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The Panthay (Chinese Muslims) of Burma and Yunnan*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Moshe Yegar
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Extract

In 1856 a Muslim Sultanate was founded in Yunnan, the southwestern Chinese province that borders Burma. In 1873, seventeen years later, this Sultanate was annihilated. The Muslim inhabitants of Yunnan are known as the Panthays.

There are several versions concerning Muslim origins in Yunnan. A tradition held by the Panthays themselves tells that the Emperor of China requested the Prophet Mohammed to send some Muslims to help him to get rid of evil spirits. The Prophet sent him 360 men, with whose aid the evil spirits were routed. The Arabs were welcomed with great honour and were allowed to settle near the capital. In course of time their numbers increased to such an extent that the Imperial Government was disturbed. The Muslims were therefore dispersed to the border areas of the Empire and resettled there. This account was related to the British mission which visited the Panthay Sultanate, by the Governor of the town of Momien. A very similar Chinese version tells of a Muslim army, several thousand strong, which came to the rescue of the Emperor of China at his request. After quelling the rebellion, the Muslims feared to return home, because during their long sojourn abroad they had been polluted by pork and other prohibited things, and decided to remain in China. Eventually they were sent to Yunnan and other places and became loyal subjects of the Emperor.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian History , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , March 1966 , pp. 73 - 85
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 1966

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References

1. Lt. Fytch, General Albert, Burma Past and Present, with personal reminiscences of the country (London, 1878), II, p.299.Google Scholar

2. Anderson, John, Mandalay to Momien, a Narrative of the two expeditions to Western China of 1868 and 1874 under Colonel Edward B. Sladen and Colonel Horace Browne (London, 1876) p.233Google Scholar; Scott, J. George and Hardiman, J.P., Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States (Rangoon, 1900) Part I, Vol. I, p.607.Google Scholar

3. Anderson, , p.223Google Scholar. The full translation of the Chinese document that was given to the British Delegation is to be found on pp 456–7. Anderson was the physician of the Delegation, (for comparison see also: Journal of the Straits Branch, Royal Asiatic Society, No. 9, 06 1882, pp.165–6.)Google Scholar

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6. Anderson, , p. 225Google Scholar and also a letter to the present writer dated 25 May 1962 from Major C.M. Enriquez (ret.), an historian and inhabitant of Mogok in Burma. This town has a big Panthay community.

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8. Ibid, pp. 231–2.

9. Ibid, pp. 224–5.

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40. Ibid, p.225. See also Mitton, pp.144–152; 163.Google Scholar

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42. This paragraph and those which follow are based on interviews held by the present writer with leaders of the Panthay community in Rangoon during May, June, and July 1962 and also on visits to their centres in Mandalay and Taunggyi in April of the same year.

43. Grantham, S.G., Census of India, 1921, Vol.X, Burma, Pt.I, Report (Rangoon, 1923) pp. 105, 210–211.Google Scholar

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45. U Khin, a Burman resident in Washington, in correspondence with the present writer, estimated the total Panthay population in 1960 to have been a quarter of a million. This included 100,000 Panthays in Burma and from 150,000 to 300,000 in Yunnan. The estimate was drawn from the account of an elderly Panthay used in the Burmese daily Hanthawaddi in 1960. The evidence of other sources suggests that these figures are highly exaggerated.

46. One of the elders and leaders of the community, Haji Mohamel Kemal ed-Din who migrated from Yunnan to Burma in 1938 and who now lives in Rangoon, compiled a few Arabic text books in Chinese. He also translated Muslim prayers into Chinese and wrote another book on the precepts of the haj. All this was done on his own initiative. His books are not widely used by members of his community.