56 



Notes on the Karens. [No. 11, new series. 



" Min Loung" this appellation in Buddhist Theology means " the 

 godhead on earth in the flesh" answering to the Hindoo Avatar. 

 At uncertain intervals some man calling himself a " Min Loung" 

 has appeared amongst the Karens, and as they are firmly impress- 

 ed with the truth and dignity of this title, the so-called " Min 

 Loung" of the day has never had any difficulty in raising a large 

 band of followers and in carrying out such schemes as his ambi- 

 tion might point out. 



When the kingdom of Pegu was annexed by us, the Yoon-tha-lin 

 district shared the same fate, and was attached to the Martaban 

 Province. Up to this period, little or nothing was known of the 

 country, but in the beginning of 1856, Major Allan, then belonging 

 to the Quarter Master General's Department in Pegu, was directed 

 by Government to lay down the N. N. E. and E. boundary of our 

 newly acquired possessions. This Officer and his companion in 

 this expedition, the Deputy Commissioner of Shooay Kying, were 

 the first Europeans who penetrated into these remote regions. 



The Karens in the mean while had given in their adhesion to 

 the British Government, and quietly acquiesced in its rule. But 

 in the course of the year 1856, a change was at hand. At the 

 very time that the frontier was being surveyed, a Dallah Karen 

 from the neighbourhood of Rangoon arrived with a few followers 

 into the Yoon-tha-lin district, and gave out that he was a "Min 

 Loung." The Deputy Commissioner, well acquainted with this 

 tradition, and foreseeing that it contained the germs of much 

 trouble, endeavoured to apprehend him, but without success. 

 Various accounts are given regarding this impostor, but it is 

 generally believed that he was for a time at an American Mission- 

 ary School at Rangoon ; saw a little of the world at that place, 

 and at Moulmein, and having learned at either or both of these 

 places some conjuring arts, conceived that he was now able to 

 play the role of a " Min Loung." 



Note. — The word Min Loung literally means an embryo or unfinish- 

 ed King. Thus the various pre-existing Boodhs who have attained 

 unto " Nirwana." are always spoken of in their earlier stages as 

 " Purra-loung," the imperfect God 



