Rāmaññadesa ( my, ရာမညဒေသ, ; Mon: ) is a Burmese and Mon word which means "country of the Ramans". This was because the Mons were previously called Ramans. The term was coined by King

Dhammazedi Dhammazedi ( my, ဓမ္မစေတီ, ; c. 1409–1492) was the 16th king of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom in Burma from 1471 to 1492. Considered one of the most enlightened rulers in Burmese history, by some accounts call him "the greatest" of al ...

in 1479.

History

Its primary meaning is "pleasant and lovely". Ramaññadesa and Suvannabhumi are the names referring to the Mon heartland in the remote past which covered

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. The name Ramaññadesa and Suvannabhumi may be the Indianized and they were used in the old Indian literature. These two names also occurred in the two oldest chronicles of Ceylon known as '' Dipavamsa'' and '' Mahavamsa'' composed in the 4th century and 6th century respectively. Its sinicized name is Ling-yang which had been mentioned in the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

accounts between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD. The two Wu envoys took notes about a place named Ling-yang in AD 220. After subdued by Burmese refugees in 1057 AD and Thai refugees in 1287 AD, Ramaññadesa, centered at

Pegu Bago (formerly spelt Pegu; , ), formerly known as Hanthawaddy, is a city and the capital of the Bago Region in Myanmar. It is located north-east of Yangon. Etymology The Burmese name Bago (ပဲခူး) is likely derived from the Mon langua ...

as its capital, and being referred as the Mon Kingdom of Peguans (Hanthawadi) by the 14th and 15th centuries notes of Sri Lankan and Europeans, decreased by lower Burma only which is annexed by the Burmese king

Alaungpaya Alaungpaya ( my, အလောင်းဘုရား, ; also spelled Alaunghpaya or Alaung-Phra; 11 May 1760) was the founder of the Konbaung Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar). By the time of his death from illness during his campaign in Siam, this f ...

in 1757 AD.

Critics

Historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

of Burma Michael Aung-Thwin, of the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

, a scholar of Asian Studies has challenged the historicity of Ramaññadesa in his book, "''Mists of Ramanna: the Legend that was Lower Burma",'' published in 2005''.'' In Aung-Thwin's view, this Monland is a

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

. However, subsequent work by Burma scholar Donald M Stadtner, of the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

, has systematically analysed Aung-Thwin's evidence and found it does not stand up to archaeological & epigraphic evidence. In his research article “The Mon of Lower Burma”, published by Journal of the Siam Society, 2008, Vol. 96 - Stadtner describes the rich range of cultural artifacts found in Lower Burma in the first millennium, indicating that Lower Burma was equal to Upper Burma, inhabited by the

Pyu people , conventional_long_name = Pyu city-states , common_name = Pyu City States , era = Classical antiquity , status = City , event_start = Earliest Pyu presence in Upper Burma , year_start = c. 2nd century BCE , date_start = , event_en ...

. His article then connects this cultural activity to the Mon.

References

{{SAsia-hist-stub my:ပျူခေတ် Hanthawaddy dynasty History of Myanmar vi:Ramannadesa