293History
The roots of Myanmar’s present complex, tragic situation can be traced back
throughh its convoluted history. Spanning several millennia, Myanmar’s his-
tory involves a bewildering cast of people and competing kingdoms.
Long before the British took control of Burma in three waves in the
19th century, the area was ruled over by several major ethnic groups,
with the Bamar only coming into prominence in the 11th century. Brit-
ain managed the mountainous border regions separately from the fertile
plains and delta of central and lower Burma, building on a cultural rift
between the lowland Bamar and highland ethnic groups that lingers to-
day. Civil war erupted between minority groups after independence in
1948, and in pockets of the country the unrest continues today.
General Ne Win wrested control from the elected government in 1962
and began the world’s longest-running military dictatorship, pursuing
xenophobic policies – such as nationalising most of the country's indus-
tries and business, severely curtailing international trade, only allowing
24-hour visas for tourists (later extended to a week) and controlling all
books and magazines allowed into the country – that isolated Burma
from the rest of the world. State socialism ruined the economy, neces-
sitating several major currency devaluations, the last of which sparked
mass, peaceful street protests in 1988.
The prodemocracy marches saw Aung San Suu Kyi emerge as the lead-
er of the National League for Democracy (NLD). The military used vio-
lence to stop the marches, then, to everyone’s surprise, called a national
election. It thought it couldn’t lose. But at the 1990 election the NLD won
82% of the assembly seats. The military simply refused to transfer power
and threw many elected politicians into jail.
In the years since, Myanmar’s trade with its neighbours (particularly
Thailand and China) and its membership of Asean, have enabled the
government to withstand increased international scorn and Western
sanctions. The military’s aggressive reaction to the 2007 protests (the
Outrage: Burma’s
Struggle for De-
mocracy by Bertl
Lintner is one
of several works
by the long-time
Bangkok-based
foreign cor-
respondent and
Burma expert,
exploring the
machinations
of Myanmar’s
military
government.850 BC
According to Burmese
chronicles, Abhiraja
of the Sakiyan clan
from India founds
Taguang, 127 miles
north of Mandalay; his
son travels south and
founds a kingdom at
Rakhaing (Arakan).3rd century
BC
The Mon, who
migrated into the
Ayeyarwady Delta from
present-day Thailand
(and from China before
that), establish their
capital, Thaton, and
have fi rst contact with
Buddhism.1st century
BC
Possible founding of
Beikthano (named
after the local word for
Vishnu), a Pyu town
east of current-day
Magwe; it’s believed
to have fl ourished for
about 400 years.