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44-616: Other names of the Pa-O include PaU, PhyaU, Piao, Taungthu, Taungsu, Tongsu and Kula. The Pa'O settled in the Thaton region of present-day Myanmar around 1700 BC. Historically, the Pa'O wore colourful clothing until King Anawratha defeated the Mon King, Makuta of Thaton (also called Mahua). The Pa'O were enslaved and forced to wear indigo-dyed clothing to signify their status. The Pa'O people are

88-582: A "buffalo demon" below his left knee. There is also a set of sema , or boundary stones, at the Kalyani Thein ordination hall near the Shweyazan stupa. The Kalyani sema are each over a meter tall and carved with panels depicting of the life of Gautama Buddha and floral designs at the top. Their date is highly uncertain — stylistically similar sema found in Thailand are associated with

132-408: A "clay layer" about 10 cm below the ground surface. Historically, laterite was widely used as a building material in southern Myanmar, and today, it is also mined extensively for iron in the area north of Thaton. Silting has resulted in the coastline moving 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) away from Thaton, which is now a sleepy town on the rail line from Bago to Mawlamyine (Moulmein). Thaton

176-456: A blouse, a jacket, a longyi that covers the knees, a turban, and two large, conical shaped hair pins. Both men and women pin a Pa'O flag badge on to their jacket. It represents the Zawgyi and dragon from their origin story. Men use a large red sling bag to carry knives, hoes or long choppers. Women use a cane or bamboo sling basket. Those from lower Myanmar wear Burmese style clothing. To initiate

220-635: A community of monks together with the Tipiṭaka and established the religion in Arimaddanapura, otherwise called Pugāma", without saying where the monks or texts came from; in another part, the inscriptions refer to the decline of Thaton during the reign of a king Manohor, without mentioning any sort of conquest. These two parts were then conflated, according to Aung-Thwin, into a single narrative of conquest in 18th-century chronicles and then repeated by 19th-century colonial scholars. Aung-Thwin interprets

264-605: A conquest of Thaton, which would be unusual because it would have been directly on the route to Mergui. The earliest text to mention something like the conquest of Thaton is the Zambu Kungya , written by Wun Zin Min Yaza , who served as a minister under the Ava-period kings Mingyi Swasawke and Mingaung I in the late 1300s and early 1400s. The only surviving part of this is an 1825 copy, although some of its content

308-658: A good preservation" of the Zambu . The Kalyani Inscriptions of 1479, which are relatively close in date to the Zambu Kungya , are often cited to illustrate the conquest of Thaton, However, Aung-Thwin writes that the Kalyani Inscriptions contain no direct reference to this event. Instead, they refer to two completely separate things: in one part, the Pali version of the inscription says simply that Anawrahta "took

352-556: A marriage, first the young man's parents ask the young woman's parents for the hand of their daughter in marriage on behalf or their son. Her parents can take four or five days to discuss their daughter's wishes. According to custom, guests at the marriage ceremony tie cotton threads around the wrists of both the bridegroom and bride, joining them together while blessing the couple with their best wishes. Common presents include money, farmland, houses, buffaloes, male cows and household items. Villagers take care of funeral arrangements. The body

396-677: Is a Burmese politician and former monk. He was the Chairman of the Pa-O National Organisation (PNO), which he re-organised in 1976. Its military wing, known as the Pa-O National Army was also headed by him. On 11 April 1991, the PNO, under his leadership, agreed a ceasefire with the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council . The PNO was granted a number of business concessions and control over some territory in

440-642: Is a town in Mon State , in southern Myanmar on the Tenasserim plains. Thaton lies along the National Highway 8 and is also connected by the National Road 85. It is 230 kilometres (140 mi) southeast of Yangon and 70 kilometres (43 mi) north of Mawlamyine . Thaton was the capital of Thaton Kingdom from at least the 4th century BC to the middle of the 11th century AD. Thaton

484-474: Is a valley 20 km long offering passage to Hpa-an and eventually over the Three Pagodas Pass to central Thailand. Besides the mountain range, there are also eight smaller hills that form a low arc around the city. Seven of these are located on the west and south, which conveniently provide protection against flooding on the side that is otherwise exposed to the sea. The eighth hill, Neimindara,

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528-663: Is celebrated on the full moon day of Tabaung , which falls in March. The National Day is a day to remember ancestors and past leaders, such as King Suriya Janthar , whose birthday is also celebrated on National Day. There is a grand parade through Taunggyi followed by a festival. The majority of Pa'O people follow Buddhism , which means that most of their festivals are based on Buddhist festival days. Some Pa'O are Christian , and some maintain Animist beliefs. Poy Sang Long ( Burmese : ရှင်ပြုပွဲ ; Pa'O: ပွယ်ꩻသျင်ႏလောင်ꩻ ) celebrates

572-413: Is kept for a couple of nights at home. Food is cooked to offer to the monks and people play card games as a way of giving constant companionship to the departed. After two or three days, the family give praise to the person who died. Common people are buried, while monks are cremated. Khun Thar Doon (1940–1978) was one of the early recording stars of Pa'O music. He set up the first Pa'O modern band in

616-474: Is not even certain that the area... was not under the ocean" during the first millennium CE, since the shoreline likely would have been much farther inland at the time. The first undisputed mention of Thaton is in the 1479 Kalyani Inscriptions , which were written in the Middle Mon language and attributed to Dhammazedi . This inscription uses "Sudhuim", which is the usual Mon form of the name. Thaton

660-455: Is not mentioned before this, although other inscriptions from Bagan and Ava monarchs do mention places farther south. Then in 1486, the name Sudhammapura appears in three Mon inscriptions. There is one inscription purportedly dating to 1067 records the building of a temple by a king Manuho of Thaton, but based on linguistic analysis (for example, the spelling of certain words is more characteristic of later times than of Pagan times), Aung-Thwin says

704-454: Is on the northeast. It is thought to have been a key strategic point in pre-cannon times, and "the troops that held this hill controlled the city". On the west side of Thaton is a fault line , which the railway follows. To the south are the Gawt and Waba streams. Southern Myanmar has extensive deposits of laterite , a reddish-yellow soil which is rich in iron . At Thaton, this is found as

748-541: Is perched on a hilltop east of the town. Thaton is home to the U Pho Thi Library , which houses an extensive collection of palm-leaf manuscripts , at the Saddhammajotikārāma Monastery. Thaton is home to Computer University (Thaton) , which offers five-year bachelor's degree programs in computer science and computer technology. It is also the home of Thaton Institute of Agriculture . Aung Kham Hti U Aung Kham Hti ( Burmese : အောင်ခမ်းထီ )

792-701: Is the Burmese name of Sathuim (သဓီု) in Mon , which in turn is from Sudhammapura ( သုဓမ္မပူရ ) in Pali , after Sudharma, the moot hall of the gods. This name has Buddhist symbolism: according to the 4th-century Buddhavaṃsa , this was the name of the city where the Śobhita Buddha was born, as well as the name of his father, and "Sudhammavati" was also the name of the city where the Sujāta Buddha "held his first assembly of monks". The name of Thaton probably originated as

836-757: Is the leader of the Pa-O National Organization (PNO). The party currently has three representatives in the People's Assembly, one in the National Assembly and six in the Local Assembly. Khun San Lwin , a former member of the PNO, is currently Chairman of the Pa'O Self-Administered Zone . Thaton Thaton ( Burmese : သထုံမြို့ ; MLCTS : sa. htum mrui. pronounced [θətʰòʊɰ̃ mjo̰] ; Mon : သဓီု /səthɜ̤m/ )

880-669: The Dvaravati culture and dated to the 6th through 9th centuries, but the Kalyani sema also have their own distinct forms that have been tentatively associated with Mon migrations from Haripuñjaya in the 12th and 13th centuries. Myint Aung's excavation in the 1970s did not produce any radiocarbon dating, so the exact date of the site is uncertain. According to Moore and San Win, repeated renovations and additions to pilgrimage sites has made detecting first-millennium remains "extremely difficult". However, as mentioned above, they identify

924-472: The 1st-millennium site of Halin , which also had a rectangular shape. The lower layers of Thaton's city walls contain numerous fingermarked bricks, which according to Elizabeth Moore are characteristic of first-millennium architectural remains over a wide area including not just Myanmar but also parts of India and Thailand. As a result, Moore and San Win date the walls of Thaton to the first millennium as well. Remains of city gates have been found on

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968-842: The Kalyani Inscriptions as a way of legitimizing Dhammazedi's religious reform to more closely follow what he saw as a more "orthodox" form of Theravada Buddhism of the Mahavihara tradition. Thus, the story of Thaton's decline under Manohor was meant to "illustrate what happened when Buddhist kings allowed the religion to decay". It also "invented the tradition of an 'earlier' Thaton" that had practiced an earlier, more "pure" version of Buddhism before being corrupted, so that his own religious reforms could appeal to an even older tradition and overcome opposition from "conservative forces in Lower Burma" who were following an allegedly corrupted strain of Buddhism. The Jinakālamālī , written in Pali in

1012-541: The Kyaik Talan and Kyaik Te stupas in Ayetthema , on the northwest side of Kelasa Mountain . The inscriptions record the renovation of the stupas under Kyanzittha. An urban site at Thaton was excavated between 1975 and 1977 under U Myint Aung. The site is small, with an area of about 1,500 square yards and "at most three major stupas". A large structure that may have been a palace has partially been excavated, at

1056-653: The Lowland Pa'O, based in Thaton , and the Highland Pa'O, based in Taunggyi . It is believed that there are as many as twenty-four Pa'O subgroups. The Pa'O subgroups are Htee Ree, Jamzam, Jauk Pa'O, Khrai, Khunlon, Khonlontanyar, Kon jam, Loi Ai, Padaung, Pahtom, Pa nae, Pan Nanm, Nan kay, Mickon, Miclan, Ta Kyor, Taret, Tahtwe, Tatauk, Taungthar, Tayam, Ta Noe, Warphrarei and Yin Tai. The Pa'O predominantly cultivate

1100-443: The center of the site. Part of the city walls also remain. The walled area of Thaton is mostly rectangular in shape, roughly measuring 2010 m from north to south and 1290 m from east to west. The walls aren't perfectly rectangular, though — the northeast and southeast corners each have a few rounded segments that serve to "draw water off from streams flowing down from peaks on the escarpment". The overall layout resembles

1144-408: The conquest story is U Kala 's Mahayazawingyi , written sometime between 1712 and 1720. It is not clear where U Kala got this story from — none of the sources he is said to have used mention the conquest of Thaton. He may have been using older sources that are now lost, or he may have synthesized or embellished it based on the sources he was using. In any case, U Kala's version proved influential: it

1188-413: The early 1500s by an author from Chiang Mai , is the first work to mention Anawrahta's conquest of Manohara's kingdom. It appears to treat the story as "an illustration of Buddhist principles": a weak ruler like Manohara, who fails to properly uphold Buddhist ideals, would inevitably be defeated by a strong ruler who does. The "first chronicle of Burma with the most comprehensive and complete version" of

1232-545: The early 1970s. One of his famous songs is "Tee Ree Ree", a song about Pa'O solidarity. This song is still sung at traditional festivals today. He is on the cover of Guitars of the Golden Triangle: Folk and Pop Music of Myanmar (Burma), Vol. 2 . Some of the artists appearing on the compilation cover songs he wrote. Some other artists may include Lashio Thein Aung, Saing Saing Maw, and Khun Paw Yann. Aung Kham Hti

1276-402: The entire traditional narrative of a "Thaton Kingdom" and its conquest by Anawrahta. No contemporary inscriptions refer to Thaton or its conquest by Anawrahta, and the full version of the conquest story does not appear in later chronicles until U Kala 's Mahayazawingyi , written in the early 1700s. Aung-Thwin also disputes the existence of Thaton itself during this time period, writing that "it

1320-521: The fingermarked bricks as evidence of first-millennium occupation at Thaton. The origins of the conquest story by Anawrahta in 1057 are unclear and "apparently does not go back to any single source". According to Michael Aung-Thwin, the story may have originated from Bagan's conquest of Lower Burma during this period. Anawrahta's southward expansion is well-documented in contemporary inscriptions, with about 28 votive tablets recording his activity as far south as Mergui . But no Bagan-era inscription mentions

1364-434: The formal Pali name "Sudhamma", which then became vernacular Mon form "Sadhuim", which is in turn pronounced "Thaton" in Burmese. Thaton is located on a "fanlike" area at the foot of an elongated mountain spur, with the coast to the west. There is a significant slope within the city, from 43 m above sea level at the northeast corner to 9 m in the southwest. Just south of Thaton, the mountain range opens up and there

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1408-569: The initiation of young boys as novice monks. On reaching adulthood, being ordained a monk is considered a family celebration. During Buddhist Lent, from August to October, Pa'O youth participate in the Pwe Lip May Bo ( Pa'O: ပွယ်ꩻလေပ်လူႏမေႏဗို; Burmese : မီးကြာလှည့်ပွဲ ) ceremony. On the monthly full-moon nights, new-moon nights, and both half-moon nights, they surround their local temple with lanterns suspended on strings raised by supporting bamboo stands. The bamboo stands are used to carry

1452-470: The inscription is likely from a later period. (Even among scholars who are proponents of the idea that Thaton was a major capital at this time period, the 1067 inscription is also rejected for the same reasons, and they say it could be no earlier than the 1500s.) The earliest dated inscriptions found near Thaton (but not mentioning it) are the Kyaik Talan and Kyaik Te inscriptions, which were made in 1098 under Kyanzittha . The two inscriptions were found at

1496-793: The kingdom of Dvaravati , Thaton was an important seaport on the Gulf of Martaban , for trade with India and Sri Lanka . Shin Arahan , also called Dhammadassi , a monk born in Thaton and raised and educated in Nakhon Pathom , an old capital of the Mon kingdom of Dvaravadi, now in Thailand , took Theravada Buddhism north to the Burmese kingdom of Bagan . In 1057, King Anawrahta of Bagan conquered Thaton. However, Michael Aung-Thwin , has disputed

1540-481: The lanterns around the temple three times, the candles being lit as they are carried, as a show of respect to Buddha . The Pa'O origin myth states that they are descended from a shaman ( weizza ), and a female dragon. The Pa'O people of upper Myanmar commonly wear black or navy blue. The traditional outfit of the Pa'O consists of a turban, a white shirt, black or navy jacket and long black trousers for men. The women's traditional Pa'O outfit consists of five pieces:

1584-419: The leaves of the thanapet tree , onions, garlic, chili, potatoes, rice, peanuts, beans, sesame seeds, mustard leaves , and green tea. The pwe lu-phaing (Fire Rocket Festival), is celebrated from April to July. The purpose of the festival is to bring ample rain to the villages during the planting season. According to Pa'O tradition, rockets are fired to help the clouds make rain. The village headman determines

1628-680: The north and south walls, but none have been found on the east or west walls. Three carved reliefs of Hindu deities found at Thaton in the 19th century have been variously stylistically dated to the 9th/10th or 11th centuries. One depicts Shiva and Parvati . The other two are reddish sandstone reliefs, each over a meter tall, depicting the god Vishnu reclining on the serpent Ananta Shesha . Three lotus stems are depicted as coming out of Vishnu's navel, and smaller figures of Vishnu, Brahma , and Shiva are depicted sitting on them. (Normally, there would only be one lotus and deity coming out of Vishnu's navel.) The exact find spots for these three reliefs

1672-640: The second largest ethnic group in Shan State . They also reside in Kayin State , Kayah State , Mon State , and Bago Division . Many of the modern day Pa'O have fled to Mae Hong Son Province , in northern Thailand , due to ongoing military conflicts in Myanmar. They are believed to be of Tibeto-Burman lineage, and share the language and culture of the Karen people . They consist of two distinct groups:

1716-523: The size of the rockets. The largest rockets can contain up to 20 kilograms of gunpowder and have a range of 5–6 miles. The rockets, originally made from bamboo, are currently made from iron. Prior to firing, the rocket is carried once around the local temple on someone's shoulder. The festival also demonstrates the unity and friendship among different villages as they gather together for one week. "Pwe" means festival, "Lue" means donation and "Phaing" means to remove sins. Pa'O National Day, or Den See Lar Bway ,

1760-566: Was also incorporated into the Maniyadanabon , which was written in the late 1700s. This version (the one incorporated into the Maniyadanabon ) says nothing about a conquest of Thaton; it only says that in 1054 "the king, ministers, officers, people, and monks of Thaton carried the three Pitakas of the scriptures" to Bagan. Although the version in the Maniyadanabon was only written in 1781, Aung-Thwin writes that it "is very likely

1804-545: Was not recorded, so their function is unknown. They were likely intended for local faithful, indicating an "eclectic religious milieu" at first-millennium Thaton. All three were destroyed during the Second World War when they were kept in the University of Yangon 's library. Another relief found at Thaton is a 1.2 m-tall depiction of Shiva sitting down, with his bull Nandi shown below his right leg and

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1848-626: Was the capital of the Thaton Kingdom , a Mon Kingdom which ruled present day Lower Burma between the 4th and 11th centuries. Like the Burmans and the Thais , some modern Mons have tried to identify their ethnicity and, specifically this kingdom at Thaton, with the semi-historical kingdom of Suwarnabhumi ("The Golden Land"); today, this claim is contested by many different ethnicities in south-east Asia , and contradicted by scholars . In

1892-548: Was the first scholar to specifically cite the Kalyani Inscriptions as a source for the conquest of Thaton (probably because he interpreted it as confirming what was by his time "common knowledge"). Second, he was the first one to write that Shin Arahan was born at Thaton, which was repeated in the Hmannan . Thaton's primary Buddhist pagoda is Shwesayan Pagoda , which is near the town's main Myoma Market. Myathabeik Pagoda

1936-659: Was used as a source for both the Yazawin Thit and especially the Hmannan Maha Yazawindawgyi , which "depended heavily on his work". The Yazawin Thit , written by Twinthin Taikwun Maha Sithu in the late 1700s, introduces a couple of details not found in previous or contemporary sources. First, Twinthin — a well-educated scholar who was already familiar with Old Burmese inscriptions —

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