The
Mon are an
ethnic groupAn ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
from Burma (Myanmar), living mostly in
Mon StateMon State is an administrative division of Myanmar. It is sandwiched between Kayin State on the east, the Andaman Sea on the west, Bago Region on the north and Tanintharyi Region on the south, and has a short border with Thailand's Kanchanaburi Province at its south-eastern tip. The land area is...
,
Bago DivisionBago Region is an administrative region of Burma, located in the southern central part of the country. It is bordered by Magway Region and Mandalay Region to the north; Kayin State, Mon State and the Gulf of Martaban to the east; Yangon Region to the south and Ayeyarwady Region and Rakhine State...
, the
Irrawaddy DeltaThe Irrawaddy Delta or Ayeyarwady Delta lies in the Ayeyarwady Region , the lowest expanse of land in Burma that fans out from the limit of tidal influence at Myan Aung to the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, 290 km to the south at the mouth of the Ayeyarwady River...
, and along the southern Thai–Burmese border. One of the earliest peoples to reside in
Southeast AsiaSoutheast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, the Mon were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and Thailand. The Mon culture is credited as a major source of influence on the dominant Burmese culture.
As the eastern Mon were absorbed into the Thai society long ago, the western Mon of Burma have largely assimilated into Burmese society. In Burma, the Mon are fighting to preserve the
Mon languageThe Mon language is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Mon, who live in Burma and Thailand. Mon, like the related language Cambodian—but unlike most languages in Mainland Southeast Asia—is not tonal. Mon is spoken by more than a million people today. In recent years, usage of Mon has...
and culture, and regain a greater degree of political autonomy. The Mon of Burma are divided into three sub-groups based on their ancestral region in Lower Burma: the
Man Nya from
PatheinPathein , also called Bassein, is a port city with a 2004 population estimated at 215,600, and the capital of the Ayeyarwady Region, Burma. It lies on the Pathein River , which is a western branch of the Irrawaddy River....
(the
Irrawaddy deltaThe Irrawaddy Delta or Ayeyarwady Delta lies in the Ayeyarwady Region , the lowest expanse of land in Burma that fans out from the limit of tidal influence at Myan Aung to the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, 290 km to the south at the mouth of the Ayeyarwady River...
) in the west, the
Man Duin :
BagoBago may refer to:*Denmark** Bago, Denmark, the island of Bågø*Myanmar**Bago, Burma a city**Bago Region an administrative region*Philippines**Bago City, Negros Oriental**Bago **Bago...
in the central region, and the
Man Da :
MottamaMottama, formerly Martaban, is a small town in the Thaton district of Mon State, Myanmar. Located on the north bank of the Thanlwin river, on the opposite side of Mawlamyaing, Mottama was the first capital of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom in the 13th and 14th centuries, and an entrepôt of international...
in the southeast. Once the predominant ethno-linguistic group in
Lower BurmaLower Burma is a geographic region of Burma and includes the low-lying Irrawaddy delta , as well as coastal regions of the country ....
, speakers of the Mon language number fewer than one million today, and those of Mon descent number anywhere between two million and eight million. The majority of Mon are monolingual in the
Burmese languageThe Burmese language is the official language of Burma. Although the constitution officially recognizes it as the Myanmar language, most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese. Burmese is the native language of the Bamar and related sub-ethnic groups of the Bamar, as well as...
, and are counted as members of the majority
BamarThe Bamar are the dominant ethnic group of Burma , constituting approximately two-thirds of the population. The Bamar live primarily in the Irrawaddy basin, and speak the Burmese language, which is also the official language of Burma. Bamar customs and identity are closely intertwined with general...
(Burmans). Recent studies have suggested evidence indicating that the Mon and Bamar share a common genetic ancestry. A genetic study done on Mon and Bamar showed a high prevalence of a particular
glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenaseGlucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase is a cytosolic enzyme in the pentose phosphate pathway , a metabolic pathway that supplies reducing energy to cells by maintaining the level of the co-enzyme nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate...
(G6PD) mutation not found among Khmers, Laotians and Thais.
Early history
The Mons were believed to be one of the earliest people of continental Southeast Asia. They hosted earliest Southeast Asian civilizations including the
DvaravatiThe Dvaravati period lasted from the 6th to the 13th centuries. Dvaravati refers to both a culture and a disparate conglomerate of principalities.- History :...
in Central Thailand (whose culture proliferated into
IsanIsan is the northeastern region of Thailand. It is located on the Khorat Plateau, bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east, by Cambodia to the southeast and the Prachinburi mountains south of Nakhon Ratchasima...
) and the Kingdom of Thaton. They were the first receivers of
TheravadaTheravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
missionaries from
Sri LankaSri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, in contrast to their Hindu contemporaries like the Khmers or Chams. The Mons adopted the Pallava script and the oldest Mon script was found in a cave in modern
SaraburiSaraburi is a town in central Thailand, capital of the Saraburi Province. As of 2005, it has a population of 61,900, and covers the complete tambon Pak Phriao of the Mueang Saraburi district....
dating around 550 AD. Though no remains were found belonging to the Thaton kingdom but it was mentioned widely in Burmese and Lanna chronicles. The legendary Queen
JamadeviQueen Jamadevi , also known as Nang Chamthewi of Hariphunchai, Channa Devi or Channadevi .First ruler of the Mon kingdom of Hariphunchai . She gave birth to twins, one of whom succeeded her as ruler of Lamphun Queen Jamadevi (Thai: พระนางจามเทวี) (Pali: Camadevi), also known as Nang Chamthewi of...
from the Chao Phraya Valley came to rule as the first queen of
HaribhunjyayaHariphunchai was a Mon kingdom in the north of present Thailand in the centuries before the Thais moved into the area. Its capital was at Lamphun, which at the time was also called Hariphunchai...
(modern
LamphunLamphun is a town in northern Thailand, capital of Lamphun Province. It covers the whole tambon Nai Mueang of Mueang Lamphun district...
) kingdom around 800 AD.
After 1000 AD onwards the Mons were under constant pressures. With the Tai migrations from the north and Khmer invasions from the east, the Mons of Dvaravati perished and gave their way to Khmer Lavo kingdom by around 1000 AD. (The surviving group of Dvaravati Mon people known as
Nyah KurThe Nyah Kur language is an Austroasiatic language spoken by a remnant of the Mon people of Dvaravati, the Nyah Kur people, who live in present-day Thailand...
still lives in Isan as a very small minority today.) The Mons were killed in wars, transported as captives, or assimilated into new cultures. The Mon as an entity virtually disappeared in Chao Phraya Valley. However, Haribhunjaya kingdom survived as a Mon outpost in northern Thailand under repeated harass by the Tai Yuan.
In 1057, King
AnawrahtaAnawrahta Minsaw was the founder of the Pagan Empire. Considered the father of the Burmese nation, Anawrahta turned a small principality in the dry zone of Upper Burma into the first Burmese Empire that formed the basis of modern-day Burma...
of Pagan conquered the Thaton kingdom. The Mon culture and script were readily absorbed by the Burmese and the Mons, for the first time, came under Burmese rule. The Mons remained a majority in Lower Burma.
The Haribhunjaya kingdom prospered in the reign of King Aditayaraj (around early twelfth century) who allegedly waged wars with
Suryavarman IISuryavarman II was king of the Khmer Empire from 1113 AD to 1145-1150 AD and the builder of Angkor Wat, which he dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu...
of Angkor and constructed the dhatu of Haribhunjaya. In 1230 AD, Mangrai the Tai Yuan chief conquered the Haribhunjaya kingdom and again the Mon culture was integrated into the Lanna culture. The Lanna adopted the Mon script and religion (later replaced by
Sri Lankan BuddhismBuddhism in Sri Lanka is primarily of the Theravada school, and constitutes the religious faith of about 70% of the population.- History :...
).
In 1287, the
Pagan KingdomThe Pagan Kingdom or Pagan Dynasty was the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute the modern-day Burma...
collapsed, leaving the power vacuum. A Tai chief from
SukhothaiThe Sukhothai Kingdom ) was an early kingdom in the area around the city Sukhothai, in north central Thailand. The Kingdom existed from 1238 till 1438...
named
WareruWareru was the founder of the Ramanya Kingdom located in today's Lower Burma . The kingdom is more commonly known as Kingdom of Hanthawady Pegu , or simply Pegu although the kingdom's first capital was Martaban...
established himself in Martaban and was proclaimed king by the Mons. The base was later moved to Pegu. The Kingdom of Martaban-Pegu (1287–1539) was the prospering period of the Mons in both power and culture. The Mons were consolidated under King Razadarit (1383–1422) who successfully fended off Burmese invasions by the northern Kingdom of Ava. The reigns of Queen
Shin SawbuShin Sawbu was the queen of Hanthawaddy from 1453 to 1472. Queen Shin Sawbu was also known as Binnya Thau or Old Queen in Mon. Queen Shin Sawbu and Queen Jamadevi of Haripunjaya are the two most famous queens among the small number of queens who ruled in mainland Southeast Asia...
(1453–1472) and King
DhammazediDhammazedi was the 16th king of Hanthawaddy, who reigned from 1472 to 1492, and is considered one of the most enlightened rulers in Burmese history, and by some accounts "the greatest" of all Hanthawaddy kings. The former Buddhist monk, educated in the rival kingdom of Ava in his youth, was a...
(1472–1492) were the time of peace and prosperity.
The Burmese, however, regained their momentum at Toungoo in the early sixteenth century. The Mon kingdom then fell to the invasion of King Tabinshweti of Toungoo in 1539. After the death of the king, the Mons temporarily freed from Burmese rule led by Smim Htaw but they were defeated by King
BayinnaungBayinnaung Kyawhtin Nawrahta was the third king of the Toungoo dynasty of Burma . During his 30-year reign, which has been called the "greatest explosion of human energy ever seen in Burma", Bayinnaung assembled the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia, which included much of modern day...
in 1551. The Burmese moved their capital to Pegu, keeping the Mons intact with the royal authority. For next two hundred years the Mons of Lower Burma came under Burmese rule.
Lower Burma became effectively war fronts between Burma, Siam, and Arakan. Following King
NaresuanSomdet Phra Naresuan Maharat or Somdet Phra Sanphet II was the King of the Ayutthaya kingdom from 1590 until his death in 1605. Naresuan was one of Siam's most revered monarchs as he was known for his campaigns to free Siam from Burmese rule...
’s campaigns against the Burmese, the Mons were, either forced or voluntarily, moved to Siam. The collapse of Mon power propagated waves of migration into Siam, were they were permitted to live in the city of Ayutdhaya. A Mon monk became a chief advisor to King Naresuan.
Pegu was plundered by the Arakanese in 1599. The Burmese authority collapsed and the Mons loosely established themselves around Martaban. Only with the unification by King
AnaukpetlunAnaukpetlun was the sixth king of Toungoo dynasty of Burma, and was largely responsible for restoring Burmese kingdom after it had famously collapsed at the end of 16th century. In his 22-year reign between 1606 and 1628, Anaukpetlun completed the reunification efforts of the Burmese kingdom begun...
that the Mons again fell under the rule of the Burmese in 1616. The Mons rebelled again in 1661 but the rebellion was put down by King
PyePye Min was the tenth king of Toungoo dynasty from 1661 to 1672. Pye Min was a son of King Thalun. During the reign of his brother Pindale, the Prince of Pyay led the Burmese resistance against Southern Ming and Qing incursions. King Pindale, however, lost his popularity and Pye was urged to take...
. The Mon refugees were granted to live around western Siam the Burmese-Siamese borders by the Siamese king. The Mons then played a major role in Siamese military and politics. A special regiment was created for the Mons serving the Siamese king.
The Burmese power declined rapidly in the early eighteenth century. Finally, the Mons rebelled at Pegu in 1740 with the help of the Gwe Shans. A Burman monk with Toungoo royal lineage was proclaimed King of Pegu and was later succeeded by
Binnya DalaBinnya Dala was the last king of Restored Kingdom of Hanthawaddy, who reigned from 1747 to 1757. He was a key leader in the revival of the Mon-speaking kingdom in 1740, which successfully revolted against the rule of Toungoo dynasty. Though Smim Htaw Buddhaketi was the king, it was Binnya Dala who...
in 1747. With the French support, the Mons were able to establish an independent kingdom for 17 years before falling to
AlaungpayaAlaungpaya was king of Burma from 1752 to 1760, and the founder of the Konbaung Dynasty. By his death in 1760, the former chief of a small village in Upper Burma had reunified all of Burma, subdued Manipur, recovered Lan Na, and driven out the French and the English who had given help to the...
in 1757. This time the Burmese rule was harsh. The Mons were largely massacred encouraging a large migration to Siam and Lanna.
The Mons rebelled at
DagonDagon was originally an Assyro-Babylonian fertility god who evolved into a major northwest Semitic god, reportedly of grain and fish and/or fishing...
in the reign of
HsinbyushinHsinbyushin was king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma from 1763 to 1776. The second son of the dynasty founder Alaungpaya is best known for his wars with China and Siam, and is considered the most militaristic king of the dynasty. His successful defense against four Chinese invasions preserved...
of Konbaung dynasty and the city was razed to the ground. Again in 1814 the Mons rebelled and were as harshly as before put down. These rebellions generated a huge wave of migrations that the child Prince
MongkutPhra Bat Somdet Phra Poramenthramaha Mongkut Phra Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama IV, known in foreign countries as King Mongkut , was the fourth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, ruling from 1851-1868...
proceeded to welcome the Mons himself. The Mons in Siam were settled in two areas – Pak Kred in
NonthaburiNonthaburi may refer to:*Nonthaburi Province, Thailand*Amphoe Mueang Nonthaburi, the capital district of the Province*Nonthaburi , city of Nonthaburi...
and Phra Pradaeng in Samut Prakarn. Other minor Mon settlements were found throughout Central Thailand. Over time, the Mons were effectively integrated into Siamese society and culture.
Colonial period
Burma was conquered by the
BritishThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
in a series of wars. After the
Second Anglo-Burmese WarThe Second Anglo-Burmese War was the second of the three wars fought between the Burmese and the British Empire during the 19th century, with the outcome of the gradual extinction of Burmese sovereignty and independence....
, 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 they 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 NuFor other people with the Burmese name Nu, see Nu .U Nu was a leading Burmese nationalist and political figure of the 20th century...
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 RiverThe Irrawaddy River or Ayeyarwady River is a river that flows from north to south through Burma . It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Originating from the confluence of the N'mai and Mali rivers, it flows relatively straight North-South before emptying through...
. Resistance continued until 1995 when NMSP and SLORC agreed a cease-fire and, in 1996, the Mon Unity League was founded.
In 1947, Mon National Day was created to celebrate the ancient founding of Hanthawady, 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.)
The largest Mon refugee communities are currently in Thailand, with smaller communities in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(the largest community being in
Fort Wayne, IndianaFort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
and the second largest being
Akron, OhioAkron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
),
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
,
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
,
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
,
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
,
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
,
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, and the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
Language and script
The
Mon languageThe Mon language is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Mon, who live in Burma and Thailand. Mon, like the related language Cambodian—but unlike most languages in Mainland Southeast Asia—is not tonal. Mon is spoken by more than a million people today. In recent years, usage of Mon has...
is part of the
MonicThe Monic languages are a branch of the Austro-Asiatic language family descended from the Old Monic language of the kingdom of Dvaravati in what is now central Thailand...
group of the Mon–Khmer branch of the
Austro-AsiaticThe Austro-Asiatic languages, in recent classifications synonymous with Mon–Khmer, are a large language family of Southeast Asia, also scattered throughout India and Bangladesh. The name Austro-Asiatic comes from the Latin words for "south" and "Asia", hence "South Asia"...
family, closely related to the
Nyah Kur languageThe Nyah Kur language is an Austroasiatic language spoken by a remnant of the Mon people of Dvaravati, the Nyah Kur people, who live in present-day Thailand...
and more distantly related to
KhmerKhmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language , with speakers in the tens of millions. Khmer has been considerably influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious...
. The writing system is
IndicThe Brahmic or Indic scripts are a family of abugida writing systems. They are used throughout South Asia , Southeast Asia, and parts of Central and East Asia, and are descended from the Brāhmī script of the ancient Indian subcontinent...
based. The Burmans adapted the Mon script for Burmese following their conquest of Mon territory during
AnawrahtaAnawrahta Minsaw was the founder of the Pagan Empire. Considered the father of the Burmese nation, Anawrahta turned a small principality in the dry zone of Upper Burma into the first Burmese Empire that formed the basis of modern-day Burma...
's reign.
Traditional culture
Mon culture and traditional heritages includes spiritual dances, musical instruments such as crocodile xylophone, harp, and flat guitar. Mon dances are usually played in a formal theater 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. Mon in Burma wear clothes similar to the Bamars. Those living in Thailand have adopted
ThaiThe Thai people, or Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of...
style scarfs and skirts.
The symbol of the Mon people is Hintha, a mythological duck, which is also the state symbol of Bago Region and
Mon StateMon State is an administrative division of Myanmar. It is sandwiched between Kayin State on the east, the Andaman Sea on the west, Bago Region on the north and Tanintharyi Region on the south, and has a short border with Thailand's Kanchanaburi Province at its south-eastern tip. The land area is...
, two historical Mon strongholds.
See also
- Haripunchai
Hariphunchai was a Mon kingdom in the north of present Thailand in the centuries before the Thais moved into the area. Its capital was at Lamphun, which at the time was also called Hariphunchai...
- History of Burma
- List of Mon monarchs
- Mon Nationalism and Civil War in Burma
Mon Nationalism and Civil War in Burma: The Golden Sheldrake, by Ashley South, is a history of the Mon people, an ethnic group found in Myanmar and Thailand...
- Mawlamyaing, the capital of Mon State
Mon State is an administrative division of Myanmar. It is sandwiched between Kayin State on the east, the Andaman Sea on the west, Bago Region on the north and Tanintharyi Region on the south, and has a short border with Thailand's Kanchanaburi Province at its south-eastern tip. The land area is...
in Burma
- Bago, Burma, Capital of Mon Kingdom
- University of Mawlamyaing
Mawlamyaing University , located in Mawlamyaing, is the largest university in Mon State, Myanmar. The university offers bachelor's and master's degree programs in liberal arts and sciences...
- Rev. Uttama
External links