Abstract

• In the ancient period, indigenous peoples —the Pyu, the Mon and the Rakhine—rose to develop their civilizations in the early Christian period due to the impact of sea voyage in the Indian Ocean. They learned their writings and lunar calendrical system with the coming of Indianization in Southeast Asia. From that time, education—learning and teaching—opened into Myanmar, particularly some areas on the coastal and deltaic regions. Firstly, they learned southern Indian writing s and invented their own writings. Therefore, early Myanmar indigenous civilization were indianized akin to other southeast Asian countries. Early Pyu, Mon and Rakhine people converted from animism to Buddhism and Hindusim and Hindu and Buddhist kingship system. Basing on their learning, they made attempts to describe their languages in script and used their calendars. Accordingly, Indo-Myanmar relations provided their education and thought. And then, they reformed their culture. When the prominence of Bagan kingdom during the reign of King Kyansittha, the three writings of Pyu, Mon and Myanmar peoples developed. Pali was also their sacred language of them. Therefore, early Myanmar education based upon dual intellectual properties, i.e. Hinduism and Buddhism or Sanskrit and Pali.