Food for thought: On the road to Mandalay, the Ayeyarwaddy dolphins and the flying fish

“On the road to Mandalay,

Where the flyin’ fishes play,

An’ the dawn comes up like thunder outer China ‘crost the Bay!”

So wrote Kipling at the turn of the century of the wonders and enchantment of Burma and its city of Mandalay.

I first read of this poem while I was working on the Road to Mandalay riverine cruise ship back in 1996-7. But I have not read it properly and it is only now that I realized that he wrote “fishes”, which, as far as I know, is incorrect. Why? There is no need for it to be part of the rhyme. I am not good in English, and do not understand English poems and verse well, so will someone who knows please enlighten me about it?

I have never seen flying fish around Mandalay or in the Ayeyarwaddy elsewhere; only the Ayeyarwaddy dolphin and I wonder whether Kipling meant the Ayeyarwaddy dolphins or the real flying fish in Myanmar’s coastal waters, the KattPaLi PinLae / Andaman Sea, which I met in all the 3 times I have been there: the first when I was in high school after finishing the 8^th Standard, when I went along with the YayKyaung LuNge on the trip to CoCo Kyun and MaLi Kyun (in the Myeik archipelago) after a training and touring camp in the SeikKyi Naval Academy; the second time on the m.v. Taunggyi in 1978 (I was newly married, it was 4 months earlier) together with a group of classmate friends, many who are now in the USA, on our trip to Dawei; finally, with the m.v. Than Lwin in 2007 April on the trip to the southeast.

It was only when I worked in the Road to Mandalay that I heard of Ayeyarwaddy dolphins. I had always thought that all dolphins live in the sea. There were sightings around the Sagaing bridge and once others saw a school of them, yet I did not see them; I am myopic and although I wore glasses, maybe my refraction was not up to 6/6 vision at the time. I saw the Ayeyarwaddy unexpectantly at the riverside at Mingun. I used to follow along on the Mingun tour and one day, while I was standing on the bank, I saw a couple of dolphins making a “jump”; it was actually a sighting of its back, I did not see their heads nor tails, and the dolphin did not make a real whole body jump into the air as I had understand dolphins do, and saw in photos and movies of the water circus dolphins who jumped high out of the water through a ring.

I read about the Ayeyarwaddy dolphins. They are fresh water dolphins and the dolphins in China and elsewhere in the South east asia are of the same species.

I also heard about the dolphins near Shwekyetyet; that one helped a particular father and son fishermen of ShweKyetYet village in their fishing. It drove fish towards their net, and only with them, not with others. Later I read that it is the habit of many dolphins. I saw on television of a group of Indian coastal fishermen waiting with nets on the beach. A school of dolphins drove a large school of fish ahead of them along the beach and as the fish passed the fishermen, they threw their nets in succession and a lot of fish were caught.

I also read about the friendship between a dolphin and a man near Elat, in the Red Sea.

From this behavior and their behavior I see with the circus dolphins, and I realized that as they are mammals and with their high intelligence, they form friendship with humans like dogs do.

Nowadays, the Ayeyarwaddy dolphins are being researched upon and protected.

Flying fish are aplenty far south when near the Myeik archipelago, and the first time I saw them I was on deck duty and they seem to be following us / the b.n.s. Mayu. We were in a school of flying fish that were going in the same direction. Whether it is coincendental or whether they have the habit of following a ship, I do not know. They jumped into the air, and then made several jumps by striking the surface with their tails and then dived back into the water.

I saw a dead flying fish the next morning. It had jumped onto the deck and became a fish out of water and died and picked up by one of the crew. I was surprised that it had a somewhat square body on cut section. They would be easily packed! Maybe it is not natural and became that way only after it had died from some circumstance I did not know about. The one I saw was about 18 inches long.

Quote:

I remember the first time I heard about the flying fish, though I wasn’t as insane as the guy in the video below “This is why Evolution is awesome” towards the flying fish. it still was an organism to be amazed at. I want one. I don’t care what anyone says — I want one.

Flying fish

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Exocoetidae, is a family of marine fish in the order Beloniformes of class Actinopterygii. Fishes of this family are known as flying fish. They comprise about 64 species grouped in seven to nine genera

Distribution and description

Flying fish live in all of the oceans, particularly in warm tropical and subtropical waters. Their most striking feature is their pectoral fins,^[1] which are unusually large, and enable the fish to hide and escape from predators^[2] by leaping out of the water, taking short gliding flights through air just above the water’s surface. Their glides are typically around 50 metres (160 ft).^[3]

Flying fish taking off

In order to glide upward out of the water, a flying fish moves its tail up to 70 times per second.^[4] It then spreads its pectoral fins and tilts them slightly upward to provide lift.^[1]

At the end of a glide, it folds its pectoral fins to reenter the sea or drops its tail into the water to push against the water to lift itself for another glide, possibly changing direction.^[1][4]

The curved profile of the “wing” has an aerodynamic shape that is comparable to that of a bird wing.^[5] The fish is able to increase its time in the air by flying straight into or at an angle to the direction of updrafts created by a combination of air and ocean currents.^[1][4]

Genus Exocoetus has one pair of fins and a streamlined body to optimize for speed, while Cypselurus has a flattened body and two pairs of fins which maximizes its time in the air.

Irrawaddy dolphin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Irrawaddy Dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) is a euryhaline species of Oceanic dolphin found in discontinuous sub-populations near sea coasts and in estuaries and rivers in parts of the Bay of Bengal and Southeast Asia.

Size comparison with an average human

Etymology and taxonomic history

The Irrawaddy Dolphin was first described by Sir Richard Owen in 1866 based on a specimen found in 1852, in the harbour of Visakhapatnam on the east coast of India.^[3] It is one of two species in its genus. It has sometimes been listed variously in a family containing just itself and in Monodontidae and in Delphinapteridae. There is now widespread agreement to list it in the Delphinidae family.

Genetically the Irrawaddy Dolphin is closely related to the Orca. The species name brevirostris comes from the Latin meaning short-beaked. In 2005, genetic analysis showed that the Australian Snubfin Dolphin found at the coast of northern Australia forms a second species in the Orcaella genus.

Overall grey to dark slate blue, paler underneath. No distinctive pattern. Dorsal fin small and rounded behind middle of back. Forehead high and rounded; beak lacking. Broad rounded flippers. The similar species that can be found in Borneo is the Finless Porpoise, Neophocaena phocaenoides, is similar and has no back fin: the Humpback Dolphin, Sausa chinensis, is larger, has longer beak and larger dorsal fin.^[3]

The several common names for Orcaella brevirostris (Latin) include: English: Irrawaddy dolphin, Local Chilika dialect: Baslnyya Magar or Bhuasuni Magar (oil yielding dolphin), Oriya: Khem and Khera^[3], French: Orcelle, Spanish: Delfín del Irrawaddy, German: Irrawadi Delphin, Burmese: Labai, Indonesia: Pesut, Malay: Lumbalumba, Khmer: ផ្សោត Ph’sout , Lao: Pha’ka and Filipino: Lampasut.^[4] In Thai, one of its names is pía loma hooa baht, because its rounded head is thought to resemble the shape of a Buddhist monk’s bowl, a hooa baht.^[5]

[edit] Description

Irrawaddy dolphins are similar to the Beluga in appearance, though most closely related to the Orca. They have a large melon and a blunt, rounded head, and the beak is indistinct. The dorsal fin, located about two-thirds posterior along the back, is short, blunt and triangular. The flippers are long and broad. It is lightly coloured all over, but slightly more white on the underside than the back. Adult weight exceeds 130 kg (287 lb) and length is 2.3 m (8 ft) m at full maturity. Maximum recorded length is 2.75 m (9 ft) of a male from Thailand.^[5]

Reproduction

These dolphins are thought to reach sexual maturity at 7 to 9 yrs. In the Northern Hemisphere, mating is reported from December to June. Its gestation period is 14 months, giving birth to a single calf every 2 to 3 years. Length is about 1 m (3 ft) at birth. Birth weight is about 10 kg (22 lb). Weaning is after two years. Lifespan is about 30 years.

[edit] Behavior

Irrawaddy dolphins communicate with clicks, creaks and buzzes at a dominant frequency of about 60 kilohertz which is thought to be used for echolocation. Bony fish and fish eggs, cephalopods, and crustaceans are taken as food. Observations of captive animals indicate that food may be taken into the mouth by suction. Irrawaddy Dolphins sometimes spit streams of water, sometimes while spyhopping, during feeding, apparently to expel water ingested during fish capture or possibly to herd fish. Some Irrawaddy Dolphins kept in captivity have been trained to do spyhopping on command. The Irrawaddy Dolphin is a slow swimmer, but swimming speed of 20–25 km/hour was reported when dolphins were being chased in a boat.^[6]

It surfaces in a rolling fashion and lifts its tail fluke clear of the water only for a deep dive. Deep dive times range from 70–150 seconds to 12min. When 277 group dives were timed (time of dis-appearance of last dolphin in group to emergence of first dolphinin the group) in Laos, mean duration was 115.3 s with a range of 19 s to 7.18 min.^[5] They make only occasional low leaps and never bow-ride. Groups of fewer than 6 individuals are most common, but sometimes up to 15 dolphins are seen together. ^{[6] [7]}

Interspecific competition has been observed when Orcaella was forced inshore and excluded by more specialised dolphins. It is also reported that when captive Humpback Dolphins (Sonsa chinensis) and Irrawaddy Dolphins were held together, the Irrawaddy Dolphins were frequently chased and confined to a small portion of the tank by the dominant Humpbacks. In Chilika Lake, local fishers say that when Irrawaddy Dolphins and Bottlenose Dolphins meet in the outer channel, the former get frightened and are forced to return toward the lake.^[3]

[edit] Habitat and sub-populations

Although sometimes called the Irrawaddy River Dolphin, it is not a true river dolphin but an oceanic dolphin that lives in brackish water near coasts, river mouths and in estuaries. It has established sub-populations in freshwater rivers, including the Ganges and the Mekong as well as the Irrawaddy River from which it takes its name. Its range extends from the Bay of Bengal to New Guinea and the Philippines.

It is often seen in estuaries and bays in Borneo Island. With sightings from Sandakan in Sabah, Malaysia, to most parts of Brunei and Sarawak, Malaysia. A specimen was collected at Mahakam River in East Kalimantan.^[1]

No range-wide survey has been conducted for this vulnerable species, however it appears that the worldwide population is over 7,000, with over 90% occurring in Bangladesh. Populations outside Bangladesh and India are classified as critically endangered. Known sub-populations of Irrawaddy Dolphins are found in eight places, listed here in order of population, including conservation status.

Chilka Lake, Orissa, India, habitat of Irrawaddy Dolphins

1. Bangladesh; 5,832 (VU) in coastal waters of the Bay of Bengal^[8]
2. and 451 (VU) in the brackish Sundarbans mangrove forest^[9][10]
3. India; 138 (VU) in the brackish water Chilka Lake^[11]
4. Laos and Cambodia; 66-86 (CR) in a 190 km (118.1 mi) freshwater stretch of the Mekong River^[12]
5. Indonesia; (CR), in a 420 km (261.0 mi) stretch of the freshwater Mahakam River
6. Philippines; about 77 (CR) in the brackish inner Malampaya Sound
7. Myanmar; about 58-72 (CR) in a 370 km (229.9 mi) freshwater stretch of the Ayeyarwady River
8. Thailand: less than 50 (CR) in the brackish Songkhla Lake.^[1]

[edit] Interaction with humans

Irrawaddy dolphins have a seemingly mutualistic relationship of co-operative fishing with traditional fishers. Fishers in India recall when they would call out to the dolphins, to drive fish into their nets. ^[13] In Myanmar, in the upper reaches of the Ayeyawady River, Irrawaddy dolphins drive fish towards fishers using cast nets in response to acoustic signals from them. In return, the Dolphins are rewarded with some of the fishers’ by-catch.^[14] Historically, Irrawaddy River fishers claimed that particular dolphins were associated with individual fishing villages and chased fish into their nets. A 1879 report indicates that legal claims were frequently brought into native courts by fishers to recover a share of the fish from the nets of a rival fisher which the plaintiffs dolphin was claimed to have helped fill.^[5]

Threats

Fishers with fishnets in Bangladesh

Irrawaddy Dolphins are more susceptible to human conflict than most other dolphins who live farther out in the ocean. Drowning in gillnets is the main threat to Irrawaddy dolphins throughout their range. The majority of reported dolphin deaths in all subpopulations is due to accidental capture and drowning in gillnets and dragnets, and in the Philippines, bottom-set crabnets. In Myanmar, electrofishing and gold mining are also a serious and continuing threat. Though most fishers are sympathetic to the dolphins plight, it is difficult for them to abandon their traditional means of livelihood.^[1]

In several Asian countries, Irrawaddys have been captured and trained to perform in public aquariums. The charismatic appearance and unique behaviors of Irrawaddy dolphins, including spitting water, spyhopping and fluke-slapping, make them very popular for shows in dolphinariums. The commercial motivation for using this dolphin species is high because it can live in freshwater tanks and the high cost of marine aquarium systems is avoided. The region within and nearby the species’ range has developed economically and theme parks, casinos and other entertainment venues that include dolphin shows has increased. In 2002 there were more than 80 dolphinariums in at least nine Asian countries^[15]

Collateral deaths of dolphins due to blast fishing were once common in Vietnam and Thailand. In the past, the most direct threat was the killing of Irrawaddys for their oil.

The IUCN lists five of the seven subpopulations as critically endangered, primarily due to drowning in fish nets.^[1] For example, the Malampaya population was first discovered and described in 1986, at the time consisting of 77 individuals. Due to anthropogenic activities, this number dwindled to 47 dolphins in 2007.^[16]

[edit] Conservation

Entanglement in fishnets and degradation of habitats are the primary threats to Irrawaddy Dolphins. Multiple conservation efforts are being made at international and national levels to alleviate these threats.

Myanmar

In 2005, the Department of Fisheries established a protected area for Irrawaddy dolphins in a 74 km (46 mi)-km segment of the Ayeyarwady River between Mingun and Kyaukmyaung. Protective measures in the area include mandatory release of entangled dolphins, prohibition of the catching or killing of dolphins and trade in whole or parts of them and the prohibition of electro-fishing and gill nets more than 300 feet (91 m) long, or spaced less than 600 feet (180 m). apart.^[4] Mercury poisoning and habitat loss from gold mining dregding operations in the river have been eliminated^[28]

After I posted this, a mentor of mine, Sayar Thane Oke Kyaw-Myint wrote to me:

Thane Oke Kyaw-Myint Ko Nyi Win, Kipling had never visited Burma proper let alone Mandalay: the ship that he was traveling passed near moulmien. So you’re right there couldn’t be any flying fish near Mandalay

Nyi Win thanks Sayar, for the information
so the flying fish “on the road to Mandalay” that Kipling wrote would be the ones in our coastal sea along the Tenesserim / ThaNinTharYi KannYoeTann ကမ္း႐ိုးတန္း
“Flying fish live in all of the oceans, partic…ularly in warm tropical and subtropical waters.”, so he actually meant the flying fish, not the Ayeyarwaddy dolphins

and later Sayar wrote:

Thane Oke Kyaw-Myint He was really an amazing writer: although he wrote so well about India, his stay in India was just a few years only, after he finished high school in England. Yet he took back with him such vivid memories of the country and the people that …he could write so many stories about India. If you can find them , please read :Stalky and Co, which was semi-autobiographical. The short story “Baa baa Black Sheep” was himself. Please also read Kim which was a very excellent account about “the Great Game’ i..e intrigues by the British but what i like about it was the sadhu trying to find enlightenment through his study of the Cycle of Life which i assumed must be the “Padiissa Samupada” cycle. the two Jungle Books and Mowgli were based on a actual young boy brought up by wolves.

You can download free all his books from Project Gutenberg:
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

Later, another mentor, Prof. Maung Maung Nyo wrote to me:

Maung Nyo Dear Nyi Win, It’s a metaphor. Have you ever seen aflying man, fling tiger, flying horse etc. All metaphors. We have ‘lu Pyan Daw Paddamya Tonic, Kya Pyan ma Kaut Cigars, Myin Pyan Longyi etc. It’s a beautiful poem.

Nyi Win

Sayargyi, thanks for enlightening me about “metaphor”. Although I have seen the word, I do not understand it and has never tried to.
My parents had a book by Kipling and when I was young, I read it, but could not appreciate it. Maybe I was n…ot mature at the time.
I appreciated Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, and Gone with the Wind, although it was a few years later and I still have not tried Kipling again.
The same too with ThetKaTho Phone Naing’s books which were famous. I read some of them but could not appreciate the ones I read. I prefer Zawana, Thein Pe Myint, ThetKaTho Khin Maung Aye, Maung TharRa, Myat Htan, Nu Nu Yi Innwa, etc., but as with Kipling’s book, I never tried ThetKaTho Phone Naing’s books after the initial exposure.
I understand that good literature never gets the acclaim without it being good. Maybe I was too young when I tried them, yet, my classmate friends appreciated ThetKaTho Phone Naing’s books at the time.

Maung Nyo Thank you. What you read are pure prose with direct meaning. Tekkatho Phone Naing, his model Bhamo Tin Aung, Dagon Taryar , Kyi Aye and early Maung Tha Ya wrote in poetic prose with many metaphors and similes. Think of Wutlitsalit Lanmagyi as the naked road. It means a desrted road. Lay nu aye as the cold yound tender breeze. How can a breeze or wind be tender or hard, yound or old? Just metaphors. Thnak you.

Nyi Win

Thanks again Sayargyi

it is true that one is never too old to learn

and I have learned something about literature from you today

there are some authors whose writings I do not understand: DeMawHso ဒီေမာဆိုး (I had actually met him here in Mann oil field. He is a MOGE Drilling engineer U Than Aung, and worked with us about 12 years ago), Linn Hsay Tit လင္းေဆး (1) [he is Dr. Than Htut, 1 or 2 years my senior, IM-1 ’74 or ’75 batch, and I knew him during my undergraduate days and he always took part in the graduation dinner plays during his medical student days), and several others.

U Than Aung and ko Than Htut knew each other and they write in the same style; the only problem is that I do not get what they mean_their message.

a trip to Sriksetra again

I have always been fascinated by the Pyu and had visited sriksetra the first time when I was young while going along on my father’s work trip to Prome. He took us to HmawSar and we visited an old building that served as a storage / museum for artifacts found there that has not been sent to the National museum
Later, I got to Beikthanoe when I was on a field trip to ShweSettaw by geologists while I was working for the BHPP-Petroleum in 1992
When we went on vacation to ShweSetTaw, KyaungDawYar, Bagan, Popa, Pyay on 2003, we dropped in at Beikthanoe on the way out and Sriksetra on the way back while making a night stop at Pyay
Last November 2009, I got to Tagaung when I travelled to Myitkyina to visit the MyitHsone before it becomes inundated and while ako was still posted at Waing Maw.
On 18-Jul 2010, I got to SriKsetra again on my way to the AhKaukTaung in KyanKhinn township near HtoneBo.

AhKaukTaung

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AhKaukTAung pagoda အေကာက္ေတာင္ ဘုရား

Division boundary sign

Our guides

Pyone and Aung Ko Oo on the Boat to AhKaukTaung

I first came across the AhKaukTaung အေကာက္ေတာင္ towards the end of my work with the Road to Mandalay when we cruised down Ayeyarwaddy from Mandalay to Yangon for the final trip of the season in 1997 May. After a night stop at Pyay, we cruised down near the AhKaukTaung and the view of the rock wall Buddha carvings was one of the highlights of the trip. I have always wanted to visit the AhKaukTaung since then and finally made it recently on 18-July 2010. Although it is only a short distance from HtoneBo, just 30 – 45 min walk, about 2 miles and visible from HtoneBo, it lies in KyanKhinn township, at the northernmost part of the Ayeyarwaddy division on the border with the Bago division, with a bridge (and ? stream / chaung) separating it from the Bago division and HtoneBo.

There are 2 ways of going there: by road from Pyay to HtoneBo and then take a boat (better as you can witness the Buddha rock carvings from the boat) or go ahead as far as one can go by road and walk the remaining distance (you will miss the river view of the rock wall Buddha sculptures), or go to AhKaukTaung and back from Pyay by boat (the trip will take well over half a day; even driving from Pyay to HtoneBo took 2.5 hours as the road is not good).

There is no record as to who and when the Buddha images were carved onto the stone walls

The local theory (as told by the AhKaukTaung Sayardaw) is that as there are whrilpools and the current is strong, the boats would have stopped there in the distant past and that those among the crew carved the Buddha images over the time.

There was a revenue station nearby during the British times (not during the reign of Burmese kings) with remains of the revenue collection out-post / BoTae Pyet ဘိုတဲပ်က္ and therefore the hill has been called AhKauk Taung အေကာက္ေတာင္.

my friend ko Aung Cho Naung wrote to me after viewing this blog:

Sayar Nyi,

I feel very nice to see the photos and thanks for that. I really recalled our trips to a village called “Thaut Kyar Du ေသာက္ၾကာဒူး” which passed through that Ahkataung since we were young. But I had never seen those Buddha sculptures scene like with greens in your photos due we went there in summer holidays to visit relatives in Thaut Kyar Du village. Sometimes, we went there to Ahkataung farms mostly are dry in summer. I remember another very small village was called “U Lu Pu Kone ဦး လူပုကုန္း” that was very enjoyable with toddy and village traditional food we had there. The daily breakfast there in ေသာက္ၾကာဒူး was very memorable with very fresh fried beans and cold old rice “ႏွမ္းဆီနဲ႕ ေၾကာ္ထားတဲ့ ကုလားပဲလုံးေၾကာ္ နဲ႕ ထမင္းၾကမ္း နဲ႕ ေရေႏြး ၾကမ္း”

Whoooooo!!!! could not replace with 5 stars food from restaurants sometimes.

Best regards,

ACN

This brought to me idea to post the earlier correspondence between a newly found FB friend and myself:

all, after reading ko ANC’s message, I want to share it with you, together with earlier correspondence with another newly acquired FB friend, Dr. Than Hla: have reproduced it below ko ACN’s mail
these are what life is worth living for
a break in our monotonous rat-race

Than Hla

Hello DR Nyi Win, if you ever travel to west bank of Ayerwaddy again, and if you have a chance to travel in Min Done Township, please visit Taing Tar village. There you will find a rest house ( Bo tae ) probably built since British colonial times.The rest house looks very strong like a small fortress, I slept one night in it, hope it is still … See Morethere. There are also three tombs at the other end of the village, one of a Tatmadaw officer and two of British colonial soldiers. The graves were well kept and undisturbed when I found in 1975.

Thanks AhKoGyi, I will if I ever get there. MinDone is near Mann oil field where I work, but I cannot go there while on duty. I will one day visit ShweSetTaw again and it will be a good time to visit MinDone to visit Taing Tar village. I am very much interested in such things and am indebted to you for your information.

When I was in Myitkyina and visited the NaLanKha falls near Sidone, I tried to visit the British fort on the Sidone hill, but we had to ask permission from the army at the new Sidone, which we finally got, and after about 45 minutes walk and climb, we got there late after sunset and the army outpost was closed and did not return our calls to them.

We looked around but apart from a cemetry of Myanmar army we did not find the British fort and realized that it must have been inside the army post at the hill top.

Than Hla

During my time in Min don, Taing Tar village was about a day’s walk from Min don, hope some means of transport has developed over the years. Back then I have to walk along the jungle and river banks, and have to sleep one night in Taing tar village before I can return to Min don the next day. That was how I end up sleeping in that BO Tae. Taing tar village was situated on the bank of a medium size stream. There was a rather flat area about the size of three or four foot ball fields on the other side of the stream. according to the villagers that was the original Taing tar myo during the myanmar kings administration.I supposed it was ruled by Taing tar Min Gyi. At the entrance to the Taing tar village there was a spirit warship building, which was as large as a small house. According to the villagers, on some full moon days, a group of white horses were seen galloping back and forth between the Taing tar myo haung and the spirit worship building of the taing tar village.

Than Hla

By the way there was also a place near Taing tar village where Bo Ywe ambush the british colonial army. I think Taing tar is full of history.

I am really happy having a chance to talk about an interesting small village in Magwe Division.

Thanks

AhKo Gyi, thanks for all the information as they interest me very much.

On the highway between TaungTwinGyi and Magway, north of the ThitYarKauk (there is now a KoePin – ThitYarKauk, TaungTwinGyi bypass road), and further north of the MiChaungYae road, there is a small road with a signpost “MyinKhoneTaing / ျမင္းခုံတိုင္ _ _ miles”.

I also got to the village of Malae / မလယ္ on the boat trip from Tagaung to Mandalay at the beginning / north end of the 3rd Ayeyarwaddy defile, across which is the SanPae NaGo village. I felt eerie when I come across places which are familiar from my knowledge of history.

Than Hla July 23 at 1:14pm

I know Min Don quite well because I served at that area as a conscript Medical Officer in that area for about one year.
I am retired now

I was a National service Army medical officer, I served for three years as required and returned to the civil service. Actually I could continue as a captain at the end of the national service, but decided not to. my short term service in the army was not bad at all,I learned new things, came to know new friends and also been to many places. I spent quite a few months in Min Don area because the strategist command I am attached , was stationed there for some time. that was how I came to know the place quite well. Some times if we were away from Min Don,I and an infantry officer who was my close friend have to walk about 10 miles back to Min don to have a cup of coffee and relax a bit at a coffee shop. As you know Min Don it self was a small town, you can imagine the quality of the coffee shop.

Than Hla July 23 at 10:51pm

The lesson I learn was be happy with what you have ,but be innovative and creative and productive, try to help your self with what ever small opportunity you can get, then you will never be depressed.

Than Hla July 24 at 2:10pm

What I told you was my real experience. I just like to read what you write and some times exchange some experience. I gave up being a Doctor, because I want to do anything I like to do, something like visiting places of interest in Myanmar. See some old friends. By the way just between you and me, I got upset with many people writing about the houses roads and big buildings in Singapore US Uk Aussi and so on, why can’t they some time write about human experience. So keep up the good work you are doing. I am now living in Yangon, but no need to walk 10 miles for a cup of coffee anymore.

Food for thought: Thou shalt not kill

I attended the St. Paul’s High School from the 2^nd – 6^th Standards after which the school was nationalized by the government. During that period I was exposed to Catholic religion and I also read about other Christian sects later. The above heading means “You shall not kill”. Killing is prohibited in the Christian religion, yet there were crusades to re-Christianize the Biblical areas that were under Muslim control. This conflict continued in Spain with the Moorish occupation and their uprooting with subsequent  Inquisition and persisted to the present, the occurrences we witnessed in Bosnia and Kosovo.

The killing for religion even continued within the Christian sects between Catholics and Protestants in Europe (France, Germany), England, Scotland and Ireland during the 16^th and 17^th centuries which led to the pilgrims escaping to the New World to escape persecution, till the recent past when we witnessed the events in northern Ireland between the Irish R Army and the British.

There has also been Mujahids throughout history since Saladin’s time till the current Al-Queda and related activities of Taliban and jamia islamia. There is also the unending struggle between Pakistan and India for religious reasons. Yet one also see conflicts between different Muslim sects of Sunni and Shites in Iraq, and also those between the Taliban and the Pakistan authorities.

All these killings of humans in the name of religion, even between different sects of the same religion is very difficult to understand, given the prohibition of killing by religious teaching.

As for Buddhism, killing of all life (including animals and insects) is considered to be a sin which one has to repay back in the next 500 lives. I do not know what the status of microbes are, yet, as a doctor, I have to kill pathogenic microorganisms with antibiotics, antifungals and antivirals, and also order and supervise the killings of mosquitoes and termites with insecticides. When I was posted to the Pharmacology Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Medicine I, Yangon, in 1981-2, one of my former teachers, Daw Ohn Htwe was still there as a Demonstrator. She, being deeply religious, refused to attend the Pharmacology post graduate course because she does not want to do animal experiments.

Throughout history, killing for political purposes are the Rule and even occurred in all countries between relatives, cousins, siblings and even patricide. The Shah Jahan who built the Taj Mahal was killed at his deathbed by his son. King AhlaungSithu အေလာင္းစည္သူ was smothered by his son Narathu နရသူ who later killed his elder brother the night after making him king. Asoka killed his relatives to get the crown. Bogyoke Aung San was also assassinated for political reasons. Recently, there was a near miss at Depeyin ဒီပဲရင္း.

Not only will those who kill, but also those who ordered the killings also have to pay for their deeds, either in this life or the next and the subsequent 499 lives. That was why General Saw Maung a religious man became worried and visited many pagodas in the later part of his term. He also brought the AhPePeik Buddha image to Yangon အပယ္ပိတ္ဘုရား ရန္ကုန္ပင့္. True Buddhists will know that one cannot fully wipe out the bad deed of killings by other good deeds.

There are still unrepentent ones in power who cling to their reign by terror and do not hesitate to kill. We had modern mass killings of unarmed civilians during 7-July 1962 and before, during and after the 8-8-88.

Myanmar history: who are the Pyus and where are they now?

This question is one that still has no officially approved answer because of the incompleteness of the historical facts and the political implications underlying it. Although I believe there are many historians and archeologists who have the view I hold, they have not put it on record because of its sensitivity.

There are 2 sources of facts we have regarding the Pyu: the archeological findings and the Myanmar (Bamar and Rakhine) history on one side and the contemporary detailed Chinese records on the other.

The Pyus built brick walled cities around nearly the whole of present day Myanmar and established the first Myanmar Empire which was both civilized and strong and they had relations with neighbouring countries and this is attested by contemporary Chinese chronicles and now proved by the findings of the finger marked bricks in archeological findings in the Tenessarim and elsewhere.

Recent findings of Bronze Age culture in Myanmar, and the early Iron Age settlements in the Chindwin and Samon valleys bring out more evidence of Myanmar prehistory.

Below are extracts of articles by Bob Hudson and Elizabeth Moore, to whom I owe much of my knowledge about the Pyus as their articles are available on the web whereas most Myanmar data are unavailable to me except the Glass Palace Chronicle / Hman Nann YarZaWin, U Ba Than’s Kyaung Thone YarZaWin and books by Dr. Than Tun, U Than Tun (Shwebo) and Dr. Kyaw Win. I owe much to the late Dr. Than Tun whose many books about early Myanmar history gave me much knowledge and encouragement.

After you read them, you will also come to the same conclusion I have: that the Pyus are the ruling minority class who ruled over the Bamars, Mons and other ethnic groups because of their higher civilization. They began with the AbiYarZar and his entourage as stated in Myanmar chronicles (which are disregarded as myths by the English historians) and later reinforced by the DazaYarzar and his entourage who also are of TharKiWins from the Mizzimadesh in modern day northern India. These 2 main groups mixed with locals in later years but with continuous connection with India, had and maintained a high civilization and were a minority so that when the Nan-chaos took away the remaining over 3000 of the Pyus, not much were left behind and they remaining Pyus intermarried with the Bamars and became Myanmars. The situation is similar to the English who ruled us but are no more, and the Pyu language might be analogous to the pidgin that developed in some British colonies which is derived from English yet unintelligible even to the English.

Myanmar Chronicles

The memory of Pyu culture has long been preserved in Myanmar chronicles and epigraphy,

and in the case of Beikthano, Halin and Sriksetra that memory adds further support to the

epigraphic and artefactual record .

Pyu sites are mentioned in many but not all of the standard chronicles that bring together traditions of various dynasties and also in a range of local histories or thamaing. Pe Maung Tin and Luce note that while the founding of Sriksetra is detailed that Tagaung is already established in chronicle descriptions (1960:xviii).

In an early Inwa chronicle, the Zabu Koncha, the main point of interest is the indication of the

Pyu at some twenty different sites spread north and south of the Chindwin-Ayeyarwaddy

confluence. It is notable in this account that Halin, the first settlement cited, falls three times.

The first fall is to Yakhine, the second to peoples of Lower Myanmar, and the third to the

Dawei (Tavoy), also in the south. Tagaung is also settled three times, and Inwa (Ava) is twice

mentioned as a Pyu site (Win Maung (Tampawaddy), pers.comm.1998).

Of the Pyu sites, the focus in the royal chronicles is Sriksetra. The founding of the city is recorded in a number of accounts, including the Glass Palace Chronicle (Hman Nan Yazawin). This source, compiled for King Bagyidaw from 1829-32, drew mainly on U Kala’s 18th century chronicle (Tet Htoot 1963: 53). It was translated in part by Pe Maung Tin and G.H. Luce in 1923, and reprinted in 1960.

The Taungdwingyi Thamaing, compiled in the 19th century, has one chapter on Beikthano or

‘Peikthano’, Vishnu. This records the triumph of Sriksetra over Beikthano, a memory

preserved in a hillock at Sriksetra whose name translates as the ‘Cemetery of the Queen of Beikthano’.

The chronicles commemorate the early history of the Sriksetra in political and sacred contexs, linking it to the ancient capital of Tagaung. Also related in the Glass Palace Chronicle is the marking out of the circular site of Srikestra by Sakka (Indra, Thagyamin) in 544BC, the year of the Buddha’s bodily demise. Holding the tail of the Naga King, a circular perimeter of 3 yojana was marked out, the remains of which measure 81/2 miles in circumference. A yojana or yuzana is a measurement of Indian origin, varying from 4 1/2 to 9 or 12 miles. Even the smaller calculation is larger than the remains, although the Sriksetra walls encompass a larger area than any of the other known Pyu sites.The city had moats, ditches, barbicans, thirty-two main gates and thirty-two smaller ones and four-cornered towers. Many of these necessary elements of the city are in multiples of four, ensuring cosmological correctness for the site. Some of these, such as gates, may have been symbolic, depicted possibly by false doors or niches in the wall. (Wheatley 1983:176). This convention later became incorporated into the seven features necessary to consecrate a site as a new royal city: wall with gates, moat, pagoda library, monastery, ordination hall, and rest places (Moore 1993:335)

The founding of the Sriksetra is also preserved in the biographical inscriptions of the Bagan King Kyanzittha. One of these, written in Old Mon, was installed in 1093AD at the Shwesandaw pagoda in Pyay.

Beikthano

The Taungdwingyi Thamaing was does not recount the founding of Beikthano, but rather its

subjugation by Sriksetra. The episode centres on King Duttabaung and Princess Panthwa,

descendants of Mahathambawa and Sulathambawa from an earlier ruler of Tagaung. The

Glass Palace Chronicle also traces Queen Panthwa’s lineage to Tagaung. Here, her father,

heir to the kingdom of Tagaung in the fortieth year after the Buddha’s Parinirvana killed a

great boar threatening the kingdom. The heir became a hermit near to the later site of

Srikestra, at Yatheit-myo or ‘hermit city’, a name often given to Sriksetra. A young doe living

here gave birth to a daughter named Bedayi, after happening to lick up the hermit’s urine left

in a cup in the rocks (Luce and Pe Maung Tin 1960:8,13).

At around this time, two blind princes were born to the chief Queen of Tagaung. The two sons

were fathered by the queen’s lover, a Naga prince (Khin Myo Chit 1985:57). They were

banished from Tagaung to float down the Ayeyarwaddy and eventually regain their sight with

the help of an ogress, Candamukhi. The brothers meet Bedayi and her father on their journey,

bringing the two stories together. The elder brother marries Bedayi, and then dies, although

Bedayi bears his child. She is given to the younger prince, and bears a son, Duttabaung. In the

Taungdwingyi Thamaing, the ogress gives birth to a girl, taking her to live on the sacred Mt.

Popa near Bagan where a hermit cares her. In the Glass Palace Chronicle, the ogress builds a

village around Mt. Popa and lives there her son Peitthano, who had been fathered by one of

the princes (Luce and Pe Maung Tin 1960:14). Indra (Thagyarmin or Sakka) learns that the

girl had been the sister of Vishnu in a previous life, and requests that Vishnu build her a city.

This city is then called Panthwa (‘request’) or Vishnu (Chen Yi-Sein 1999:76). King

Duttabaung hears of the Beikthano’s wealth but fails to take the city due to Princess

Panthwa’s magic drum that she had received from Sakka. When beaten, the drum made the

waters of the Yan Pe stream to the south of Beikthano rise, drowning any invading troops.

King Duttabaung, ruling at Sriksetra, had a third, divine eye and is identified by some with the Hindu deity Siva. Beikthano, on the other hand, takes its name from Vishnu.

The archaeological landscape of Upper Burma to AD 1300.

Bob Hudson.

Chinese sources.

Chinese historians and geographers began to mention the territory that is now Myanmar as early as the second century BC, focusing on the Pyu kingdom(s) and people.

There are references to overland trade or pilgrimage routes linking China, Upper Burma and India from 128 BC, to Pyu migrants settling in Yunnan (before AD 76), to a Buddhist kingdom, Linyang (nominated by Luce as the first textual mention of Buddhism in association with Burma) in the first half of the 3rd century, to a route from Yunnan to the Pyu kingdom (before AD 290), to a “civilised people” called the P’iao (before AD 420) and again around AD 524, to Linyang (Beikthano, or Vishnu City).

During the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) a Pyu capital, Shilichadaulo (Sriksetra) was mentioned in AD 646, 648, around 675 (the latter two in relation to Chinese Buddhist pilgrims), and 691.

The overland trade route between Yunnan, Burma and India was described in detail in AD 810.

Poems of the early 9th century describe performances by Pyu artistes at Chang-an, the Tang capital, in AD 800 and 801-802.

Later historical compilations the Man shu, or Book of the Southern Barbarians (AD 863), the Jiu Tang shu or Old History of the Tang Dynasty (AD 945) and the Tang huiyao or Important Documents of the Tang (AD 961) all refer to the musicians’ visit of AD 801-802. The Xin Tang shu or New History of the Tang Dynasty contains a detailed description of the Pyu kingdom, even listing the songs performed by the Pyu on their visit to Chang-an.

During the Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279) missions to the Song court from the P’u-kan kingdom in AD 1004 and 1106 are recorded in the Zhu fan shi or Description of Foreign Peoples of AD 1225.

Interpreting Pyu material culture:

Royal chronologies and finger-marked bricks

Myanmar Historical Research Journal, No(13) June 2004, pp.1-57

Elizabeth Moore

http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/Moore-bricks.pdf

Bricks were used to build walls around Pyu and Mon sites in Myanmar and Thailand during the early first millennium AD if not earlier. 1 Many of these bricks have lines on the ends or across the width, patterns made with the fingers while the bricks were still soft. Unlike many other diagnostic Pyu artefacts such as beads and coins, finger-marked bricks are not easily collected or traded. They are cumbersome to transport over great distances, and even when reused today tend to remain in the locality where they were first made.

The massive brick walls of Sriksetra, Beikthano and Halin are one of the principal features

used to identify these sites as Pyu, although it is now accepted that their occupation pre-dates

the construction of walls. Chinese emissaries in the 9th century AD described the city-wall of

the P’iao (Pyu) capital as being faced with glazed bricks, part of a general perception that

walls designate an area as urban. It has been suggested that the armies of the Nan-chao did not

think the newly founded kingdom of Bagan worthwhile to raid, as it had no fortified city

(Htin Aung 1967:31).

Finger-marked bricks and Pyu walls

Pyu walls were thick, commonly 2-5 metres wide, and were further reinforced with earthen embankments. Chinese emissaries noted that these walls, combined with the enclosed areas of rice fields, ensured the king’s ability to withstand a long siege (Htin Aung 1967:11).

In the central basin of Myanmar, finger-marked bricks are found at virtually all Pyu sites, and have been found at Tagaung, the earliest capital recorded in the Myanmar chronicles (Win Maung 1997). Preliminary survey of sites in India and Nepal recorded finger-marked bricks in Bihar (Varanasi (Sarnath), Kosambi, Rajagriha, Vaishali), Uttar Pradesh (Kusinara, Saravasti) and at Kapilavastu. In a number of cases the finger-marked bricks were kept as relics, and were believed to have protective power (Win Maung (Tampawaddy) 1991).

In the southern parts of the country, finger-marked bricks are found at most ‘Mon’ sites thought to date to the early centuries AD. Many of these are traditionally associated with the formation of Suvannabhumi, for example at lowland habitation sites and upland ritual centres around Mt. Kelasa in present day Bilin Township, Mon State (Moore 2003, forthcoming). The early significance of this southern area is recalled by a delegation headed by the chief monk of Mt. Kelasa’s monastic community said to have attended the consecration ceremony of a stupa built by Duttagamani of Sri Lanka in the 2nd century BC (Sao Saimong Mangrai 1976:160, Htin Aung 1967:6). Similar bricks are found at Mon Dvaravati sites in Thailand such as U Thong (San Win 2000). Thus while the use of fingermarked bricks is described here in a Pyu context, finds are associated with the adoption of Theravada practice at sites throughout Myanmar and in Thailand.

Finger-marked bricks, unless re-used, are not found at sites dating beyond the 12^th or early 13th century AD (Moore and Aung Myint 1981). Nor are finger-marked bricks found at earlier or contemporaneous bronze-iron using sites of the Samon valley, described briefly below.

Nonetheless, the bronze artefacts associated with the Samon sites are increasingly being reported at Pyu locations, for instance Halin and Beinnaka (Moore 2003, Win Maung 2003).

In some instances, differences in the Pyu and Samon bronze-iron finds are difficult to distinguish. Beads of semi-precious stone, glass or fossil wood, are often labelled Pyu and are commonly found in association with finger-marked bricks. However, very similar beads are also found at the Samon sites, where ritual goods such as ‘mother-goddess’ figures indicate animist rather than Hindu-Buddhist practice (Nyunt Han, Win Maung and Moore 2002).

Chindwin and Samon bronze and iron using sites

A distribution of bronze-using sites is found around the Lower Chindwin region (21.20-22.30n 94.45-95.30e). The site of Nyaunggan is part of this group, one that spans the Chindwin River and stretches south around its confluence with the Ayeyarwaddy. The Bronze Age cemetery northwest of Monywa has been dated comparatively to c. 1500-1000 BC, the time period given for the establishment of a bronze-working tradition in Southeast Asia.

2 Attempts to date bone from both Hnaw Kan and Nyaunggan failed to give results due to lack of collagen in the samples. Charcoal was recovered Hnaw Kan, but the results are not available at the time of this writing (Patreau et al.2001: 100; Patreau 2002).

However, the start of bronze production in this area and the duration of cemetery use are not yet known.

To the east, along the Samon Valley south of Mandalay, bronze-iron cemetery sites are dispersed (19.40-22.00n x 95.30-96.15e)(see Moore and Pauk Pauk 2001; Nyunt Han, Win Maung and Moore 2002; Moore 2003). Absolute dating is not yet available for these and again an initial date for bronze and iron working there has not been formulated. They may fall within a period of fairly rapid change in Southeast Asia, from about c. 700-400BC, during a transition from unstratified agriculturalist economies using stone tools, to ranked metal-using communities (Glover 1999b: 104). The inception  localised iron production in Southeast Asia is generally placed around 500 BC (Glover 1999a: 87, Higham 2002: 158, 166). Also fitting within this timeframe are thermo-luminescence dates obtained from both pottery and iron excavated in 1982 at Taungthaman, Amarapura (21.53n x 96.05e) by U Sein Maung Oo. From this site, an iron fishhook found on the chest of a skeleton gave a date of 460 ±200 BC (Stargardt 1990: 15-6,29).

A number Pyu walled sites are found in, and peripheral to, the distribution of bronze-iron using sites in the Samon valley. The site of Taungthaman, and Kyaukse, whose ricefields supplied the 9-13C city of Bagan, are located here as well. Halin and Beikthano are on the north and south margins of the Samon bronze-iron distribution. Further south is Sriksetra, by far the largest of the enclosed Pyu sites. Its dating (4th or 5th to 9th C AD) is based on stylistic analysis although its location near the probable ancient shoreline suggests far earlier occupation. Traditional histories indicate habitation of the area long before the founding of the Pyu city (Moore. 2000: 172). Despite clear links to other Pyu sites such as brick walls, finger-marked bricks, and urns, Sriksetra presents a rather different profile in terms of the range of Pyu objects and the paucity of stone or bronze tools. This may well be dispelled with further research and excavation.

As discussed further below, the Pyu sites have been dated to about 200 BC – 900 AD, with charcoal samples from Beikthano yielding the earliest dates (Aung Thaw 1968, Aung Thwin 1982-3). The sequence of 1000+ years bracketed as ‘Pyu’ rests on more information than currently available for the Chindwin and Samon sites. Radiocarbon dates are available from Beikthano and Halin; there is palaeographic analysis of a limited number of inscriptions on stone and on gold plates, and stylistic analysis of bricks, beads, pottery, sculpture, monuments and walls. However, many aspects related to the Pyu remain uncertain. These include deciphering the language and, as discussed below, determining whether the Pyu were a distinct ethnic group that entered the central basin or were one of a number of groups already present. Also important is a clearer picture of developments during the early centuries AD. This was a period of expanding trade with both northern and southern parts South Asia and China, and there are indications that the changes indicated at sites such as Chansen in Central Thailand during the third century AD (Bronson 1976), were mirrored at Pyu settlements.

The chronological, cultural and ethnic relationship of the Samon valley bronze-iron cemeteries and the Pyu walled sites of Upper Myanmar remains a matter for future research.

Both groups, if indeed they prove to be distinct, settled in the arid zone, where irrigation was needed for wet rice cultivation. Both were capable of working in bronze and in iron. Although bronze and iron metallurgy and the firing of clay for pots and beads was already well established, this technology was used in new ways by the Pyu, most notably brick-making as discussed above, to define territory and erect ritual structures. The catalyst for these changes is traditionally attributed to contact with South Asia.

The ‘Pyu’ in Chinese records

The Pyu are referred to as the ‘P’iao’ in Chinese texts dated from the 3-9C AD, although they are thought to have called themselves ‘Tircul’. Tircul is used, for example, in the 1102 AD palace inscription of Kyanzittha, where Tircul, Bamar and Mon dancing is described (Blagden and Duroiselle 1921). Variants of Tircul are also mentioned by Perso-Arab authors of the 9^th and 10th centuries AD.

Early accounts

Other Chinese texts of about the 4th century AD describe troublesome groups living southwest of Yung-ch’ang. These peoples grew millet, hill-paddy, cotton trees and cinnamon, and produced saltwells, gold, silver, jade, amber, cowrie and tortoise shell. There were rhinoceros and elephant, and monkey hide was used to make armour. The peoples were alleged to be cannibals, who tattooed themselves and used bows and arrows. Further to the southwest, some 3000 li, were “a civilised people, the P’iao, where ‘prince and minister, father and son, elder and younger, have each their order of precedence” (Luce 1960:309). They made their knives and halberds from gold, and produced perfumes, cloves, cowries and a white cloth from the cotton-tree.

Later accounts

Over the next three hundred years, there is little mention of the P’iao.

However, in the 7^th century, two monks, Hsüan Tsang and I Ching, travelled to India and in both records Sriksetra is mentioned. Neither monk visited the city, and although the P’iao are not specifically cited, they do refer to a capital called Sriksetra, or ‘field of glory’ located in a country that to the south, “borders on the sea” (Luce 1985: 48).

The later Chinese sources are linked to the fortunes of the kingdom of Nan-chao. As a result of an alliance forged with Tibet in 755AD to defeat the Chinese, the Nan-chao king Ko-lofeng initiated communications with the Pyu. By the end of the century, however, the Tibetan link was broken as Ko-lo-feng’s grandson strengthened ties to the Chinese court. An embassy from Nan-chao to the Chinese court was sent in 800, 802 and 807AD.

Due to these shifting alliances, information about the Pyu capital was included in records of the time such as the Old Tang History (Chiu-t’ang-shu) and the New Tang History (Hsint’ang-shu). Another document of this period is the Man Shu, compiled by Fan Ch’o after gathering information from Pyu soldiers during the 862AD siege of Hanoi (Luce 1960:318, 1985:77). All the sources contain details about the Pyu capital.

“The king’s name is Maharaja. His chief minister is Mahasena. When he goes on 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. The compass of the city-wall is faced with glazed bricks; it is 160 li in circumference.” (Luce 1960:318)

An account of Beikthano [Tharekhittra, not Beikthano] was recorded in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) Chinese chronicle Man Shu in the chapter ôThe Southern Barbarians as follows:

ôThe circular wall of his (the Pyu King╝s) city is built of greenish glazed titles (brick) and is 160 li. It has 12 gates and three pagodas at each four corners. . . Their house tiles are of lead and zinc. . . They have a hundred monasteries with bricks of vitreous ware, embellished with gold and silver, vermillion, gray colours and red kino.╜ [Taw Sein Kho (1895), The Pottery and Glasware of Burma 1894-95╜,Superintendent of Govt.Printing, Rangoon.]

The Man Shu, however, remarks that the time to march around the city was a day, generally taken to be about 50 li (Wheatley 1983: 193). The tiered form of the pyatthat appears to have been used to mark the four corners of the city gates. Inside the walls were more than a hundred Buddhist assembly halls (‘wats’), whose form was similar to the palace of the king.

Pagodas were roofed with tiles of lead and tin and furnished within with embroidered rugs, gold and silver and cinnabar and gum-lac (Wheatley 1983: 177). The population used a silver coinage, and all lived within the city walls. One source noted that there were several tens of thousands of families, a calculation implying up to a 100,000 people. Also recorded in the Man Shu is the respect paid to a white image over 100 feet high:

“In front of the gate of the palace where the king of (this) kingdom dwells, there is a great image seated in the open air, over a hundred feet high, and white as snow. It is their wont to esteem honesty and decency. The people’s nature is friendly and good. They are men of few words. They reverence the Law of the Buddha. Within the city there is absolutely no taking of life. Also there are many astrologers who tell fortunes by the stars.

If two persons go to law with each other, the king at once orders them to burn incense in front of the great image and ponder on their faults: whereupon each of them withdraw. If a disaster should occur, or pestilence, or war, or disturbance, the king also burns incense facing the great image, repents of his transgressions, and takes the blame on himself.

The men mostly wear white tieh. The women on top of their heads make a high coiffure, adorned with gold, silver and real pearls. They wear for show blue skirts of p’o-lo (silk cotton) and throw about them pieces of gauze-silk. When walking, they always hold fans.

Women of noble family will have three persons, of five persons at their side, all holding fans.

When there are persons sent to take letters to the Ho-t’an of the Man borders, they take ‘river-pigs,’ white tieh, and glazed jars for barter or trade.” (Luce 1961:90-1)

The ‘river pigs’ were probably river porpoises, and the tieh a silkcotton cloth.

The New Tang History also mentions the image:

“They wear gold-flowered hats and caps of kingfisher feathers strung with various jewels. The king’s palace has two bells, one of silver and one of gold; when enemies are at hand they burn incense and strike these bells, thus obtaining omens concerning their fate in the coming battle.

There is a great white image, 100 feet high. Those who are engaged in a lawsuit kneel in front of it, think for themselves whether they are right or wrong, and go away…”

The New Tang History and the Man Shu make it clear that Nan-chao held the upper hand in these relations with the ‘P’iao’. For example, Pyus were conscripted to fight with the Nanchao army in the capture of Hanoi in 863 AD. Fan Ch’o did not visit the Pyu cities but had been sent on a mission to Yunnan the previous year, and later wrote of Pyu exiled to this area:

“In [AD 832] Man [sc.Nan-chao] rebels looted and plundered P’iao kingdom [sc. Halin]. They took prisoner over three thousand of their people. They banished them into servitude at Chê-tung [approx. Yünnan Fu], and told them to fend for themselves. At present their children and grandchildren are still there, subsisting on fish, insects, etc. Such is the end of their people” (Luce 1985:66).

Luce goes on to note reference by the Chinese to the P’iao as “one of the tribes of the ‘Gold Teeth Comfortership’ (1985:66). The ‘Gold Teeth’ tribes perhaps find authentication in the 1999 finding at Shwegugyi Zeidi south of Halin, of an upper jawbone with eight teeth drilled with a pattern of 102 tiny holes filled with gold foil. The jawbone was from a skeleton found under a large stone slab and an associated pillar about 1.5m long, with gold and silver rings, pottery and iron tools (Hudson 2003:10, Win Maung (Tampawaddy) 1999).

The figure of thirty-two is also used in the New T’ang History, which lists thirty-two important settlements or tribes subject to the Pyu, eighteen dependencies, and eight or nine garrison towns.

The attack on Halin in 832 AD by the Nan-chao of Yunnan, China, appears to have been a devastating blow since according to the Chinese records the entire population was carried off into slavery and after this date mention of the Pyu is very rare.

The Myanmar Performing Arts Of The Pyu Period

In A.D.802 the King of Sri Kstra, a Pyu City Kingdom in Central Myanmar despatched a diplomatic mission to the Court of the Chinese Emperor of the Tang Dynasty (A.D.618 -907) at the Capital Chang-an. Led by the Pyu Crown Prince Sunanda who was accompanied by Minister Nakya Konra and General Maha Thena, the mission took with it a cultural troupe of 35 performing artistes.

Poems of the early 9th century describe performances by Pyu artistes at Chang-an, the Tang capital, in AD 800 and 801-802.

Later historical compilations the Man shu, or Book of the Southern Barbarians (AD 863), the Jiu Tang shu or Old History of the Tang Dynasty (AD 945) and the Tang huiyao or Important Documents of the Tang (AD 961) all refer to the musicians’ visit of AD 801-802. The Xin Tang shu or New History of the Tang Dynasty contains a detailed description of the Pyu kingdom, even listing the songs performed by the Pyu on their visit to Chang-an.

The Myanmar Performing Arts Of The Pyu Period (Monday, November 12, 2001)

By Dr. Khin Maung Nyunt

http://www.innwa.com/dev/qezine/news/get-news.asp?id=134

In A.D.802 the King of Sri Kstra, a Pyu City Kingdom in Central Myanmar despatched a diplomatic mission to the Court of the Chinese Emperor of the Tang Dynasty (A.D.618 -907) at the Capital Chang-an. Led by the Pyu Crown Prince Sunanda who was accompanied by Minister Nakya Konra and General Maha Thena, the mission took with it a cultural troupe of 35 performing artistes.

During the long land journey which lasted 214 days the mission rested at several transit stations. At one transit , while the Pyu artistes were rehearsing their programmes, one Chinese musician of the Royal Music Academy overheard their songs and music. He wrote them down in Chinese musical notes and proceeded to the Capital to teach the Court musicians.
The Chinese historical archives such as old history and new history of T’ang dynasty graphically recorded the account of the Pyu mission and their cultural performances at the Chinese Imperial Court. In pre-war days one British sinologist named Mr.E.H. Parker, adviser to the British Colonial Government first made mention about this Pyu mission in his booklet entitled Burma with Special Reference to her Relations to China published in Rangoon 1893. In it the author included his translation of the relevent portions of the new history of T’ang dynasty. G.E.Harvey, a noted British historian quoted Parker in his History of Burma London 1925 and gave a translation of the poem on the Pyu cultural performances composed by a Chinese Court Poet named Po Chu-i who was ever present at the performances before the T’ang Emperor. More writings on this subject flowed from the pens of eminent researchers.

A research paper entitled Ancient Pyu by G.H. Luce, Professor of Oriental Studies Yangon University was published in the Journal of Burma Research Society Vol.27, Part III (1937).

Another paper on the same subject by the same author and U Pe Maung Tin jointly entitled Burma Down to the Fall of Pagan appeared in the same journal Vol.29, Part III (1939).

In these two papers we find references to the Pyu mission and cultural performances.

In his book Burmese Music. A Preliminary Enquiry published in Rangoon 1940, U Khin Zaw (K) made a passing reference to the Pyu mission and music.
Later followed three scholars who did specific research on the mission and its accompanying cultural troupe.

Two musicologists D.E. Twitchett and A.H. Christe jointly did an intensive tapping of Chinese archives and jointly produced their results in the form of a long learned article entitled A Medieval Burmese Orchestra which was published in the Journal named Asia Major (New Series) Vol. vii, parts1-2,1959, pp.l71-95. This article provides us a full information on Pyu music, dance, and musical instruments, with sketches to illustrate the instruments.

The third scholar was a research officer of the Myanmar Historical Research Department U Yi Sein (Mr. Tang Yi Sein) who contributed a fuller account of the Pyu mission of A.D. 802 based upon ancient Chinese archives. His account was in three instalments namely Pyu-Chinese relations , The Journey taken by the Pyu diplomatic mission despatched to China and The Pyu Diplomatic Mission of A.D. 802
despatched to China. These three research papers were presented by the author at the gathering of scholars at the Department of Myanmar Historical Research, on 29-10-1977, 18-3-1978, and 29-7-1978 respectively and were published in the Journal of Research in Myanmar History Vol.1, 1977, Vol.2, 1978 and Vol.3, 1979 respectively.

From the above-mentioned research works we learn that three Court chroniclers were present when the Pyu cultural performances were presented to His Imperial Majesty the T’ang Emperor at his Court. The first chronicler was a Court Poet Po Chu-i who acted as Imperial Secretary on the occasion, the second was also a Court Poet Yuan Wei-chih and the third Commander Wei Kao.

The two Poets recorded the Pyu cultural performances verses and the Commander jotted down Pyu music in notation and Pyu dancers, dance patterns and musical instruments in sketches and painting.

The following are the facts and figures regarding the Pyu performing arts which we glean from the eyewitness accounts of the above mentioned Court chroniclers.
Musical Instruments
In Myanmar traditional musical instruments there are five categories viz. (i)Kyey which means brass, bronze or any non-precious metallic instruments (ii) Kyo which means string instruments (iii) Thayey which means hide instruments (iv) Lei which means wind instruments and (v)Let khup which means clapper. All these five kinds were represented in the Pyu cultural troupe as follows:

(A)Brass instruments
(i) ‘See’ or small cymbals. . 4 sets (ii) Brass discs . . . . . . 2

(B) String instruments
(i) Harp with the figure of a pheasant’s head . . . . . . . . . . 4 sets
(ii) ‘Byat’ harp in the shape of a crocodile Figure. .. . . . . . . 2
(iii) ‘Byat’ harp with the figure of a Naga’s head . . . . . . . . . 1
(iv) ‘Byat’ harp with the design of clouds . . . . . . . . . . . 1
(v) ‘Byat’ harp made of a big gourd. 2
(vi) ‘Byat’ harp made of a gourd with one string. . . . . . . . . .1
(vii) ‘Byat’ harp made of a small gourd. . . . . . . . . . . . 2

(C) Hide instruments
(i) Three faced drum. .. . . 2 sets (ii) Small drums. . . . .. . .4

(D) Wind instruments
(i) Conch shell . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
(ii) Flute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
(iii) Double flute. . . . . . . . . . . . 2
(iv) Flute made of big gourd. . . . 2
(v) Flute made of small gourd . . 2
(vi) Flute made of ivory. . . . . . . . 1
(vii) Flute made of three horns. . . 1
(viii)Flute made of two horns . . . .1

(E) Clappers
Although clapper was not mentioned in the record it can safely be assumed that it was among the Pyu musical instruments. Myanmar Saing Waing (Musical Ensemble) of today uses bamboo clappers, (Wa Let Khup). In Myanmar music ‘see’ or a pair of small metallic cymbals and “Wa”or wooden or bamboo clappers are the basic and essential musical instruments for timing. These two “see” and “Wa” always go together. Since “see” was mentioned in the Chinese record, there surely must be “wa” (clappers).
Why clapper(wa) was not mentioned may be explained by the fact that the Pyu artists used their palms for clapping instead of wooden or bamboo clappers.
Reportoir of twelve songs presented at the Imperial Court
(1) Overture song- Insignia of the Lord Buddha
(2) second song -An appreciation of the Flower the Cotton Tree
(3) third song – In praise of the white pigeon
(4) fourth song – The flight of the Crane
(5) fifth song – Victory of the fighting Sambhur
(6) sixth song – A one string ‘byat’ harp with the figure of a Naga’s head
(7) seventh song – Meditation
(8) eighth song – The Rhinoceros
(9) ninth song – The Peacock
(10)tenth song – The Wild Goose ( Hamsa or Brahminy duck?)
(11)eleventh song -Song for the State Banquet
(12)twelfth song – Removal of anxiety.
The above is the list given by U Yi Sein who translated directly from the Chinese records. There is another version as follows:
(1) Overture song – Eulogy of the glories of the Lord Buddha
(2) Second song – In tribute to the great Hermit ” Yanalabi”
(3) third song – In honour of His Imperial Majesty
(4) fourth song – Song for the Emperor’s Feast
(5) fifth song – Song for the Emperor’s happiness
(6) sixth song – Song for the Emperor’s victories
(7) seventh song – The Flower of Sal Tree ( Pentancme Siamensis)
(8) eighth song – In praise of the Dove
(9) ninth song – In praise of the Crane
(10)tenth song – In praise of the Peacock
(11)eleventh song – In praise of the Hamsa ( Brahminy duck )
(12)twelfth song – In praise of the the Rhinoceros ( Sambhur)

Twelve variations of Pyu dance
According to the Chinese records each song of the twelve mentioned above accompanied a separate kind of dance. So it is to be understood that there were twelve different variations in their performance programme.Both old history an new history of T’ang dynasty say that the Pyu dance patterns were recorded in painting. But since no trace of such painting has yet been discovered till to-day, we are still in the dark as regards the twelve variations of Pyu dance patterns. Nevertheless the following excerpt gives a general idea of what Pyu dances would be like.
“Before each item of the programme began, the announcer explained the meaning of the song to be presented.”
” Regarding the style of dancing, two dancers, or four dancers or six dancers or eight to ten dancers, depending upon the type of the song sung, depicted the meaning of the song.”
” When they sang the song, they sang in chorus. Two hands and ten fingers of each performer made artistic supple movements as if giving correct timing to the music. In the ebb and flow and the rise and fall of the chorus there was no disharmony. When the end of each item was indicated, all performers bowed to pay respect to the audience.”
” Court Poet Po Chu-i describes the Pyu dance in his poem Music of the Pyu:
“Music from the Land of P’iao, music from the Land P’iao,
Brought hither from the great ocean’s south-west corner
Yung Ch’iang’s son Shunanto
Has come with an offering of southern tunes to fete the New Year.
Our Emperor has taken his seat in the courtyard of the Palace.
He does not press his cap strings to his ears, he is listening to you
At the first blast of the jewelled shell their matted looks grow crisp
At one blow from the copper gong their painted limbs leap.
Pearl streams glitter as they twist, as though the stars were skaken in the sky.
Flowery crowns nod and Whirl, with the motion of dragon or snake…….”
Though the recordings in painting of the costumes and coiffeurs of the Pyu dancers are still at large we may sketch a fair picture of them from the contemporary description:
“They wore scarlet cotton attires with a long flimsy drape flowing from the knees. A long thin scarf was worn entwining the shoulders and dropping at the sides. Their bodies were ornamented with gem-studded bangles, armslets and anklets. Their heads were crowned with gold headdress. Beautiful ear-rings adorned both ears, and garlands of flowers were worn on their necks. Each performer had two hair-pins in the head, decorated with bright bird’s feathers.”
In his poem on the Pyu cultural performances, Poet Yuan Wei-chih makes the following remarks:
(1) The head of Pyu musical instrument looks like a camel
(2) Their five tones and seven tones have no difference from those of the music of T’ang dynasty
(3) When they dance, their limbs and joints become tense and stiffen.
(4) The wordings of their songs were very diverse and plentiful, the names and terms were very unfamiliar to us.
(5) Every singing had melody and crooning.
(6) Bending flexibly to the right and to the left they danced as though being intoxicated with the wine of music.
(7) Even if you kneel down on the ground and pray to Heaven, you will never learn Pyu music and dance.”

After fulfilling its assignment, the Pyu diplomatic mission returned home bringing with it complimentary letters and presents from the Chinese Emperor to be presented to the Pyu King.
From A.D.802 to A.D.1998 to-day is a very long historical period of one thousand one hundred and ninty six years (1196) which is almost twelve centuries, during which traditional songs, music and dances of Myanmar have resiliently sustained themselves despite foreign impact. To suppose that a lond period of progress and development must have preceded the time of the Pyu cultural troupe that visited China in A.D.802 may be a too far-fetched conjecture. It is incumbent not only upon the older, the middle and young generations of to-day but also upon the future posterity of Myanmar to help maintain their performing arts which form part and parcel of their cultural heritage.

Myanmar history: the origin of Bamars

We all have been familiar with the saying: Myanmar AhSa Tagaung Ka. It means Myanmars originated from Tagaung since the time of AhBiYarZar. There is also another school of thought: Myanmar AhSa, Kyaukse Ka. According to this theory, Bamars are late arrivals and only enter Myanmar around 8^th century AD. I first came across it when I read Hall’s book. This is also taken on by various Western authors and as It is based on historical facts the reasoning behind it is impressive, yet, I became skeptical when I came to read more about Myanmar prehistory. How can such a massive human migration occur in the not so far past, without it being recorded or hinted in our history?

The Karens and the Nagas have in their history, the wandering part before they arrived in Myanmar, sagas of their past. The Mons also have songs that alluded to their stay in Talinaga, India. The Rakhine history began with Marayu, who came from India and settled in Rakhine establishing the first Dhanyawaddy in 3325 B.C. With Bamars there is also the arrival from India of AhBiYarZar and his entourage who settled in Tagaung, with later arrival of DazaYarzar during the time of Buddha in Bamar history. There is none about Bamars entering Myanmar around the 8^th century, and their history prior to it.

Mons or Talaings, an Ethnic Minority Group of Myanmar, migrated from the Talingana State, Madras coast of Southern India. They mixed with the new migrants of Mongol from China and driven out the above Andhra and Orissa colonists.^[25]The Mon probably began migrating down from China into the area in about 3000 BC. ^[26]

Those Mon (Talaings) brought with them the culture, arts, literature, religion and all the skills of civilisation of present Myanmar. They founded the Thaton and Bago (Pegu) Kingdoms. King Anawrahta of Bagan (Pagan) conquered that Mon Kingdom of King Manuha, named Suvannabumi (The Land of Golden Hues).^[27] The conquest of Thaton in 1057 was a decisive event in Burmese history. It brought the Burman into direct contact with the Indian civilizing influences in the south and opened the way for intercourse with Buddhist centres overseas, especially Ceylon. ^[28]

While little is known about the early people of Burma, the Mon were the first of the modern ethnic groups to migrate into the region, starting around 1500 BCE. Oral tradition suggests that they had contact with Buddhism via seafaring as early as the 3rd century BCE, though definitely by the 2nd century BCE when they received an envoy of monks from Ashoka. Much of the Mon’s written records have been destroyed through wars. The Mons blended Indian and Mon cultures together in a hybrid of the two civilisations. By the mid-9th century, they had come to dominate all of southern Burma.

People have long memories and oral histories are passed along the generations through centuries before being recorded later in written form. Yet, this is not so when Bamar alphabet was introduced by the 11^th century, or in the Mon script after Anawratha conquered Thaton, or in the Pyu script earlier during the Bamar reign, from Thamudarit onwards. Why?

It is my contention that the migration of Bamars into Myanmar must have been very much earlier, prior to the arrival of AhBiYarZar, so that their migration is not in their oral history. Bamars are the native people, the aborigines, those who arrived in Myanmar in the first or early human migration, very much earlier than the Mon, Karen and Nagas. The Rakhines, a subgroup of the Bamar, like the YawThars, InnThars, TaungYoes, Daweis and Beiks, would have arrived earlier or at the same time as the Bamars, and as they live separately until the 11^th century when Anawratha began organizing the first Myanmar empire (or the 2^nd, if one takes the Pyu to be 1^st Myanmar empire), developed different dialects of the same language.

It is a common knowledge among Myanmar historians that the British colonial historians belittle us and distort our history to their advantage, portraying us to be savages. Yet when I read Dr. Than Tun’s books and found out that he too accepted Luce’s theory about the Bamar migration during the 8^th century, I became confused. But I still hold onto my view.

If the Bamars only arrived in the 8^th century, who are the people that lived earlier in upper Myanmar from the stone age hunter gatherers till their arrival? Who are the people of the Chindwin valley including Nyaungan and Samon valley cultures? Where are the Pyus that ruled Myanmar from the prehistoric times till the Nanchao destroyed the last Pyu capital in AD 832?

It is also my contention that the Pyu minority ruled over the majority Bamar and Mon population when they established the first Myanmar Empire and that only some were left behind and later disappeared by intermarriage with the Bamars after the Nanchao took the remaining inhabitants of their last capital to Yunnan Fu.

In the 9th century, the Pyu capital of Halingyi fell to the northern kingdom of Nanchao of southern China. The Myanmar, or Burmans, assumed leadership of the Tibeto-Burmese peoples and established their capital at Pagan.

The attack on Halin in 832 AD by the Nan-chao of Yunnan, China, appears to have been a devastating blow since according to the Chinese records the entire population was carried off into slavery and after this date mention of the Pyu is very rare.

In [AD 832] Man [sc.Nan-chao] rebels looted and plundered P’iao kingdom [sc. Halin]. They took prisoner over three thousand of their people. They banished them into servitude at Chê-tung [approx. Yünnan Fu], and told them to fend for themselves. At present their children and grandchildren are still there, subsisting on fish, insects, etc. Such is the end of their people

Man [sc.Nan-chao]: Man Shu (Book about Southern barbarians) [chapter Nan-chao]

I further believe that the Pyus are the descendents of the entourage of Abiyarzar and Dazayarzar, who had intermarried with the local Bamars, yet an elite ruling group, whose last population did not exceed 4000.

Bamars would be living in Myanmar since 750,000- 275,000 years B.P. or at least since 11,000 years B.P.

Humans lived in the region that is now Burma as early as 11,000 years ago, but archeological evidence dates the first settlements at about 2500 BCE with cattle rearing and the production of bronze. By about 1500 BCE, ironworks were in existence in the Irrawaddy Valley but cities, and the emergence of city states, probably did not occur till the early years of the Common era when advances in irrigation systems and the building of canals allowed for year long agriculture and the consolidation of settlements.^[1]Artifacts from the excavated site of Nyaunggan help to reconstruct Bronze Age life in Burma and the more recent archaeological evidence at Samon Valley south of Mandalay suggests rice growing settlements between about 500 BC and 200 AD which traded with Qin and Han dynasty China. ^[2]

// Time line

• 40 million year B.P. Pondaungia cottelia (Poundaung Primate) Live in Pondaung area in Lower Chindwin district
• 40-42 million years B.P. Mogaungensis (Amphipothecus Primate) live in Mogaung village, Pale township in Sagaing Division and in Bahin village, Myaing township in Magwe Division.
• 750,000- 275,000 years B.P. Lower Palaeolithic men (early Anyathian) live alone; the bank of the Ayeyawaddy river.
• 275,000-25,000 years B.P. Lower Palaeolithic men (late Anyathian) live along the bank of the Ayeyarwaddy river and central Myanmar
• 11,000 years B.P. Upper Palaeolithic men live in Badahlin caves which situated in Ywagan township in southern Shan States.
• 7,000 – 2,000 B.C. Neolithic men live in central Myanmar Kachin State, Shan States, Mon State, Taninthayi Division, and along the bank of the Chindwin and Ayeyarwaddy rivers.
• 1,000- 800 B. C. Bronze Age Culture
• 600 – 500 B.C. Iron Age Culture ^[3]

I have queied Dr. Bob Hudson, Archaeology Department, University of Sydney about my concern and here is his reply, in which he also wrote about his doubts about Luce’s interpretation that Bamars arrived first at Kyaukse in the 8^th century after crossing the Shan States from Yunnan:

Dear Nyi Win
Much of the recent archaeological evidence, such as the finds at
Tagaung, suggests far more continuity from Pyu to Bagan than was
accepted in Luce‘s day. My problem with his ideas about Kyaukse is that
they are based on his own linguistic approach, which is in effect a
personal opinion- I don’t know how to replicate or test his data. If we
cannot test evidence, whatever kind of evidence it may be, we should
ideally develop ways to do so- and at the same time, be vary cautious
about statements that cannot be tested. I believe that Luce also
over-stated the age of inscriptions at Kyaukse, which in general reflect
a wealthy Bagan province rather than a predecessor to Bagan.
I don’t think we yet have an answer to the question. But I can see no
evidence of some kind of mass migration of people who seemed to speak
the same language as the Pyu, but supposedly arrived and supplanted
them. Harvey, as I discussed in my thesis, suggests that Pyusawhti may
have been someone- or a symbol for a small leadership group- much later
than the chronicles suggest, who learned military and political tactics
from Nanchao. If this small group came to dominate the Pyu population, a
myth may have then grown up that they had come from somewhere else to be
in charge. This is a common form of legitimisation in the ancient world,
as it overcomes any local arguments that if your grandfather was not the
boss of my grandfather, why should you be the boss of me? (I hope that
example makes sense). The appearance of the term Mranma may therefore
have been a name the ruling group adopted or were given, just as a group
of Americans in the days of the revolution called themselves
Republicans, or the way a company making soft drinks calls itself Coca
Cola. The genetic evidence for Tibeto-Burman speakers in southern China,
the nearest data we have so far to Myanmar, suggests a very small
southward migratory shift of males in the Pyu/Burman period, but not a
mass movement of population. So while I think we need to look again at
the transition from Pyu/Tircul to Mranma/Burman, I would not suggest
that there is any clear answer yet to the question of origins.
best wishes

Bob

Dr Bob Hudson
Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow
Archaeology Department,
SOPHI, Building A14
University of Sydney 2006, Australia
Office phone: (61-2) 93516777

bhudson@mail.usyd.edu.au

Although Myanmar archaeological experts have been making research in cooperation with international primate experts to prove the proposal — “The origin of Myanmar is Myanmar “, it is a far cry from the presence of fossilized remains of Pontaung primates in Pontaung rock layers that existed over 40 m yrs ago, they are preanthropoid primates which are very much distant from modern humans, Homo sapiens, which developed after the early humans Homo erectus. Current concept is that all humans developed in Africa and migrated out in waves, first the Homo erectus which populated the old world and later replaced by the later out of Africa group Homo sapiens. There is no continuity between the Pontaunggia preanthropoid primates and the Homo erectus or the Homo sapiens.

Myanmar has both Homo erectus and Homo sapiens populations, and the origin of Bamars lies in either one or both of these 2 groups.

Myanmar makes archaeological research to prove origin of Myanmar

nglish.news.cn 2010-07-07 11:34:12

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/sci/2010-07/07/c_13388000_3.htm

By Feng Yingqiu

YANGON, July 7 (Xinhua) — Myanmar archaeological experts have been making research in cooperation with international primate experts to prove the proposal — “The origin of Myanmar is Myanmar “.

These experts have been working together yearly to find out the fossilized remains of Pontaung primates in Pontaung rock layers.

The findings of the primates on the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, gained from the archaeological research in Meiktila and Yamethin districts in Mandalay division over the past decade, stood some evidences for the Bronze Age and the Iron Age as well as for the Myanmar culture and history, according to research report.

Over the weekend, Myanmar’s Ministry of Culture organized a paper reading session on archaeological evidences in Nay Pyi Taw with the belief that the findings through the archaeological research add to the Myanmar history.

The research paper reading session involved resources persons from Myanmar Historical Mission, National Culture and Fine Arts Universities in Yangon and Mandalay, Archaeology, National Museum and Library Department as well as a foreign academician.

Doing archaeological research on the Myanmar history from the origin of the race to date through the prehistoric period and Pyu period, Myanmar claimed that it has been able to discover the origin of Myanmar people who were born and who migrated from one place to another in the Myanmar soil along with the Myanmar civilization.

Myanmar media maintained that the advice, suggestions and queries by experts and researchers, and the response by resources persons are profound evidences for the Myanmar history.

In 2009, Myanmar found some more evidences on both Bronze Age and Iron Age after excavating areas in Thazi township, central Mandalay division, proving that Myanmar passed through both Bronze Age and Iron Age in the ancient time.

The Myanmar ministry, in cooperation with the CNRC of France, excavated the areas around Ywagongyi village in the township for 20 days from 20 days in January 2009, finding out the site where 44 bodies were buried along with two small bundles of bronze sheets, two iron objects, 14 stone beads of different colors, a fine stone weapon, two small earth-baked objects deemed to be round shuttles, and different earthen objects.

Of the fossilized bodies, two are complete sets and 20 fossils are assumed to be at middle age, 10 at early age, one at infant age and one shows over 40, the pelvis of which was badly damaged.

“The iron objects are excavated the same as that of Bronze Age and Iron Age found in Pyawbwe and Thazi townships. The two earth- baked objects are also called earth-baked beads which were excavated in large number especially in city states”, according to then report which added that five of the bodies were thought to be buried inside coffins of Bronze Age and Iron Age, which were found in Pyawbwe and Yamethin townships.

According to the archaeologists, the findings indicate the existence of the late Stone Age and Iron Age in the area and they do not reveal literature, writing and religious evidences.

In June 2008, ancient artifacts on Bronze Age and Iron Age were also excavated in Kanthitgon village in the same Thazi township, proving the same transition of ages.

Foreign archaeologists once considered that in the early history, Myanmar was transferred from Stone Age into the Iron Age without flourishing of Bronze culture.

The thesis was proved wrong when many artifacts were excavated later in such regions as Nyaungkan, Myin-U Hle, Hnawkan and Kukkokha that provided evidences of bronze culture in the country which was further supported by the artefacts found in Kanthitgon village.

The 2008 archaeological research was carried out in eight different places simultaneously and among the ancient objects found in Kanthitgon village were nine complete bodies along with some incomplete sets of bodies of all ages, child, middle age and old age. The bodies were buried together with bronze and iron weapons.

The artefacts of the Bronze Age found in the village also included bronze arrow heads, spears, wire bundles, cups, floral works, stone beads, bone beads, different sizes of pots and plates and iron spears, according to the research findings.

Myanmar has called for maintaining the archaeological findings as evidences to prove that “the origin of Myanmar is Myanmar”.

// Editor: Lin Zhi

After reading the above article “Myanmar makes archaeological research to prove origin of Myanmar”, I have some queries about the evolution of Bamars from the pre-anthropoids Mogaungensis (Amphipothecus Primate) and Bahinia pondaungensis

Did the Mogaungensis (Amphipothecus Primate) and Bahinia pondaungensis or their descendents migrate to Africa and eventually become modern humans, the Homo sapiens?

[primates develop to humans in Africa only and reach other places by the “Out of Africa” route as Lucy’s descendents to Myanmar]

40-42 million years B.P. Mogaungensis (Amphipothecus Primate) live in Mogaung village, Pale township in Sagaing Division and in Bahin village, Myaing township in Magwe Division

Teeth and bits of jaw from a tiny, squirrel-sized animal that lived 40 million years ago in what is now Myanmar (Burma) suggest primates originated in Asia, not Africa as was believed, researchers said. A team of researchers from France, Japan, and Myanmar say the little animal, which they have named Bahinia pondaungensis, was probably the ancestor of modern apes, monkeys and humans. Jean-Jacques Jaeger of the Universite Montpellier-II in France and colleagues found the fossils in a layer of red clay, along with a complete lower jaw from a more advanced primate called Amphipithecus.

The fossilized remains of many early anthropoids have been found in Africa, most from a single rich site in Egypt. Many scientists thus believed that Africa, already believed by many scientists to be the cradle of humanity, also gave rise to earlier ancestors. But a number of fossils have recently been found in Thailand, China, and Myanmar. They are between 49 million and 33 million years old and include some of the most primitive-looking anthropoids ever found.

Food for thought: getting to Nat Pyay / Heaven

Food for thought: getting to Nat Pyay နတ္ျပည္ / Heaven

Many religions and cultures have their own version of a good place after death and Christians call it Heaven. Myanmar culture which was influenced by Indian culture has Nat Pyay နတ္ျပည္ which would be similar to Heaven, although even that celestial place has several tiers unlike that of Christians which I understand consist of a single entity with a no return entrance: you either get to heaven or hell after death and that is the end of it.

But for Buddhists and Hindus, we all go through an endless cycle of births and deaths in the 31 levels of existence, the only difference being the concept of Nirvana in Buddhism where one escapes the conundrum of the vicious cycles. As I understand it, Nirvana is not another place we get to, but a refuge from existence. Although it seems to be the best place for one to be (although it is not a place of existence), many will not get there while many do not want to go to Nirvana yet, being happy with ones life and wanting to repeat human existence (Nauk BaWa Hmar YaySet Hsone ChinDae ေနာက္ဘဝမွာ ေရစက္ဆုံခ်င္တယ္) or better still, to get to the much revered Nat Pyay နတ္ျပည္ / Heaven.

Although Nat Pyay နတ္ျပည္ / Heaven is an abode for Nats နတ္, many with supernatural powers get there: Buddha, Sun Wu Kong among others. The normal way to get there is to do good deeds in life and one is rewarded by getting there in the next reincarnation. However, it is a sort of the reverse of Blessing in disguise (I cannot think of the proper expression) as there are so many things there to enjoy that one falls into the wrong path of enjoyment and desire / TaHnar တဏွာ so that one loose sight of Nirvana. One of the rewards of getting to Nat Pyay is the availability of 500 female Nats နတ္သမီး on either side of one; that is getting 1000 wives.

MaiDaw MarYar မယ္ေတာ္မာယာ became a male Nat နတ္သား and anyone can also become Nat of either sex. So what is the chance of one become a female Nat နတ္သမီး instead of a male one နတ္သား? 1000:1?

Do a female Nats နတ္သမီး have to be just one of a thousand wives ၾကင္ယာေတာ္ of a male Nat နတ္သား?

What rewards does a female Nat နတ္သမီး have?

I remember a joke told by a friend ko Ye Swe ရဲေဆြ (Yay Swae ေရဆြဲ / one who swabbed for water):

There once (Ho.. Shay..Shay…ToneGa ဟိုးေရွးေရွးတုန္းက) was a man and wife who did all the good deeds throughout their lives. After death, the husband became a Nat and had a good life with 500 NatThaMees on either side of him. It was only after a long time that the Nat remembered his previous existence and he looked for his former wife. He found her in NatPyay, having followed him there as they had done the good deeds together. The Nat went to her and asked how she has been doing in Nat Pyay. She told him that she also has 500 Nats on either side of her and she has been enjoying very much, so that she does not even have time to piss / ShuShuu PaukChain Taung MaYa Buu ႐ႉ႐ႉးေပါက္ခ်ိန္ေတာင္ မရဘူး

Response from KS

Wellll……

Looks like there is a BIG difference between NATS. A male who can
enjoy 1,000 female NATS and one who has to wait for his turn serving
(is that correct?) a female NAT. And the reverse for the female NATS!!

Has the Nat Pyay changed with the times? Kareokes, massage parlours,
beer pubs, model shows, online gambling….?

I think a lot of people will choose human abode to Nat Pyay if there
is only ONE recreation (or procreation) above(??). Now that it is
mentioned, do NATS just appear as adults or have to give birth?
Anything mentioned on that subject anywhere?

I overheard a taped sermon 2 days ago during my morning walk. The
preacher (maybe a layman, maybe a monk) was describing the Nat Pyay.
He mentioned about Nats fighting for “Beik Mann” and “Nat Thote Dar”.
Does not sound good to be there.

If they had to fight for those, there will be homeless Nats and starving Nats.

KS

My continuation

the heavenly abode Nat Pyay နတ္ျပည္ has never been an ideal place

at the onset of the rainy season every year, the AhThuYars အသူရာ and the Nats နတ္သား headed by the King of Heaven / ThaKyarrMin သိၾကားမင္း wage a war

a war between father in law and son in law

because while the AhThuYar အသူရာ king was drunk, the King of Heaven / ThaKyarrMin သိၾကားမင္း took over his abode

and the AhThuYar အသူရာ, in his drunkness did not notice it until he found out that the place does not flower KaThit ကသစ္, but only ThaKhut သခြတ္

such is the nature of the Nats and their King ThaKyarrMin သိၾကားမင္း

their greed, passion, love, wars….

not much different from those of other abodes တျခားဘံု

do you know that animals also have love and hatred in addition to anger, happiness?

we humans have 99% common DNA with mice

and would have a much closer match with monkeys

that is why it is said that the best place is to reincarnate as humans

although I even doubt that