History of the Mon

History of the Mon

The Mon was one of the earliest distinct groups to occupy Burma, moving into the area possibly as early as 1500 BCE. The first Mon Kingdom, Suwarnabhumi, was founded around the port of Thaton in 300 BCE. They were converted to Theravada Buddhism in the 200s BCE. The Mon prospered in southern Burma until around 1000 when they came under pressure from new ethnic groups arriving from the north. Successive waves of Burmese and Thai groups slowly eroded the Mon kingdoms until their final collapse. The last Mon kingdom was Hongsavatoi, which fell to the Burmese in 1757. The British conquered Burma, including the Mon territories, in 1824, after the Second Anglo-Burmese War. The Mon aided the British in the overthrow of the Burmese. The British promised Mon their own leadership and recognition after defeating the Burmese; however, Mon sovereignty was never realized.In 1947, the Mon presented a demand to safeguard their rights after independence, but the Prime Minister of Burma rejected it saying that no separate national rights for the Mon would be contemplated. Despite this, Mon National Day was created to celebrate the ancient founding of the Mon Kingdom of Hongsawatoi, the last Mon Kingdom, which had its seat in Pegu.

(Source: All Things Burmese)

The desires of the ruling Burmese were forcefully imposed on the Mon people and resulted in a civil war. The Mon revolted against the central Burmese government in 1962 through the New Mon State Party (NMSP). A partially autonomous Mon state, Monland, was created in 1974 covering Tenasserim, Pegu and Irrawaddy. Resistance continued until 1995 when NMSP and SLORC agreed to a cease-fire. The following year the Mon Unity League was founded (MUL). That same year, the Mon people joined UNPO in their struggle for democracy and the preservation of human rights in Burma. 

References

Works Cited

Websites:

"Mon People." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Mar. 2014. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.

"Mon Http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9053293." History of Mon. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014."

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Mon Kingdom (kingdom, Myanmar)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.

"Online Burma/Myanmar Library." Online Burma Library Main Library History Historical Periods Mon Kingdom [9th. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.

Books:

Schellinger, Paul E., and Robert M. Salkin. International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania. Singapore: Toppan, 1996. Print.

Wijeyewardene, Gehan. Ethnic Groups across National Boundaries in Mainland Southeast Asia. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1990. Print.

Huber, Toni, and Stuart H. Blackburn. Origins and Migrations in the Extended Eastern Himalayas. Leiden: Brill, 2012. Print.

Academic Journals:

Hla, Nai Pan. "A Comparative Study of Old Mon Epigraphy and Modern Mon."Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications No. 13.Austroasiatic Studies Part II (1976): 891-918.

May, Reginald Le. "A Môn-Khmer Bronze Relief from Siam." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 85.498 (1944): n. pag. 

Zaw, U. Khin. "A Folk-Song Collector's Letter from the Mon Country in Lower Burma (1941)." Artibus Asiae. Supplementum 23., Essays Offered to G. H. Luce by His Colleagues and Friends in Honour of His Seventy-Fifth Birthday. Volume 1: Papers on Asian History, Religion, Languages, Literature, Music Folklore, and Anthropology (1966): 164-66.

Intro to the Mon People

Introduction to the Mon People

(Source: The Southeast Weekly)

The Mon of Myanmar generally live in the region southeast of Yangoon and in Mon and Kayin States along the coast. The Mon migrated from the northern territories into what is now known as Thailand and Myanmar (Burma), and established the first great civilization in that region. They pioneered wet rice farming, introduced the nationals to Buddhism, and gave them their alphabet. Between the fifth and eighth centuries, their kingdom was at its peak. However, in the centuries that followed, they were at constant war with the Burmese. 

The Mon were finally defeated by the Burmese in 1757, and the time of their political independence ended. Today, most of the Mon are descendants of the fugitives who fled from the Burmese.