22 



On the history of the Burmah Race. 



[No. 1, 



To the great central region of high Asia, Prichard traces what he 

 terms the five nomadic races, namely the Ugrian, the Turkish, the 

 Mongolian, the Tungusian, and on the south-east the Bhotiya, " the 

 mountain people who on the northern boundary of Hindustan have 

 appropriated the name of Tartars, though they have no right to that 

 celebrated appellation, which belonged originally to the Mongolian 

 tribe who inhabited the banks of the lake Bougir." And again, " If 

 we were at liberty to hazard a conjecture as to the origin of their 

 nation, it would be, that all the people who inhabit the low countries 

 of south-eastern Asia, from the mouth of the Amur, or at least from 

 that of the Hoang-ho, southward and westward as far as the Brah- 

 maputra, are offsets from one of the great nomadic races of high Asia, 

 namely from the Bhotiya, who occupy the southern margin of the 

 great central upland." This conjecture is in a great measure confirmed 

 by the researches of Mr. B. H. Hodgson, who, in the paper already 

 quoted, observes that " One type of language prevails from the Kali to 

 the Kuladan, and from Ladakh to Malacca, so as to bring the Hima- 

 layans, the Indo-Chinese, and Thibetans into one family." 



It is reasonable to conclude that tribes leaving the south-eastern 

 margin of the great plateau of central Asia, early in the existence of 

 the human race, would naturally follow the downward course of streams 

 and rivers. Among the earlier emigrants from that part of Asia 

 towards the south, as far as we can now discover, were the ancestors 

 of the present Mon or Talaing people, the aborigines, so to speak, of 

 Pegu. It is also probable that the Karens left their ancient dwelling- 

 place at an early period. They have remained for the most part up 

 to the present time uninfluenced by Budhism, and with their language 

 unwritten, until about the year 1830 A. D. Their traditions of their 

 own origin, or at least of the route by which they arrived at their 

 present seats, are therefore more trustworthy than those of the 

 Burmese or of the Takings are, regarding themselves. Many of these 

 traditions are preserved in a small volume written by the Eev Dr 

 Mason, Missionary to the Karen people. It is entitled « Traditions 

 of the Elders." While the traditions or legends of the Burmese, 

 influenced by the source whence they derived their religion, and by 

 the ambition of their kings to trace descent from °the ' Budhist 

 sovereigns of their holy land, refer to India as the cradle of the royal 

 race, and almost seem to derive the great body of the people from 



