A couple of other points while I'm thinking about it. First, remember for the majority of time under British rule, Burma was administered as a province of India; it was not until the 1930s that is was split off, and even then, most of the colonial troops were from India. Consequently, any "native" weapons were as likely to be Indian as Burmese.
Second, historically the Burman cultural and political centers were in Upper Burma, for example Pagan and Mandalay. There was a good reason they weren't in Lower Burma. Lower Burma was a malarial swamp! It was only after an infusion of European capital and technology that the swamps were drained, allowing for the development of rice farming, fish farming and exploitation of the timber resources. This led to a major demographic, economic, and political shift in Burma from Upper Burma to Lower Burma. Consequently, any local boats on the water (including Pwo Karen) would likely be a result of colonial administration, not a carry over from earlier times. About the only exception to this would be among the Mon an in the Tenassarim Division, but I am not aware of any colonial forces raised specifically among the Mon, and Tenassarim(sp?) has always been something of a backwater.
|