Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
History
A succession of major ethnic groups have held sway down the ages across
the territory that now makes up Myanmar, with the Bamar only coming into
prominence in the 11th century. Civil war erupted between minority groups
after independence from British colonial rule in 1948; on the fringes of the
nation the unrest continues today. A 'deeply flawed' election in 2010 saw 48
years of military rule and repression replaced by a quasi-civilian govern-
ment and glimmers of democratic hope.
The limestone Padah-Lin Caves in western Shan State contain paintings that could be
13,000 years old, and there's evidence that local farmers had domesticated chickens and
made bronze by 1500 BC.
Pre-Colonial Burma
The Earliest Inhabitants
Archaeologists believe humans have lived in the region as far back as 75,000 BC.
In 2003 the BBC reported the finding of a 45-million-year-old fossil (possibly the
anklebone of a large ape-like animal) in central Myanmar that might just prove the area to
be the birthplace of
all
humans. The implication of this research, written up in an academ-
ic paper by palaeontologist Laurent Marivaux of the University of Montpellier II, is that
our primate ancestors may have had Asian rather than African origins. Not surprisingly,
the military government was happy to embrace this interpretation.
There's no debate that 2500 years ago the area was a key land link between traders from
China, India and the Middle East. Ancient Greeks knew of the country too.
ORIGINAL KINGDOMS
Four major precolonial ethnic groups peppered Burma's flatlands with their king-
doms for centuries, while smaller ethnic groups lived - mostly untouched - in the
remote hills beyond. The early histories that are attached to these groups are a mix
of fact and legend.
