Excerpt from my doctoral research: "Throughout the history of Myanmar, the ethnic identity became distinct, was constructed and was later politicized. The primordial view of ethnicity explains why in pre-colonial Burma, the kingdoms primarily had represented their individual ethnic identity such as Innwa (Ava) and Taungoo for the Burman and Bago for the Mon in the lowland and various Sawbwas, comparable to Sultans, for the Shan in the highland. The primordial features of ethnic identity at that time were mainly language and geographical barriers. Fertile lowland always had rulers and the highlanders were beyond reach. Religion became another tangible identity when the missionary brought Christianity. With the divide and rule policy of the British to Burma, local hereditary rule were observed in ethnic regions, as a result ethnic identities were constructed and consolidated in order to distinguish themselves from the majority Burman during the independent movement of the Burman and post-independence period. It later transformed into a political instrument and a source of conflict."
Posted on: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 00:47:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015