Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/618

tained in many of the librettos. The popular interest in the dramatic exhibitions is intense, and, as in Siam, the same piece often drags its slow length along for days together. Specimens of the plots will be found in the appendixes to Yule's Narrative, Williams's Through Burmah, and Bastian's Reisen. The national chronicles, or chronicles of the kings (Maha-Radza Weng), go back at least in name to the early centuries of the Christian era, but their historical value is of a very dubious kind. Libraries are common throughout the country, principally in the monasteries. Though a certain kind of paper is manufactured from bamboo pulp, the usual material of the books is the palm leaf, while for ordinary notebook purposes a kind of black tablet, called a parabeik, and a steatite pencil are employed. A dictionary of Burmese was published by Judson at Maulmein in 1852; Schleiermacher made the language the object of a remarkable study in his Influence of Writing upon Language, 1835; and Bastian has contributed an essay on the literature to the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenl. Gesellschaft, 1863, and has also published an interesting sketch of the peculiarities of the language in his Sprachvergleichende Studien, Leipsic, 1870.

Religion.

The Burmese are votaries of Buddha, and the rites, doctrines, and priesthood are in their main features the same as in other countries where Buddhism prevails. Every Burman must, at some period or other of his life, spend some time in a monastery; and it is no uncommon thing for a man to retire for a longer or shorter period from the bustle of life without any intention of permanently adopting the yellow robe which is the distinctive mark of the regular monk. Dr Bastian has supplied a great many interesting details on the religious beliefs and ceremonies of the people, but they are as yet unfortunately scattered through the pages of his Travels. Neither Christianity nor Mahometanism has made much progress, though a certain number of Mahometans have existed, especially at the capital, for a long time, and have mosques there. Foreigners enjoy religious toleration, but the Burmese rulers view any attempt to convert the natives to the Christian or any other foreign faith as an interference with their allegiance. An American mission was settled in the country in 1815, under the conduct of Dr Judson before mentioned, who brought to this perilous service zeal and discretion; but it entirely failed of success, not from any bigotry on the part of the natives, but from the opposition of men in power. On the war breaking out with the British the missionaries were imprisoned, and narrowly escaped with their lives, and on their release they retired to prosecute their labours in the British province of Martaban. There are now in the capital representatives of both English and French missionary agencies.

Education throughout the Burman empire is still in the ecclesiastical stage, but the educational statistics compare favourably with those of many portions of Europe. The first book, according to Dr Bastian, which is put into the hands of the boys in the monastery schools is the Sinpungyi, or Great Basket of Learning, in which the meaning of the Burmese letters is explained. After this they learn the injunctions of religion in the Mengalasut, and next the prayers of Gautama in the Pharitgyi, which is written in Pali, so that their study consists in mechanically committing it to memory. They then proceed to the Djats (stories or legends) in which the Burmese words are mingled with Pali expressions and contractions; later on they pass to the study of Saddo or grammar, and finally to that of the Yok or general cyclopædia. For those who enter the monastic profession there remain the Pali texts. The historical books are then read, as well as the Pu-és or dramatic productions. Fluency of speech and great skill in carrying on an argument according to their own system of dialectics are the common possessions of the educated Burmese, and an unshaken conviction in the truth of their religion is almost universal.

History.

It is probable that Burmah is the Chryse Regio of Ptolemy, a name parallel in meaning to Sonaparanta, the classic Pali title assigned to the country round the capital in Burmese documents. The royal history traces the lineage of the kings to the ancient Buddhist monarchs of India. This no doubt is fabulous, but it is hard to say how early communication with Gangetic India began. From the 11th to the 13th century the old Burman empire was at the height of its power, and to this period belong the splendid remains of architecture at Pagán. The city and the dynasty were destroyed by a Chinese (or rather Mongol) invasion (1284 A.D.) in the reign of Kublai Khan. After that the empire fell to a low ebb, and Central Burmah was often subject to Shan dynasties. In the early part of the 16th century the Burmese princes of Toungoo, in the north-east of Pegu, began to rise to power, and established a dynasty which at one time held possession of Pegu, Ava, and Arakán. They made their capital at Pegu, and to this dynasty belong the gorgeous descriptions of some of the travellers of the 16th century. Their wars exhausted the country, and before the end of the century it was in the greatest decay. A new dynasty arose in Ava, which subdued Pegu, and maintained their supremacy throughout the 17th and during the first forty years of the 18th century. The Peguans or Taleins then revolted, and having taken the capital Ava, and made the king prisoner, reduced the whole country to submission. Alompra, left by the conqueror in charge of the village of Monchaboo, planned the deliverance of his country. He attacked the Peguans at first with small detachments; but when his forces increased, he suddenly advanced, and took possession of the capital in the autumn of 1753. In 1754 the Peguans sent an armament of war-boats against Ava, but they were totally defeated by Alompra; while in the districts of Prome, Donabew, Loonzay, &c., the Burmans revolted, and expelled all the Pegu garrisons in their towns. In 1754 Prome was besieged by the king of Pegu, who was again defeated by Alompra, and the war was transferred from the upper provinces to the mouths of the navigable rivers, and the numerous creeks and canals which intersect the lower country. In 1755 Apporaza, the king of Pegu's brother, was equally unsuccessful, after which the Peguans were driven from Bassein and the adjacent country, and were forced to withdraw to the fortress of Syriam, distant twelve miles from Rangoon. Here they enjoyed a brief repose, Alompra being called away to quell an insurrection of his own subjects, and to repel an invasion of the Siamese; but returning victorious, he laid siege to the fortress of Syriam and took it by surprise. In these wars the French sided with the Peguans, the English with the Burmans. Dupleix, the governor of Pondicherry, had sent two ships to the aid of the former; but the master of the first was decoyed up the river by Alompra, where he was massacred along with his whole crew. The other escaped to Pondicherry. Alompra was now master of all the navigable rivers; and the Peguans, shut out from foreign aid, were finally subdued. In 1757 the conqueror laid siege to the city of Pegu, which capitulated, on condition that their own king should govern the country, but that he should do homage for his kingdom, and should also surrender his daughter to the victorious monarch. Alompra never contemplated the fulfilment of the condition; and having obtained posesssion of the town, abandoned it to the fury of his soldiers. In the following year the Peguans vainly endeavoured to throw off the yoke. Alompra afterwards reduced the town and district of Tavoy, and finally undertook the conquest of