Short History of Myanmar

Derived from BAMAR * ‘Burma’ – spoken form * ‘Myanmar’ – literary form 2. BASIC FACTS * Official Name – Republic of the Union of Myanmar * Capital – Naypyidaw * Form of Government – Unitary Presidential Constitutional Republic * President – Thein Sein * Vice-President – Nyan Thun (Navy Chief) * 2nd Vice-President – Sai Mauk Kham World Organizations – UN (1948), ASEAN (June 23, 1997) * Ethnic Group – Burmans 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%, Chinese 3%, Indian 2%, Mon 2%, Others 5% * Language – Burmese (Sino-Tibetan) * Currency – Kyat (K) * Religion – Theravada Buddhism 89%, Christianity 4%, Islam 4%, Others 2%, Hinduism 1% * Foreign Rulers – Chinese, Muslims, Indians, BRITISH, Japanese * Date of Independence – (from British) January 4, 1948 *Geography – largest country in the mainland SEA Bordered on the NW by India and Bangladesh, NE by Tibet an d China, SE by Laos and Thailand, S by the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea * Highest point is Hkakabo Razi in Kachin / highest mountain in SEA, along the borders of Myanmar, India and China / along the foothills of the Himalayas * Lowest point is Andaman Sea/Burma Sea, southeast of Bay of Bengal * Major rivers are Irrawaddy, Thanlwin, Sittang * Climate – Hot season is from March to May, rainy season is from June to October and cold season is from November to February 3. EARLY HISTORY Pyu (1st century BC) – entered the Irrawaddy Valley / established city states * Mon (6th century BC) – southern part of Myanmar / had cultural and economic links with India > Buddhism * Mranma/Bamar/Burmans (9th century BC) – settled in the Irrawaddy basin / dominant ethnic group / started the Pagan empire 4. 1044-1077 *Founded by King Anawrahta * Flourished in the upper Irrawaddy Valley * Laid the foundation of the Burmese language and culture, the spread of Burman ethnicit y, and the growth of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and in the mainland * Fall: attacks of the Mongol empire . WARRING STATES PERIOD * Ava Kingdom (1364-1555) – Led by  Burmanized Shan kings who claimed descent from Pagan kings – Founded by  Thadominbya * Hanthawaddy Kingdom/Hanthawaddy Pegu – Dominant kingdom in southern Burma – Founded by King  Wareru 6. FORTY YEARS WAR * Military conflict between Ava and Pegu * 1st half – Ava invaded Pegu and was defeated; Ava signed a truce * 2nd half – Pegu attacked Ava to stop its expansion; Ava signed another truce and broke it * After the war, Hanthawaddy Pegu reached its golden age through profits and commercializing . TOUNGOO DYNASTY * King  Mingyinyo founded the  First Taungoo Dynasty * Tabinshwehti unified most of Burma and was crowned king of all Burma in 1544 *Burma became an important trading center with the coming of European traders * Bayinnaung succeeded the throne in 1551 and reigne d for 30 years, launching a campaign of conquest invading several states 8. KONBAUNG DYNASTY * Last dynasty in Burma * Founded by a village-chief  Alaungpaya Reunited all of Burma, extinguished the Hanthawaddy dynasty and drove out the European powers who provided arms to Hanthawaddy * 1760-1855 – series of wars with Siam until the two countries exchanged Tenasserim (to Burma) and Lan Na (to Siam) 9. FIRST ANGLO-BURMESE WAR * King Bodawpaya – expanded westward which happened to include areas near the borders of the British India * British won – full control over Assam, Manipur, Cachar, Arakan, Jaintia, and Tenasserim * Burmese – forced to pay 1M pound sterling and sign a commercial treaty * Longest and most expensive war in British Indian history 10.SECOND ANGLO-BURMESE WAR * Commodore George Lambert – sent to Burma to resolve some minor issues regarding the Treaty of Yandabo * George Lambert blocked the port of Rangoon, seizing the King’s royal ship * Britain also wanted the teak forests in the southern parts of Burma and the port between Calcutta and Singapore * The British succeeded – annexed Pegu and renaming it Lower Burma 11. THIRD ANGLO-BURMESE WAR King Mindon tried to modernize the Burmese state and economy to resist British encroachments * The British claimed that Mindon’s son, Thibaw Min, was a tyrant intending to side with the French * The British won for the last time, making Burma a province of the British Raj 12. BRITISH RULE * Capital at Rangoon *Traditional Burmese society was changed by the end of monarchy * Demand for Burmese rice grew and lands were opened for cultivation * Farmers were forced to borrow money from Indian moneylenders called ‘chettiars’ * Burmese economy grew but all the power and wealth remained in the British firms 3. NATIONALIST MOVEMENT * Dominated by Ethnic Burmese * Strongly anti-Chinese and anti-Indians * Domination of Myanmar economy by foreign cap ital stimulated the dev’t of socialist ideology * The stress on Buddhism as being the core of cultural, religious and personal identity alienated the non-Burmese 14. JAPANESE RULE * Nominally declared Burma independent as the ‘State of Burma’ on August 1, 1943 * Asia for the Asians Co-Prosperity Sphere (self-sufficient bloc of Asian nations led by the Japanese and free of Western powers) * 1944: Aung San established the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League *1945: British troops had regained control 15. INDEPENDENCE * Britain – move Myanmar towards full self-governance (under the British Commonwealth) * January 1947: Aung San led the AFPFL to London – election for a constitution * Won the elections, but Aung San was assassinated U Nu led Myanmar to independence from the British on January 4, 1948 * Union of Burma – federal state composed of large Burmese are and four upland states * General Ne Win – led a military coup to overthr ow U Nu’s elected government * Many people supported the coup = end to the corruption, instability, inflation and social unrest * Military-based political party: Burma Socialist Program Party *1974: new Constitution – Socialist Republic of the Union Of Burma * 1987: UN – Myanmar as the least developed nation, one of the world’s 10 poorest countries * Two economies: the legal state-controlled economy & the black market economy * State Law and Order Restoration Council – General Saw Maung * Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of Aung San, won the elections but was placed under house arrest * March 27, 2006 – the capital was officially named  Naypyidaw Myodaw (Royal City of the Seat of Kings) * 2005 – capital from  Yangon to  Naypyidaw * May 10, 2008 – from the  Union of Myanmar  to the  Republic of the Union of Myanmar