Talaings
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Talaings
The remnant left of the Peguan or Mon race, which from the beginnings of Burmese history peopled the southern portion of Burma, and was in constant opposition to the kingdoms of Prome, Pagan, and Toungoo. The Talaings belong to a totally different ethnical branch from the majority of the inhabitants of Burma : i. e. they are of Mon-Anam and not of Tibeto-Burman origin. They come of the same prehistoric stock as the Was, the Palaungs, and the Riangs of the Shan States, the Khmers of Cambodia, and the Hkamuks of Siam ; but their connexion with these tribes is probably remote. After having more than once gained the upper hand in Burma, they were finally conquered by the Burmans shortly before the British began to take an active political interest in the affairs of the country, and about sixty years before the East India Company acquired any terri- tory within its limits ; and since then they have been largely absorbed into the Burman population. In 1901 the number of persons who returned themselves as Takings was 321,898; in 1891 it had been nearly half as great again. The Talaings are now numerous only in the country round the mouths of the Irrawaddy, the Salween, and the Sittang, which adjoins the ancient Mon capitals of Pegu and Thaton. In Amherst District, where they number 132,285, they constitute nearly half the total. Like the Burmans, they are Buddhists ; and in customs, pursuits, dress, and physical characteristics they are now practically indistinguishable from the Burmese population among whom they live. The Taking language has been placed in the north Cam- bodian group of the Mon-Anam family. It has no tones, and is some- what more guttural than Burmese, from which it differs considerably in structure. As a vernacular, it is being slowly superseded by Burmese. Of the Talaings in 1901 only 155,100, or less than half, retained Taking as the language ordinarily used by them. The origin of the name Taking, which was bestowed upon the race by their Burman conquerors, is doubt- ful. The theory deriving it from Talinga (a name said to have been given to the race on account of the admixture of immigrant Telugu blood from Madras) seems open to question. The Talaings call themselves Mun.
