In the 16th Century, brown cats similar to Burmese, called ´Rajahs´ roamed the halls of buddhist temples in present-day Myanmar.
In 1930 a military physician named J.C Thompson was accompanied from Burma to San Francisco by a cat named Wong Mau, who was probably a Burmese/Siamese mix, what is today called a Tonkinese.
Wong Mau was dark brown, almost mahogany, and had yellow eyes.
Thompson mated her with Tai Mau, a seal point or chocolate point Siamese.
One of the kittens(dark brown) was mated with its mother Wong Mau.
The result of that mating was a litter of solid brown kittens, the first specimens of the modern Burmese breed.
The breed was recognized by the C.F.I in 1936.
The most recent T.I.C.A standard was published in 1994.
Burmese arrived in Great Britain in 1949 and were shown for the first time in London in 1952.The G.C.C.F recognized the breed in 1954.Though the Burmese has only recently been recognized, it is worth recalling that brown cats with yellow eyes were brought into England as early as the late 19th century.
The Burmese was officially introduced in France in 1956.
The standard for the breed identifies >

AMERICAN VERSION - compact,stocky & round head.
BRITISH VERSION - longer body & slightly triangular face.

Originally, only sables were recognized.Blue was introduced in 1955, chocolate & lilac in 1959, and tortoiseshell varieties in the 1970s.
The Burmese contributed to the development of the Bombay when it was crossed with the American shorthair in 1981,the Burmilla (Persian/Burmese cross), the Tiffany (longhaired Burmese),and in the 1960s the Tonkinese (Burmese/Siamese cross).
Though uncommon in France this breed is popular thoughout the world, particularly in Anglo-Saxon countries.