Bamar people

The Bamar People (Burmese: ဗမာ လူမျိုး; MLCTS: ba. ma lu myui:, IPA: [bəmà lùmjó]; also known as the Mranma), are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Myanmar. They are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group of approximately 35 million people who constitute Myanmar's largest ethnic group, accounting for 68% of the country's population.[5] The geographic homeland of the Bamar is the Irrawaddy River basin. Burmese is the native language of the Bamar, as well as the national language and lingua franca of Myanmar.In the Burmese language, Bamar (ဗမာ, also transcribed Bama) and Myanmar (မြန်မာ, also transliterated Mranma and transcribed Myanma) have historically been interchangeable endonyms. Burmese is a diglossic language; "Bamar" is the diglossic low form of "Myanmar," which is the diglossic high equivalent. The term "Myanmar" is extant to the early 1100s, first appearing on a stone inscription, where it was used as a cultural identifier, and has continued to be used in this manner.[8] From the onset of British colonial rule to the Japanese occupation of Burma, "Bamar" was used in Burmese to refer to both the country and its majority ethnic group.[6] Since the country achieved independence in 1948, "Myanmar" has been officially used to designate both the nation-state and its official language, while "Bamar" has been used to designate the majority ethnic group, especially in written contexts.[6] In spoken usage, "Bamar" and "Myanmar" remain interchangeable, especially with respect to referencing the language and country.[6] In the English language, the Bamar are known by a number of exonyms, including Burmans and Burmese, both of which were interchangeably used by the British.[note 1] In June 1989, in an attempt to indigenise both the country's place names and ethnonyms, the military government changed the official English names of the country (from Burma to Myanmar), the language (from Burmese to Myanmar), and the country's majority ethnic group (from Burmans to Bamar).[9][10][11] Ancestral origins Main article: Early Pagan Kingdom The extent of the 11th century Pagan Empire under Anawrahta The Bamar continue to inhabit the fertile low-lying river valleys in the centre of Myanmar (in orange). The Bamar's northern origins are evidenced by the extant distribution of Burmish languages to the north of the country, and the fact that taung (တောင်), the Burmese word for 'south' also means 'mountain,' which suggests that at one point ancestors of the Bamar lived north of the Himalayas. Until a thousand years ago, ancestors of the Bamar and Yi were much more widespread across Yunnan, Guizhou, southern Sichuan, and northern Burma.During the Han dynasty in China, Yunnan was ruled primarily by the Burmese-Yi speaking Dian and Yelang kingdoms. During the Tang dynasty in China, Yunnan and northern Burma were ruled by the Burmese-Yi speaking Nanzhao kingdom. Wet rice cultivation is closely associated with the Bamar. Between the 600s to 800s, the Bamar had cut through the Himalayas, and down the Irrawaddy (Ayeyarwady) and Salween (Thanlwin) Rivers in large numbers, establishing the outpost of Pagan (Bagan).[13][14] The Bamar gradually settled in the fertile Irrawaddy and Salween river valleys that were home to Pyu city-states, where they established the Pagan Kingdom.[15] Between the 1050s to 1060s, King Anawrahta founded the Pagan Empire, for the first time unifying the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery under one polity. By the 1100s, the Burmese language and culture had become dominant in the upper Irrawaddy valley, eclipsing Pyu (formerly called Tircul) and Pali norms. Conventional Burmese chronicles state that the Pyu were assimilated into the Bamar population. By the 1200s, Bamar settlements were found as far south as Mergui (Myeik) and Tenasserim (Taninthayi), whose inhabitants continue to speak archaic Burmese dialects. Beginning in the 900s, Burmese speakers began migrating westward, crossing the Arakan Mountains and settling in what is now Rakhine State. By the 1100s, they had consolidated control of the region, becoming a tributary state of the Pagan Empire until the 13th century. Over time, these Bamar migrants formed a distinct cultural identity, becoming the Rakhine people (also known as the Arakanese).Genetics A 2014 DNA analysis found that the Bamar exhibited 'extraordinary' genetic diversity, with 80 different mitochondrial lineages and indications of recent demographic expansion.As the Bamar expanded their presence in the region following their arrival by the 800s, they likely incorporated older haplogroups including those of the Pyu and Mon.Another genetic study of G6PD mutations in Mon and Bamar men found that the two groups likely share a common ancestry, despite speaking languages that belong to different language families. Another 2022 study found that Central and Southern Thais had a large proportion of Bamar-related ancestry (at 24% and 11% respectively), while Bamar ancestry was also detected among the Palaung and Shan groups. Ethnic identity Modern-day Bamar identity remains permeable and dynamic and is generally distinguished by language and religion, i.e., the Burmese language and Theravada Buddhism.[23] There is considerable variation among individuals who identify as Bamar, and members of other ethnic groups, particularly the Mon, Shan, Karen, and Sino-Burmese, self-identify as Bamar to various degrees, some to the extent of complete assimilation. To this day, the Burmese language does not have precise terminology that distinguishes the European concepts of race, ethnicity and religion; the term lu-myo (လူမျိုး, lit. 'type of person') can reference all three.For instance, many Bamar self-identify as members of the 'Buddhist lu-myo' or the 'Myanmar lu-myo,' which has posed a significant challenge for census-takers. Saya Chone's "Royal Audience," a traditional painting depicting the Mandalay Palace's royal audience hall In the pre-colonial era, ethnic identity was fluid and dynamic, marked by patron-client relationships, religion, and regional origins.Consequently, many non-Bamar assimilated and adopted a Bamar identity and norms for sociopolitical purposes.Between the 1500s and 1800s, the notion of Bamar identity expanded significantly, driven by intermarriage with other communities and voluntary changes in self-identification, especially in Mon and Shan-speaking regions.[30][31] Bamar identity was also more inclusive in the precolonial era, especially during 1700s when Konbaung kings embarked on major territorial expansion campaigns, to Manipur, Assam, Mrauk U, and Pegu.These campaigns paralleled those in other Southeast Asian kingdoms, such as Vietnam's southward expansion (Nam tiến), which wrested control of the Mekong delta from the Champa during the same period. Portrait of a Bamar family at the turn of the 20th century, during British rule In the early 1900s, a narrower strain of Bamar nationalism developed in response to British colonial rule, which failed to address Bamar grievances and actively marginalised the Bamar from public spheres such as education and the armed forces.The British employed divide and rule tactics which fostered mistrust between the Bamar and ethnic minorities, and would have consequential effects on Burmese ethnic identity and politics in the post-colonial era.[33] In 1925, the British discharged all Bamar soldiers from the colonial army, and adopted an exclusionary policy of recruiting only among the Chin, Kachin and Karen minorities, and by 1930 the Dobama Asiayone, a leading Burmese nationalist group had emerged, from which independence leaders like U Nu and Aung San would launch their political careers.[24][29] For most of its colonial history, Burma was administered as a province of British India. It was not until 1937 that Burma was formally separated and became directly administered by the British Crown, after a long struggle for direct colonial representation. Government classification The Burmese government officially classifies nine 'ethnic groups' under the Bamar 'national race.'Of these nine groups, the Bamar, Dawei (Tavoyan), Myeik or Beik (Merguese), Yaw, and Yabein, all speak dialects of the Burmese language.One group, the Hpon, speak a Burmish language closely related to Burmese.Two groups, the Kadu and Ganan, speak more distantly related Sino-Tibetan languages. The last group, the Moken ('Salon' in Burmese), speak an unrelated Austronesian language.The Burmese-speaking Danu and Intha are classified under the Shan 'national race.'