The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c15.203

v1.c15.203

Invasions from the east, some of them historical, have brought into the ancient domain of Austric speech languages belonging to two branches of the Tibeto-Chinese family—the Tibeto-Burman and the Siamese-Chinese. Tibeto-Burman has occupied the western half of Burma, where it is represented by Burmese, and the sub-Himālayan fringe of India; while Siamese-Chinese has prevailed in the Shan States of eastern Burma. The influence of each has, at different periods, extended to Assam, where at the present day both have given place to Assamese, an Āryan language closely related to Bengali.