by Asohn Vi, Photo by Taio Tyson & Asohn Vi
According to the Mon lunar calendar Kason Waning Day 8 of the year 1119, this coming Tuesday, May 27th is a black day for Mon people. It is the 251st Hongsawatoi Fallen Day, the Anniversary of the fall of their Kingdom. On this day the Mon people remember and pray for the enormous loss of over 70,000 of their nation including Buddhist monks, royal family members, leaders, ministers, soldiers, children, women and other innocent people executed in the genocide of 1757.
Beginning a few years ago, this day is commemorated by Mon communities worldwide, and deep inside Burma. In the Mon Kingdom of Bago, also known as Begu, where much of the Mon nation was originally based, Hongsawatoi Fallen Day is commemorated with a memorial prayer service started by overseas Mon and monks. Hongsawatoi Fallen Day is a common day for all Mon join in on the ceremony and prayer services, and is as widely attended as other important dates on the Mon calendar, including Mon National Day.
Mon organizations in South Korea will hold their prayer service for their Kingdom’s Fallen Day on May 26th, in Australia on the 24th May while places in Thailand and inside Burma will spend Tuesday the 27th of May honoring their fallen kingdom. The ceremony inside Burma will be mostly led by monks and youth, and held at their temple or pagoda as a candlelight vigil. Mon organizations in the United States staged a demonstration near the UN Headquarters in New York to mark the Mon Kingdom’s Fallen Day while other Mon groups worldwide held services praying for their nation which passed away over 250 years ago. Many prayers focused on not having to face such a genocidal incident again in the future, and lighting candles for a brighter life for future generations.
The music album of ‘The 250th Anniversary of Hongsawatoi Fallen Day’, sung by famous Mon singers, was released late in December 2007 after the publication of a commemorative magazine, while overseas Mon produced a video on May 22nd that collated images from previous ceremonies and prayer services around the world.
“We are determined for our new generations to know about our Mon people. We want them to know that we had our own country for a long time, but that on this day over 250 years ago we lost our self determination,” said Nai Layeh Rot, a member from the Committee for 250th Hongsawatoi Fallen Day.
The Mon are one of the oldest of the various inhabitants of Burma, and have marked their place in South East Asia with a powerful historical background.
Burman King U Aung Ze Ya conquered the Mon Kingdom, Hongsawatoi in lower part of Burma, ruled by Banyaedala in 1757 and subsequently seized their wealth and riches, burnt the historical golden palace, and raped, tortured and killed the Mon people. History books written on old Mon palm leaves and western historians’ documentary books on the History of Rangoon and the Mon, or the Civilization of South East Asia, all document the Burman King’s plans to uproot the Mon nationality and kill all Mon people.
In his book ‘The Mons: A Civilization of South East Asia’, Guilon Emmanuel wrote:
“His majesty Aung Zeya was of a very fierce and cruel disposition and made no account at all of life. He put to death many monks, and their iron alms bowls, and silk robes were taken away, and the homespun robes were made into foot mats. Of some they made pillows, of some they made belts, and of some they made sails The monks’ robes were scattered all over land and water.”
He pointed out how foreigners expressed their eyewitness accounts of mass-executions of Mon monks in Rangoon in 1755 before Burman King U Aung Zeya overthrew Hongsawatoi. Successive Burman-dominated governments never wrote the true history of their leaders, but rather praised them as heroes. Conversely in Mon history, U Aung Zeya was a notorious and inhumane king in treating other non-Burmese people.
The idols of the Burmese junta that set up on the parade ground of Nay Pyi Daw, the new capital of Burma, were viewed as enemies by the Mon people because the Mon Kingdom, Suwannabhumi (Thaton) was invaded in AD 1057 by the Burma King Anawrahtar. The Mon Kingdom Hongsawatoi was invaded firstly in AD 1538-39 by the Burman King Tapin Shwe Hti and secondly in AD 1550 by the junta’s hero, Burman King Bayint Naung. The last dynasty of Hongsawatoi Kingdom was invaded for a third time by another hero of the junta, U Aung Zeya, also known as Alaung Payar.
The president of the New Mon State Party (NMSP), Nai Htaw Mon, addressed the crowd at last year’s 250th anniversary of Hongsawatoi Fallen Day in the Thai-Burma border town of Sangkhlaburi. He said that the Mon people had continually lost their nation, citing the annexation of Mon Kingdom Thaton 200 years ago under the Burman King Anawrahta, but that the Mons could re-establish their kingdom. He went on to say that there will always be opportunities for the Mons to re-establish the Mon nation, but they must remain united, and use better strategies and maintain a consistent commitment to their struggle.
Over the past 250 years there have been many battles for freedom, with many chances for land ownership and autonomy won and lost. These include the battle in AD 1757 led by general Tala Pon, the struggles led by Bayar Jaon against the Burman king Sin Phyu Shin in 1771 and to Bo Daw Maung Wine in 1814 right up until the British colonists occupied in 1824. After that all the other indigenous societies and ethnic minorities, including Burman, were colonized by the British.
After Burma gained independence from the British in 1948, the national boundaries of ethnic minorities in Burma were neglected and eventually abandoned by Burma. It became well known as a unique country where all ethnic nationalities were oppressed by the Burman nationals – a pattern which has continued until today.
The dark chapters in the Mon struggle over the past 251 years have seen a near-constant battle for their basic rights. Hongsawatoi Fallen Day is a reminder that the Mon want the world to know their real history, and they want self determination and recognition for the over 7 million Mon people living in Burma, Thailand and other parts of the world.
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