Mary Lewis Harper Milne known as Mrs. Leslie Milne (1860–1932) was an English anthropologist who traveled extensively and wrote about the ethnic peoples of the

Shan State Shan State (, ; , ) is a administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos (Louang Namtha Province, Louang Namtha and Bokeo Provinces) to the east, and Thailand (Chiang Rai Province, Chia ...

in Northern

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

. Her best known book, ''The Shans at Home'', was an account of the cultural practices and day-to-day life of the

Shan people The Shan people (, , or , ), also known as the Tai Long (တႆးလူင်, ) or Tai Yai, are a Tai ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The Shan are the biggest minority of Burma (Myanmar) and primarily live in the Shan State, but also inhabi ...

of the village of

Namkham Namhkam (; ; ), also spelled Nam Kham is the principal town of Namhkam Township in northern Shan State, Myanmar, situated on the southern bank of the Shweli River near the border with Yunnan Province, China. History The region surrounding Namhkam ...

and was based on the many months she spent living in that village. She was also the author of ''The Home of an Eastern Clan'', a book about the life and culture of the

Palaung people The Palaung ( ; , also written as Benglong Palong) or Ta'ang (တ‌အာင်း) are one of the ancient Austroasiatic ethnic groups found in Shan State of Myanmar (Burma), Yunnan Province of China and Northern Thailand. In China, they are re ...

, and wrote the first, and what is possibly the only

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

- Palaung dictionary. Writing about ''The Shans at Home'' and her book on Palaung grammar, The New York Times commented "it would be hard to find a more complete and yet readable account of the habits, customs, and religious ideas of a tribe or small nation than the ones she has given of the Palaungs" and called ''The Home of an Eastern Clan'' a "mine of information" for ethnologists.

Published works

* ''The Shans at Home'', London, John Murray (1910). * ''An Elementary Palaung Grammar'', Oxford, Clarendon Press (1921). Published in 1921, this was the first survey of the grammar of the

Palaung language Palaung or Ta'ang (), also known as De'ang (; ), is a Austroasiatic dialect cluster spoken by over half a million people in Burma (Shan State) and neighboring countries. The Palaung people are divided into Palé (Ruching), Rumai, and Shwe, and ...

, the language of a

hill tribe Hill people, also referred to as mountain people, is a general term for people who live in the hills and mountains. This includes all rugged land above and all land (including plateaus) above elevation. The climate is generally harsh, with s ...

of the

and of the

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

province of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Mrs. Milne traveled to Namshan, the capital of the Palaung state of

Tawngpeng Namhsan (; Palaung: Om-yar; ), also spelt Nam Hsan, Namsan, or Nam San, is the capital of the Pa Laung Self-Administered Zone and Namhsan Township in northern Shan State of Myanmar (Burma). The town is a popular starting point for trekking to ...

, to the Palaungs of

North Hsenwi North Hsenwi was a Shan state in the Northern Shan States in what is today Burma. The capital was Lashio town which was also the headquarters of the superintendent of the Northern Shan State. North Hsenwi, with an area of 6330 m², had a populati ...

, as well as to the Palaungs of

to collect material for this book. * ''The Home of an Eastern Clan: A Study of the Palaungs of the Shan State'', Oxford,

Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

(1924). * ''A Dictionary of English-Palaung and Palaung-English'', Rangoon (1931).

Family

Mary Milne is the daughter of Carter Milne and the paternal-granddaughter of William Milne.

Notes

Bibliography

* Shorto, H. L. (1973). Three Mon-Khmer Word Families. ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'', Vol 36 No. 2, pp. 374–81. * Grierson, George A. (1922). An Elementary Palaung Grammar: Book Review. ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'', Vol 2 No. 2, pp. 339–40. * Hodson, T. C. (1912). The Shans at Home: Book Review. ''The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland'', Vol 12, pp. 27–29.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Milne, Leslie Historiography of Myanmar 1860 births 1932 deaths British women anthropologists 20th-century British anthropologists Cultural anthropologists