Before the migration and expansion of the Bamars (the dominant ethnic group of Myanmar/Burma) from Yunnan to the Irrawaddy Delta region and Indian Ocean coastline, the Irrawaddy Valley was settled by two different ethnolinguistic groups:
- In the upper section of the river valley, the Pyu city-states and its civilization, the earliest recorded inhabitants in history of Myanmar/Burma. Like the Bamars, they also came from Yunnan (or Qinghai-Gansu region through Yunnan) and settled in their historical location. Their culture, which was heavily influenced by neighboring India, had a profound impact on the invading Bamars, who began to adapt some of the elements of the Pyu culture, particularly its literature.
- In the lower section of the river valley, particularly in the delta region, the Mon/Talaing people, whose population expanded further into the northern and central regions of neighboring present-day Thailand (Dvaravati and Haripunchai). The Mons/Talaings were the first receivers of Theravada Buddhism in mainland Southeast Asia, and they were responsible for its latter-day widespread across the rest of Indochinese peninsula (with the exception of the Vietnamese, obviously).
With the PoD of a few centuries (a couple or more) before about 2nd century BCE, what ethnolinguistic group could migrate to the Irrawaddy Valley and establish a civilization that was strong and influential to assimilate latter-day invaders/migrants?
The poll is already given above, and share your thoughts as well.
- In the upper section of the river valley, the Pyu city-states and its civilization, the earliest recorded inhabitants in history of Myanmar/Burma. Like the Bamars, they also came from Yunnan (or Qinghai-Gansu region through Yunnan) and settled in their historical location. Their culture, which was heavily influenced by neighboring India, had a profound impact on the invading Bamars, who began to adapt some of the elements of the Pyu culture, particularly its literature.
- In the lower section of the river valley, particularly in the delta region, the Mon/Talaing people, whose population expanded further into the northern and central regions of neighboring present-day Thailand (Dvaravati and Haripunchai). The Mons/Talaings were the first receivers of Theravada Buddhism in mainland Southeast Asia, and they were responsible for its latter-day widespread across the rest of Indochinese peninsula (with the exception of the Vietnamese, obviously).
With the PoD of a few centuries (a couple or more) before about 2nd century BCE, what ethnolinguistic group could migrate to the Irrawaddy Valley and establish a civilization that was strong and influential to assimilate latter-day invaders/migrants?
The poll is already given above, and share your thoughts as well.
