I

Images from Karen State

Richard Humpheries

Traditional Dancing

(Black and White)

Jason Miller

Karen New Year 2003

 Shwe Koako, Karen State

Sylvia Murcfeld

Karen State

Photographs

 Jean de La Tour

Manerplaw

Richard Humphries

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Version Date

June 2004

12/01/2005

Website: Designed, Built and written  by Paul Keenan

Across the River of Running Sand

The Karens of Burma are believed to have begun their first migration into South-east Asia as early as 1128 B.C[i]. But the question for most people, especially the Karens themselves, is not so much when they arrived, but from where.

The Karens, based predominantly on oral legends, trace back their lineage to Mongolia. The main basis for this is the Karen legend of Taw Mei Pa who is seen as the father of the Karen race. According to the story Taw Mei Pa lead the Karen people away from their homes when the place they inhabited became too overcrowded. According to the fable during their journey he lead his people across a ‘River of Running Sand’ or ‘Hti Seh Meh Ywa’ which was interpreted by Dr Mason, a missionary working with the Karens in the early 19^th Century, to mean the Gobi dessert and it was this theory that was embraced by many during the 19^th century and still continues to be today.

However many have speculated that a different interpretation can also be attributed to the Karen translation which can also be used to mean ‘A river flowing with sand’[ii] one such individual who doubted Mason’s hypothesis was Dr. D.C. Gilmore who suggested that the story was actually referring to the Salween River[iii], a claim he noted that was supported by Mason’s translation of the Taw Mei Pa legend which gave the most famous Karen mountain ‘Thaw Thi’[iv] as the ancestral home of Taw Mei Pa and the Karen race.

It was not only Dr Mason who believed that the Karen crossed the Gobi. Donald Mackenzie Smeaton, of the Bengal Civil Service, also put forward the hypothesis, agreeing with Dr Mason by quoting the Chinese pilgrim Fa Hian who, whilst visiting India in the fifth century referred to the Gobi as a ‘River of Sand’ whilst Chinese maps of the time also referred to the desert as ‘quick sands’[v]. Smeaton also quotes Malte Brun, who in reference to the writings of Marco Polo, says that ‘The country of the Caride is the south-east point of Tibet, and perhaps the country of the nation of the Cariaines, which is spread over Ava[vi].

 Unexpectedly, the Independent Karen Historical Research Association (IKHRA), whilst giving a chronology of the settlement of the Karens, sees them leaving Mongolia in BC 2017 and making their way to East Turkistan where it is believed they stayed for 147 years.[vii] By 1864 B.C. they had left East Turkistan to settle in Tibet, here they stayed for 476 years before moving eastwards to Yunnan.

Although there is little information as to why the Karens were constantly moving. One tradition[viii] does give some insight into their life in Yunnan, and it is this that provides some possible glimpse as to the reasons for leaving Yunnan and which then lead to a their migratory steps into South-East Asia and finally Burma itself.

The story described a conflict between the two major branches of the Karen race the Sgaws and the Pwo. According to the legend The Pwos had killed one of their own chiefs called Pu Tha Get, although is not clear as to why, the Sgaws requested a fine be paid for the criminal act. The Pwos refused and the Sgaws decided to ostracize them banning them from all social contact and intermarriage.

Throughout the period in Yunnan their were periodic wars which eventually led to the Pwo Karens beginning what is believed to be the first Karen migration into South-east Asia.

The period in Yunnan is also believed to have led to a somewhat unbelievable theory that the Karens are actually the lost tribe of Israel. A theory no doubt that found favour amongst the many missionaries, Dr Mason included, who were administering to the Karen. The theory puts forward the notion that the Karen began their migration from Babylon and bizarrely, despite the fact that practically all Karens have discarded such an idea, it is still to be found in at least one widely taught Karen history book.

The main reason that the hypothesis was taken seriously was due to the Karens sharing similar religious traditions as told in the Old Testament. It is often believed that the foundation for the similarities found in these religious tradition are a result of the Karens encountering Jewish colonies in China[ix], this however seems totally improbable.[x]

After the conflict in Yunnan it is believed that the Pwos were the first to enter Burma and journeyed southward following the course of the Salween River, as they travelled a number of separate groups emerged and split off near Taungoo.[xi] Their course then changed South-eastwards leading towards Thailand before their eventual arrival in Tenneserim.

After further conflict with the Sgaws, who had followed during the second migration that is believed to have begun around 740 B.C.[xii], the Pwos were forced to scatter along the entire coastline as far north as Arakan.  The Sgaws meanwhile concentrated themselves on the hills of the Pegu Yomas and along the plains of the Irrawaddy Delta.

The Karens, now numbering anywhere between 3-5 million people, are to be found throughout Burma as various groups split during their migration towards southern Burma, added to this small Karen communities are also found throughout the border areas of Thailand[xiii] as war between the two sides resulted in a number of Karen slaves being taken to the court of Ayudhaya.

The legend of Taw Mei Pa ends with the hope that the father of the Karen race will return to lead his people in the creation of a free Karen land, which is a goal the Karens still continue to seek.