Daingnet people

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Daingnet
ဒိုင်းနက်
Total population
80,000 (est.)
Regions with significant populations
 
Burmans, Rakhines, Marma
Daignet men in Rakhine State of Myanmar

The Daingnet people (

Burmans and Rakhines
.

Etymology

Daingnets do not call themselves Daingnet; instead they call themselves Thaikhma like the nearby

Rakhine language
, Daingnet means "shield warriors" or "armored warriors". Centuries ago the Rakhine kings hired the Daingnets as soldiers and they showed their mastery with shield and sword. The Daingnets no longer fight with shield and sword, but the name Daingnet stuck.

History

Daingnets are indigenous to Rakhine State. They were among the first people who settled in northern Rakhine State. During British rule in Burma, the Daingnets were classified as Sak people. Sak is a generic term used by the Bamar and Rakhine peoples to denote the Chakma people.

In the spring of 1798, British explorer Francis Buchanan visited Chittagong Hill Tracts, he asked a Chakma man if they were the same as Sak people in Rakhine State. The man replied, the Saks of Rakhine State were Moishang Saks.[2] In the Rakhine language Moishang means primary or superior. What the man meant was, the Saks of Rakhine State retained the original Chakma language. Though Francis Buchanan did not visit Rakhine State he was aware of the Sak people from his earlier visit to Cox's Bazar. He might have heard about them from the East India Company officials or the Rakhine refugees who were pouring into Cox's Bazar to flee Burma-Rakhine conflict.

According to Burmese historian Gordon Luce, the Saks (i.e. ancestors of the Daingnets) attained higher cultural level than any other minority peoples in Arakan. They were the smelters of iron, the distillers of spirits, the makers of earthen vessels, manufacturers of salt, builders of boats etc.[3]

Distribution

The Daingnet people are found in and around

Chin state and Chittagong Hill Tracts
.

Culture

The Daingnets are culturally similar to the

slash and burn
cultivation. Daingnet people usually marry early, but never before the age of 17.

Their original language was Tibeto-Burman.[5] Due to prolonged interaction with the Assamese language, their language gradually became a mix of Indo-Aryan and Tibeto-Burman. Majority of the Daingnets are multi-lingual. Apart from their own Chakma language, they can speak Rakhine, Burmese.

Religion

Daingnets are followers of

Theravada Buddhism and for centuries the Daingnets have strictly adhered to its teachings.[6]
Almost every village has a Buddhist temple. A Daingnet male at least once in his lifetime becomes a Buddhist monk. However most of them do not remain Buddhist monks for life. Wedding and funeral ceremonies are performed by Buddhist monks. Besides wedding and funeral, the Daingnet people flock to Buddhist temples on major Buddhist festivals which usually fall on full moon days.

Economy

Majority of the Daingnets are farmers. Some of them are traders. Their economy is highly dependent on agriculture and hence vulnerable to weather pattern. However, due to lack of economic development there is widespread poverty among the Daingnets.

slash and burn or shifting cultivation
technique.

See also

References

  1. ^ "သက္ကမ (ဒိုင်းနက်) တိုင်ရင်းသားများ အမျိုးသားနေ့ ကျင်းပ". burmese.dvb.no (in Burmese). Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  2. ISBN 984-05-1192-0
    .
  3. ^ Gutman, Pamela (1976). Ancient Arakan. Australian National University Press. p. 13.
  4. ISBN 9788178357584
    .
  5. ISBN 9781317354505
    .
  6. ISBN 1-903689-90-2
    .
  7. ISBN 0-8174-5559-0
    .
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