|
Kula ((タイ語:กุลา); (クメール語:កូឡា); also spelt Gula and Kola) are Tai descendants who immigrated from Yunnan, China, Mon and Shan in Burma to Northeast Thailand during the last few decades of 19th century. The Kula once lived mainly in Pailin, Cambodia as refugees during French rule of Cambodia where many worked as gem traders. The immigration of the Kula led to economic developments and commercialization in the region. The Kula, still a minority ethnic group, are among the wealthiest ethnic groups in Cambodia. ==Terminology== In Burmese, ''Kula'' (, often transliterated ''Kala''), typically used to refer to Indians, was historically used to describe both Indians and Europeans.〔http://www.thatphanom.com/pe_008.php〕 ''Kula'' is also the Thai word for ''star-shaped kite''. The history of ''Toongsoo'' (''Taungthu'' or in Burmese), another name for the Kula people, is unknown. Although Thai documents from the 1870s and '80s use the two words interchangeably, it is not clear if they refer to the same ethnic group. Wilson, for example, writes that ''Toongsoo'' (or ''Tongsú'') was used in the 19th century as a designation for (a) The Karen tribe in general, (b) A Thai trader tribe closely related to Shans known for dealing in elephant and horses and (c) The Shan pronunciation of the Burmese word ''taungthu'', meaning "hill man", referring to the Pa-O subdivision of Karen Tribe. Reporting on the miners in the Chanthaburi and Cambodia peninsulas, Smyth said: "The Siamese often style the gem mining Shán Tongsu, but there are very few real Tongsu among them. Europeans usually called them Burmese, but beyond the fact that they come from the Burmese Shán states the term is not applicable to more than an extremely small percentage, and the application of the name to his face would be not considered flattering by the average Shán." Kula also refers to miners in the Chanthaburi and Pailin, Cambodia regions who are believed to be of Burmese descent. At the end of the 19th century, it was discovered that the Mon had also immigrated to the area, further muddying the definition. Cambodians sometimes refer to themselves as "the jungle people," as the jungle in the region originally stretched from Dawei to Mawlamyine. The Kula style of dress is similar to that of people in Pailin, including the traditional umbrella. Kula used to be referred to as "Burmese Cambodian" or "Khmer Shan" but are no longer called either of those.〔http://www.huso.buu.ac.th/sociology/boondoem/kula/introduction.html〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kula people (Asia)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|