In 1937, Myanmar was detached from India. In 1930, a student nationalist organisation called Thakhin was created. The Burmese were resentful of their new rulers and a national feeling arose. Traditional society was harmed by colonial changes – as the economy grew, profits were diverted from the Burmese in favour of English companies. The country became a province of the British Raj, with Yangon as its capital. After three wars, the English eventually conquered Myanmar – gaining new territory after each conflict. In 1824, a Burmese general invaded Assam in India, which was seen as a threat to the British Empire and led to the first Anglo-Burmese War. The country’s boundaries expanded in all directions.
From 1766 to 1769, four Chinese invasion attempts were countered. The country was, once again, reunited by the son of Alaungpaya in 1767, to create the Third Burmese Empire, Konbaung. They took Pegu and Yangon from the Mon in 1759, exterminating many of the Mon people. After retreating to the north, the Burmese quickly reappeared and, driven by leader Alaungpaya, they began a reconquest. At the same time, lavish spending by those in power caused significant revolts among the people and in 1752 the empire came to an end. The empire managed to contain several aggressive European invasion attempts. This ended the independence of Pegu four years later and under the rule of King Tabinshwet, the country was again unified. In 1527, Ava was destroyed by a people called the Shan, but in 1535 a new Burmese Dynasty, the Taungoo, was created. At the same time, around 1369, the Mon were reborn in Pegu (Bago in Lower Myanmar), which became an important centre of Theravada Buddhism. A few decades later however, the Burmese were revived and founded a new kingdom around the city of Ava (also known as Inwa). The Mongols invaded the north of the empire in 1287, which fell apart under the pressure. The 12th century was dubbed the golden age of Burma, when thousands of Buddhist temples were built across the land, but by the 13th century the empire had begun to decline. Once the Bamar population were united, in 1057 AD King Bama Anawrahta seized the land belonging to the Mon people and unified the country, founding the first Burmese Empire, also known as the Pagan Kingdom. The Pyu were eventually scattered by the Burmese (or Bamar) people and other Tibetan migrants who founded the city of Pagan (now Bagan) in 849 AD.
They also practiced Theravada Buddhism and their city-states prospered for two centuries. By the seventh century, a people called the Pyu arrived in Upper Myanmar. The influence of Mons extended throughout southern Burma, where they first introduced Theravada Buddhism this domination lasted until the ninth century. The Mon arrived in the lowlands of the current Myanmar from the third millennium BC where they founded a kingdom in the Irrawaddy delta.
In its popular form in Myanmar, the pure doctrine is crossbred with a belief in nat spirits. The monastic life is considered the safest way to achieve deliverance from the evils of the world. The ancient school encourages the faithful on a path of individual liberation. ReligionĨ9% of Myanmarese are Theravada Buddhists. The Burmese population is extremely diverse and it’s composed of more than 135 different ethnic groups. There are many other languages spoken by ethnic minorities, including others from the Sino-Tibetan family: Shan (11%), Arakanese (6%), Karen (5%), Jingpho (or Kachin) (2.5%), various Austro-Asiatic languages: Mon, (3%), or Indo-Iranian, including Bengali and Nepali. Three quarters of the population speak Burmese. Official languageīurmese (from the Sino-Tibetan family).