Kamein

The Kamein (ကမန်လူမျိုး), also known as the Kaman (), are a Southeast Asian ethnic group indigenous to Rakhine State, Myanmar, where they primarily reside in, and who predominantly follow Islam. The name Kaman comes from Persian, meaning "bow." The Kaman are formally recognized by the Burmese government and classified as one of the seven ethnic groups composing the Rakhine national race. The Kaman are considered indigenous and are widely acknowledged as Burmese citizens who hold national identity cards. Kaman is a term used since the days of the Rakhine kings to refer to the archers of the Rakhine Royal army. According to researchers and ethnographic studies, the word Kaman originated from the Persian word for "bow" and means "skilled in bow and arrow" or "archer". In the Ministry of Education's distance education syllabus (Ma-412) for final year compulsory Myanmar teaching of "Rakhine Princess Lyric" the word Kaman was defined in line 33 to soldiers who were experts in archery and served in the Royal army of Rakhine Kingdom. As Kaman people were proficient in archery and had sufficient mental faculty and martial prowess, got the prestigious positions in Rakhine Royal army. The archer branch was named Kaman Archers' There were many historical documents about Kaman that expressed only Rakhine indigenous people were allowed to serve in Rakhine Royal army" which meant foreigners were not allowed to serve in Royal army. By assessing the above mentioned facts, one can make conclusion that present day Kaman people are not aliens but pedigree of Kaman archer of ancient [Rakhine] Kingdom. Kaman people of present day are accepting the religion of Islam and are Muslims. As ethnic Kaman people are descendants of ancient Rakhine people, their language, dressing, culture are identical to main Rakhine people, but totally different from other Muslims living in Rakhine region and mainland Myanmar. The cultural attitude is quite different from other Muslims too. In olden days. Kaman was not the name of a specific ethnic group but common name of Rakhine Royal archer regiment's name.