Burmese Sketches - Khamkoo

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BURMESE SKETCHES.
civilization in Middle and Eastern Asia. The Greek invasion
of India under Alexander the Great and the establishment of
a Greek Monarchy in Bactria under Seleukos Nikator (327-306
B. C.y stirred up the nomadic hordes of Central Asia. The
consolidation of the Mauryan dynasty under Chandra Gupta
(316-292 B. C.) with its capital at Magadha, the modern
Bihar, accelerated the movements of the diverse Aryan and
non-Aryan races of Northern India ; and this was followed in
the next century by the systematic and organised propagation
of Buddhism by Asoka (264-223 B. C.) throughout India, and in
countries extending from Afghanistan to China, and from
Central Asia to Ceylon. These dynastic and religious move,
ments afforded facilities of communication and intercourse, and
paved the way for the advent into India of the Scythian tribes
(126 B C. to 544 A.D.) \ In China also, during the rule of
the Ch'in and Han dynasties (B. C. 225 A. D. 25), the inroads
of the Scythians had repeatedly to be repelled. It was not till
the time of Wu Ti (B. C. 140-86), the sixth Emperor of the
Han dynasty, that war was carried into the enemy's country
Khotan, the Pamirs, and Kohand were then annexed : and
China attained her modern dimensions. In the north, Korea
was added to the Chinese dominions, while in the south,
Canton, Tonquin, Hainan, Kuangsi, Kueichou, Western Yunnan
and Ssuch'uan were subjugated (B. C. 111-IC9) ^ The coast
regions south of the Yangtze, including the valleys of the Canton
and Tonquin rivers, were occupied by the Yueh tribes, the
ancestor^ of the Mon-Annam race, w^hich shared with the
Burmese the sovereignty of the Indo-Chinese penmsula. These
conquests created a disturbance among the Tibeto-Burman
tribes (Lolo, Sifan, Mantzu) of Ssuch'uan, ^ the Shan tribes
(Jung, Ailo, Pa-i) of Yunnan, and the Karen tribes (Miaotzu,
Pho) of Kueichou ^ and dispersed some of the conquered
hordes towards the west and south. The course of these waves
of migration appears to have followed the valleys of the rivers
flowing through Chinese territory. The valleys of the Salween
and Mekong rivers were dominated by the Shan and Karen
tribes, who dispossessed the Wa and Lahu races of their lands,
while the Tibeto-Burman tribes made a detour along the fringe
of the Tibetan plateau and entered Burma by the Irrawaddy
valley. There appears to have been another wave of immigration
through the valley of the Chindwin river, because through
^ Hunter's Indian Empire, pages 210-214.
« Jbid, pages 221-230.
» Parker's Chijia, Her History, Diplomacy, and Commerce, pages 19-23.
Babers Travels and Reiearches in Western China, pages 60-129.
5 Hosie's Three Years in Western China, pages 224-232.
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