History of Myanmar Humans have lived in what is now Myanmar for at least 15,000 years. 3.9 billion years ago: Oldest rocks of the earth. The movement became known as Htaung thoun ya byei ayeidawbon (the '1300 Revolution' named after the Burmese calendar year),[36] and 20 December, the day the first martyr Aung Kyaw fell, commemorated by students as 'Bo Aung Kyaw Day'. There is no timetable associated with the government's plan, or any conditionality or independent mechanism for verifying that it is moving forward. The military finally captured the main Karen base at Manerplaw in spring 1995, but there has still been no final peace settlement. [36], Thakin Nu, the Socialist leader, was now asked to form a new cabinet, and he presided over Burmese independence which was established under the Burma Independence Act 1947 on 4 January 1948. In November 2006, the International Labour Organization (ILO) announced it will be seeking – at the International Court of Justice[48] – "to prosecute members of the ruling Myanmar junta for crimes against humanity" over the continuous forced labour of its citizens by the military. Hsinbyushin raises the Shwedagon Pagoda to its present height, Laotian states (Luang Prabang and Vientiane) stop paying tribute, switch sides to Siam, Resumes diplomatic relationship with China, Ceylonese monks seek ordination at Amarapura, Burmese put down rebellions in Assam and Manipur, Burmese put down another rebellion in Assam, and make it a Burmese province, British expand Rangoon (modern-day downtown Yangon), British "pacification" of Burma (to 1896), Burma is proclaimed a British colony. Soon after the fall of Ava, a new dynasty rose in Shwebo to challenge the authority of Hanthawaddy. In 832, the Nanzhao sacked Halingyi, which had overtaken Prome as the chief Pyu city-state and informal capital. The Burmese language and culture gradually became dominant in the upper Irrawaddy valley, eclipsing the Pyu and Pali norms by the late 12th century. The kingdom was toppled by Taungoo forces in 1555. Nonetheless, the British, alarmed by the consolidation of French Indochina, annexed the remainder of the country in the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885,[32][dubious – discuss] and sent the last Burmese king Thibaw and his family to exile in India. Burma accepted foreign assistance in rebuilding the country in these early years, but continued American support for the Chinese Nationalist military presence in Burma finally resulted in the country rejecting most foreign aid, refusing to join the South-East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), and supporting the Bandung Conference of 1955. Smaller kingdoms played a precarious game of paying allegiance to more powerful states, sometimes simultaneously. Tabinshwehti moved the capital to newly captured Bago in 1539. In the early 9th century, the Pyu city-states of Upper Burma came under constant attacks by Nanzhao (in modern Yunnan). [36], After the Communist victory in China in 1949, remote areas of Northern Burma were for many years controlled by an army of Kuomintang (KMT) forces under the command of General Li Mi.[36]. The popular sentiment to part with the British was so strong at the time that Burma opted not to join the Commonwealth of Nations, unlike India or Pakistan. In Rangoon student protesters, after successfully picketing the Secretariat, the seat of the colonial government, were charged by the British mounted police wielding batons and killing a Rangoon University student called Aung Kyaw. 1852 - Britain annexes lower Burma, including Rangoon, following the second Anglo-Burmese war. 7 Min Read. The Conflict in Myanmar is a series of primarily ethnic conflicts within Myanmar that began shortly after the country, then known as Burma, became independent from the United Kingdom in 1948. On Armed Forces Day (27 March 2006), the capital was officially named Naypyidaw Myodaw (lit. By 500 BCE, iron-working settlements emerged in an area south of present-day Mandalay. — an interview with Gen. Kyaw Zaw", "Burma Communist Party's Conspiracy to take over State Power", "ILO seeks to charge Myanmar junta with atrocities", "Southeast Asia news and business from Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam", "BBC NEWS – Asia-Pacific – Burma leaders double fuel prices", "Military junta threatens monks in Burma", "100,000 Protestors Flood Streets of Rangoon in 'Saffron Revolution, "U.S. envoy: Myanmar deaths may top 100,000", Aid arrives in Myanmar as death toll passes 22,000, but worst-hit area still cut off – International Herald Tribune, The Associated Press: AP Top News at 4:25 p.m. EDT, The Associated Press: Official: UN plane lands in Myanmar with aid after cyclone, "Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Wins Majority in Myanmar", "Suu Kyi's novice MPs learn ropes in outgoing Myanmar parliament", "Myanmar Lawmakers Name Htin Kyaw President, Affirming Civilian Rule", online review at http://eh.net/book-reviews, "A Pyu Homeland in the Samon Valley: a new theory of the origins of Myanmar's early urban system", "Burma through the fall of Pagan: an outline, part 1", Webproject in English and Myanmar about the history of Burma/Myanmar, by historian, The Changing Nature of Conflict Between Burma and Siam as seen from the Growth and Development of Burmese States from the 16th to the 19th Centuries, The Bloodstrewn Path:Burma's Early Journey to Independence, The Nu-Attlee Treaty and Let Ya-Freeman Agreement, 1947, Burma Communist Party's Conspiracy to take over State Power and related information, Daewoo — A Serial Suitor of the Burmese Regime, The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. (Trickles of Burman migrations into the upper Irrawaddy valley might have begun as early as the 7th century. Emirates makes history with an order for 42 Boeing 777s in a deal worth $9.7 billion. [11]) In the mid-to-late 9th century, Pagan was founded as a fortified settlement along a strategic location on the Irrawaddy near the confluence of the Irrawaddy and its main tributary the Chindwin River. Emirates Terminal 3 opens at DXB ... History Timeline; About us. [36] Over 400 'communist sympathisers' were arrested, of which 153 were deported to the Coco Island in the Andaman Sea. The kingdom was briefly revived between 1550 and 1552. Soe had already gone underground to organise resistance against the Japanese occupation, and Than Tun was able to pass on Japanese intelligence to Soe, while other Communist leaders Thakin Thein Pe and Tin Shwe made contact with the exiled colonial government in Simla, India. Then after 100 BCE a people called the Pyu settled in northern Burma. [30] In 1852, the British unilaterally and easily seized the Pegu province in the Second Anglo-Burmese War.[28][31]. [36], In September 1987, Burma's de facto ruler U Ne Win suddenly cancelled certain currency notes, which caused a great down-turn in the economy. The British ruled Myanmar (then Burma) for over a century, beginning with a series of wars in 1824. 200. [10], The Burmans who had come down with the early 9th Nanzhao raids of the Pyu states remained in Upper Burma. [36] The Kachin insurgency by the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) had begun earlier in 1961 triggered by U Nu's declaration of Buddhism as the state religion, and the Shan State Army (SSA), led by Sao Shwe Thaik's wife Mahadevi and son Chao Tzang Yaunghwe, launched a rebellion in 1964 as a direct consequence of the 1962 military coup. Eventually the Japanese Army turned to Ba Maw to form a government. A timeline created with Timetoast's interactive timeline maker. ISBN 9780824828868. During the 1990s, the military regime had also had to deal with several insurgencies by tribal minorities along its borders. [33] Monastic and lay elites around the Konbaung kings, particularly from Bodawpaya's reign, also launched a major reformation of Burmese intellectual life and monastic organisation and practice known as the Sudhamma Reformation. 1948: The world's first computer invented. In 2005, the capital city was relocated from Yangon to Naypyidaw. After the war, King Mindon tried to modernise the Burmese state and economy, and made trade and territorial concessions to stave off further British encroachments, including ceding the Karenni States to the British in 1875. [36] On 19 July 1947 U Saw, a conservative pre-war Prime Minister of Burma, engineered the assassination of Aung San and several members of his cabinet including his eldest brother Ba Win, while meeting in the Secretariat. The conflict is the world's longest ongoing civil war. However, it’s a hugely complex and controversial topic, knowing about Myanmar’s history helps us see that it’s never as simple as first thought. Bayinnaung put in place a lasting administrative system that reduced the power of hereditary Shan chiefs, and brought Shan customs in line with low-land norms. Since independence in 1948, the country has been in one of the longest running civil wars involving insurgent groups representing political and ethnic minority groups and successive central governments. His successor Anaukpetlun defeated the Portuguese at Thanlyin in 1613. The military responded by firing into the crowds, alleging Communist infiltration. Lord Mountbatten realised that this was an impossibility considering Aung San's popular appeal.[36]. [47] Although there had inevitably been some underground CPB presence as well as that of ethnic insurgent groups, there was no evidence of their being in charge to any extent. By . [15] The Burmese Chronicles claim Pagan's suzerainty over the entire Chao Phraya Valley, and the Thai chronicles include the lower Malay Peninsula down to the Strait of Malacca to Pagan's realm. This era was marked by a series of wars and switching alliances. [27] He conquered Arakan in 1785, annexed Manipur in 1814, and captured Assam in 1817–1819, leading to a long ill-defined border with British India. On 7 February 2008, SPDC announced that a referendum for the Constitution would be held, and Elections by 2010. [36] Thakin Than Tun and Soe, while in Insein prison in July 1941, had co-authored the Insein Manifesto which, against the prevailing opinion in the Dobama movement, identified world fascism as the main enemy in the coming war and called for temporary co-operation with the British in a broad allied coalition which should include the Soviet Union. Siam captures the entire Tenasserim coast to Martaban. A rift had also developed in the AFPFL between the Communists and Aung San together with the Socialists over strategy, which led to Than Tun being forced to resign as general secretary in July 1946 and the expulsion of the CPB from the AFPFL the following October.[36]. Beginnings. [36], Ne Win quickly took steps to transform Burma into his vision of a "socialist state" and to isolate the country from contact with the rest of the world. Statue of King Bayinnaung in front of the National Museum. Archaeologists interpret early Chinese texts detailing the plundering of Halingyi in 832 to detail the capturing of 3000 Pyu prisoners, later becoming Nanzhao slaves at Kunming. [36] (One of the main thoroughfares in Yangon is named after U Wisara.) 2nd Ed. A process of reform has been under way in Myanmar (also known as Burma) since November 2010, when military rule was replaced by a new military-backed civilian government. Myanmar History Timeline: follow us at: Home; Introduction; Timeline; More Information of Timeline; 5 thought Pieces; Introduction of Myanmar. The Pyu had largely assumed the Bamar ethnicity in Upper Burma. A brief history of Laos Mohnyin, in particular, constantly raided Ava's territory in the early 16th century. So there is every reason to be optimistic about the future of Myanmar. (to 1430), Multiple rebellions by its vassals against Ava's rule. • Aung-Thwin, Michael (2005). Efforts were also undertaken to increase the representation of Burmese in the civil service. In 1920 the first university students strike in history broke out[citation needed] in protest against the new University Act which the students believed would only benefit the elite and perpetuate colonial rule. After the First Mongol invasion of Burma in 1287, several small kingdoms, of which the Kingdom of Ava, the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, the Kingdom of Mrauk U and the Shan States were principal powers, came to dominate the landscape, replete with ever-shifting alliances and constant wars. Violence, chaos and anarchy reigned. By the mid 9th century, the Mon had founded at least two small kingdoms (or large city-states) centred around Bago and Thaton. In the beginning, the Lower-Burma-based kingdom was a loose federation of regional power centres in Mottama, Bago and the Irrawaddy Delta. Than Shwe released U Nu from prison and relaxed some of the restrictions on Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest, finally releasing her in 1995, although she was forbidden to leave Rangoon. According to the ILO, an estimated 800,000 people are subject to forced labour in Myanmar. This public action follows a long term unofficial policy of moving critical military and government infrastructure away from Yangon to avoid a repetition of the events of 1988. In 1510, Taungoo also broke away. The Ayutthaya Kingdom used the Konbaung preoccupation with the Qing to recover their lost territories by 1770, and in addition, went on to capture much of Lan Na by 1776, ending over two centuries of Burmese suzerainty over the region. Mrauk-U went on to be a powerful kingdom in its own right between 15th and 17th centuries, including East Bengal between 1459 and 1666. The history of Myanmar (also known as Burma; Burmese: မြန်မာ့သမိုင်း) covers the period from the time of first-known human settlements 13,000 years ago to the present day. The Mongols, who had conquered Yunnan, the former homeland of the Bamar, in 1253, began their invasion in 1277 in response to an embassy crisis, and in 1287 sacked Pagan, ending the Pagan Kingdom's 250-year rule of the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery when the Pagan king of that time abandoned his palace on the news of the Mongol march. Myanmar joined The United Nations as 59th member. Due to the inexperience of its last ruler, the powerful kingdom was conquered by the upstart Taungoo dynasty in 1539. A one-party system was established with his newly formed Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) in complete control. During World War II, Burma was a key battleground; the 800-mile Burma Road was the Allies' vital supply line to China. The AFPFL opposed the government, leading to political instability in the country. Myanmar History Timeline: follow us at: Home; Introduction; Timeline; More Information of Timeline; 5 thought Pieces; 1930s - Germany, Japan, and Italy began building new empires; September 1, 1939 - WWII began; 1941 - The USA joined them; December 11, 1941 - Japanese army invaded Burma. Most of the jobs also went to indentured Indian labourers, and whole villages became outlawed as they resorted to 'dacoity' (armed robbery). Well into the mid-13th century, most of mainland Southeast Asia was under some degree of control of either the Pagan Empire or the Khmer Empire. Timeline: Key events in recent Myanmar history No vote: Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon in November (CNN) -- March 1962: Then-Burma comes under military rule by Ne Win after a bloodless coup. (Maha Yazawin Vol. Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Reference to Casualty and Other Figures, 1500–2000. On 3 May 2008, Cyclone Nargis devastated the country when winds of up to 215 km/h (135 mph)[54] touched land in the densely populated, rice-farming delta of the Irrawaddy Division. As a consequence of the reforms, ASEAN approved Burma's bid for the chairmanship in 2014. Razadarit firmly unified the three Mon-speaking regions together, and successfully held off Ava in the Forty Years' War (1385–1424). Founded in 1364, Kingdom of Ava (Inwa) was the successor state to earlier, even smaller kingdoms based in central Burma: Taungoo (1287–1318), Myinsaing–Pinya Kingdom (1297–1364), and Sagaing Kingdom (1315–64). By the 13th century, the Pyu had assumed Bamar ethnicity. A wave of strikes and protests that started from the oilfields of central Burma in 1938 became a general strike with far-reaching consequences. Ne Win had already succeeded in stripping the Shan Sawbwas of their feudal powers in exchange for comfortable pensions for life in 1959. Buddhism was introduced throughout the coastal region, people endeavored to build pagodas in order to perform religious practices. [44], A young staff officer called Captain Ohn Kyaw Myint conspired with a few fellow officers in 1976 to assassinate Ne Win and San Yu, but the plot was uncovered and the officer tried and hanged.[36][45]. A timeline created with Timetoast's interactive timeline maker. The conflict is the world's longest ongoing civil war. The strike, starting in September 1946, then spread from the police to government employees and came close to becoming a general strike. [36], Ne Win retired as president in 1981, but remained in power as Chairman of the BSPP until his sudden unexpected announcement to step down on 23 July 1988. However, recent research indicates … We’re going to take a peek into its deep and incredible history and why it became Myanmar, (rather than it’s earlier name – Burma), today. [6] During this period, Burma was part of an overland trade route from China to India. Supported by royal patronage, the Buddhist school gradually spread to the village level in the next three centuries although Vajrayana Buddhist, Mahayana, Hindu, and animism remained heavily entrenched at all social strata.[18]. Negotiations then began with the British over the disarming of the AFO and the participation of its troops in a post-war Burma Army. The starting epochal date of the Burmese calendar was 22 March 638. Aung San briefly returned to Burma to enlist twenty-nine young men who went to Japan with him to receive military training on Hainan Island, China, and they came to be known as the "Thirty Comrades". It would be best to describe Myanmar's history in a timeline format, comparing with the events of the world as below. First, the upstart kingdom defeated a more powerful Hanthawaddy in the Taungoo–Hanthawaddy War (1534–41). 17 July 2018. 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