Ramanadesa

Ramaññadesa is a Burmese word which means "country of the Ramans". This was because the Mons were previously called Ramans.

History

Its primary meaning is "pleasant and lovely". Ramañadesa and Suvannabhu-mi are the names referring to the Monland in the remote past which covered Myanmar and Thailand. The name Ramaññadesa and Suvannabhu-mi may be the indianized and they were used in the old Idian 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 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, centering Pegu as her capital, and being referred as the Mon Kingdom of Peguan by the 14th and 15th centuries notes of Sri Lankan and Europeans, decreased by lower Burma only which is annexed by the Burmese king U Aungzeya in 1757 AD.

Historian of Burma Michael Aung-Thwin, of the University of Hawaii, an expert on ancient and medieval Burmese chronicles, has challenged the historicity of Ramannadesa in his book, "Mists of Ramanna: the Legend that was Lower Burma" (Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 2005). In Aung-Thwin's view, this Mon state is a legend.