The Burmese empire a hundred years ago / as described by Father Sangermano, with an introduction and notes by John Jardine.

  • Sangermano, Vincenzo, Padre, 1758-1819.
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Burmese empire a hundred years ago / as described by Father Sangermano, with an introduction and notes by John Jardine. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the former became the prevalent religion of Burma, gaining converts on all sides, the ancient powers of the Brahmans can be traced in the history as well as in the ruins of old cities, in the popular traditions and on the carven stones, such as those which Dr. Forchhammer saw at Thaton, one of which reveals an early endeavour to compromise disputes, where the Dra- vidian immigrants from the south of India portray Vishnu in his ninth incarnation as Buddha, the Enlightened One. We have in these early facts of history apparent proof of the high antiquity of the influence of India over the various nations dwelling in Burma; whether or no the legends and traditions which describe an ancient incursion of Indians from Kapilavastu, under a royal leader of the Kshatriya caste, by the landward route through Manipur, and the founding of the dynasty at Tagaung (possibly the Tugma metropolis of Ptolemy), are to be treated as mere fable, or, as Sir A. Phayre, following Lassen, inclines to believe, as enshrining some foun- dation of fact, and accounting for the early use of Sanskrit in names of places and terms of art and law. There is now more general agreement of scholars as to the races of men whom these Indians, colonists, and missionaries encountered in Burma. Into the upper region of the Irawadi the dominant race, now called the Burmese, had descended from Central Asia, which tract their physical resemblances and affinities of language with the people of Tibet show to have been the home of their forefathers. The clans became more or less welded into tribes, as among their ‘ younger brothers ’ the Chins of to-day; and in course of time we find dynasties of kings reigning at Tagaung, Panya, Pagan, and Prome, and others ruling the remoter countries of Arakan and Toungoo. The Tibeto-Burman tribes had, however, to contend with the Tai or Shan people, which in its different branches is perhaps the most widely spread of any race in the Indo-Chinese penin- sula, including as it does the Ahoms of Assam, the Laos of Zimm^ and the Siamese. Face and language point to racial