court.
A similar fate awaited the Siamese
kingdom of Ayutthaya at hands of
Hsinhpyuhsin (1763-76). From his new
capital in Ava, launched a pincer
attack from the south via Nontaburi
and north Vientiane and Chiang-Mai.
After a fourteen-month siege,
Ayutthaya was reduced to a heap of
rubble. According to the Glass
Palace Chronicle of the Kings Burma,
In the capital the Myanmar or Burmese found
persons engaged in the following
trades professions, namely
musicians and dancers, carpenters,
carvers, turn blacksmiths, gold and
silver smiths, copper-smiths and
braziers, masonry decorators with
natural and artificial flowers,
painters both in ordain; colors and
illuminated with gold and bright
material, workers of marques
lapidaries, barbers, persons skilled
in incantations, charms, and persons
skilled in the cure of diseases of
elephants and ponies; breakers a:
trainers of ponies,- weavers and
workers of gold and silver threads,-
and persons skilled in the culinary
art. There were also found the
Tripitaka on astrology and medicine.
A large quantity of royal treasure
was found, in the shape of utensils
set: diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and
nine kinds of gems: also gold cups,
bowl trays used by royalty: and gold
and silver bullion and precious
gems, cloth worked in silver and
gold, and various other kinds of
cloths the products Kyin, Sein, and
Gyun countries; seven richly gilt
howdahs used by hi Siamese majesty.
The Chronicle also notes that the
Burmese rested in the capital for
about 9-10 days and they took away
about 30,000 prisoners of war 1,200
cannons, and tens of thousands of
small arms.
Of the Siamese royal family who were
taken to Myanmar or Burma, the queens king's
sisters, daughters, nieces, and
granddaughters were giver suitable
residences within the palace
enclosure at Ava and provided with
comforts according to their rank and
dignity. The king's brothers, sons,
nephews, and grandsons were given
residences outside the palace
enclosure and were equally well
provided for, while Siamese nobles
and other Siamese were assigned
certain localities in which to
reside.
Boredom at the Myanmar or Burmese capital
and
nostalgia for their culture led a
number of Siamese or Thailand court players and
former aristocracy to perform the
Indian epic, the Ramayana, a musical
dance-drama featuring the abduction
of Sita, the wife of Rama, at the
hands of the demon Ravanna.
It was played at the Myanmr or Burmese court
to great acclaim and gradually over
the years it became Burmanized.
During the reign of Singumin
(1776-82), the royal treasurer and
poet U To, in his Yama Yagan, a
discursive epic, retold the tale in
Burmese using his native village as
a background. The Chief Queen of
Sin-gu-min, Shin Min, an
accomplished poetess, active around
1776-82, wrote Burmese songs to
replace the Siamese originals. By
the time of Bodawpaya (1782-1819),
much of the Burmese
populace, through public theatrical
performances and traveling
professional balladeers, had become
aware of the Ramayana or Yama Zat,
as it is called in Burma.
His minister, Myawaddi Wun-gyi U Sa,
energized Myanmar or Burmese music by
skillfully
incorporating various Siamese
musical conventions into the Burmese
repertoire. This interest in Siamese
music and plays also led to a
renaissance in Burmese literature
and drama. U Kyin U (c. 1819-53) and
U Pon Nya (c. 1807-66), two of
Burma's outstanding playwrights,
wrote numerous works for the Burmese
court, many of which remain popular
to this day.
Myanmar
Lacquer workers, wood- and
ivory-carvers, silversmiths, and
makers of wall-hangings, eager for
new themes began to incorporate
characters from the Ramayana epic
into their design repertoire.
Hanuman, the monkey warrior, became
a popular effigy on ivory knife
handles. Episodes of the story began
to appear on incised lacquer boxes,
decorated silver bowls, and along
the balustrades of monasteries. The Mahalawkamayazein pagoda near
Monywa, built in 1847-9, has 347
relief-carved marble plaques devoted
to the epic.
While the Burmese were able to reap
inestimable cultural advantages from
the conquest of Ayutthaya, border
wars with China between 1765 and
1769 made it impossible for the
Burmese to maintain a political hold
on Siam. On the western border,
Arakan was racked by succession
disputes, banditry, and civil
strife. Refugee appeals for help
gave Bodawpaya an excuse to invade
and annex the kingdom in 1784. The
Arakanese king, 20,000 of his
subjects, quantities of arms,
horses, and elephants, and the
sacred Mahamuni Buddha image were
taken to Upper Burma. This act
brought the frontier of Burma up to
that of British India, which was of
great future consequence for the
Konbaung Dynasty.
Myanmar's
Bodawhpaya was equally active on the
domestic front. In 1783, acting on
astrological advice, he relocated
his royal capital to Amarapura 6
miles west of Ava. To find out his
country's taxable capacity, like the
Taungngu Dynasty King Thalun before
him, he instituted nation-wide
general revenue 'doomsday' inquests
in 1784 and 1803. Some of these
records, written on palm-leaf and
mulberry paper, have survived and
offer invaluable information on the
social and economic conditions of
the time. Bodawpaya, at one point of
his life, harbored illusions that he
was Maitreya, the future Buddha, and
expended much of his energy on
building pagodas and temples at
Sagaing and at Mingun. A later
interest in foreign religions led
him to allow some Christian
missionaries to enter Burma.
U Tin of Mandalay, in his monumental
work Konbaungzet Maha
ya-zawin-daw-gyi [History of the
Konbaung Dynasty], which is based on
diaries of the royal court and
memoirs and papers kept by the royal
princes and ministers, describes the
'eleven crafts' of the Burmese. The
goldsmith's craft by Konbaung times
comprised the setting of jewelry in
gold, the beating of gold and
gilding, and the weaving of gold
thread; blacksmithing included the
production of agricultural tools and
knives and the forming and making of
objects from moulds; wood-turning
also included the fashioning of
ivory and bone and the making of
objects to be lacquered; painting
consisted of works in both tempera
and gold; masonry included the work
of both brick makers and
bricklayers; lacquer was divided
into those who made plain wares and
those who did decorative work;
stucco work included makers of
mortar as well as molders;
wood-carving encompassed both work
in relief and in the round. Bronze-
and coppersmith, stone sculptors,
and polishers of gems continued to
be on the list.
He notes that members of these
Myanmar crafts included Indians, Siamese, Talaings (Mon), Shan, Khasis,
Burmans, and others in various
service units who were under the
general jurisdiction of the Minister
of the Treasury. Michael Symes, a
British envoy who sailed up the
Irrawaddy in 1795 to the capital of
Amarapura, noted that villages
devoted to crafts became more
frequent as he approached the city.
Each was inhabited for the most part
by a particular class of people
professing some trade or craft.
Individual crafts in the crown
service areas were under the
supervision of royal officials, such
as the Manager of Glass Factories,
the Master of Foundries and Forges,
the Director of Blacksmiths, the
Governor of Goldsmiths, and the
Master of Brickfields.145 The
official received a royal order
specifying what was required. This
was then conveyed to subordinates,
some of whom were located at the
site of manufacture. They supplied
the required materials, supervised
production, and had the finished
product conveyed to the capital. The
head of each department had
jurisdiction for civil and criminal
disputes between employees.
Craftsmen continued to be given
remuneration for their services in
cash and kind.
Myanmar artisans in areas outside the
jurisdiction of the crown service
units were free to ply their craft,
and paid taxes, usually in silver,
to the leading local official or
holder of the fief.146 The essential
unit of craft production was the
household, with dependent relatives
and apprentices working for a master
craftsman. In Konbaung times most
craft work was done on special
order. The patron would meet with
the master craftsman to discuss the
project and a certain amount of
money or supplies would be left as a
deposit. The balance owing for labor
would be paid on completion of the
article to the satisfaction of the
patron. According to a list of wages
compiled from Konbaung records,
goldsmiths during the reign of
Min-don were the highest paid of all
craftsmen, followed by carpenters,
blacksmiths, and coppersmiths.
Silk-weavers and bricklayers were on
a par with unskilled laborers.
The early Myanmar Konbaung Dynasty
history, with
its agrarian-oriented economy and
general mistrust of foreigners, was
not particularly interested in
fostering maritime trade.
Broadcloth, piece-goods, hardware,
and glassware were imported via the
ports of Rangoon, Bassein, Martaban,
and Tavoy in exchange for teak.
Overland trade with China involved
the exchange of silk for cotton.
Commerce and business at all levels
were taxed and carefully regulated.
The king had a monopoly on teak,
ivory, petroleum, iron, and gems.
However, the constant need for
munitions and serviceable artillery
for their numerous wars led the
Konbaung rulers to grant limited
trade and ship-repairing concessions
to the French and English East India
Companies arch rivals in the
struggle for hegemony in India.
Bodawpaya's insatiable demands for
forced labor and conscript service
impoverished the countryside and
drove the Arakanese to revolt in
1794. Conditions further north, in
Manipur and Assam, were also restive
and led to punitive action on the
part of the Burmese. The Burmese
policy of 'hot pursuit' of rebels
into British territory during the
reign of Bagyidaw (1819-37) led to a
serious breach in Anglo-Burmese
relations. This, coupled with the
protagonists' profound ignorance of
each other and a stubborn refusal on
the part of the British to conform
to Burmese court etiquette,
eventually led to the outbreak of
the first Anglo-Burmese War in
1824..
By the Treaty of Yandabo in 1826,
Myanmr or Burma was forced to pay a large
indemnity and to cede Arakan, Tenasserim, Assam, and Manipur to
the British. Anglo-Burmese relations
did not improve and the Burmese were
forced to cede the rich province of
Pegu to the British crown in 1852.
Relations between the British and
Burmese improved during the reign of
King Mindon (1853-78), a pious,
tolerant, and peace-loving monarch
who sought to adapt his country to
the realities of the late
nineteenth-century world. In 1861 he
abolished the traditional system of
collecting revenues and replaced it
with a household tax based on
income. Princes and officials
surrendered their traditional apanage revenue rights in return for
regular stipends from the treasury.
Min-don also sought to raise revenue
by sponsoring trade and commerce.
Coal- and iron-mines were opened,
river steamers were purchased, and
telegraph stations were established
to facilitate communications.
Western-style factories were built
to process lacquer, cutch, sugar,
cotton, and silk and to manufacture
items such as glass and velvet.
These factories used imported
machinery and were often
administered by European managers
and technicians. For example, the
French supervised the minting of
Mindon's new coinage and ran his
arms factory. Emissaries were sent
abroad to establish good relations
with European powers. Conscientious
envoys such as U Kaung, the Kinwun
Mingyi minister, studied religious,
banking, and social institutions,
forest administration, naval and
military organization, as well as
European customs and usages and
reported their findings to the king
on their return. Mindon encouraged
modern studies and built a church
and school for the Rev. Dr Marks, an
Anglican missionary, and sent some
of his sons to be educated at this
institution. French and Italian
missions also received financial
support from the king.15s As a
devout Buddhist, he strove to make
his new capital of Mandalay a major
centre of Buddhist culture by
filling it with magnificent teak
monasteries and masonry temples and
pagodas. In an effort to revitalize
the Buddhist religion, he convened
the Fifth Buddhist Synod in Mandalay
in 1872
- The
Myanmar Colonial Era (1885-1941)
Because of disturbed conditions
throughout upper Burma, the Burmese
people did not reap a great deal of
benefit from Min-don's reforms. His
death was followed by the usual
palace intrigue which resulted in
the accession of the politically
inexperienced Prince Thibaw
(1878-85). Lacking the wisdom and
respect of his father, the young
king appeared to be in the clutches
of a court faction led by his wife Supayalat and the Taing-da Minister.
The outcry in Britain over Thibaw's
much publicized 'massacre of the
kinsmen', pressure from Rangoon
merchants eager for profits in Upper
Burma, and the king's surreptitious
overtures to France for recognition
and aid led the British to invade
Upper Burma in late 1885. They
carried off Thibaw and his family as
prisoners to Calcutta, so marking
the end of the Konbaung Dynasty and
Burma's independence as a sovereign
state. Local resistance, however,
was fierce and it was not until 1890
that all of Burma was brought under
British control. Burma was made a
province of India and was ruled on
the Indian pattern of administration
rather than on the former Burmese
system with its hereditary local
officials. With the exception of the
Shan States and hill tracts
inhabited by non-Burmese peoples,
the country was divided into
districts under a deputy or
assistant commissioner and village
tracts were placed under a civil
servant, the township or district
officer, who was subject to
transfer.158 At the centre there
were various departments for
settlement and land records,
forestry, agriculture, veterinary
and fisheries, public health, and
education. These were set up and
co-coordinated by the secretariat in
Rangoon.
During the Myanmar - British colonial era there was
extensive exploration of natural
resources, and foreign capital was
invested on an ever-increasing
scale. The effect on local life was
dramatic: Burma changed from having
a self-sufficient agrarian economy
to an extractive one, primarily
dependent upon foreign markets. Rice
and teak became the main
agricultural exports.160 Companies
were established to exploit Burma's
mineral wealth: tungsten was mined
at Maw-chi in the Karen-ni area;
lead, silver, zinc, and copper were
extracted from the Bawdwin Mines of
the Burma Corporation near Lashio in
the northern Shan States; petroleum
came from Yenaung-yaung in Central
Burma, and rubies, sapphires, and
jade were mined in the far north.
Labor was needed to work many of
these new concerns, and the
large-scale immigration of Indians
(and to a lesser extent
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Chinese) in search of
greater economic opportunities added
to an already complicated ethnic mix.
Colonialism generally did not
nurture local crafts as these were
regarded as superfluous in British
plans for the economic advancement
of Burma. Many artisans such as
painters, wood- and stone-carvers,
and manufacturers of gold-leaf found
themselves out of work or suffering
a severe loss of revenue. The
abolition of the monarchy removed a
whole system of patronage for
Burmese arts and crafts, thereby
creating a void which could not be
filled by the demands of colonial
officials or the nouveau riche, a
class of local entrepreneurs who
became wealthy by exploiting the
economic opportunities offered by
the colonial administration. Western
education also fostered a new
Burmese elite who tended to be more
enchanted with the glories of
Western civilization and technology
than with traditional values. |
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