The Sham in British Burma in 1881 were 59,723 immigrants and their descendants, chiefly from the Shan States. Outside the boundary they are very numerous from the N.E. of the kingdom of Ava to Bankok. They are of the same origin as the Ali= and Khamti of Assam. Their language is monosyllabic, and has, like the Chinese and Karen languages, more numerous tones than the Burmese. They are hard-working and careful cultivators.
Mon or Talaing.—The tracts about the mouths of the Irawadi, Sitang, and Salwin were anciently called Savarna. Bhumi or Ramanya, and were inhabited by the Mon. The language of the Talaing is monosyllabic and tonic, with a sprink ling of polysyllabic words, and had a common origin with those of Cambodia and Annam ; and Captain Forbes has suggested that the Assamese, Mon, and Cambodians moved down the Indo Chinese Peninsula about the same time, and occupied contiguous tracts of country until the Siamese intruded themselves between the mem bers of the Mon Annam family. It has been suggested that the Mon language is connected with that of the 3funda or Kolarian tribe in Chutia Nagpur, and a few words in both languages are more or less alike.
There are in British Burma 154,553 pure Talaing, and 177,939 persons of mixed Burmese and Talaing parentage.
The Burmese call them Talaing. The Siamese appellation is Ming-mon. The ancient capital of the Talaing was called Thadung, Thatung, or Satung. Its ruins are still to be seen between the mouths of the Sitang and Salwin rivers, and the colonists seem to have been of Hindu origin, possibly arriving several centuries before the Christian era. They seem to have extended their empire to Pegu and Arakan in the early centuries of the Christian and to have held sway for sixteen centuries. Part of this population dwell on the delta of the Irawadi, Mon being the name used by themselves for the native populations of Pegu, Moulmein, Amherst, and Mrirtaban ; but their neighbours call them Talaing, and the same names, Mon or Taking, are given to the vernacular language of Pegu. The alphabet, )ike ,that of the T'hay and Burmese, is of Indian origin, being essentially that of the Pali form of speech ; and, like all alphabets of this kind, its language embodies a Buddhist literature. The Mon language is quite unin
telligible to a Burmese or Siamese.
The Taking "language has the intonations characterislic of the Chinese family, but to a much less extent than the Chinese itself, the Tai, or the Karen. The roots are principally mono syllabic, but this language is remarkable for its numerous compound consonants. Like all other Indo-Chinese languages, grammatical distinctions are made by particles prefixed or suffixed. In its vocables it is the most isolated language in Further India, but it has a radical affinity with the language of the Ho or Kol. The Talaing people call themselves Mon, which has this bearing on their origin, that a Ho or Kol tribe are called Munda and Mon. Mr. O'Riley thinks that the Mon are only distinguishable from the Burman by their less Mongolian and more Rakhoing aspect. They appear to have been considerably modified by the Indian element, which has always been very powerful at the head of the Bay of Bengal.
The Daingnet or Dinet, 1995 in Akyab, are in features somewhat like the Gurkha of Nepal. They do not tattoo their bodies, dress in white, and do not intermarry with other races. They dwell among the hills of the Yet-thay-doung township, near the Chittagong frontier. A few speak the Nepal tongue, some talk Bengali, and some Arakanese.
Salone, 894 in number, are a tribe of sea gypsies, living in the dry weather in their boats, wandering about the islands of the Malay Archi pelago, and during the monsoon taking shelter in huts built on the lee side of the islands. Their clans keep to their respective fishing grounds. They have peculiar wicker boats, and were formerly exposed to the attacks of Malay pirates. They are in personal appearance between the Malay and the Burmese. Their language has affinities with the tongue of the former, and belongs to the Malay Polynesian group of agglut inating languages. They visit Mergui to dispose of the beche-de-mer.
2,245,125 persons speak the Burmese language proper. Amongst these are included many of mixed race, such as the Burmese-Talaing.
There are 362,988 Arakanese, chiefly in the Akyab and Kyouk-pyu districts of Arakan, with large numbers in Sandoway. The whole number speaking Burmese therefore is 2,612,274.