ABSTRACT
To be Burman (bama) today refers to language, literature, tradition, history, etc. This summarises a modern sense of nationality more or less in the form of an imagined community (Anderson 1991). But in the old state and kingdom the dominant identity was determined by (a) whether one was a Buddhist, and (b) whether one was a member of an alliance with the ruling dynasty, that is, the place one occupied in the tributary hierarchy. This could be as part of the king's court (officials, craftsmen and soldiers), or as supplier of tribute via local officials, or as a more distant vassal, who supplied a symbolic tribute from afar. Finally, a large part of the population were bonded ‘slaves’. 1 Most were bonded (indentured) labourers, who could buy their freedom, unlike the prisoners of war. The population around the capital was often ethnically mixed: Burmans, Shan, Mon and other minorities, as well as prisoners of war from Siam (Thailand). Identity and status within the tributary system were inseparable.
