Shri Kali Temple in Yangon

The Burmese Indians (Burmese: ကုလားလူမ္ယုိး; MLCTS: ku. la: lu myui:) are a group of overseas Indians from Myanmar (formerly Burma). They form approximately 2% (about 950,000) ^[1] of the population, although exact figures do not exist due to intermarriage between Indians and other ethnic groups. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (480x640, 165 KB) Licensing Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (480x640, 165 KB) Licensing Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... The exterior of Shri Kali Temple Shri Kali Temple is a Hindu temple located in the undefined Little India in downtown Yangon, Myanmar. ... This article or section uses Burmese characters which may be rendered incorrectly. ...

History

The term "Burmese Indian" refers to a broad range of ethnic groups from South Asia, most notably from present-day Bangladesh and India. The widely-accepted term ka-la, however, is considered derogatory. Its root is believed to be ku la meaning either "to cross over (the Bay of Bengal)" or "person" depending on the way it is pronounced. Their association with foreign rule and repression in the form of colonial courts, police and Sepoys under the command of the British has been mainly responsible for a lasting animosity compounded by the more obvious difference in their physical appearance, unlike the Chinese who also happen to be Buddhists and historically regarded by the Bamar as their cousins. White Europeans were also called kala hpyu (white kala) before British rule became established.^[2]The Indian was seen to be subservient and loyal to the white man giving rise to the expression, "a chestnut for a horse, a kala for a slave and a village girl for a wife". Map of South Asia (see note on Kashmir). ... A sepoy (from Persian سپاهی Sipâhi meaning soldier) was a native of India employed as a soldier in the service of a European power, usually of the United Kingdom. ... The Bamar (Burmese: ; MLCTS: ; IPA: , also called Burman), are the dominant ethnic group of Myanmar, constituting approximately 68% (30,000,000) of the population. ...

The majority of Indians arrived in Burma whilst it was part of British India as indentured labourers, civil servants, engineers, river pilots and traders. It was perhaps the Chettiars - (moneylenders) speak Tamil who did the most damage to the Indian’s standing in Burmese eyes.^{[2] [3]}They came in when the rice trade boomed after the opening of the Suez Canal, but when depression hit in 1930 and the price of rice plummeted, they foreclosed on the peasants confiscating land and livestock. This led to a peasant uprising that became known as The Galon Rebellion led by a former monk called Saya San and eventually subdued by bringing in more Indian Sepoys. Widespread riots also broke out in Rangoon when the port authorities tried to break a Burmese dockers strike by bringing in Indian workers.^[3] Many Indians in Myanmar live in large cities such as Yangon (Rangoon), and in post-British hill towns such as Pyin U Lwin (formerly Maymyo). Pyin U Lwin was until recently the only town in Myanmar predominantly Burmese-Indian.^{[citation needed]} British India (otherwise known as The British Raj) was a historical period during which most of the Indian subcontinent, or present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, were under the colonial authority of the British Empire (Undivided India). ... The Chettiars also Chetty, Chetti, Setty, Chitty, Shetty and Shettigar is a title, commonly used by people of South Indian origin in India and abroad. ... Tamil may refer to: Tamil language, one of the Dravidian languages primarily spoken in South Asia Tamil script, primarily used to write the Tamil language Tamil people The word Tamil is also used as an adjective to qualify something of or pertaining to the Tamil people, culture, or language. ... Ships moored at El Ballah during transit The Suez Canal (Arabic: ‎, translit: ), is a large artificial maritime canal in Egypt west of the Sinai Peninsula. ... Yangon (Burmese: , population 4,082,000 (2005 census), formerly Rangoon, and still known by that name in many circles, see below under History), is the largest city of Myanmar (formerly Burma) and its capital. ... National Botanical Gardens, Pyin U Lwin Pyin U Lwin or Pyin Oo Lwin, formerly Maymyo, is a town in Mandalay Division in Myanmar (Burma), located some 67 kilometers east of Mandalay, and located at an altitude of 1070 meters (3510 feet). ...

Culture

India has been particularly influential in Burmese culture as the cradle of Buddhism, and ancient Hindu traditions can still be seen in brahmins presiding over important ceremonies such as weddings and ear-piercings but most notably in Thingyan, the Burmese New Year festival.^[2] Traditions of kingship including coronation ceremonies and formal royal titles as well as those of lawmaking were also Hindu in origin.^[2] Many Burmese dishes and breads came as a result of Indian influence, prominently reflected in the Burmese version of Indian biryani (ဒန္ပောက္). In addition, the longyi, the traditional sarong of the Bamar, is thought to have originated in India whereas the double-breasted jacket (တုိက္ပုံ) and ladies’ blouse (အင္က္ယီ) indicate Chinese influence. Burmese Indians also introduced many words into the Burmese vocabulary such as potato (အာလူး alu), naan (နန္‌ပ္ရား nanpya), fan (ပန္‌ကာ panka), veranda (ဝရန္‌တာ waranda), mali and durwan (ဒရဝမ္‌ darawan). Pali, an Indo-Aryan language, continues to be very important as the language of the Buddhist Canon today. Burmese girl painted with thanaka The culture of Myanmar has been heavily influenced by Buddhism. ... Young Indian brahmachari Brahmin A Brahmin (less often Brahman) is a member of the Hindu priestly caste. ... Thingyan (Burmese: ) is the Burmese New Year Festival and usually falls around mid-April. ... Iraqi Biryani (as served in Amman, Jordan) Biryani is a rice dish from the Indian Subcontinent , made from a mixture of spices, basmati rice, meat/vegetables, yogurt. ... Longyi is a sheet of cloth. ... The Bamar (Burmese: ; MLCTS: ; IPA: , also called Burman), are the dominant ethnic group of Myanmar, constituting approximately 68% (30,000,000) of the population. ... A mandarin collar is a short unfolded stand-up collar style on a shirt or jacket. ... Binomial name Solanum tuberosum L. The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a perennial plant of the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family, commonly grown for its starchy tuber. ... A bakery near Kabul, Afghanistan Naan is a round flatbread made of wheat flour. ... Pāli is a Middle Indo-Aryan dialect or prakrit. ... The Indo-Aryan languages form a subgroup of the Indo-Iranian languages, thus belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. ...

British Rangoon was heavily populated by Burmese Indians in British colonial times constituting 53% in Rangoon alone at its peak (c. 1930). The Burmese dubbed the city kala myo (Indian town) and even the Bamar and the Chinese residents of Yangon learnt to speak Tamil. However, the Japanese invasion led to an exodus of half a million Indians mostly by overland route enduring great suffering and loss of life so there was a dramatic drop after Burma gained independence from Great Britain in 1948.^[3] Today, there remains an estimated 5% of Indians in the population of Yangon. Tamil may refer to: Tamil language, one of the Dravidian languages primarily spoken in South Asia Tamil script, primarily used to write the Tamil language Tamil people The word Tamil is also used as an adjective to qualify something of or pertaining to the Tamil people, culture, or language. ...

Economic Role

Burmese Indians had made their livelihoods as merchants, traders and shopkeepers as well as manual labourers such as coolies, dockers, municipal workers, rickshaw men, pony cart drivers, malis and durwans. They were also heavily represented in certain professions such as civil servants, university lecturers, pharmacists, opticians, lawyers and doctors. They had virtual monopolies in several types of businesses such as auto parts and electrical goods, ironmongery and hardware, printing and bookbinding, books and stationery, paper and printing ink, tailoring and dry-cleaning, English tuition, and money lending. They traded in textiles, gold and jewellery where the market was traditionally dominated by Burmese women. However, Ne Win's rise to power in 1962 and his relentless persecution of "resident aliens" (immigrant groups not recognised as citizens of the Union of Burma) led to an exodus of some 300,000 from racial discrimination and particularly after wholesale nationalisation of private enterprise a few years later in 1964.^[3] The educated Burmese Indians primarily emigrated to the United States, while the less-educated remained. This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ...

Religion

More Burmese Indians practise Islam (Maha May Din - pronounced in Myanmar language) than any other religion, perhaps indicating a preponderance of people who had come from East Bengal, although there are large numbers of Hindus. Burmese Muslims, some of them of mixed blood born of Burmese mothers, call themselves Bama Musalin (ဗမာမူစလင္) and the majority belongs to the Sunni sect with small numbers of Shi'as. The Burmese call them Zay da ba yi or Pathi kala (ပသီကုလား). In Yangon alone, there are over 60 mosques that serve mostly Burmese Indians. Other religions practised by Burmese Indians include Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Bahá'í. Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the Quran, its principal scripture, whose followers, known as Muslims (مسلم), believe God (Arabic: الله ) sent through revelations to Muhammad. ... Hinduism (Sanskrit/Devanagari: , , also known as , ) is a religion that originated on the Indian subcontinent. ... Sunni Islam (Arabic سنّة) is the largest denomination of Islam. ... Shia Islam, also Shiite Islam, or Shiism (Arabic:شيعة, Persian:شیعه translit: ) is a denomination of the Islamic faith. ... The Masjid al-Haram in Mecca as it exists today A mosque is a place of worship for followers of the Islamic faith. ... Sikhism (IPA: or ; Punjabi: , , IPA: ) is a religion that began in sixteenth century Northern India with the teachings of Nanak and nine successive human gurus. ... Buddhism is a dharmic, non-theistic religion, a philosophy, and a life-enhancing system of psychology. ... Seat of the Universal House of Justice in Haifa, Israel, governing body of the Baháís The Baháí Faith is a religion founded by Baháulláh in 19th century Persia. ...

Language

Burmese Indians also speak an array of different languages. There are Tamils, Punjabis, Parsis, Gujaratis and Marawaris as well as Bengalis and Pathans. Most can only communicate in Burmese, due to years of assimilation and lack of education in languages other than English. However, small segments of the population can speak other languages, such as Urdu, Hindi, Tamil, and Arabic. Tamil New Year Ethnic problems In India After independence, Tamilians felt they and their dravidian race were ignored by the North Indians. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... a person from Pars (the middle-Persian word for Fars), a region now within the geographical boundaries of Iran, and is roughly the original homeland of the Persian people. ... Gujarati can mean two distinct things: The Gujarati language is a language spoken in India,and pakistan [1] mostly in and around the Gujarat state. ... For the breed of cat, see Bengal cat; for the tiger, see Bengal Tiger; for the American football franchise , see Cincinnati Bengals Bengal (Banga, Bangla, Bangadesh, or Bangladesh in Bengali) comprises a region in the northeast of the Indian subcontinent, today divided between the independent country of Bangladesh and the... The Pashtuns (also Pushtun, Pakhtun (Persian: پختون) (Urdu: پشتون ), or Pathan) or ethnic Afghans[4] are an ethno-linguistic group living primarily in eastern and southern Afghanistan and in North West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Baluchistan provinces of Pakistan. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Hindi (Devanagari: हिन्दी or हिंदी; IPA: ), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in northern and central India, is the official language of the Union government of India [1][2]. It is part of a dialect continuum of the Indic family, bounded on the northwest and west by Punjabi, Sindhi, Urdu, and Gujarati... Tamil (தமிழ் ) is a classical language and one of the major languages of the Dravidian language family. ... The Arabic language ( ), or simply Arabic ( ), is the largest member of the family of Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew, Amharic, and Aramaic. ...

Notable Burmese Indians

• S. N. Goenka - eminent Vipassana Buddhist meditation teacher (b. 1924)
• Goshal aka Thakin Ba Tin^[3] - Communist leader and founding member from the 1940s to the 1960s
• S. Mukerjee aka Pyu Win ^[3]- Communist trade union leader killed in the 1950s
• Dr Nath ^[3]- Communist leader and founding member killed in the 1960s
• Saya Rajan aka Aung Naing^[3] - Communist trade union leader captured in the 1950s
• M. A. Rashid ^[3]- Government Minister in the 1950s
• Sayagyi Razak - eminent Headmaster, National High School, Mandalay in the 1920s and 1940s, Government Minister assaninated together with Aung San and others in 1947
• Thakin Tha Khin ^[3]- Government Minister in the 1950s (Shan Indian)

Sri Satya Narayan Goenka (born 1924) is a leading lay teacher of Vipassana meditation and the principal Dhamma heir of Sayagyi U Ba Khin. ... Vipassanā (Pāli) or vipaśyanā (Sanskrit) means insight. While it is often referred to as Buddhist meditation, the practice taught by the Buddha was non-sectarian, and has universal application. ... U Razak U Razak (20 January 1898 - 19 July 1947; Arabic: Abdul Razak) was a Burmese politician who was a respected educationalist. ... Aung San General Aung San (Burmese: ; MLCTS: ); February 13, 1915 – July 19, 1947) was a Burmese revolutionary, nationalist, general, and politician. ...

References

• Priestly, Harry. "The Outsiders", The Irrawaddy, 2006-01. Retrieved on 2006-07-07.
• Butkaew, Samart. "Burmese Indians: The Forgotten Lives", Burma Issues, 2005-02. Retrieved on 2006-07-07.
• Gregory, James. Myanmar: A Neglected Area of Tamil Lexicography. University of Cologne.

The Irrawaddy (Burmese: ဧရာဝတီ) is a newsmagazine owned by the Irrawaddy Publishing Group (IPG). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 177 days remaining. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 177 days remaining. ... The University of Cologne (German Universität zu Köln) is one of the oldest universities in Europe and, with over 44. ...

Notes

This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... The World Factbook 2006 (government edtion) cover. ... Sir (James) George Scott, KCIE (25 December 1851-April 4, 1935) was a Scottish journalist and colonial administrator who helped establish British colonial rule in Burma, and in addition introduced football to Burma. ...

External links

• The Persecution of Muslims in Burma, by Karen Human Rights Group