Pyu
The Pyu were a Tibeto-Burmese people who lived in what is now Myanmar in the first millennium AD . The Pyu are one of the first advanced civilizations in Southeast Asia .
Beginnings
Since the middle of the first millennium BC, a prehistoric Iron Age culture developed in Myanmar , which is best known from a place called Taungthaman . There is evidence of strong social differentiation and long-distance trade . It is controversial how this culture relates to the Pyu culture. The Pyu people could either have immigrated or developed from the Taungthaman culture.
The Pyu established city-states at Binnaka , Mongamo , Sri Ksetra , Beikthano-myo , and Halin on the middle reaches of the Irrawaddy . Strong (south) Indian influence can be observed since the second century AD. This probably gave the impetus for writing and had an impact on the development of art. Buddhism came from there and was to dominate Myanmar in the following years.
swell
Chinese sources call the pyu 驃 國 / 骠 国 , piào / piāo - “Piao (驃 國 old name for eastern Burma”. The self-designation was probably Tircul , a term that was first used in the twelfth century called the Pyu in Chinese sources around 3–9 AD. Detailed descriptions began in 240 AD and reported from 18 city-states. The identification of the places mentioned in the Chinese sources often causes great difficulties. At this time Myanmar was located the trade route from China to India , which is one reason the Pyu are mentioned in Chinese sources.
There are also inscriptions from the Pyu and later chronicles, such as the Glass Palace Chronicle , which provide further information as well as lists of kings and legends . The authenticity of these lists and legends is difficult to verify. Most of the Pyu literature has surely perished with this culture, so that little is learned about them. The Pyu inscriptions that have survived are also often limited to short texts on urns that give a year and the name of the deceased. After all, some royal names are known from these sources. The Pyu's inscriptions are partly written in the Indian Pali language, but written with their own Pyu script. But there are also texts in Pyu and Sanskrit . The Pyu alphabetic script has been attested since the late 5th century and was in use until the 13th century. The Pyu language is related to the Burmese language . The Pyu script can only be read and understood since 1911. That year, an inscription ( Myazedi inscription ) was edited and translated in four languages, including Pyu. Despite these written sources, the Pyu are mainly known for their material legacies and therefore belong more to the area of prehistory and early history .
The cities
The Pyu city-states never united to form a kingdom and were probably each ruled by their own king. The main source for royalty and government are Chinese histories. Fan Chuo , who wrote in the 9th century, reports in his ethnographic work called Manchou:
- The king's name is Maharaja. Its closest minister is Mahasena. When he goes on a short trip he is carried in a basket made of golden cords, on longer trips he rides an elephant. His wives and concubines are very numerous. Their normal number is 100.
The Pyu are described in the Chinese sources as extremely peace-loving. Disputes are said to have been resolved through duels or construction competitions. All children are said to have been trained in temples by the age of 20. Later legends about the Pyu also describe military campaigns, so that one should meet these Chinese reports with some skepticism.
The first big city of the Pyu was Beikthano-myo, which had existed since the second or first century BC. This place lost its position in the 5th century. The most powerful city now became Sri Ksetra , which, even according to archaeological remains, was the largest city of the Pyu. Its walled area covered 1477 hectares. According to later chronicles, the city is said to have been founded in 94 AD (according to other sources: 544 BC) and was abandoned in 656 or at least lost its leading role, but it was still valid the fall of the Pyu as an important city that appears again and again in many old legends. Chapels and temples continued to be built here during the Bagan period. The important Burmese city of Bagan is also a Pyu establishment. After Sri Ksetra lost its importance, Halin assumed a leading role among the Pyu cities.
The walled cities of the Pyu are either round, like Sri Ksetra, or rectangular. The rectangular shape may have been imported from India . In all cities there was an inner walled palace district. The walled city facilities are surprisingly large, although not the entire city area was built on, but many areas also served as arable land. Monasteries and stupens were mostly built in preferred urban regions. These may be settlement centers.
economy
The Pyu had developed an ingenious irrigation system to make agriculture effective. Especially around the city facilities, canal systems can still be found today, which also include the interior of the city facilities. For Beikthano-myo it has been assumed that the arable land consisted of approx. 350 km² (35,000 ha). Rice was the basis of food, but other vegetables, animal husbandry and fishing may also have played a role. Most of the cities are not there, as later z. B. Bagan, right on the Irrawaddy, but a little inland on its tributaries. The reason for this location is unknown, especially since these regions are quite dry on average over the year. It has been suggested that the villages inland were easier to defend than those that would have been directly on the Irrawaddy.
The Pyu knew iron , bronze , lead , gold and silver and were able to work with these materials. The Pyu cities were particularly rich in iron artifacts that were used in wooden structures (e.g. as nails).
While urns were richly decorated with ornaments , everyday ceramics were kept rather simple. An exception are vessels with a pattern stamped with a seal that were imported from India.
The Pyu used silver coins. The currency disappears with the Pyu from Myanmar and was not reintroduced until the 17th century. However, the function of the Pyu coins as such is not entirely certain, they may also have been amulets, with Chinese sources mentioning that the Pyu used silver coins, which in turn supports their function as such.
religion
The Pyu probably initially followed a form of Hinduism and became Buddhists in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, with all inscriptions pointing to Theravada Buddhism; Pictorial representations also suggest the existence of other Buddha sects. In Sri Ksetra there are indications that Vishnu continued to be worshiped alongside Buddhism. The brick-built stupas and Buddhist monasteries are often the best-preserved building remains in cities.
The Pyu cremated their dead and buried them in richly decorated urns, often buried under the floor in structures specifically used as burial houses. Other urns were found near temples and stupas. The urns were often deposited in small groups, giving the impression that family members were buried together here. The urns of the kings of Sri Ksetra are made of stone, labeled and especially large. In the early phase of the Pyu culture (up to the fourth century), no burials were added to the burials. It was not until the fifth century that small votive statues, votive tablets or beads were placed next to the urns.
Art and architecture
There are hardly any sculptures from Beikthano-myo, the oldest city of the Pyu, only at the entrance to the palace district there were bases of large sculptures that may have served as guardian figures and at least prove that there were also sculptures here. Most of the evidence for sculptures comes from Sri Ksetra. There was a wide range of representations as well as techniques. There are stone sculptures, those made of bronze, but also in silver and gold and in clay (see picture). Representations of the Buddha or from his life dominate (see picture). The works in stone are mostly reliefs, the figures almost always have a back plate. Works of Hinduism almost always depict Vishnu. In the Chinese work Man Shu , a hundred feet high statue is described at the entrance of a palace. This proves the presence of colossal figures. In addition to these large-scale sculptures, there are many smaller figures, often in metal or clay, they can depict small stupas, animals, plants, but also musicians.
The main types of construction are stupas, pagodas, small temples, houses of the dead and monasteries. They are mostly made of bricks and some have been decorated with figures. Compared to later epochs, however, these buildings have little decoration. This was either made of stucco and is therefore completely gone, or this simplicity was a deliberate stylistic device. In some buildings, modest remains of wall paintings were found, which at least prove this art form.
Downfall
According to Chinese sources, the Pyu were destroyed by the Nanzhao in the middle of the 9th century . It is reported that Halin was conquered and 3000 residents were taken captive. Archaeological excavations show little evidence of the violent destruction of the Pyu cities. It is therefore nowadays rather assumed that the wars weakened the Pyu, so that in the following period the Burmese could immigrate and slowly displace the Pyu. The language and parts of the culture of the Pyu are documented until the 13th century, so that an abrupt end cannot be assumed.
World Heritage Sites
The ruins of the Pyu cities of Halin, Beikthano and Sri Ksetra were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014 under the name Historic Cities of the Pyu .
Language and writing
See Pyu (language) and Pyu (writing)
Remarks
- ↑ Werner Rüdenberg (revised edition by Hans OH Stange): Chinese-German dictionary 華德 詞典 (Werner Rüdenberg 1963) Hamburg: Cram, de Gruyter & Co. 1963, p. 345, middle column, 2nd entry from the bottom)
- ^ GH Luce: Phases of Pre-Pagan Burma , Oxford 1985 p. 46
- ^ E. Moore: Interpreting Pyu material culture: Royal chronologies and finger-marked bricks , In: Myanmar Historical Research Journal , No (13) June 2004, p. 7
- ↑ A king's urn (photo)
- ^ O. Blagden: The Pyu Inscruiptions , In: Epigraphica Birmanica XI, 16 (1911), pp. 127-32
- ^ GH Luce: The Ancient Pyu . In The Fifthieth Anneversary Publications No. 2 , Rangoon, Burma Research Society 1960, p. 318
- ^ E. Moore: Interpreting Pyu material culture: Royal chronologies and finger-marked bricks , In: Myanmar Historical Research Journal , No (13) June 2004, p. 1
- ^ Plan of Sri Ksetra
- ^ Plan of Beikthano-myo
- ↑ above all: Stargardt: The ancient Pyu of Burma I.
- ^ Moore: Myanmar Historical Research Journal , No (13) June 2004, p. 8
- ↑ http://www.seasite.niu.edu/burmese/cooler/Chapter_2/Chapter_2_images/UX97a.jpg
- ↑ http://www.seasite.niu.edu/burmese/cooler/Chapter_2/Chapter_2_images/Pr09.JPG
- ^ Moore: Myanmar Historical Research Journal , No (13) June 2004, p. 8
- ↑ In the Neue Tang-Annalen and in the Man Schu , discussed in Luce: Phases of Pre-Pagan Burma , p. 66
- ↑ UNESCO World Heritage Center: Pyu Ancient Cities. Retrieved September 30, 2017 (English).
literature
- GH Luce: Phases of Pre Pagan Burma , Oxford, 1985, vol. 1 & 2.
- Elizabeth H. Moore: Early Landscapes of Myanmar , Tatien 2007 ISBN 974-9863-31-3 , pp. 129-227
- Janice Stargardt: The ancient Pyu of Burma I: Early Pyu Cities in a Man-Made Landscape , Cambridge 1990, ISBN 1-873178-01-8 .
- Aung Thaw: Historical Sites in Burma , Rangoon 1972
- Michael Aung Thwin: Burma Before Pagan: The Status of Archeology Today , In Asian Perspectives , XXV, (1982–83), pp. 121. [Published 1988]
Web links
- The Urban Age of the Mon and the Pyu
- The Pyu on Britannica.com
- Interpreting Pyu material culture (English; PDF, 256 kB)
