ဘရင်ဂျီ | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| At least 3,000, up to 100,000[1][2][3][4] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Myanmar | |
 Sagaing Region | ~3,000+ |
| Languages | |
| Languages of Myanmar:Burmese SomeEnglish | |
| Religion | |
| |
| Related ethnic groups | |
Bayingyi people (Burmese:ဘရင်ဂျီ) also known asLuso-Burmese, are a subgroup ethnicity ofLuso-Asians, and are the descendants ofPortuguese mercenaries or adventurers who came toMyanmar (Burma) in the 16th and 17th centuries. They were recruited into theRoyal Burmese Armed Forces' artillery and musketeers corps, and over centuries of continued settlement in theMu Valley, particularly theSagaing Region of Myanmar, have been more or lessassimilated into the dominant ethnic group of the region, theBamar, while keeping their sense of Portuguese identity andRoman Catholic religion.
The descendants of the Portuguese were once commonly known, because of theirCaucasian features, as “Bayingyi", but the everyday usage of the term, along with the Bayingyi'sEuropean appearance, has almost disappeared due to assimilation with theBamar. The term “Bayingyi” is derived from theArabic expression 'Feringhi' or 'Frank', used to generally describe any western European, with the word mainly being used by Middle EasternMuslims to describe theChristian Crusaders from Europe during theCrusades.[5][6]
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During the 16th and 17th centuries theRoyal Burmese Armed forces recruited entire corps of European and Muslim mercenaries, who used knowledge ofartillery andmuskets to assist the Burmese in war. By the mid-17th century the foreign mercenaries, who had proven politically dangerous as well as expensive, had virtually disappeared in favour of cannoneers and matchlockmen in the Burmese militaryahmudan system. However, the men who replaced them were themselves descendants of mercenaries who had settled in their own hereditary villages inUpper Burma (on the vast plain inSagaing Region) where they practised their own religion (Roman Catholicism) and followed their own customs.[5][7]
One of the best-known Portuguese adventurers wasFilipe de Brito e Nicote, who served theRakhine king,Min Razagyi. In 1599, De Brito was made governor of Syriam, a busy port on theBago River in what is nowYangon's Thanlyin Township, where the ruins of the country's first Catholic church can be seen on a hilltop.[5]
De Brito, who commanded a force of about 3,000 men, enraged the Burmese after his forcesdesecratedBuddha images, and in 1613 Syriam was attacked by theTaungoo dynasty king,Anaukpetlun. De Brito was captured and executed by impaling. The Portuguese community, between 4,000 and 5,000 people, was taken prisoner and marched to the Taungoo capital,Ava. Some sources say it took them 10 weeks to complete the journey.[5]
In 1628,Anaukpetlun was succeeded by KingThalun. He encouraged the Portuguese and their mixed-race families to integrate, and gave them the land where their ancestors live inSagaing. Now the descendants of these Portuguese, heavily integrated both ethnically and culturally into theBamar, live scattered across an unknown range of villages and towns in this region known as 'Anya'.[5]
An 1830 census put the population of the Bayingyi at somewhere roughly around 3,000,[8] but it is entirely possible many thousands more have somePortuguese ancestry – at least 5,000 Portuguese adventurers and mercenaries came to and settled inMyanmar,[5] and some estimate up to 100,000 Bayingyi are dispersed across the villages of the Mu Valley.[9] Centuries of inter-marriage have left the Bayingyi more or less assimilated into theBamar ethnic group of Myanmar, but they have still kept their sense ofPortuguese identity andRoman Catholic religion, and in some individuals obvious European phenotypes are still present.[5][10][11]
At the end of 2021 and through 2022 several Bayingyi villages in the Mu Valley were targeted by theTatmadaw, leading topro-democracy anti-government protests from the community.[9] Agriculture and infrastructure was destroyed and livestock were killed.[12] The villages were ransacked, hundreds of houses were looted and torched, with Catholic chapels also being targeted and razed.[9][13] According to the International Association of Luso-Descendants (IALD) the village of Chaung Yoe was the hardest hit, and was allegedly attacked with artillery. After the attacks, only 20 of the 350 houses were left intact.[12] The villagers were persecuted, terrorised and at least five were shot and killed while fleeing the attack, according to eyewitnesses.[12][13] Severalclergymen were arrested and their chapels were looted for gold and money.[9][13] According to a Bayingyi eyewitness, the Catholic faith and 'foreign' traditions of his people is likely the reason for the attacks.[12]