The Origin,Development And Living Conditions Of Muslims In Burma

Myanmar is one of typical Buddhist countries. According to statistics of2002, about89%of the country’s population believes in Buddhism. In addition, Myanmar has one minority religious group-Muslims which was ignored by the outside world. According to the official statistics, the Muslims in Burma accounts for about4%of the total population, however, some scholars think it is up to8%.Myanmar’s Muslims came from different places, mainly including Panthays (or Hui in Yunnan Province of China), Arakan Muslims (or Rohingyas), Muslims of ’Indian’origin and so on. The Panthays came to Myanmar nearly when they came to Yunnan Province. The Arakan Muslims have came to Myanmar since seventh Century A.D. and developed gradually. They established the powerful Arakan Dynasty and ruled Arakan for300years. In modern times, the Muslims of’Indian’origin had played great role in Myanmar’s development.After1948, with the changes of domestic political situation, the living conditions of Muslims is becoming worse, but it is not known to the outside world at all. Luckily, more and more international scholars focus on Myanmar’s Muslims after’9·11’. Therefore, the comprehensive study of Myanmar’s Muslims not only has practical significance but can fill in a gap of this field in domestic academy. The main structure and contents of this thesis are as follows:The introduction includes the significance of the paper, related research both at home and abroad, methodology, innovative points and defines some terms applied in this paper. The first chapter traces the diverse sources of Muslims. The second chapter firstly analyzes the policies adopted by government after Independence and then introduces the living conditions of Muslims. The third chapter evaluates and reflects the policies by comparison.