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Pre-Colonial
the
Mon were one of the earliest distinct groups to occupy Burma, moving
into the area possibly as early as 1500 BCE. The Mon history has their
first kingdom, Suwarnabhumi, founded around the port of Thaton in 300
BCE. They were converted to Theravada Buddhism in the 200s BCE. Ashoka
is known to have sent an envoy of monks for this purpose, however
tradition states that the Mon had previous contact with the religion
through seafaring.
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 Burman and Thai groups slowly eroded the Mon kingdoms until
the final collapse. The last Mon kingdom was Hongsavatoi - they
reconquered much of their lost territory until the energetic Burman
leader U Aungzeya forced them back and captured the kingdom by 1757.
The Mon religious leaders were forced to flee to Siam and the Mon were
harshly repressed.
Colonial
Burma,
including the Mon territories, was conquered by the British by 1824
after the Second Anglo-Burmese War. The Mon aided the British in the
overthrow of the Burman monarchy.
Post-Colonial
The
Mon soon became anti-colonialists and following the grant of
independence to Burma in 1948 they sought self-determination, U Nu
refused them this and they rose in revolt to be crushed again. They
have remained a repressed and defiant group in the country since then.
They have risen in revolt against the central Burmese government on a
number of occasions, initially under the Mon People's Front and from
1962 through the New Mon State Party. A partially autonomous Mon
state, Monland, was created in 1974 covering Tenasserim, Pegu and
Irrawaddy. Resistance continued until 1995 when NMSP and SLORC agreed
a cease-fire and in 1996 the Mon Unity League was founded. SLORC
troops continued to operate in defiance of the agreement.
In
1947 Mon National Day was created to celebrate the ancient founding of
. (It follows the full moon on the 11th month of the Mon lunar
calendar, except in Phrapadaeng, Thailand, where it is celebrated at
Songkran.)
IQ Encyclopædia
Article
Dvaravati
ancient
kingdom of Southeast Asia that flourished from the 6th to the 13th
century. It was the first Mon kingdom established in what is now
Thailand and played an important role as a propagator of Indian
culture. Situated in the lower Chao Phraya River valley, Dvaravati
extended westward to the Tenasserim Yoma (mountains) and southward to
the Isthmus of Kra. The
Mon, who are believed to have originated in western China, entered the
area in the 1st millennium BC, penetrating westward from the upper
Mekong River. Dvaravati emerged as an independent entity late in the
6th century AD, maintaining its independence until late in the 11th
century. Rarely politically dominant and continually under the shadow
of stronger neighbours, Dvaravati was prevented by geographic barriers
from establishing close political ties with other Mon states to the
west in southern Myanmar (Burma) and with the Mon state in northern
Thailand. Dvaravati experienced political domination by neighbouring
peoples on three separate occasions: in the 10th century, when the
Burmese conquered the Mon state of Thaton west of the Tenasserim Yoma;
from the 11th to the 13th century, when the Khmer empire (Cambodia)
arose in the east; and finally, in the late 13th century, when
Dvaravati was absorbed by the Thai empire. Subjugation did not,
however, mean extinction. The Dvaravati Mon retained their customs and
a relative degree of racial homogeneity under their own rulers.
Dvaravati
was historically important as a transmitter of Indian culture. Having
had early commercial and cultural contact with India, the Mon assumed
the role of disseminators of the main features of Indian culture. They
were the most receptive of Southeast Asian peoples to Indian art and
literature. Indian influence was apparent in matters of sculpture,
writing, law, and governmental forms.
Despite
political domination, Dvaravati exerted another important force in
relation to its conquerors. Whereas contacts with India had
contributed to the development and character of Mon civilization, the
Dvaravati Mon in their turn became the teachers of their conquerors,
the Khmer, the Burmese, and the Thai. All three conquerors were
influenced by Dvaravati in writing systems, art forms, government,
religious terminology, and scholarship.
Encyclopædia
Britannica Article
Mon Kingdom
It also
called Hanthawaddy Kingdom,
kingdom of the Mon people, who were powerful in Myanmar (Burma) from
the 9th to the 11th and from the 13th to the 16th century and for a
brief period in the mid-18th century. The Mon migrated southward from
western China and settled in the Chao Phraya River basin (of southern
Thailand) about the 6th century AD. Their early kingdoms, Dvaravati
and Haripunjaya (qq.v.), had ties with the ancient Cambodian
kingdom of Funan and with China and were also strongly influenced by
Khmer civilization.
After
the Mon moved westward into the Irrawaddy River delta of southern
Myanmar in the ensuing centuries, they acquired Theravada
Buddhism, their state religion, from Ceylon and South India, and they
adopted the Indian Pali
script. By 825 they had firmly established themselves in southern and
southeastern Myanmar and founded the cities of Pegu and Thaton.
About
the same period, southward-migrating Burmans took over lands in
central Myanmar and established the kingdom of Pagan. In 1057 Pagan
defeated the Mon kingdom, capturing the Mon capital of Thaton and
carrying off 30,000 Mon captives to Pagan. This event was to prove
culturally decisive for the Burmans because the Mon captives included
many Theravada
Buddhist monks, who converted the Burmans to Theravada
Buddhism; Pali
replaced Sanskrit as the language of the sacred literature, and the
Burmans adopted the Mon alphabet.
After
the fall of Pagan (1287) to the invading Mongols, the Mon, under
Wareru, regained their independence and captured Martaban and Pegu,
thus virtually controlling their previously held territory. The next
200 years witnessed incessant warfare between the Mon and the Burmans,
but the Mon managed to retain their independence until 1539, when they
came under the domination of Toungoo Myanmar. In the mid-18th century
the Mon rose in rebellion and reestablished their kingdom of Pegu, but
it lasted only some 10 years. The Burmans triumphed permanently over
the Mon when their leader Alaungpaya razed Pegu in 1757. Many of the
Mon were killed, while others fled to Siam (now Thailand). The Mon are
still centred in southeastern Myanmar, though their numbers are small
compared to those of the ethnic Burmans.
Encyclopædia Britannica Article
Haripunjaya
an
ancient Mon kingdom centred in the Mae Nam (river) Ping Valley in
northwestern Thailand. It was founded in the mid-7th century by a
queen of Lopburi, the capital of the Mon Dvaravati kingdom to the
south. Although originally established as a colony of Dvaravati,
Haripunjaya maintained its independence and its own ruling dynasties
as a member of a loose confederation including the Mon states of
Dvaravati and Thaton.
Haripunjaya
flourished and developed an advanced civilization. Espousing the
conservative Theravada
Buddhism, the kingdom acted as a transmitter of Indian cultural
influences. The development of irrigation systems, law, and art forms
were among its accomplishments.
Haripunjaya
was barely able to maintain its independence against attacks by the
Thai in the 9th century and the Khmer (Cambodians) in the 10th
century. It also conducted continual warfare against Dvaravati, which
was conquered by the Khmer in the early 11th century.
After
centuries of independence, the advanced civilization of Haripunjaya
was absorbed by the Thai when the Thai ruler Mangrai conquered
Haripunjaya in 1292, establishing the city of Chiengmai a few miles
from Lamphun, the old capital of Haripunjaya. The Mon became the
teachers of the Thai and influenced the development of Thai writing,
scholarship, and art forms.
 Encyclopædia
Britannica Article
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