Burmese Sketches - Khamkoo

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BURMESE SKETCHEa.
the guidance and control of Aryan immigrants from Assam or
Gangetic India, and that outposts were pushed forward to
Tagaung on the Irrawaddy and to Kyaukpadaung in Arakan.
The seitlement in Arakan grew in strength and power, but the
colony at 1 agaung was overshadowed by the powerful Shan
State of Maingmaw in the Shewli valley, and was subject to
frequent invasions from the neighbouring States. Tagaung was
eventually destroyed, first by the Shans, and again by wild
tribesmen. '1 he infusion of fresh Aryan blood under Dhajaraja
in the 6th century B. C. did not save the colony, and the
surviving colonists founded a new settlement in Prome in 483
B. C. To the east of Prome lay a Pyu State ruled by a Queen
called Nam Khan, who was evidently of Shan nationality ; to
the south were the Talaings, and to the west and north were the
Kanrans, under which designation were included both the
Karens and the Southern Chins, vhose habitat still extends from
Sandoway to Mindon in the Thayetmyo District. Mahathanbawa,
the first king of the new dynasty, married the Pyu
Queen, and his son Duttabaung founded, in 443 B. C, Thare
Khettara (Sri Kshetra in Sanskrit and Sirikhetta in Pali),
which Professor Lassen has happily rendered * The Field of
Fortune.' Here, intercourse was opened with Gangetic India,
and tradition ascribes the ancient buildings at Prome to Duttabaung.^
The changes of faith in Northern India were reflected
in the new settlement, and the order of succession appears to
have been as follows : (i) Buddhi.sm of the ' Southern School'
(2) Buddhism of * the Northern School '
j (3) Saivaism ; (4)
Vaishnavaism. It was here that the Saka era, which began in
78 A. D., was first used, and the amalgamation of the Pyu,
Thet and Kanyan tribes was begun. Alter the destruction of
Prome by civil war in 95 A.O., and the foundation of the new
kindgom at Pagan in 108 A.D., the national appellation became
stereotyped as Mranma,
Shan supremacy was acknowledged in the Chindwin valley
and on the left or eastern bank of the river Irrawaddy as far
south as Prome, while the remaining portion of the country,
extending from the Chindwin river to Bassein and Sandoway,
was occupied by the Chins and Karens. There were frequent
wars among the several tribes, and the fruits of victory were
never enjoyed long. To these rude tribesmen, the Aryan
immigrants imparted the rudiments of civilisation and the
gentle arts of peace.
• S'h.&yrQ'e History 0/ Burma, ipBigQB I'll,
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