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57-519: The origin of the province’s name is still unclear as it was first inhabited by the Khmer people , though some speculated it may have been called Kompong Russei . Its original name was then later altered by incoming waves of immigration and settlement by ethnic Vietnamese into Bến Tre. In Vietnamese , “Bến Tre” literally means “bamboo port”, which is quite inaccurate considering it is regionally famous for its Coconuts . In what has been called "the start of

114-485: A kru khmae (shaman/healer), whom they believe can diagnose which of the many spirits has caused the illness and recommend a course of action to propitiate the offended spirit, thereby curing the illness. The kru khmae is also learned in herb lore and is often sought to prepare various "medicines" and potions or for a magical tattoo , all believed to endow one with special prowess and ward off evil spirits or general bad luck. Khmer beliefs also rely heavily on astrology ,

171-581: A prestige language even after the fall of the Mon kingdom of Thaton to Pagan in 1057. King Kyansittha of Pagan (r. 1084–1113) admired Mon culture and the Mon language was patronized. Kyansittha left many inscriptions in Mon. During this period, the Myazedi inscription , which contains identical inscriptions of a story in Pali , Pyu , Mon and Burmese on the four sides, was carved. However, after Kyansittha's death, usage of

228-805: A 2009 study. The study found that the Gm afb1b3 is a southern marker gene possibly originating in southern China and found at high frequencies across southern China, Southeast Asia , Taiwan , Sri Lanka , Bangladesh , Nepal , Assam and parts of the Pacific Islands . The study found that the average frequency of Gm afb1b3 was 76.7% for the Khmer population. Mon language The Mon language ( / ˈ m oʊ n / , listen ; Mon: ဘာသာမန် [pʰesa mɑn] ; Mon-Thai: ဘာသာမည် [ pʰiəsa moʊn ]; Burmese : မွန်ဘာသာစကား listen ; Thai : ภาษามอญ listen ; formerly known as Peguan and Talaing )

285-556: A Buddha Raja being substituted for the former Shiva Raja or Vishnu Raja. The rise of the Tai kingdoms of Sukhothai (1238) and Ayutthaya (1350) resulted in almost ceaseless wars with the Khmers and led to the destruction of Angkor in 1431. They are said to have carried off 90,000 prisoners, many of whom were likely dancers and musicians. The period following 1432, with the Khmer people bereft of their treasures, documents, and human culture bearers,

342-473: A Mon dialect in Thailand found that in some syllabic environments, words with a breathy voice vowel are significantly lower in pitch than similar words with a clear vowel counterpart. While difference in pitch in certain environments was found to be significant, there are no minimal pairs that are distinguished solely by pitch. The contrastive mechanism is the vowel phonation. In the examples below, breathy voice

399-598: A century, the French exploited Cambodia commercially, and demanded power over politics, economics, and social life. During the second half of the twentieth century, the political situation in Cambodia became chaotic. King Norodom Sihanouk (later, Prince, then again King), proclaimed Cambodia's independence in 1949 (granted in full in 1953) and ruled the country until March 18, 1970, when he was overthrown by General Lon Nol , who established

456-689: A combination of these and other factors. The Khmer are considered a part of the Indian cultural sphere , owing to them adopting Indian culture, traditions and religious identities. The first powerful trading kingdom in Southeast Asia, the Kingdom of Funan , was established in southeastern Cambodia and the Mekong Delta in the first century, although extensive archaeological work in Angkor Borei District near

513-605: A dowry, the father of princess Soma drank the waters around the island, which was revealed to be the top of a mountain, and the land below that was uncovered became Cambodia. Kaundinya and Soma and their descendants became known as the Khmers and are said to have been the rulers of Funan , Chenla and the Khmer Empire . This myth further explains why the oldest Khmer wats , or temples, were always built on mountaintops, and why today mountains themselves are still revered as holy places. The Khmers, an Austroasiatic people , are one of

570-720: A language closely related to Mon, called Nyah Kur . They are descendants of the Mon-speaking Dvaravati kingdom. Mon has three primary dialects in Burma, coming from the various regions the Mon inhabit. They are the Central (areas surrounding Mottama and Mawlamyine ), Bago , and Ye dialects. All are mutually intelligible. Ethnologue lists Mon dialects as Martaban-Moulmein (Central Mon, Mon Te), Pegu (Mon Tang, Northern Mon), and Ye (Mon Nya, Southern Mon), with high mutual intelligibility among them. Thai Mon has some differences from

627-411: A major producer of rice , but also means that the area is prone to flooding. The Climate Change Research Institute at Cần Thơ University , in studying the possible consequences of climate change , has predicted that 51% of Bến Tre province can be expected to be flooded if sea levels rise by 1 meter. Bến Tre province is, on average, only 1.25 meters (4 ft 1 in) above sea level. Construction on

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684-536: A million Khmer native to Northeast Thailand ; and Khmer Krom spoken by the millions of Khmer native to the Mekong Delta regions of Vietnam adjacent to Cambodia and their descendants abroad. A little-studied dialect known as Western Khmer , or Cardamom Khmer, is spoken by a small, isolated population in the Cardamom Mountain range extending from Cambodia into eastern Central Thailand. Although little studied, it

741-550: A minor genetic influence from Indian people . Cambodians trace about 16% of their ancestry to a Eurasian population that is equally related to both Europeans and East Asians , while the remaining 84% of their ancestry is related to other Southeast Asians, particularly to a source similar to the Dai people . Another study suggests that Cambodians trace about 19% of their ancestry to a similar Eurasian population related to modern-day Central Asians , South Asians , and East Asians , while

798-647: A remnant of Hinduism. A fortune teller, called hao-ra (astrologists) or kru teay in Khmer, is often consulted before major events, like choosing a spouse, beginning an important journey or business venture, setting the date for a wedding and determining the proper location for building new structures. Throughout the year, the Cambodian celebrate many holidays, most of a religious or spiritual nature, some of which are also observed as public holidays . The two most important are Chol Chhnam ( Cambodian New Year ) and Pchum Ben ("Ancestor Day"). The Cambodian Buddhist calendar

855-800: A rich supernatural world. Several types of supernatural entities are believed to exist; they make themselves known by means of inexplicable sounds or happenings. Among these phenomena are kmaoch ខ្មោច (ghosts), pret ប្រែត (comes in many forms depending on their punishments) and beisach បិសាច(monsters) [these are usually the spirits of people who have died a violently, untimely, or unnatural deaths]; arak អារក្ស (evil spirits, devils), ahp krasue , neak ta អ្នកតា (tutelary spirit or entity residing in inanimate objects; land, water, trees etc.), chomneang/mneang phteah ជំនាងផ្ទះ/ម្នាងផ្ទះ(house guardians), meba មេបា (ancestral spirits), and mrenh kongveal ម្រេញគង្វាល (little mischief spirit guardians dressed in red). All spirits must be shown proper respect, and, with

912-565: A small proportion (estimated to range between 60,000 and 80,000) speak Mon, due to Thaification and the assimilation of Mons into mainstream Thai society. Mon speakers in Thailand are largely concentrated in Ko Kret . The remaining contingent of Thai Mon speakers are located in the provinces of Samut Sakhon , Samut Songkhram , Nakhon Pathom , as well the western provinces bordering Myanmar ( Kanchanaburi , Phetchaburi , Prachuap Khiri Khan , and Ratchaburi ). A small ethnic group in Thailand speak

969-971: Is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Mon people . Mon, like the related Khmer language , but unlike most languages in mainland Southeast Asia , is not tonal. The Mon language is a recognised indigenous language in Myanmar as well as a recognised indigenous language of Thailand . Mon was classified as a "vulnerable" language in UNESCO 's 2010 Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger . The Mon language has faced assimilative pressures in both Myanmar and Thailand, where many individuals of Mon descent are now monolingual in Burmese or Thai respectively. In 2007, Mon speakers were estimated to number between 1800,000 and 2 million. In Myanmar,

1026-637: Is based on the dialect spoken throughout the Central Plain , a region encompassed by the northwest and central provinces. The varieties of Khmer spoken in this region are representative of the speech of the majority of the population. A unique and immediately recognizable dialect has developed in Phnom Penh that, due to the city's status as the national capital, has been modestly affected by recent French and Vietnamese influence. Other dialects are Northern Khmer dialect , called Khmer Surin by Khmers, spoken by over

1083-421: Is divided into 12 months with the traditional new year beginning on the first day of khae chaet , which coincides with the first new moon of April in the western calendar. The modern celebration has been standardized to coincide with April 13. Dance occupies a central place for the Khmer people, one of its earliest records dates back to the 7th century, where performances were used as a funeral rite for kings. In

1140-550: Is marked with under-diaeresis. Mon verbs do not inflect for person. Tense is shown through particles. Some verbs have a morphological causative, which is most frequently a /pə-/ prefix (Pan Hla 1989:29): Mon nouns do not inflect for number. That is, they do not have separate forms for singular and plural: sɔt pakaw apple mo̤a one me̤a CL {sɔt pakaw} mo̤a me̤a apple one CL 'one apple' sɔt pakaw apple ba two me̤a CL {sɔt pakaw} ba me̤a apple two CL 'two apples' Adjectives follow

1197-448: Is unique in that it maintains a definite system of vocal register that has all but disappeared in other dialects of modern Khmer. The modern Khmer strongly identify their ethnic identity with their religious beliefs and practices, which combine the tenets of Theravada Buddhism with elements of indigenous ancestor-spirit worship, animism and shamanism. Most Cambodians, whether or not they profess to be Buddhists or other faiths, believe in

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1254-609: The Cambodian Civil War and Cambodian Genocide , there is a large Khmer diaspora residing in the United States, Canada, Australia and France. According to one Khmer legend attributed by George Coedes to a tenth century inscription, the Khmers arose from the union of the Brahmana Kambu Swayambhuva and the apsara ("celestial nymph") Mera. Their marriage is said to have given rise to the name Khmer and founded

1311-475: The Khmer language , which is part of the larger Austroasiatic language family alongside Mon and Vietnamese . The majority of Khmer people follow Theravada Buddhism . Significant populations of Khmers reside in adjacent areas of Thailand ( Northern Khmer ) and the Mekong Delta region of neighboring Vietnam ( Khmer Krom ), while there are over one million Khmers in the Khmer diaspora living mainly in France ,

1368-613: The Rạch Miễu Bridge , which links Bến Tre to neighboring Tiền Giang province to its north, was started in 2002. The bridge was finished and opened for traffic on 19 January 2009. Before that time, Bến Tre was only accessible to automobiles via ferry. Khmer people The Khmer people ( Khmer : ជនជាតិខ្មែរ , UNGEGN : Chônchéatĕ Khmêr , ALA-LC : Janajāti Khmaer [cɔn.ciət kʰmae] ) are an Austroasiatic ethnic group native to Cambodia . They comprise over 95% of Cambodia's population of 17 million. They speak

1425-496: The Sittaung River in the north to Myeik (Mergui) and Kawthaung in the south, remains a traditional stronghold of the Mon language. However, in this region, Burmese is favored in urban areas, such as Mawlamyine , the capital of Mon State. In recent years, usage of Mon has declined in Myanmar, especially among the younger generation. While Thailand is home to a sizable Mon population due to historical waves of migration, only

1482-560: The United States , and Australia . The majority of the world's Khmers live in Cambodia, the population of which is over 95% Khmer. There are also significant Khmer populations native to Thailand and Vietnam . In Thailand, there are over one million Khmers (known as the Khmer Surin ), mainly in Surin ( Sorin ), Buriram ( Borei Rom ) and Sisaket ( Srei Saket ) provinces. Estimates for

1539-574: The Varman dynasty of ancient Cambodia. A more popular legend, reenacted to this day in the traditional Khmer wedding ceremony and taught in elementary school, holds that Cambodia was created when a merchant named Kaundinya I (commonly referred to as Preah Thong ) married Princess Soma , a Nāga ( Neang Neak ) princess. Kaundinya sailed to Southeast Asia following an arrow he saw in a dream. Upon arrival he found an island called Kok Thlok and, after conquering Soma's Naga army, he fell in love with her. As

1596-536: The 19th century, in addition to concomitant economic and political instability in Upper Burma (e.g., increased tax burdens to the Burmese crown, British rice production incentives, etc.) also accelerated the migration of Burmese speakers from Upper Burma into Lower Burma. The Mon language has influenced subtle grammatical differences between the varieties of Burmese spoken in Lower and Upper Burma. In Lower Burmese varieties,

1653-477: The 20th century, the use of dancers is also attested in funerary processions, such as that for King Sisowath Monivong . During the Angkor period, dance was ritually performed at temples. The temple dancers came to be considered as apsaras, who served as entertainers and messengers to divinities. Ancient stone inscriptions describe thousands of apsara dancers assigned to temples and performing divine rites as well as for

1710-486: The Burmese dialects of Mon, but they are mutually intelligible. The Thai varieties of Mon are considered "severely endangered." Unlike the surrounding Burmese and Thai languages, Mon is not a tonal language . As in many Mon–Khmer languages, Mon uses a vowel-phonation or vowel- register system in which the quality of voice in pronouncing the vowel is phonemic. There are two registers in Mon: One study involving speakers of

1767-618: The Khmer Republic. On April 17, 1975, Khmer Rouge , who under the leadership of Pol Pot combined Khmer nationalism and extreme Communism , came to power and virtually destroyed the Cambodian people, their health, morality, education, physical environment, and culture in the Cambodian genocide . On January 7, 1979, Vietnamese forces ousted the Khmer Rouge . After more than ten years of painfully slow rebuilding, with only meager outside help,

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1824-505: The Mon kingdom of Dvaravati . Consequently, he ruled over the greater part of present-day Thailand and Laos, as well as the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. This period, during which Angkor Wat was constructed, is considered the apex of Khmer civilization. The Khmer kingdom became the Khmer Empire and the great temples of Angkor, considered an archeological treasure replete with detailed stone bas-reliefs showing many aspects of

1881-499: The Mon language declined among the Bamar and the Burmese language began to replace Mon and Pyu as a lingua franca . Mon inscriptions from Dvaravati 's ruins also litter Thailand . However it is not clear if the inhabitants were Mon, a mix of Mon and Malay or Khmer. Later inscriptions and kingdoms like Lavo were subservient to the Khmer Empire . After the fall of Pagan, Mon again became

1938-501: The Tiền Giang just upriver from Bến Tre province). Between the Tiền Giang and its main branch are two smaller branches, passing through the middle of Bến Tre. As a result, this province may be considered having 2 main river islands and has land borders only with Vĩnh Long Province on its western tip. The entire province is criss-crossed with a network of smaller rivers and canals. The extensive irrigation that this provides makes Bến Tre

1995-585: The United Nations intervened resulting in the Paris Peace Accord on October 23, 1992, and created conditions for general elections in May 1993, leading to the formation of the current government and the restoration of Prince Sihanouk to power as King in 1993. The culture of the ethnic Khmers is fairly homogeneous throughout their geographic range. Regional dialects exist, but are mutually intelligible. The standard

2052-698: The Vietnam War", in January and February 1960, the Việt Cộng attacked and took temporary control of several districts in Bến Tre, then known as Kiến Hòa. The Việt Cộng set up "people's committees", and confiscated land from landlords and redistributed it to poor farmers. One of the leaders of the uprising was Madame Nguyễn Thị Định , who led the all-female "Long Hair Army". Although the South Vietnamese army (ARVN) recaptured

2109-467: The culture, including some musical instruments, remain as monuments to the culture of the Cambodia. After the death of Suryavarman II (1113–1150), Cambodia lapsed into chaos until Jayavarman VII (1181–1218) ordered the construction of a new city. He was a Buddhist, and for a time, Buddhism became the dominant religion in Cambodia. As a state religion, however, it was adapted to suit the Deva Raja cult, with

2166-702: The elementary level. This system has been recognized as a model for mother-tongue education in the Burmese national education system, because it enables children taught in the Mon language to integrate into the mainstream Burmese education system at higher education levels. In 2013, it was announced that the Mawlamyine -based Thanlwin Times would begin to carry news in the Mon language, becoming Myanmar's first Mon language publication since 1962. Southern Myanmar (comprising Mon State , Kayin State , and Tanintharyi Region ), from

2223-501: The exception of the mneang phteah and mrenh kongveal , they can cause trouble ranging from mischief to serious life-threatening illnesses. The majority of the Cambodians live in rural villages either as rice farmers or fishermen. Their life revolves around the Wat (temple) and the various Buddhist ceremonies throughout the year. However, if Cambodians become ill, they will frequently see

2280-574: The later Thai and Lao alphabets . The Khmers are considered by archaeologists and ethnologists to be indigenous to the contiguous regions of Isan , southern Laos , Cambodia and South Vietnam . That is to say the Cambodians have historically been a lowland people who lived close to one of the tributaries of the Mekong River . The reason they migrated into Southeast Asia is not well understood, but scholars believe that Austroasiatic speakers were pushed south by invading Tibeto-Burman speakers from

2337-666: The lingua franca of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom (1287–1539) in present-day Lower Myanmar , which remained a predominantly Mon-speaking region until the 1800s, by which point, the Burmese language had expanded its reach from its traditional heartland in Upper Burma into Lower Burma . The region's language shift from Mon to Burmese has been ascribed to a combination of population displacement, intermarriage, and voluntary changes in self-identification among increasingly Mon–Burmese bilingual populations in throughout Lower Burma. The shift

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2394-575: The list of subdivisions, see List of communes in Bến Tre province . Geographically, Bến Tre is wedged between the two main branches of the Tiền Giang River , which is itself one of the two main distributary of the Mekong . The province's northern boundary is formed by the Tiền Giang 's main course, while the province's southern boundary is formed by the Tiền Giang's largest branch (which breaks away from

2451-576: The majority of Mon speakers live in Southern Myanmar, especially Mon State , followed by Tanintharyi Region and Kayin State . Mon is an important language in Burmese history. Until the 12th century, it was the lingua franca of the Irrawaddy valley —not only in the Mon kingdoms of the lower Irrawaddy but also of the upriver Pagan Kingdom of the Bamar people . Mon, especially written Mon, continued to be

2508-572: The modern Vietnamese border has unearthed brickworks, canals, cemeteries and graves dating to the fifth century BCE. During the Funan period (1st–6th centuries CE) the Khmer also acquired Buddhism, the concept of the Shaiva imperial cult of the devaraja and the great temple as a symbolic world mountain . The rival Khmer Chenla Kingdom emerged in the fifth century and later conquered the Kingdom of Funan. Chenla

2565-579: The north as evident by Austroasiatic vocabulary in Chinese, because of agricultural purposes as evident by their migration routes along major rivers, or a combination of these and other factors. The reason they migrated into Southeast Asia is not well understood, but scholars believe that Austroasiatic speakers were pushed south by invading Tibeto-Burman speakers from the north as evident by Austroasiatic vocabulary in Chinese, because of agricultural purposes as evident by their migration routes along major rivers, or

2622-584: The number of the Khmers in Vietnam (known as the Khmer Krom ) vary from the 1.3 million given by government data to 7 million advocated by the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation . The Khmer population native to Laos is less significant than in Thailand and Vietnam, those communities reside in the southwestern tip of Laos, at the borders of Thailand and Cambodia. Due to migration as a result of

2679-537: The oldest ethnic groups in the area, having filtered into Southeast Asia from southern China , possibly Yunnan , or from Northeast India around the same time as the Mon , who settled further west on the Indochinese Peninsula and to whom the Khmer are ancestrally related. Most archaeologists and linguists, and other specialists like Sinologists and crop experts, believe that they arrived no later than 2000 BCE (over four thousand years ago) bringing with them

2736-413: The practice of agriculture and in particular the cultivation of rice . This region is also one of the first places in the world to use bronze . They were the builders of the later Khmer Empire , which dominated Southeast Asia for six centuries beginning in 802, and now form the mainstream of political, cultural, and economic Cambodia. The Khmers developed the Khmer alphabet , which in turn gave birth to

2793-723: The public. The Khmer classical dance was placed in 2003 on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Cambodian culture has influenced Thai and Lao cultures and vice versa. Many Khmer loanwords are found in Thai and Lao , while many Lao and Thai loanwords are found in Khmer. The Thai and Lao alphabets are also derived from the Khmer script . The Khmer people are genetically closely related to other Southeast Asian populations. They show strong genetic relation to other Austroasiatic people in Southeast Asia and East Asia and have

2850-510: The remaining 81% of their ancestry is related specifically to modern-day Dai and Han people . The genetic testing website 23andMe groups Khmer people under the "Indonesian, Khmer, Thai & Myanmar" reference population. This reference population contains people who have had recent ancestors from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand. Hideo Matsumoto, professor emeritus at Osaka Medical College tested Gm types, genetic markers of immunoglobulin G , of Khmer people for

2907-556: The verb ပေး ("to give") is colloquially used as a permissive causative marker, like in other Southeast Asian languages, but unlike in other Tibeto-Burman languages. This usage is hardly employed in Upper Burmese varieties, and is considered a sub-standard construct. In 1972, the New Mon State Party (NMSP) established a Mon national school system, which uses Mon as a medium of instruction , in rebel-controlled areas. The system

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2964-475: The villages, uprisings spread to many other areas of South Vietnam. The uprisings were spontaneous rather than planned. Bến Tre is subdivided into 9 district-level subdivisions. The eight districts are Ba Tri , Bình Đại , Châu Thành , Chợ Lách , Giồng Trôm , Mỏ Cày Bắc , Mỏ Cày Nam , and Thạnh Phú . There is also one provincial city of Bến Tre (capital). They are further subdivided into 7 commune-level towns (or townlets), 147 communes, and 10 wards. To view

3021-538: Was an upland state whose economy was reliant on agriculture whereas Funan was a lowland state with an economy dependent on maritime trade. These two states, even after conquest by Chenla in the sixth century, were constantly at war with each other and smaller principalities. During the Chenla period (5th–8th centuries), Khmers left the world's earliest known zero in one of their temple inscriptions. Only when King Jayavarman II declared an independent and united Cambodia in 802

3078-808: Was certainly accelerated by the fall of the Mon-speaking Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom in 1757. Following the fall of Pegu (now Bago), many Mon-speaking refugees fled and resettled in what is now modern-day Thailand. By 1830, an estimated 90% of the population in the Lower Burma self-identified as Burmese-speaking Bamars; huge swaths of former Mon-speaking areas, from the Irrawaddy Delta upriver, spanning Bassein (now Pathein) and Rangoon (now Yangon) to Tharrawaddy, Toungoo, Prome (now Pyay) and Henzada (now Hinthada), were now Burmese-speaking. Great Britain's gradual annexation of Burma throughout

3135-408: Was expanded throughout Mon State following a ceasefire with the central government in 1995. Mon State now operates a multi-track education system, with schools either using Mon as the primary medium of instruction (called Mon national schools) offering modules on the Mon language in addition to the government curriculum (called "mixed schools"). In 2015, Mon language courses were launched state-wide at

3192-486: Was one of precipitous decline. In 1434, King Ponhea Yat made Phnom Penh his capital, and Angkor was abandoned to the jungle. Due to continued Siamese and Vietnamese aggression, Cambodia appealed to France for protection in 1863 and became a French protectorate in 1864. During the 1880s, along with southern Vietnam and Laos, Cambodia was drawn into the French-controlled Indochinese Union. For nearly

3249-474: Was there relative peace between the two lands, upper and lowland Cambodia. Jayavarman II (802–830) revived Khmer power and built the foundation for the Khmer Empire, founding three capitals— Indrapura , Hariharalaya , and Mahendraparvata —the archeological remains of which reveal much about his times. After winning a long civil war, Suryavarman I (reigned 1002–1050) turned his forces eastward and subjugated

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