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Indians in Burmese History
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Contents of this page
Introduction
1. Pyu and India
Pyu settlement
Pyu variant of the Gupta script
Beikthano (Vishnu)
Pyu Kings are Maharajas
Pyu kings named Vishnu as in Gupta, India
Indian Dravidian tribe in Panthwa
2. Orissa
Thamala and Wimala
3. Andhra Dynasty
4. Indian Royal family
Abi Raja
Kan Raja Gyi ruled Arakan
Kan Raja Gyi's son Muducitta
Bhinnaka Raja
Muducitta, grand son of Abi Raja
Naga Hsein, a Sakiyan Indian
King Dwattabaung from Indian Royal Family
5. Talaings
6. Ah Yee Gyis
7. Bengal prince Pateik Kara
8. India and Arakan
Wesali founded by Hindu Chandras
Hindu statues and inscriptions in Wesali
Chittagong is from Tsit-ta-gung
Chittagong under Arakanese rule
Arakanese known in Bengal as Maghs
Burmese settlement in Arakan
Footnotes
References
UKT notes
• Droit du Seigneur {pan:U:hsak}
Contents of this page
UKT: Since I am interested in only the ancient of history Myanmar
with a view to providing a background to Dr. Hting Aung's
Folk Elements in Burmese Buddhism,
I am obliged to leave out sections that dealt with modern history.
Indians have a long and active history in Burma. Indians have actively
engaged in Burma for over 2000 years in all spheres of life i.e. politics,
religion, culture, arts and cuisine and the effect can be seen till this day.
The highway between India and China
(fn01)(fn02)
India and China are the world’s biggest and ancient cradle of civilizations.
High, snow peaked, rough and steep Himalaya mountain ranges block the direct
interaction or travelling between the two of them except for the virtual highway
through Myanmar/Burma. So there were a lot of travelers, migrants, victims of
disasters and famine, war refugees and etc moving along this Burma Highway and
some of them settled in Burma.
In the official Thailand History books, they even claim that all of the
Tibeto-Burman groups including Tibet came down from Yunnan stressing
that Tibet had made an almost U turn and climbed beck onto the Tibet Highlands.
(fn03).
... ... ...
Since it was the colonialists who invented the idea of the
Mongolian origins of the Burmese peoples in the first place,
contradicting the Burmese belief of having originated from
Northern India and Nepal, this merely confirms the strength of
colonialist discourse in penetrating Burmese self-perception
fifty years later. In spite of asserting commonality Minye
Kaungbon (fn04) cannot
resist the temptation to provide the Bamars with a special
historical mention that lifts them high above the Mongoloid race
and raises their pride as a superior race, namely that ‘Bamars
are descendants of Sakyans who are of the Aryan Race or of some
other descendants of Aryans’. Though there is ‘scarcely any race
that can claim descent from exclusively one original race’,
nevertheless, Burma's proximity to India permits the claim that
the Burmans have ‘an ornamental Aryan superstructure on the
existing Mongoloid foundation’, resulting in some historians
proclaiming that ‘Myanmars were descendants of Aryans’.
(fn05).
UKT: In fn04 and 05, there seems to be a mistake in interpreting the word
"Aryan". To the Buddhist Burmese-Myanmar, "Aryan" is not a race in the
Western sense. Anyone who is morally righteous and just is said to be on the
"path of {ari.ya}" in accordance with the Buddha's definition of the word
who told the {poaN~Na}'s that their claim to be {ari.ya} was not correct. (I
still have to consult my Buddhist peers for the reference to this story from
Tipitaka.)
Contents of this page
(fn06). Pyu, one of the
three founding father of Bamar or Myanmar race was believed to be the mixture of
three groups; (i) Few insignificant local inhabitants since Stone Age, Bronze
Age and Iron Age, (ii) many migrants came from India bringing in Hinduism and
Buddhism along with their cultures and literatures successively (iii) and the
last group believed to came down from north, Tibeto-Burman group.
(fn07).
Contents of this page
Pyu arrived in future Burma area in the 1st century BC or earlier and
established village kingdoms at: Hanlin, Kutkhaing in the north, Thanlwin
coastal line in the east, Gulf of Mataban and its coast in the south, Thandwe in
the southern west and Yoma in the west (fn08).
Pyu had built towns in: Sri Ksetra (Pyeh) 4-8AD, Maingmaw, Beikthano.
(Actually VISHNU from Hindi god) (Khmer troops occupied 210-225 AD), Taung Dwin
Gyi 1-4 AD,, Hanlin (Wet Let) 2-9AD, (Halingyi), Tagaung (Thabeikkyin), Waddi (Nga
Htwoe Gyi), Maingmaw (Pinlay)(Myittha), Beinnaka (Pyaw Bwe), and Bilin township
(Mon state)(fn09)
Contents of this page
Pyu established ancient kingdom (and its language) found in the central
and northern regions of what is now Burma. The history of the Pyu
is known to us from two main historical sources: the remnants of their
civilization found in stone inscriptions (some in Pali, but
rendered in the Pyu script, or a Pyu variant of the Gupta
script) and the brief accounts of some travellers and traders
from China, preserved in the Chinese imperial history.
(fn10).
Pyu chronicles speak of a dynastic change in A.D. 94.
Sri Ksetra village was apparently abandoned around A.D. 656
it was sacked by the Nan Cho Chinese Shan in the mid-9th century,
ending the Pyu's period of dominance.
Pyu language started in 5AD in Southern Rakhine.
At famous Mya Zedi Pagoda stone inscriptions were written
in Pyu, Mon, Bama, and Pali in 1113AD. Pyu had written records,
dated from 1st century A.D. and Mon from 5th century A.D.
and Bama had its own written records only in 11th century A.D.
(fn11)
(fn12).
Contents of this page
Beikthano (Vishnu) at the end of 4th. AD (9Khmer troops occupied 210-225 AD.
(Taung Dwin Gyi) after which the Mons moved in,
giving the cities names Panthwa and Ramanna pura. Religious
remains show both forms of Buddhism, Mahayanism and Hinayanism,
together with Vishnu worship. There are large stone Buddhist
sculptures in relief in the Gupta style, bronze statuettes of
Avalokitesvara, one of the three chief Mahayanist Bodhisattvas,
and so many stone sculptures of Vishnu that the city was
sometimes referred to as ‘Vishnu City’.
(fn13).
Contents of this page
In Chinese Chronicles they recorded Pyu as ‘P’aio’.
But Pyu Called themselves Tircul.
(fn14).
There are records of Nan Cho and Tibet alliance in 755 AD
to defeat Chinese. Nan Cho king Ko-lo-fen communicate with Pyu.
Pyu Kings were called Maharajas and Chief ministers
were called Mahasinas.
Nan Cho conscripted Pyu soldiers to attack of Hanoi
in 863 AD. In 832 AD Nan Cho looted Han Lin village from Pyu.
(fn15).
Contents of this page
Inscriptions in Pyu language using a South Indian script,
showed a Vikrama dynasty ruling there at least from AD 673 to 718.
(fn16).
On Pyu’s stone inscriptions, kings names with Vikrama were
suffix with Vishnu. The same tradition was noticed in Gupta era India
100 BC. and in Sri Kestia, Mon in south, Thai and Cambodia.
Statue of Vishnu standing on Garuda with Lakshmi standing on the
lotus on left. And Brahma, Siva and Vishnu thrones were also
found. Name, Varman indicated that there was influence of
Pallava of India.
(fn17).
The mentioning of Varman dynasty, an Indian name,
indicated there was a neighbouring and rival city,
but Old Prome is the only Pyu site so‘ far to be excavated in that area.
(fn18).
Contents of this page
In Chinese Chronicles Chen Yi-Sein instead gives an Indian
derivation for Panthwa village, as the name of a Dravidian tribe
settled in Mon’s areas around the Gulf of Martaban. This group
was later one of the pioneers in a ‘Monized’ occupation of
Beikthano village, which also led to the village/city being
called Ramanna-pura, linked to Mon areas of southern Myanmar
(1999:77).
(fn19).
The Tagaung dynasty is explicitly incorporated into the story
of Duttabaung’s mother and father; the lineage of the Queen of
Beikthano is less consistent, but always intertwined with that
of the Sri Kestra village rulers. In all of these, links are
made between territorial control, royal patronage of Hindu or
Buddhist sects and supernatural events.
(fn20).
Contents of this page
Orissa, Indian Buddhist colonists, arrived lower Burma, settled and
built pagodas since 500 BC. (fn21).
Contents of this page
Two princes named Thamala and Wimala (Myanmar version of Indian names -
Thalma and Vimala.) established the town Bago in 573AD. Tabinshwehti
(Taungoo Dynasty) conquered it in 1539 AD.
(fn22).
Contents of this page
Hindu colonists, of Andhra Dynasty, from middle India (180 BC)
established Hanthawaddy (Mon town) and Syriam (Ta Nyin or Than Lyin) in Burma.
(fn23).
UKT: The town of Syriam is spelled
{thän-lying}, but is pronounced locally as
/{ta.Ñing}/. However, recent immigrants into this area still refer to the
town as /{thän-lhying}/. Transcription of local pronunciations is a major
source of confusion in dealing with the Burmese language. My use of Romabama
is to avoid this source of confusion.
Contents of this page
Some believed that Burma started from Tagaung, built by Abi Raja, a Sakian
(Tha Ki Win min), Indian Royal family member, migrated from Kapilavatthu (India)
after defeated by the king of Panchala (India), Vitatupa. He left the Middle
Country (India) and established the Tagaung country, known at that time as
Sangassarattha or Sangassanagara. On the death of Abi Raja, younger son Kan Raja
Nge (younger King Kan) got the throne. Thirty-three kings reigned there
(fn24).
Contents of this page
Elder brother Kan Raja Gyi (elder King Kan) went down the Ayeyarwaddy River,
ascended the Thallawadi River, arrived Kelataungnyo and ruled there as Rajagaha.
He ruled the ancient Arakan. (fn25.).
Contents of this page
His son Muducitta became king of the Pyus (ancestors of modern Myanmar). He
founded the city of Kyauppadaung. He conquered the Dhannavati (built by king
Marayu). (fn26).
Contents of this page
The invading Chinese from the north destroyed Tagaung. The last king of
Tagaung, Bhinnaka Raja run away and died later. His followers split in to three
divisions. (fn27).
One division founded the nineteen Shan States at the eastern part.
Contents of this page
Another division moved down Ayeyarwady River and combined with Muducitta
(second generation migrant, grand son of Indian Abi Raja) and other Sakiyan
(Indian) princes, among the Pyus, Kanyans and Theks. (fn28)
Contents of this page
The third group stayed in Mali with the chief queen Naga Hsein, a Sakiyan.
(Indian) She was the queen of the Sakyiyan king Dhaja Raja migrated from India.
On the way he founded Thintwe’. Then they founded the upper Bagan (Pagan).
(fn29)
Dahnnavata captured Thambula, queen of Pyus. But Nanhkan (China) queen of
Pyus had driven out the Kanyans, who lived in seven hill-tracks beginning
Thantwe’ (fn30).
Contents of this page
King Dwattabaung, direct descendent of Abi Raja (Indian Migrant) founded
Thare Khit Taya in 443 BC. It was said to be self-destroyed in 94 AD. The
history is half -mystical at that time. (fn31).
Contents of this page
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. (fn32).
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)
(fn33).
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.
(fn34).
The evidence of the inscriptions, Luce
(fn35)
warns us, shows that the Buddhism of Pagan ‘was mixed up with
Hindu Brahmanic cults, Vaisnavism in particular.
(fn36).
Contents of this page
Ah Yee Gyis or Aries, notoriously powerful in Pagan or Bagan, before the
Buddhist Religion arrived. Ah Yee Gyis or Aries were related to one Indian sect
or religion. The Indian Aris or Ah Yees were also known for, swimming, martial
arts, traditional medicine practice and the custom of sleeping
with the brides on the first night of weddings.
(See
droit du Seigneur
{pan:U:hsak} in my notes.) They are the last
to eliminate just after formation of first Bama Empire.
UKT: When the story of {pan:U:hsak} came to my attention, I made a
special occasion to see the wall painting purported to show the procession
on the wall of Paya Thonhsu in Pagan in the late 1960s. What I saw appeared
to be just a procession proceeding along somewhere and there was no hint of
anything which could be related to the hateful custom enjoyed by the Aris.
Probably, this story was spread by Theravadims (of the new form of
Buddhism) to discredit the old form of Buddhism (of the Aris) they were in
the process of replacing.
Contents of this page
Pateikkara was an Indian (Kala) prince from ancient Bengal who fall in love
with Burma Bagan’s 3rd Great King Kyansittha’s daughter. King Kyansittha
indirectly cause the death of his daughter Shwe Ein Si’s lover, Prince of
Pateik Kara
{pa.Taik~ka.ra:}. The prince had bribed the royal guards with ten baskets of silver to see
the princess. When the king heard of the secret lovers’ tryst, he forced his
daughter to marry Sawyun, the son of late King Sawlu, although Sawyun was a
handicapped person walking with a limp. Kyansittha preferred him rather than a
Kala (Indian). (fn37).
Contents of this page
The Arakanese chronicles claim that the Kingdom was founded in the year 2666 BC
(fn38).
Contents of this page
"The area known as North Arakan had been for many years before the 8th
century the seat of Hindu dynasties. In 788 AD a new dynasty, known as the
Chandras, founded the city of Wesali. This city became a noted trade port to
which as many as a thousand ships came annually; the Chandra kings were
upholders of Buddhism, ... their territory extended as far north as Chittagong;
-- Wesali was an easterly Hindu kingdom of Bengal --- Both government and
people were Indian. (fn39) So far as Arakan is concerned,
the inscriptions show traces of two early dynasties holding sway in the north.
The earlier one, a Candra dynasty, seems to have been founded in the middle of
the fourth century A.D. Its capital was known by the Indian name of Vaisali and
it maintained close connections THE PRE-PAGAN PERIOD 9 with India. Thirteen
kings of this dynasty are said to have reigned for a total period of 230 years.
The second dynasty was founded in the eighth century by a ruler referred to as
Sri Dharmavijaya, who was of pure Ksatriya descent. His grandson married a
daughter of the Pyu king of Sri Ksetra. (fn40)
Contents of this page
The ruins of old capital of Arakan - Wesali show Hindu statues and
inscriptions of the 8th century AD. Although the Chandras usually held
Buddhistic doctrines, there is reason to believe that Brahmanism and Buddhism
flourished side by side in the capital.
Contents of this page
The Arab chief was the Thuratan, in the Arakanese utterance whom the king of
Arakan Tsula-Taing Tsandra (951-957 AD.), claimed to have defeated in his
invasion of Chittagong in 953 AD. In memory of his victory the Arakanese king
set up a stone trophy, in the conquered land. And inscribed on it the Burmese
word, "Tsit-ta-gung" meaning "there shall be no war". And from this remark of
the monument, according to Burmese tradition, the district took its name,
Chittagong (fn41).
UKT: That "Tsit-ta-gung" means "there shall be no war" needs to be
checked orthographically. According to the late U San Tha Aung, former
lecturer in Physics, it means {sic-tûp-hkaung:} literally meaning the
"striking head of the army" or an army outpost.
According to my father's Arakanese friends (who in the 1920's were
teenagers), they in Akyab or Sittwé, had looked down upon the Chittagonians
and had referred to them as "Hkaw-taw" {hkau-tau:}.
Contents of this page
Nearly a century, from about 1580 till 1666 AD Chittagong was under almost
uninterrupted Arakanese rule. Arakanese captured and sent numbers of the
inhabitants of Bengal into Arakan as agricultural and slave labours.
Contents of this page
The Buddhists Arakanese, known as Magh or Rakhine {ra.hkeing} are descended from Aryans
of Maghada, India Mongolians mixed with the Tibeto-Burmans. (fn42).
During the 16th and 17th centuries the Arakanese (known in Bengal as Maghs)
in alliance with the Portuguese constituted a plundering party. By dominating
the riverine tracts they plundered and devastated large parts of southern and
eastern Bengal. (fn43)
They carried a large number of men, women and children from the coastal
districts of Bengal, (fn44),
as captives and the Maghs (Arakanese) employed them as agricultural labour. It
is well known that the Kingdom of Arakan was a sparsely populated area, which
required huge amount of human labour for agriculture. With this intention the
Arakanese employed a large number of captives in the villages of land on the
bank of the Kuladan river to the Naf. This Kula population of the country form
about 15 percent of the whole population. A.P. Phayre mentions, "the Kolas or
Mossalmans, are of an entirely different race. They being of Bengalee descent. (fn45).
Contents of this page
“The Burmese do not seem to have settled in Arakan until possibly as late as
the tenth century AD. Hence earlier dynasties are thought to have been Indian,
ruling over a population similar to that of Bengal. All the capitals known to
history have been in the north near modern Akyab”. (fn46)
UKT: Though the people of Arakan speak Burmese-Myanmar as a distinct
dialect (not a different language), the word "Arakanese" as distinct from
"Burmese" is not in the best interest of the country of Myanmar. And since,
what follows in the original article after this paragraph does not
contribute to the understanding of Dr. Htin Aung, I am obliged to stop here.
Contents of this page
fn01. “Bagan Culture”page 42, Professor U Than Tun
M.A., B.L., D. Lit., Ph.D. fn01b
fn02. “Ancient Pyu” page page 3&4 Professor U Than Tun
M.A., B.L., D. Lit., Ph.D. fn02b
fn03. Thailand History books fn03b
fn04. Minye Kaungbon (1994:165). New Light of Myanmar
fn04b
fn05. ILCAA 1999 - Gustaaf Houtman. Mental Culture in
Burmese Crisis Politics. ILCAA Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia & Africa
Monograph Series 33, Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia
and Africa, 1999, ISBN 4-87297-748-3, p 070/392 fn05b
fn06. “Ancient Pyu” page page 3&4 Professor U Than Tun
M.A., B.L., D. Lit., Ph.D. fn06b
fn07. Dr Than Tun (History Professor, Mandalay
University) ‘The Story of Myanmar told in pictures’. fn07b
fn08. Dr Than Tun , “The Story of Myanmar told in
pictures” fn08b
fn09. Dr Than Tun , “The Story of Myanmar told in
pictures” fn09b
fn10. Chinese imperial history fn10b
fn11. Chinese imperial history fn11b
fn12. “Ancient Pyu” page page 3&4 Professor U Than Tun
M.A., B.L., D. Lit., Ph.D. fn12b
fn13. BURMA, D. G . E. HALL, M.A., D.LIT., F.R.HIST.S.
Professor Emeritus of the University of London and formerly Professor of History
in the University of Rangoon, Burma. Third edition 1960. Page 8
fn13b
fn14. (Perso-Arab authors) of 9-10 AD fn14b
fn15. (Elizabeth Moore, Myanmar Historical Research
Journal 2004) fn15b
fn16. BURMA, D. G . E. HALL, M.A., D.LIT., F.R.HIST.S.
Professor Emeritus of the University of London and formerly Professor of History
in the University of Rangoon, Burma. Third edition 1960. Page 8 fn16b
fn17. (Elizabeth Moore, Myanmar Historical Research
Journal 2004) fn17b
fn18. BURMA, D. G . E. HALL, M.A., D.LIT., F.R.HIST.S.
Professor Emeritus of the University of London and formerly Professor of History
in the University of Rangoon, Burma.Third edition 1960. Page 8 fn18b
fn19. D. G . E. HALL, “BURMA” fn19b
fn20. D. G . E. HALL, “BURMA” fn20b
fn21. HGE Hall, "History of Southeast Asia."
fn21b
fn22. Pe Maung Tin and G.H. Luce, The Glass Palace
Chronicle of the Kings of Burma fn22b
fn23. HGE Hall, "History of Southeast Asia."
fn23b
fn24. Pe Maung Tin and G.H.Luce, The Glass Palace
Chronicle of the Kings of Burma, Rangoon University Press, Rangoon, Burma,
January 1960, page 1, paragraphs 2 & 3 fn24b
fn25. Pe Maung Tin and G.H. Luce, The Glass Palace
Chronicle of the Kings of Burma, page 2, paragraph 2 fn25b
fn26. Pe Maung Tin and G.H. Luce, The Glass Palace
Chronicle of the Kings of Burma, page 2, line 22 fn26b
fn27. Pe Maung Tin and G.H. Luce, The Glass Palace
Chronicle of the Kings of Burma, page 3, line 4 to 7 fn27b
fn28. Pe Maung Tin and G.H.Luce, The Glass Palace
Chronicle of the Kings of Burma,page 2,3,6,13 fn28b
fn29. Pe Maung Tin and G.H.Luce, The Glass Palace
Chronicle of the Kings of Burma,page 3,4&30 fn29b
fn30. Pe Maung Tin and G.H.Luce, The Glass Palace
Chronicle of the Kings of Burma,page6,12,13 fn30b
fn31. Pe Maung Tin and G.H.Luce, The Glass Palace
Chronicle of the Kings of Burma,page 7,9,13,21,23,83,86,94 fn31b
fn32. “The Muslims of Burma” A study of a minority
Group, by Moshe Yegar, 1972, Otto Harrassowitz. Wiesbaden. fn32b
fn33. HGE Hall History of Southeast Asia.
fn33b
fn34. BURMA, D. G . E. HALL, M.A., D.LIT., F.R.HIST.S.
Professor Emeritus of the University of London and formerly Professor of History
in the University of Rangoon, Burma.Third edition 1960. Page 16 fn34b
fn35. Luce , G. H., ‘Burma’s Debt to Pagan’, Journal
of the Burma Research Society, Vol. XXII, p121. fn35b
fn36. BURMA, D. G . E. HALL, M.A., D.LIT., F.R.HIST.S.
Professor Emeritus of the University of London and formerly Professor of History
in the University of Rangoon, Burma.Third edition 1960. Page 16 fn36b
fn37. Pe Maung Tin and G.H.Luce, [Glass Palace
Chronicle] Page 105 paragraph 4 to page 106 paragraph 1 fn37b
fn38. A.P. Phayre, History of Burma London, 1883, PP.
293-304. fn38b
fn39. M.S. Collis, Arakan's place in the civilization
of the Bay, Joumal of the Burma Research Society, 50th Anniversary publications
No.2, Rangoon, 1960, P. 486. fn39b
fn40. BURMA, D. G . E. HALL, M.A., D.LIT., F.R.HIST.S.
Professor Emeritus of the University of London and formerly Professor of History
in the University of Rangoon, Burma.Third edition 1960. Page 8 -9
fn40b
fn41. A.P. Phayre, op.cit, P36. fn41b
fn42. HGE Hall History of Southeast Asia.
fn42b
fn43. For details; J.N.Sarkar: The Feringhi Pirates of
Chatgaon; Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal vol.111,1907,pp.419-25, and
FBemier: Travels in the Mughal Empire. Delhi l 968, P.175.
fn43b
fn44. (District Gazetteer - 24 Pargana. P. 39.)
fn44b
fn45. A. P. Phayre, Account of Arakan Journal of the
Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. X, 184 1, P. 68 1. fn45b
fn46. D. G. E Hall, A History of the South East Asia,
New York, 1968, P. 389. fn46b
- ^
Muhammed Abdur Rahim, Social & Cultural History of
Bengal, VoL 1, Karach, 1963, P. 37
- ^
Muhammed Enamul Haque, Purba Pakistane Islam, Dhaka,
1948, pp. 16-17 & Enamul Haque 0 Abdul Karim Shahitya
Bisharad, Arakan Rajshabhay Bangla Shahitya, Calcutta,
1935, P. 3.
- ^
D. G. E Hall, Studies in Dutch Relations with Arakan,
Journal of the Burma Research Society, VOL XXVI, 1936,
P. 6. and Mr. R. B. Smart, Burma Gazetteer-Akyab
District, voL A., Rangoon. 1957
- ^
G.E Hervey, History of Burma, London 1925, P. 121.
- ^
A.P. Phayre, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,
voL XII, part, 1, 1844, p.36.
- ^
(A.S.Bahar, The Arakani Rahingyas in Burmese Society,
M.A. Thesis, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada,
p.27.)
- ^
(Moshe Yegar, Op. cit.; P. 18.)
- ^
M. Robinson and L.A. Shaw, The Coins and Banknotes of
Burma, England, 1980, P. 44.
- ^
(G.EHarvey, Op. cit, P. 140.)
- ^
A.P. Phayre, History of Burma 1853, P. 78.
- ^
A. P. Phayre, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,
1846.
- ^
M. Siddique Khan, op. cit., P. 249.
- ^
G.E.Hervey, The fate of Shah Shuja 1661. Journal of the
Burma Research Society, part 1, 1922. pp. 107-115.
- ^
M. Siddique Khan, op, cit., p. 253.
- ^
G. E Hervey, History of Burma, London 1925, P. 148.
Mohammad Khalilur Rahman, Tarik-i-Islam Arakan & Burma,
Urdu version, Quoted by Abdul Haque Chowdhury.
- ^
BURMA, D. G . E. HALL, M.A., D.LIT.,
F.R.HIST.S.Professor Emeritus of the University of
London and formerly Professor of History in the
University of Rangoon, Burma.Third edition 1960. Page
31-32
Contents of this page
From: The Bedtrick: Tales of Sex and Masquerade by Wendy
Doniger, Published by University of Chicago Press, 2000. ISBN 0226156435,
9780226156439. 598 pages.
http://books.google.ca/books?
right+of+Feudal+lord+to+deflower+a+bride=result 080922
p.271-273
The
levirate overlaps with two
other sorts of male surrogation: in one, the king has (or takes) the right (or
duty) to deflower a virgin, and in the other, a priest has the duty to deflower
the bride in order to protect the bridegroom from the danger of the blood of
defloration. We have seen how the role of the priest was transformed into a more
conventions levirate in the story of Vyasa; now let us consider how the role of
king undergoes permutations in Europe. [{p.271end}]
levirate n. 1. The
practice of marrying the widow of one's brother
to maintain his line, as required by ancient Hebrew law.
[From Latin lēvir husband's brother; See daiwer- in
Indo-European Roots.]
- AHTD
(UKT: I came across a case related to this practice in 1951-52
while I was
a junior auditor in Accountant General (AG) Office in Rangoon,
Burma.
The incident involved an Indian widow (who was
drawing
extraordinary pension awarded to her late husband, a policeman who
had died in Burma Government's service at the outbreak of the
Second World War). The widow's allowance was cut off by the AG
of Bengal which was handing out the pension on behalf of Burma AG,
when the widow gave birth to a child, arguing that the child
birth's showed
that she was no longer a widow. The widow petitioned the Burma AG
arguing that she had not married, but had the child by what was
described
as "the joint family-custom", and that she was still a widow. I, as
the junior
auditor of Burma AG wrote in my office note that whatever the legal
loopholes,
the widow is no widow when she gave birth to a child.
Little did I know the Indian custom.)
Go back levirate-note-b
Just as the levirate offered a legal way for a man to sleep with another
man's wife, so the droit du seigneur offered a means (somewhat less legal) to a
related end - the right of the king or feudal lord to substitute for any of his
vassals on the wedding night - though in this case the husband was still alive
and not the protagonist's brother. In India, well into the twentieth century,
the temple dancers (devadasis) of Orissa were traditionally deflowered by
the king. (fn90). But, in contrast with the magical defloration by the priest
that takes place presumably at the wish of the groom (though perhaps against the
wish the bride), the royal droit du seigneur (right of the lord) or ius
primae noctis (law of the first night) was asserted despite (perhaps
against) the wishes of both the bride and groom, as the king's duty to deflower
turned into his right to the pleasure of defloration. The duty and pleasure are
conflated in texts that construct defloration as something that a man would
rather have someone else (a priest or a king) do on his behalf; even the king
needs to have this service performed for him. In some variants of the Norse and
Germanic myths of Brunhilde, King Gunther secretly asks Siegried to deflower his
bride, the murderous Brunhilde; thus, he uses his royal prerogatives in order
not to deflower her. (fn91) Indeed, Gunther points out that Siegfried can do
this for him since they have sworn blood brotherhood, making this an episode in
which all three surrogate pinch hitters are present at once: brother ( or quasi
brother, in a quasi levirate), priest (as magic deflowerer), and king (who
exercises his droit du seigneur not on his wife but on the man he gets to
deflower her).
We must here acknowledge the problem of distinguishing between evidence that
this really happened and the idea that it could happen. The Encyclopedia
Britannica assets that the custom of the droit du seigneur "is paralleled in
various primitive societies, but the evidence of its existence in Europe is
almost all indirect, involving records of the redemption dues paid by the vassal
to avoid enforcement, not of actual enforcement. Many intellectual
investigations have been devoted to the problem, but, although it seems possible
that such a custom may have existed for a short time at a very early date in
parts of France and Italy, it certainly never existed elsewhere". (fn92) Alain
Boureau, in the The Lord's First Night, has demonstrated that this right was
more myth than reality. The historical records show primarily resistance, which
might mean either that there was nothing but resistance or that only the
resisted instances were recorded. We should also take into consideration the
possibility that, just [{p272end}] as a woman might have wanted to sleep
with her husband's younger brother, so too she may have preferred the king to
her husband (just as women in myths often preferred gods to their husbands ǂ),
for reasons of sex or power or both.
But surely the use of political power to secure sexual favors is ancient and
widespread. The droit du seigneur in the broadest sense - political pressure for
sexual favors, what we now call sexual harassment - must have been invoked
informally all the time but was formalized in the myths as it it were a kind of
unofficial law or right, one that was, from the start, intolerable. It may
never, or seldom, have been technically legal, but it was not "just a myth." We
may even see it at work in the abuse of divine✝ power: in Jean Giraudoux's
Amphitryon,ǂ Jupiter threatens to destroy Thebes, Alcmena and Alcmena's
unborn child if she does not sleep with ...
Go back droit-note-b
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