People

The Mon are an ethnic group in Southeast Asia. They live in an area around the southern Burma and Thailand, historic lower Burma. There are believed to be around 8 million people who claim Mon ancestry and retain their culture and language but the majority of the Mon (possibly 4 million) use the modern Burmese language for daily business, and are literate only in Burmese (not in their mother tongue). As with many other ethnic minorities in modern Burma, the Mons are under pressure to either assimilate into Burmese culture, or flee; the largest Mon refugee communities are currently in Thailand, with smaller communities in US, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and other countries around the world. The majority of Mon live around the city of Bago or the site of their historic capital, the port of Mawlamyine; they also constitute a significant percentage of the population further south along the lowland coast to the city of Ye.

Early History

The Mon were one of the earliest distinct groups to occupy Burma, moving into the area as early as 1500 BCE, or possibly earlier. The Mon are primarily associated with the historical kingdoms of Dvaravati and Haripunchai; up until the 14th century, outposts of Mon culture continued to spread very far east, including modern Thai and Isan plateau cities such as Lampang and Khon Kaen. As late as the 14th and 15th centuries, it is believed that the Mon were the ethnic majority in this vast region, but intermarried freely with Cambodian and Tai-Kadai populations. Archaeological remains of Mon settlements have been found south of Vientiane, and may also have extended further to the north-west in the Haripunchai era.

The Mon converted to Theravada Buddhism at a very early point in their history; unlike other ethnic groups in the region, they seem to have adopted Theravada orthodoxy before coming into contact with Mahayana tendencies, and it is generally believed that the Mon provided the link of transmission whereby both Thais and Cambodians converted from Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism to Theravada Buddhism (increasingly from the 1400s). Although the precise date cannot be fixed, it seems that the Mon have been practicing Theravada Buddhism continuously for a longer period than any other extant religious community on earth, except for Sri Lanka, as the lineage was destroyed in India.

A Mon dynasty ruled Lower Burma after the fall of the Pagan dynasty from 1287 to 1539 with a brief revival during 1550-53. At first Martaban was the capital of this kingdom and then Pegu/Bago. The Mon king Rajadhirat, who waged war with the northern Burman kingdom of Ava during the whole duration of his reign, unified and consolidated the Mon kingdom's domains in Lower Burma.

The most famous Mon monarchs during this period were Queen Baña Thau (Burmese: Shin Sawbu; reigned 1453-1472) followed by Dhammazedi (reigned 1472-92). Queen Baña Thau personally chose Dhammazedi to succeed her. Dhammazedi had been a monk before he became king of Pegu. Under Dhammazedi, Pegu became a centre of commerce and Theravadan Buddhism. These two devout Buddhist monarchs initiated a long period of peace in Lower Burma.

The last Mon kingdom was Hongsavatoi - they re-conquered 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 have been harshly repressed from the 1750s to the present day.

Colonial

Burma was conquered by the British in a series of wars. After the Second Anglo-Burmese War, the Mon territories were completely under the control of the British. The Mon aided the British to free themselves from the rule of the Burman monarchy. Under Burman rule, the Mon people had been massacred after lost their kingdom and many sought asylum in the Thai Kingdom. The British conquest of Burma allowed the Mon people to survive in Southern Burma.

After Burmese independence

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 Ayeyarwady River. 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 Hongsawatoi, the last Mon Kingdom, which had its seat in Pegu. (It follows the full moon on the 11th month of the Mon lunar calendar, except in Phrapadaeng, Thailand, where it is celebrated at Songkran.)

Mon language

The Mon language is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Mon, who live in Burma and Thailand. In Burma, the majority of speakers lives in Mon State, followed by Tenasserim (Tanintharyi) Division and Karen State. In recent years, usage of Mon, especially among the younger generation has declined rapidly. Many ethnic Mon, like the Shan, are monolingual in Burmese. Mon, unlike most languages in the region, is not tonal.

Mon has three primary dialects in Burma, coming from the various regions the Mon inhabit. They are the Central (areas surrounding Mottama and Mawlamyaing), Bago, and Ye dialects. All are mutually intelligible. Thai Mon has some differences from the Burmese dialects of Mon, but is almost mutually intelligible.

The Mon script had been adapted to Burmese script. Therefore the Mon script has many similarities to the Burmese script, but utilises several different letters and diacritics that represent phonemes that do not exist in Burmese, such as the diacritic of the medial 'i', which is placed underneath the letter.

Mon is considered an important language in Burmese history. It was the lingua franca in the beginning of the Pagan Kingdom, during the 800s. Old Burmese began to replace Mon and Pyu as lingua franca. During the reign of Burman king Kyanzittha, who ruled from 1084 to 1112 and admired the Mon culture, the Mon language was patronised. He left many inscriptions in Mon. During this period, the Myazedi inscription, which contains identical inscriptions of a story in Pali, Pyu, Mon, and Burmese on the four sides was carved. And its is the oldest stone inscription of the Burmese language. However, after Kyanzittha's death, usage of the Mon language declined among the Burmans.

Mon culture and traditional heritages

Mon culture and traditional heritages includes spiritual dances, musical instruments such as crocodile xylophone, harp, and flat guitar.

Mon dances

Mon dances are usually played in a formal theatre or sometimes in an informal district of any village. The dances are followed by background music using a circular set of tuned drums and claps, crocodile xylophone, gongs, flute, flat guitar, harp, etc.