History of Burma

History of Burma 1

History of BurmaThe history of Burma (Myanmar) covers the period from the time of first-known human settlements 13,000 yearsago to the present day. The earliest inhabitants of recorded history were the Pyu who entered the Irrawaddy valleyfrom Yunnan c. 2nd century BCE. By the 4th century CE, the Pyu had founded several city states as far south asProme (Pyay), and adopted Buddhism. Farther south, the Mon, who had entered from Haribhunjaya and Dvaravatikingdoms in the east, had established city states of their own along the Lower Burmese coastline by the early 9thcentury.Another group, the Mranma (Burmans or Bamar) of the Nanzhao Kingdom, entered the upper Irrawaddy valley inthe early 9th century. They went on to establish the Pagan Empire (1044–1287), the first ever unification ofIrrawaddy valley and its periphery. The Burmese language and culture slowly came to replace Pyu and Mon normsduring this period. After Pagan's fall in 1287, several small kingdoms, of which Ava, Hanthawaddy, Arakan andShan states were principal powers, came to dominate the landscape, replete with ever shifting alliances and constantwars. In the second half of the 16th century, the Toungoo Dynasty (1510–1752) reunified the country, and foundedthe largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia for a brief period. Later Toungoo kings instituted several keyadministrative and economic reforms that gave rise to a smaller, peaceful and prosperous kingdom in the 17th andearly 18th centuries. In the second half of the 18th century, the Konbaung Dynasty (1752–1885) restored thekingdom, and continued the Toungoo reforms that increased central rule in peripheral regions and produced one ofthe most literate states in Asia. The dynasty also went to war with all its neighbors. The kingdom fell to the Britishover a six-decade span (1824–1885).The British rule brought several enduring social, economic, cultural and administrative changes that completelytransformed the once-feudal society. Most importantly, the British rule highlighted out-group differences among thecountry's myriad ethnic groups. Since independence in 1948, the country has been in one of the longest running civilwars that remains unresolved. The country was under military rule under various guises from 1962 to 2010, and inthe process has become one of the least developed nations in the world.

Early history (to 9th century CE)

PrehistoryThe earliest archaeological evidence suggests that cultures existed in Burma as early as 11,000 BCE. Mostindications of early settlement have been found in the central dry zone, where scattered sites appear in closeproximity to the Irrawaddy River. The Anyathian, Burma's Stone Age, existed at a time thought to parallel the lowerand middle Paleolithic in Europe. The Neolithic or New Stone Age, when plants and animals were first domesticatedand polished stone tools appeared, is evidenced in Burma by three caves located near Taunggyi at the edge of theShan plateau that are dated to 10000 to 6000 BC.[1] About 1500 BCE, people in the region were turning copper intobronze, growing rice, and domesticating chickens and pigs; they were among the first people in the world to do so.By 500 BCE, iron-working settlements emerged in an area south of present-day Mandalay. Bronze-decorated coffinsand burial sites filled with earthenware remains have been excavated.[2] Archaeological evidence at Samon Valleysouth of Mandalay suggests rice growing settlements that traded with China between 500 BC and 200 CE.[3]

History of Burma 2

Pyu city-states

Major Pyu city states (Pagan notcontemporary)

The Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu entered the Irrawaddy valley frompresent-day Yunnan, c. 2nd century BCE, and went on to found city statesthroughout the Irrawaddy valley. The original home of the Pyu isreconstructed to be Kokonor Lake in present-day Qinghai and Gansuprovinces.[4] The Pyu were the earliest inhabitants of Burma of whom recordsare extant.[5] During this period, Burma was part of an overland trade routefrom China to India. Trade with India brought Buddhism from southern India.By the 4th century, many in the Irrawaddy valley had converted toBuddhism.[2] Of the many city-states, the largest and most important was SriKsetra, southeast of modern Prome (Pyay). In March 638, the Pyu of SriKsetra launched a new calendar that later became the Burmese calendar.[5]

Eighth century Chinese records identify 18 Pyu states throughout theIrrawaddy valley, and describe the Pyu as a humane and peaceful people towhom war was virtually unknown and who wore silk cotton instead ofactually silk so that they would not have to kill silk worms. The Chineserecords also report that the Pyu knew how to make astronomical calculations,and that many Pyu boys entered the monastic life at seven to the age of 20.[5]

It was a long-lasting civilization that lasted nearly a millennium to early 9thcentury until a new group of "swift horsemen" from the north, the Mranma,(Burmans) entered the upper Irrawaddy valley. In the early 9th century, thePyu city states of Upper Burma came under constant attacks by the NanzhaoKingdom in present-day Yunnan. In 832, the Nanzhao sacked then Halingyi,which had overtaken Prome as the chief Pyu city state. A subsequent Nanzhao invasion in 835 further devastatedPyu city states in Upper Burma. While Pyu settlements remained in Upper Burma until the advent of the PaganEmpire in mid 11th century, the Pyu gradually were absorbed into the expanding Burman kingdom of Pagan in thenext four centuries. The Pyu language still existed until the late 12th century. By the 13th century, the Pyu hadassumed the Burman ethnicity. The histories/legends of the Pyu were also incorporated to those of the Burmans.[2]

Mon kingdomsAs early as 6th century, another people called the Mon began to enter the present-day Lower Burma from the Monkingdoms of Haribhunjaya and Dvaravati in modern-day Thailand. By the mid 9th century, the Mon had founded atleast two small kingdoms (or large city-states) centered around Pegu and Thaton. The earliest external reference to aMon kingdom in Lower Burma was in 844–848 by Arab geographers.[5] The Mon practiced Theravada Buddhism.The kingdoms were prosperous from trade. The Kingdom of Thaton is widely considered to be the fabled kingdomof Suvarnabhumi (or Golden Land), referred to by the tradesmen of Indian Ocean.

History of Burma 3

Pagan Dynasty (849–1297)

Early Pagan

Principality of Pagan at Anawrahta'saccession in 1044

The Burmans who had come down with the early 9th Nanzhao raids of thePyu states remained in Upper Burma. (Trickles of Burman migrations into theupper Irrawaddy valley might have begun as early as the 7th century.[6]) Inthe mid-to-late 9th century, Pagan was founded as a fortified settlement alonga strategic location on the Irrawaddy near the confluence of the Irrawaddy andits main tributary the Chindwin.[7] It may have been designed to help theNanzhao pacify the surrounding country side.[2] Over the next two hundredyears, the small principality gradually grew to include its immediatesurrounding areas— to about 200 miles north to south and 80 miles from eastto west by Anawrahta's ascension in 1044.[8]

History of Burma 4

Pagan Empire (1044–1287)

Pagan Empire during Sithu II's reign.Burmese chronicles also claim Kengtung

and Chiang Mai. Core areas shown indarker yellow. Peripheral areas in lightyellow. Pagan incorporated key ports of

Lower Burma into its core administrationby the 13th century

Pagan plains today

Over the next 30 years, Anawrahta founded the Pagan Empire,unifying for the first time the regions that would later constitute themodern-day Burma. Anawrahta's successors by the late 12th centuryhad extended their influence farther south into the upper Malaypeninsula, at least to the Salween river in the east, below the currentChina border in the farther north, and to the west, northern Arakan andthe Chin Hills.[8] (The Burmese Chronicles claim Pagan's suzeraintyover the entire Chao Phraya river valley, and the Siamese chroniclesinclude the lower Malay peninsula down to the Straits of Malacca toPagan's realm.)[2][9] By the early 12th century, Pagan had emerged as amajor power alongside the Khmer Empire in Southeast Asia,recognized by the Chinese Song Dynasty, and Indian Chola dynasty.Well into the mid-13th century, most of mainland Southeast Asia wasunder some degree of control of either the Pagan Empire or the KhmerEmpire.[10]

Anawrahta also implemented a series of key social, religious andeconomic reforms that would have a lasting impact in Burmese history.His social and religious reforms later developed into the modern-dayBurmese culture. The most important development was theintroduction of Theravada Buddhism to Upper Burma after Pagan'sconquest of the Thaton Kingdom in 1057. Supported by royalpatronage, the Buddhist school gradually spread to the village level inthe next three centuries although Tantric, Mahayana, Brahmanic, andanimist practices remained heavily entrenched at all social strata.[7]

Pagan's economy was primarily based on the Kyaukse agriculturalbasin northeast of the capital, and Minbu district south of Pagan wherethe Burmans had built a large number of new weirs and diversionarycanals. It also benefited from external trade through its coastal ports.The wealth of the kingdom was devoted to building over 10,000Buddhist temples in the Pagan capital zone between 11th and 13thcenturies (of which 3000 remain to the present day). The wealthydonated tax-free land to religious authorities.

The Burmese language and culture gradually became dominant in theupper Irrawaddy valley, eclipsing the Pyu, Mon and Pali norms by thelate 12th century. By then, the Burman leadership of the kingdom wasunquestioned. The Pyu had largely assumed the Burman ethnicity in

Upper Burma. The Burmese language, once an alien tongue, was now the lingua franca of the kingdom.

The kingdom went into decline in the 13th century as the continuous growth of tax-free religious wealth—by the1280s, two-thirds of Upper Burma's cultivable land had been alienated to the religion—affected the crown's ability toretain the loyalty of courtiers and military servicemen. This ushered in a vicious circle of internal disorders andexternal challenges by Mons, Mongols and Shans.[7] Beginning in the early 13th century, the Shans began to encirclethe Pagan Empire from the north and the east. The Mongols, who had conquered Yunnan, the former homeland of

the Burmans in 1253, began their invasion of Burma in 1277, and in 1287 sacked Pagan, ending the Pagan kingdom's 250-year rule of the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery. Pagan's rule of central Burma came to an end ten years later

History of Burma 5

in 1297 when it was toppled by Myinsaing.

Small kingdoms

Southeast Asia c.1400 CE, showing KhmerEmpire in red, Ayutthaya Kingdom in violet, Lan

Xang kingdom in teal, Sukhothai kingdom inorange, Champa in yellow, Kingdom of Lanna in

purple, Dai Viet in blue.

After the fall of Pagan, the Mongols left the searing Irrawaddy valleybut the Pagan Kingdom was irreparably broken up into several smallkingdoms. By the mid-14th century, the country had become organizedalong four major power centers: Upper Burma, Lower Burma, ShanStates and Arakan. Many of the power centers were themselves madeup of (often loosely held) minor kingdoms or princely states. This erawas marked by a series of wars and switching alliances. Smallerkingdoms played a precarious game of paying allegiance to morepowerful states, sometimes simultaneously.

Ava (1364–1555)

Founded in 1364, Ava (Inwa) was the successor state to earlier, evensmaller kingdoms based in central Burma: Toungoo (1287–1322),Myinsaing–Pinya (1297–1364), and Sagaing (1315–1364). In its firstyears of existence, Ava, which viewed itself as the rightful successor tothe Pagan Empire, tried to reassemble the former empire. While it wasable to pull Toungoo and peripheral Shan states (Kale, Mohnyin,Mogaung, Thibaw (Hsipaw)) into its fold at the peak of its power, itfailed to reconquer the rest. The Forty Years' War (1385–1424) withHanthawaddy left Ava exhausted, and its power plateaued. Its kingsregularly faced rebellions in its vassal regions but were able to putthem down until the 1480s. In the late 15th century, Prome and its Shan states successfully broke away, and in theearly 16th century, Ava itself came under attacks from its former vassals. In 1510, Toungoo also broke away. In1527, the Confederation of Shan States led by Mohnyin captured Ava. The Confederation's rule of Upper Burma,though lasted until 1555, was marred by internal fighting between Mohnyin and Thibaw houses. The kingdom wastoppled by Toungoo forces in 1555.

The Burmese language and culture came into its own during the Ava period.

Hanthawaddy Pegu (1287–1539, 1550–1552)The Mon-speaking kingdom was founded as Ramannadesa right after Pagan's collapse in 1287. In the beginning, theLower-Burma-based kingdom was a loose federation of regional power centers in Martaban (Mottama), Pegu (Bago)and the Irrawaddy delta. The energetic reign of Razadarit (1384–1422) cemented the kingdom's existence. Razadaritfirmly unified the three Mon-speaking regions together, and successfully held off Ava in the Forty Years' War(1385–1424). After the war, Hanthawaddy entered its golden age whereas its rival Ava gradually went into decline.From the 1420s to the 1530s, Hanthawaddy was the most powerful and prosperous kingdom of all post-Pagankingdoms. Under a string of especially gifted monarchs, the kingdom enjoyed a long golden age, profiting fromforeign commerce. The kingdom, with a flourishing Mon language and culture, became a center of commerce andTheravada Buddhism. Nonetheless, due to the inexperience of its last ruler, the powerful kingdom was conquered bythe upstart kingdom of Toungoo in 1539. The kingdom was briefly revived between 1550 and 1552. But it controlledonly Pegu and was crushed by Bayinnaung in 1552.

History of Burma 6

Shan States (1287–1563)The Shans, who came down with the Mongols, stayed and quickly came to dominate much of northern to eastern arcof Burma—from northwestern Sagaing Division to Kachin Hills to the present day Shan Hills. The most powerfulShan states were Mohnyin and Mogaung in present-day Kachin State, followed by Theinni, Thibaw and Momeik inpresent-day northern Shan State.[11] Minor states included Kale, Bhamo, Nyaungshwe and Kengtung. Mohnyin, inparticular, constantly raided Ava's territory in the early 16th century. Monhyin-led Confederation of Shan States, inalliance with Prome Kingdom, captured Ava itself in 1527. The Confederation defeated its erstwhile ally Prome in1533, and ruled all of Upper Burma except Toungoo. But the Confederation was marred by internal bickering, andcould not stop Toungoo, which conquered Ava in 1555 and all of Shan States by 1563.

Arakan (1287–1785)Although Arakan had been de facto independent since the late Pagan period, the Laungkyet dynasty of Arakan wasineffectual. Until the founding of the Mrauk-U Kingdom in 1429, Arakan was often caught between biggerneighbors, and found itself a battlefield during the Forty Years' War between Ava and Pegu. Mrauk-U went on to bea powerful kingdom in its own right between 15th and 17th centuries, including East Bengal between 1459 and1666. Arakan was the only post-Pagan kingdom not to be annexed by the Toungoo dynasty.

Toungoo Dynasty (1510–1752)

First Toungoo Empire (1510–1599)

Bayinnaung's Empire in 1580

Beginning in the 1480s, Ava faced constant internal rebellions andexternal attacks from the Shan States, and began to disintegrate. In1510, Toungoo, located in the remote southeastern corner of the Avakingdom, also declared independence.[11] When the Confederation ofShan States conquered Ava in 1527, many Burmans fled southeast toToungoo, the only kingdom remaining under Burman rule, and onesurrounded by larger hostile kingdoms.

Toungoo, led by its ambitious king Tabinshwehti and his deputy Gen.Bayinnaung, would go on to reunify the petty kingdoms that hadexisted since the fall of the Pagan Empire, and found the largest empirein the history of Southeast Asia. First, the upstart kingdom defeated amore powerful Hanthawaddy in the Toungoo–Hanthawaddy War(1535–1541). Tabinshwehti moved the capital to newly captured Peguin 1539. Toungoo expanded its authority up to Pagan in 1544 but failedto conquer Arakan in 1546–1547 and Siam in 1548. Tabinshwehti'ssuccessor Bayinnaung continued the policy of expansion, conquering Ava in 1555, nearer Shan states (1557), LanNa (1558), Manipur (1560), Farther/Trans-Salween Shan states (1562–1563), Siam (1564, 1569), and Lan Xang(1574), and bringing much of western and central mainland Southeast Asia under his rule.

Bayinnaung put in place a lasting administrative system that reduced the power of hereditary Shan chiefs, andbrought Shan customs in line with low-land norms.[9] But he could not replicate an effective administrative systemeverywhere in his far flung empire. His empire was a loose collection of former sovereign kingdoms, whose kingswere loyal to him as the Cakkavatti (စကြဝတေးမင်း, [sɛʔtɕà wədé mɪ́ɴ]; Universal Ruler), not the kingdom of Toungoo.The overextended empire unraveled soon after Bayinnaung's death in 1581. Siam broke away in 1584 and went to war with Burma until 1605. By 1593, the kingdom had lost its possessions in Siam, Lang Xang and Manipur. By 1597, all internal regions, including the city of Toungoo, the erstwhile home of the dynasty, had revolted. In 1599,

History of Burma 7

the Arakanese forces aided by Portuguese mercenaries, and in alliance with the rebellious Toungoo forces, sackedPegu. The country fell into chaos, with each region claiming a king. Portuguese mercenary Filipe de Brito e Nicotepromptly rebelled against his Arakanese masters, and established Goa-backed Portuguese rule at Thanlyin in 1603.

Restored Toungoo Kingdom (Nyaungyan Restoration) (1599–1752)

Restored Toungoo or Nyaungyan Dynasty c.1650

While the interregnum that followed the fall of Pagan Empire lastedover 250 years (1287–1555), that following the fall of First Toungoowas relatively short-lived. One of Bayinnaung's sons, Nyaungyan,immediately began the reunification effort, successfully restoringcentral authority over Upper Burma and nearer Shan states by 1606.His successor Anaukpetlun defeated the Portuguese at Thanlyin in1613; recovered the upper Tenasserim coast to Tavoy and Lan Na fromthe Siamese by 1614; and the trans-Salween Shan states (Kengtung andSipsongpanna) in 1622–1626. His brother Thalun rebuilt the war torncountry. He ordered the first ever census in Burmese history in 1635,which showed that the kingdom about two million people. By 1650,the three able kings–Nyaungyan, Anaukpetlun and Thalun–hadsuccessfully rebuilt a smaller but far more manageable kingdom.

More importantly, the new dynasty proceeded to create a legal andpolitical system whose basic features would continue under theKonbaung dynasty well into the 19th century. The crown completelyreplaced the hereditary chieftainships with appointed governorships inthe entire Irrawaddy valley, and greatly reduced the hereditary rights ofShan chiefs. It also reined in the continuous growth of monastic wealth and autonomy, giving a greater tax base. Itstrade and secular administrative reforms built a prosperous economy for more than 80 years.[7] Except for a fewoccasional rebellions and an external war—Burma defeated Siam's attempt to take Lan Na and Martaban in1662–64—the kingdom was largely at peace for the rest of the 17th century.

The kingdom entered a gradual decline, and the authority of the "palace kings" deteriorated rapidly in the 1720s.From 1724 onwards, the Manipuris began raiding the Upper Chindwin valley. In 1727, southern Lan Na (ChiangMai) successfully revolted, leaving just northern Lan Na (Chiang Saen) under an increasingly nominal Burmese rule.The Manipuri raids intensified in the 1730s, reaching increasingly deeper parts of central Burma. In 1740, the Monin Lower Burma began a rebellion, and founded the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and by 1745 controlled muchof Lower Burma. The Siamese also moved their authority up the Tenasserim coast by 1752. Hanthawaddy invadedUpper Burma in November 1751, and captured Ava on 23 March 1752, ending the 266-year-old Toungoo dynasty.

Konbaung Dynasty (1752–1885)

ReunificationSoon after the fall of Ava, a new dynasty rose in Shwebo to challenge the authority of Hanthawaddy. Over the next70 years, the highly militaristic Konbaung dynasty went on to create the largest Burmese empire, second only to theempire of Bayinnaung. By 1759, King Alaungpaya's Konbaung forces had reunited all of Burma (and Manipur),extinguished the Mon-led Hanthawaddy dynasty once and for all, and driven out the European powers who providedarms to Hanthawaddy—the French from Thanlyin and the English from Negrais.[12]

History of Burma 8

Wars with Siam and ChinaThe kingdom then went to war with Siam, which had occupied up the Tenasserim coast to Martaban during theBurmese civil war (1740–1757), and had provided shelter to the Mon refugees. By 1767, the Konbaung armies hadsubdued much of Laos and defeated Siam. But they could not finish off the remaining Siamese resistance as theywere forced to defend against four invasions by Qing China (1765–1769).[7] While the Burmese defenses held in"the most disastrous frontier war the Qing dynasty had ever waged", the Burmese were preoccupied with anotherimpending invasion by the world's largest empire for years. The Qing kept a heavy military lineup in the border areasfor about one decade in an attempt to wage another war while imposing a ban on inter-border trade for twodecades.[13]

The Siamese used the Burmese preoccupation with China to recover their lost territories by 1770, and in addition,went on to capture much of Lan Na by 1776, ending over two centuries of Burmese suzerainty over the region.[14]

Burma and Siam went to war again in 1785–1786, 1787, 1792, 1803–1808, 1809–1812 and 1849–1855 but allresulted in a stalemate. After decades of war, the two countries essentially exchanged Tenasserim (to Burma) andLan Na (to Siam).

Westward expansion and wars with British EmpireFaced with a powerful China in the northeast and a resurgent Siam in the southeast, King Bodawpaya turnedwestward for expansion.[2] He conquered Arakan in 1785, annexed Manipur in 1814, and captured Assam in1817–1819, leading to a long ill-defined border with British India. Bodawpaya's successor King Bagyidaw was leftto put down British instigated rebellions in Manipur in 1819 and Assam in 1821–1822. Cross-border raids by rebelsfrom the British protected territories and counter-cross-border raids by the Burmese led to the First Anglo-BurmeseWar (1824–1826).[15]

British soldiers dismantling cannons belonging to KingThibaw's forces, Third Anglo-Burmese War, Ava, 27November 1885. Photographer: Hooper, Willoughby

Wallace (1837-1912)

Lasting 2 years and costing 13 million pounds, the firstAnglo-Burmese War was the longest and most expensive war inBritish Indian history,[2] but ended in a decisive British victory.Burma ceded all of Bodawpaya's western acquisitions (Arakan,Manipur and Assam) plus Tenasserim. Burma was crushed foryears by repaying a large indemnity of one million pounds (thenUS$5 million).[6] In 1852, the British unilaterally and easily seizedthe Pegu province in the Second Anglo-Burmese War.[15][2] Afterthe war, King Mindon tried to modernize the Burmese state andeconomy, and made trade and territorial concessions to stave offfurther British encroachments, including ceding the Karenni Statesto the British in 1875. Nonetheless, the British, alarmed by theconsolidation of French Indochina, annexed the remainder of thecountry in the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885,[15] and sent the

last Burmese king Thibaw and his family to exile in India.

Administrative and economic reformsKonbaung kings extended administrative reforms first begun in the Restored Toungoo Dynasty period (1599–1752),and achieved unprecedented levels of internal control and external expansion. Konbaung kings tightened control inthe low lands and reduced the hereditary privileges of Shan saophas (chiefs). Konbaung officials, particularly after1780, began commercial reforms that increased government income and rendered it more predictable. Moneyeconomy continued to gained ground. In 1857, the crown inaugurated a full-fledged system of cash taxes andsalaries, assisted by the country's first standardized silver coinage.[7]

History of Burma 9

CultureCultural integration continued. For the first time in history, the Burmese language and culture came to predominatethe entire Irrawaddy valley, with the Mon language and ethnicity completely eclipsed by 1830. The nearer Shanprincipalities adopted more lowland norms. The evolution and growth of Burmese literature and theater continued,aided by an extremely high adult male literacy rate for the era (half of all males and 5% of females).[7] Monastic andlay elites around the Konbaung kings, particularly from Bodawpaya's reign, also launched a major reformation ofBurmese intellectual life and monastic organization and practice known as the Sudhamma Reformation. It led toamongst other things Burma's first proper state histories.[16]

British rule

Recorder's Court on Sule Pagoda Road, with the Sule Pagoda at the far end,Rangoon, 1868. Photographer: J. Jackson.

Britain made Burma a province of India in1886 with the capital at Rangoon.Traditional Burmese society was drasticallyaltered by the demise of the monarchy andthe separation of religion and state. Thoughwar officially ended after only a couple ofweeks, resistance continued in northernBurma until 1890, with the British finallyresorting to a systematic destruction ofvillages and appointment of new officials tofinally halt all guerrilla activity. Theeconomic nature of society also changeddramatically. After the opening of the SuezCanal, the demand for Burmese rice grewand vast tracts of land were opened up forcultivation. However, in order to prepare the new land for cultivation, farmers were forced to borrow money fromIndian moneylenders called chettiars at high interest rates and were often foreclosed on and evicted losing land andlivestock. Most of the jobs also went to indentured Indian labourers, and whole villages became outlawed as theyresorted to 'dacoity' (armed robbery). While the Burmese economy grew, all the power and wealth remained in thehands of several British firms, Anglo-Burmese and migrants from India.[17] The civil service was largely staffed bythe Anglo-Burmese community and Indians, and Burmese were excluded almost entirely from military service.Though the country prospered, the Burmese people failed to reap the rewards. (See George Orwell's novel BurmeseDays for a fictional account of the British in Burma.) Throughout colonial rule through the mid-1960s, theAnglo-Burmese were to dominate the country, causing discontent among the local populace.

By around the start of the 20th century, a nationalist movement began to take shape in the form of Young Men'sBuddhist Associations (YMBA), modelled on the YMCA, as religious associations were allowed by the colonialauthorities. They were later superseded by the General Council of Burmese Associations (GCBA) which was linkedwith Wunthanu athin or National Associations that sprang up in villages throughout Burma Proper. Between 1900 -1911 the "Irish Buddhist" U Dhammaloka challenged Christianity and British rule on religious grounds. A newgeneration of Burmese leaders arose in the early 20th century from amongst the educated classes that were permittedto go to London to study law. They came away from this experience with the belief that the Burmese situation couldbe improved through reform. Progressive constitutional reform in the early 1920s led to a legislature with limitedpowers, a university and more autonomy for Burma within the administration of India. Efforts were also undertakento increase the representation of Burmese in the civil service. Some people began to feel that the rate of change wasnot fast enough and the reforms not expansive enough.

History of Burma 10

Vegetable stall on the roadside at the Madras Lancer Lines, Mandalay, January1886. Photographer: Hooper, Willoughby Wallace (1837-1912)

In 1920 the first university students strike inhistory broke out in protest against the newUniversity Act which the students believedwould only benefit the elite and perpetuatecolonial rule. 'National Schools' sprang upacross the country in protest against thecolonial education system, and the strikecame to be commemorated as 'NationalDay'.[18] There were further strikes andanti-tax protests in the later 1920s led by theWunthanu athins. Prominent among thepolitical activists were Buddhist monks(pongyi), such as U Ottama and U Seinda inthe Arakan who subsequently led an armedrebellion against the British and later the

nationalist government after independence, and U Wisara, the first martyr of the movement to die after a protractedhunger strike in prison.[18] (One of the main thoroughfares in Yangon is named after U Wisara.) In December 1930,a local tax protest by Saya San in Tharrawaddy quickly grew into first a regional and then a national insurrectionagainst the government. Lasting for two years, the Galon rebellion, named after the mythical bird Garuda — enemyof the Nagas i.e. the British — emblazoned on the pennants the rebels carried, required thousands of British troops tosuppress along with promises of further political reform. The eventual trial of Saya San, who was executed, allowedseveral future national leaders, including Dr Ba Maw and U Saw, who participated in his defence, to rise toprominence.[18]

The paddle steamer Ramapoora (right) of the British India Steam NavigationCompany on the Rangoon river having just arrived from Moulmein. 1895.

Photographers: Watts and Skeen.

May 1930 saw the founding of the DobamaAsiayone (We Burmans Association) whosemembers called themselves Thakin (anironic name as thakin means "master" in theBurmese language—rather like the Indian'sahib'— proclaiming that they were the truemasters of the country entitled to the termusurped by the colonial masters).[18] Thesecond university students strike in 1936was triggered by the expulsion of Aung Sanand Ko Nu, leaders of the RangoonUniversity Students Union (RUSU), forrefusing to reveal the name of the authorwho had written an article in their universitymagazine, making a scathing attack on oneof the senior university officials. It spread toMandalay leading to the formation of theAll Burma Students Union (ABSU). Aung San and Nu subsequently joined the Thakin movement progressing fromstudent to national politics.[18] The British separated Burma from India in 1937 and granted the colony a newconstitution calling for a fully elected assembly, but this proved to be a divisive issue as some Burmese felt that thiswas a ploy to exclude them from any further Indian reforms whereas other Burmese saw any action that removed

Burma from the control of India to be a positive step. Ba Maw served as the first prime minister of Burma, but he was succeeded by U Saw in 1939, who served as prime minister from 1940 until he was arrested on January 19, 1942

History of Burma 11

by the British for communicating with the Japanese.A wave of strikes and protests that started from the oilfields of central Burma in 1938 became a general strike withfar-reaching consequences. In Rangoon student protesters, after successfully picketing the Secretariat, the seat of thecolonial government, were charged by the British mounted police wielding batons and killing a Rangoon Universitystudent called Aung Kyaw. In Mandalay, the police shot into a crowd of protesters led by Buddhist monks killing 17people. The movement became known as Htaung thoun ya byei ayeidawbon (the '1300 Revolution' named after theBurmese calendar year),[18] and December 20, the day the first martyr Aung Kyaw fell, commemorated by studentsas 'Bo Aung Kyaw Day'.[19]

World War II and JapanSome Burmese nationalists saw the outbreak of World War II as an opportunity to extort concessions from theBritish in exchange for support in the war effort. Other Burmese, such as the Thakin movement, opposed Burma'sparticipation in the war under any circumstances. Aung San co-founded the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) withother Thakins in August 1939.[18] Marxist literature as well as tracts from the Sinn Féin movement in Ireland hadbeen widely circulated and read among political activists. Aung San also co-founded the People's RevolutionaryParty (PRP), renamed the Socialist Party after the World War II. He was also instrumental in founding the Bamahtwet yat gaing (Freedom Bloc) by forging an alliance of the Dobama, ABSU, politically active monks and BaMaw's Sinyètha (Poor Man's) Party.[18] After the Dobama organization called for a national uprising, an arrestwarrant was issued for many of the organization's leaders including Aung San, who escaped to China. Aung San'sintention was to make contact with the Chinese Communists but he was detected by the Japanese authorities whooffered him support by forming a secret intelligence unit called the Minami Kikan headed by Colonel Suzuki withthe objective of closing the Burma Road and supporting a national uprising. Aung San briefly returned to Burma toenlist twenty-nine young men who went to Japan with him in order to receive military training on Hainan Island,China, and they came to be known as the "Thirty Comrades". When the Japanese occupied Bangkok in December1941, Aung San announced the formation of the Burma Independence Army (BIA) in anticipation of the Japaneseinvasion of Burma in 1942.[18]

British soldiers on patrol in the ruins of theBurmese town of Bahe during the advance on

Mandalay, January 1945

The BIA formed a provisional government in some areas of thecountry in the spring of 1942, but there were differences within theJapanese leadership over the future of Burma. While Colonel Suzukiencouraged the Thirty Comrades to form a provisional government, theJapanese Military leadership had never formally accepted such a plan.Eventually the Japanese Army turned to Ba Maw to form agovernment. During the war in 1942, the BIA had grown in anuncontrolled manner, and in many districts officials and even criminalsappointed themselves to the BIA. It was reorganised as the BurmaDefence Army (BDA) under the Japanese but still headed by AungSan. While the BIA had been an irregular force, the BDA was recruitedby selection and trained as a conventional army by Japaneseinstructors. Ba Maw was afterwards declared head of state, and hiscabinet included both Aung San as War Minister and the Communistleader Thakin Than Tun as Minister of Land and Agriculture as well asthe Socialist leaders Thakins Nu and Mya. When the Japanese declared Burma, in theory, independent in 1943, theBurma Defence Army (BDA) was renamed the Burma National Army (BNA).[18]

It soon became apparent that Japanese promises of independence were merely a sham and that Ba Maw was deceived. As the war turned against the Japanese, they declared Burma a fully sovereign state on August 1, 1943, but this was just another facade. Disillusioned, Aung San began negotiations with Communist leaders Thakin Than Tun

History of Burma 12

and Thakin Soe, and Socialist leaders Ba Swe and Kyaw Nyein which led to the formation of the Anti-FascistOrganisation (AFO) in August 1944 at a secret meeting of the CPB,the PRP and the BNA in Pegu. The AFO waslater renamed the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League(AFPFL).[18] Thakins Than Tun and Soe, while in Inseinprison in July 1941, had co-authored the Insein Manifesto which, against the prevailing opinion in the Dobamamovement, identified world fascism as the main enemy in the coming war and called for temporary cooperation withthe British in a broad allied coalition which should include the Soviet Union. Soe had already gone underground toorganise resistance against the Japanese occupation, and Than Tun was able to pass on Japanese intelligence to Soe,while other Communist leaders Thakins Thein Pe and Tin Shwe made contact with the exiled colonial government inSimla, India.[18]

There were informal contacts between the AFO and the Allies in 1944 and 1945 through the British organisationForce 136. On March 27, 1945 the Burma National Army rose up in a countrywide rebellion against the Japanese.[18]

March 27 had been celebrated as 'Resistance Day' until the military renamed it 'Tatmadaw (Armed Forces) Day'.Aung San and others subsequently began negotiations with Lord Mountbatten and officially joined the Allies as thePatriotic Burmese Forces (PBF). At the first meeting, the AFO represented itself to the British as the provisionalgovernment of Burma with Thakin Soe as Chairman and Aung San as a member of its ruling committee. TheJapanese were routed from most of Burma by May 1945. Negotiations then began with the British over thedisarming of the AFO and the participation of its troops in a post-war Burma Army. Some veterans had been formedinto a paramilitary force under Aung San, called the Pyithu yèbaw tat or People's Volunteer Organisation (PVO), andwere openly drilling in uniform.[18] The absorption of the PBF was concluded successfully at the Kandy conferencein Ceylon in September 1945.[18]

From the Japanese surrender to Aung San's assassinationThe surrender of the Japanese brought a military administration to Burma and demands to try Aung San for hisinvolvement in a murder during military operations in 1942. Lord Mountbatten realized that this was an impossibilityconsidering Aung San's popular appeal.[18] After the war ended, the British Governor, Sir Reginald Dorman-Smithreturned. The restored government established a political program that focused on physical reconstruction of thecountry and delayed discussion of independence. The AFPFL opposed the government, leading to politicalinstability in the country. A rift had also developed in the AFPFL between the Communists and Aung San togetherwith the Socialists over strategy, which led to Than Tun being forced to resign as general secretary in July 1946 andthe expulsion of the CPB from the AFPFL the following October.[18] Dorman-Smith was replaced by Sir HubertRance as the new governor, and almost immediately after his appointment the Rangoon Police went on strike. Thestrike, starting in September 1946, then spread from the police to government employees and came close tobecoming a general strike. Rance calmed the situation by meeting with Aung San and convincing him to join theGovernor's Executive Council along with other members of the AFPFL.[18] The new executive council, which nowhad increased credibility in the country, began negotiations for Burmese independence, which were concludedsuccessfully in London as the Aung San-Attlee Agreement on January 27, 1947.[18] The agreement left parts of thecommunist and conservative branches of the AFPFL dissatisfied, however, sending the Red Flag Communists led byThakin Soe underground and the conservatives into opposition. Aung San also succeeded in concluding anagreement with ethnic minorities for a unified Burma at the Panglong Conference on February 12, celebrated sinceas 'Union Day'. U Aung Zan Wai, U Pe Khin, Major Aung, Sir Maung Gyi and Dr. Sein Mya Maung and Myoma UThan Kywe…..etc. were most important negotiators and leaders of the historical pinlon (panglong) Conferencenegotiated with Burma national top leader General Aung San and other top leaders in 1947.All these leaders decidedto join together to form the Union of Burma. Union day celebration is one of the greatest in the history of Burma.But in July 1947, political rivals assassinated Aung San and several cabinet members.[18][20] Shortly after, rebellionbroke out in the Arakan led by the veteran monk U Seinda, and it began to spread to other districts.[18] Thepopularity of the AFPFL, now dominated by Aung San and the Socialists, was eventually confirmed when it won anoverwhelming victory in the April 1947 constituent assembly elections.[18]

History of Burma 13

On 19 July 1947 U Saw, a conservative pre-war Prime Minister of Burma, engineered the assassination of Aung Sanand several members of his cabinet including his eldest brother Ba Win, while meeting in the Secretariat.[18][21] July19 has been commemorated since as Martyrs' Day. Thakin Nu, the Socialist leader, was now asked to form a newcabinet, and he presided over Burmese independence on January 4, 1948. The popular sentiment to part with theBritish was so strong at the time that Burma opted not to join the British Commonwealth, unlike India orPakistan.[18]

Independent Burma

1948–62The first years of Burmese independence were marked by successive insurgencies by the Red Flag Communists ledby Thakin Soe, the White Flag Communists led by Thakin Than Tun, the Yèbaw Hpyu (White-band PVO) led by BoLa Yaung, a member of the Thirty Comrades, army rebels calling themselves the Revolutionary Burma Army (RBA)led by Communist officers Bo Zeya, Bo Yan Aung and Bo Yè Htut — all three of them members of the ThirtyComrades, Arakanese Muslims or the Mujahid, and the Karen National Union (KNU).[18]

After the Communist victory in China in 1949 remote areas of Northern Burma were for many years controlled by anarmy of Kuomintang (KMT) forces under the command of General Li Mi.[18]

Burma accepted foreign assistance in rebuilding the country in these early years, but continued American support forthe Chinese Nationalist military presence in Burma finally resulted in the country rejecting most foreign aid, refusingto join the South-East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) and supporting the Bandung Conference of 1955.[18]

Burma generally strove to be impartial in world affairs and was one of the first countries in the world to recognizeIsrael and the People's Republic of China.By 1958, the country was largely beginning to recover economically, but was beginning to fall apart politically dueto a split in the AFPFL into two factions, one led by Thakins Nu and Tin, the other by Ba Swe and Kyaw Nyein.[18]

And this despite the unexpected success of U Nu's 'Arms for Democracy' offer taken up by U Seinda in the Arakan,the Pa-O, some Mon and Shan groups, but more significantly by the PVO surrendering their arms.[18] The situationhowever became very unstable in parliament, with U Nu surviving a no-confidence vote only with the support of theopposition National United Front (NUF), believed to have 'crypto-communists' amongst them.[18] Army hardlinersnow saw the 'threat' of the CPB coming to an agreement with U Nu through the NUF, and in the end U Nu 'invited'Army Chief of Staff General Ne Win to take over the country.[18] Over 400 'communist sympathisers' were arrested,of which 153 were deported to the Coco Island in the Andaman Sea. Among them was the NUF leader Aung Than,older brother of Aung San. The Botataung, Kyemon and Rangoon Daily were also closed down.[18]

Ne Win's caretaker government successfully established the situation and paved the way for new general elections in1960 that returned U Nu's Union Party with a large majority.[18] The situation did not remain stable for long, whenthe Shan Federal Movement, started by Nyaung Shwe Sawbwa Sao Shwe Thaik (the first President of independentBurma 1948-52) and aspiring to a 'loose' federation, was seen as a separatist movement insisting on the governmenthonouring the right to secession in 10 years provided for by the 1947 Constitution. Ne Win had already succeeded instripping the Shan Sawbwas of their feudal powers in exchange for comfortable pensions for life in 1959.

History of Burma 14

1962–88On 2 March 1962, Ne Win, with sixteen other senior military officers, staged a coup d'état, arrested U Nu, Sao ShweThaik and several others, and declared a socialist state to be run by their Union Revolutionary Council. Sao ShweThaik's son, Sao Mye Thaik, was shot dead in what was generally described as a 'bloodless' coup. Thibaw SawbwaSao Kya Seng also disappeared mysteriously after being stopped at a checkpoint near Taunggyi.[18]

A number of protests followed the coup, and initially the military's response was mild.[22] However, on 7 July 1962,a peaceful student protest on Rangoon University campus was suppressed by the military, killing over 100 students.The next day, the army blew up the Students Union building.[18] Peace talks were convened between the RC andvarious armed insurgent groups in 1963, but without any breakthrough, and during the talks as well as in theaftermath of their failure, hundreds were arrested in Rangoon and elsewhere from both the right and the left of thepolitical spectrum. All opposition parties were banned on March 28, 1964.[18] The Kachin insurgency by the KachinIndependence Organisation (KIO) had begun earlier in 1961 triggered by U Nu's declaration of Buddhism as thestate religion, and the Shan State Army (SSA), led by Sao Shwe Thaik's wife Mahadevi and son Chao TzangYaunghwe, launched a rebellion in 1964 as a direct consequence of the 1962 military coup.[18]

Ne Win quickly took steps to transform Burma into his vision of a 'socialist state' and to isolate the country fromcontact with the rest of the world. A one-party system was established with his newly formed Burma SocialistProgramme Party (BSPP) in complete control.[18] Commerce and industry were nationalized across the board, butthe economy did not grow at first if at all as the government put too much emphasis on industrial development at theexpense of agriculture. In April 1972, General Ne Win and the rest of the Union Revolutionary Council retired fromthe military, but now as U Ne Win, he continued to run the country through the BSPP. A new constitution waspromulgated in January 1974 that resulted in the creation of a People's Assembly (Pyithu Hluttaw) that held supremelegislative, executive, and judicial authority, and local People's Councils. Ne Win became the president of the newgovernment.[18]

Beginning in May 1974, a wave of strikes hit Rangoon and elsewhere in the country against a backdrop ofcorruption, inflation and food shortages, especially rice. In Rangoon workers were arrested at the Insein railwayyard, and troops opened fire on workers at the Thamaing textile mill and Simmalaik dockyard.[18] In December1974, the biggest anti-government demonstrations to date broke out over the funeral of former UN Secretary-GeneralU Thant.[18] U Thant had been former prime minister U Nu's closest advisor in the 1950s and was seen as a symbolof opposition to the military regime. The Burmese people felt that U Thant was denied a state funeral that hedeserved as a statesman of international stature because of his association with U Nu.On 23 March 1976, over 100 students were arrested for holding a peaceful ceremony (Hmaing yabyei) to mark thecentenary of the birth of Thakin Kodaw Hmaing who was the greatest Burmese poet and writer and nationalist leaderof the 20th. century history of Burma. He had inspired a whole generation of Burmese nationalists and writers by hiswork mainly written in verse, fostering immense pride in their history, language and culture, and urging them to takedirect action such as strikes by students and workers. It was Hmaing as leader of the mainstream Dobama who sentthe Thirty Comrades abroad for military training, and after independence devoted his life to internal peace andnational reconciliation until he died at the age of 88 in 1964. Hmaing lies buried in a mausoleum at the foot of theShwedagon Pagoda.[23]

A young staff officer called Captain Ohn Kyaw Myint conspired with a few fellow officers in 1976 to assassinate NeWin and San Yu, but the plot was uncovered and the officer tried and hanged.[18][24]

In 1978, a military operation was conducted against the Rohingya Muslims in Arakan, called the King Dragonoperation, causing 250,000 refugees to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.U Nu, after his release from prison in October 1966, had left Burma in April 1969, and formed the Parliamentary Democracy Party (PDP) the following August in Bangkok, Thailand with the former Thirty Comrades, Bo Let Ya, co-founder of the CPB and former Minister of Defence and deputy prime minister, Bo Yan Naing, and U Thwin, ex-BIA and former Minister of Trade. Another member of the Thirty Comrades, Bohmu Aung, former Minister of

History of Burma 15

Defence, joined later. The fourth, Bo Setkya, who had gone underground after the 1962 coup, died in Bangkokshortly before U Nu arrived.[18] The PDP launched an armed rebellion across the Thai border from 1972 till 1978when Bo Let Ya was killed in an attack by the Karen National Union (KNU). U Nu, Bohmu Aung and Bo YanNaing returned to Rangoon after the 1980 amnesty.[18] Ne Win also secretly held peace talks later in 1980 with theKIO and the CPB, again ending in a deadlock as before.[18]

Crisis and 1988 UprisingNe Win retired as president in 1981, but remained in power as Chairman of the BSPP until his sudden unexpectedannouncement to step down on July 23, 1988.[18] In the 1980s, the economy began to grow as the governmentrelaxed restrictions on foreign aid, but by the late 1980s falling commodity prices and rising debt led to an economiccrisis. This led to economic reforms in 1987-88 that relaxed socialist controls and encouraged foreign investment.This was not enough, however, to stop growing turmoil in the country, compounded by periodic 'demonetization' ofcertain bank notes in the currency, the last of which was decreed in September 1987 wiping out the savings of thevast majority of people.[18] In September 1987, Burma's de facto ruler U Ne Win suddenly canceled certain currencynotes which caused a great down-turn in the economy. The main reason for the cancellation of these notes wassuperstition on U Ne Win's part, as he considered the number nine his lucky number—he only allowed 45 and 90kyat notes, because these were divisible by nine. (BBC News Website, http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 2/ hi/ asia-pacific/7012158. stm (Bilal Arif) Burma's admittance to Least Developed Country status by the UN the following Decemberhighlighted its economic bankruptcy.[18]

Triggered by brutal police repression of student-led protests causing the death of over a hundred students andcivilians in March and June 1988, widespread protests and demonstrations broke out on August 8 throughout thecountry. The military responded by firing into the crowds, alleging Communist infiltration. Violence, chaos andanarchy reigned. Civil administration had ceased to exist, and by September of that year, the country was on theverge of a revolution. The armed forces, under the nominal command of General Saw Maung staged a coup onAugust 8 to restore order. During the 8888 Uprising, as it became known, the military killed thousands. The militaryswept aside the Constitution of 1974 in favor of martial law under the State Law and Order Restoration Council(SLORC) with Saw Maung as chairman and prime minister.[18]

At a special six-hour press conference on 5 August 1989, Brig. Gen. Khin Nyunt, the SLORC Secretary 1 and chiefof Military Intelligence Service (MIS), claimed that the uprising had been orchestrated by the Communist Party ofBurma through its underground organisation.[25] Although there had inevitably been some underground CPBpresence as well as that of ethnic insurgent groups, there was no evidence of their being in charge to any extent.[18]

In fact, in March 1989, the CPB leadership was overthrown by a rebellion by the Kokang and Wa troops that it hadcome to depend on after losing its former strongholds in central Burma and re-establishing bases in the northeast inthe late 1960s; the Communist leaders were soon forced into exile across the Chinese border.[18]

1989–2006The military government announced a change of name for the country in English from Burma to Myanmar in 1989.It also continued the economic reforms started by the old regime and called for a Constituent Assembly to revise the1974 Constitution. This led to multiparty elections in May 1990 in which the National League for Democracy (NLD)won a landslide victory over the National Unity Party (NUP, the successor to the BSPP) and about a dozen smallerparties.[18] The military, however, would not let the assembly convene, and continued to hold the two leaders of theNLD, U Tin U and Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of Aung San, under house arrest imposed on them the previousyear. Burma came under increasing international pressure to convene the elected assembly, particularly after AungSan Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, and also faced economic sanctions. In April 1992 themilitary replaced Saw Maung with General Than Shwe.

History of Burma 16

Than Shwe released U Nu from prison and relaxed some of the restrictions on Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest,finally releasing her in 1995, although she was forbidden to leave Rangoon. Than Shwe also finally allowed aNational Convention to meet in January 1993, but insisted that the assembly preserve a major role for the military inany future government, and suspended the convention from time to time. The NLD, fed up with the interference,walked out in late 1995, and the assembly was finally dismissed in March 1996 without producing a constitution.During the 1990s, the military regime had also had to deal with several insurgencies by tribal minorities along itsborders. General Khin Nyunt was able to negotiate cease-fire agreements that ended the fighting with the Kokang,hill tribes such as the Wa, and the Kachin, but the Karen would not negotiate. The military finally captured the mainKaren base at Manerplaw in spring 1995, but there has still been no final peace settlement. Khun Sa, a major opiumwarlord who nominally controlled parts of Shan State, made a deal with the government in December 1995 afterU.S. pressure.After the failure of the National Convention to create a new constitution, tensions between the government and theNLD mounted, resulting in two major crackdowns on the NLD in 1996 and 1997. The SLORC was abolished inNovember 1997 and replaced by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), but it was merely a cosmeticchange. Continuing reports of human rights violations in Burma led the United States to intensify sanctions in 1997,and the European Union followed suit in 2000. The military placed Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest again inSeptember 2000 until May 2002, when her travel restrictions outside of Rangoon were also lifted. Reconciliationtalks were held with the government, but these came to a stalemate and Suu Kyi was once again taken into custodyin May 2003 after an ambush on her motorcade reportedly by a pro-military mob. The government also carried outanother large-scale crackdown on the NLD, arresting many of its leaders and closing down most of its offices. Thesituation in Burma remains tense to this day.In August 2003, Kyin Nyunt announced a seven-step "roadmap to democracy", which the government claims it is inthe process of implementing. There is no timetable associated with the government’s plan, or any conditionality orindependent mechanism for verifying that it is moving forward. For these reasons, most Western governments andBurma's neighbors have been skeptical and critical of the roadmap.On February 17, 2005, the government reconvened the National Convention, for the first time since 1993, in anattempt to rewrite the Constitution. However, major pro-democracy organisations and parties, including the NationalLeague for Democracy, were barred from participating, the military allowing only selected smaller parties. It wasadjourned once again in January 2006.In November 2005, the military junta started moving the government away from Yangon to an unnamed locationnear Kyatpyay just outside Pyinmana, to a newly designated capital city. This public action follows a long termunofficial policy of moving critical military and government infrastructure away from Yangon to avoid a repetitionof the events of 1988. On Armed Forces Day (March 27, 2006), the capital was officially named NaypyidawMyodaw (lit. Royal City of the Seat of Kings).In 2005, the capital city was relocated from Yangon to Naypyidaw.In November 2006, the International Labour Organization (ILO) announced it will be seeking - at the InternationalCourt of Justice.[26] - "to prosecute members of the ruling Myanmar junta for crimes against humanity" over thecontinuous forced labour of its citizens by the military. According to the ILO, an estimated 800,000 people aresubject to forced labour in Myanmar.[27]

History of Burma 17

2007 anti-government protests

Protesters in Yangon with a banner that reads non-violence: nationalmovement in Burmese, in the background is Shwedagon Pagoda

The 2007 Burmese anti-government protests were aseries of anti-government protests that started in Burmaon August 15, 2007. The immediate cause of theprotests was mainly the unannounced decision of theruling junta, the State Peace and Development Council,to remove fuel subsidies which caused the price ofdiesel and petrol to suddenly rise as much as 100%, andthe price of compressed natural gas for buses toincrease fivefold in less than a week.[28] The protestdemonstrations were at first dealt with quickly andharshly by the junta, with dozens of protesters arrestedand detained. Starting September 18, the protests hadbeen led by thousands of Buddhist monks, and thoseprotests had been allowed to proceed until a renewedgovernment crackdown on September 26.[29] Duringthe crack-down, there were rumors of disagreement within the Burmese military, but none were confirmed. At thetime, independent sources reported, through pictures and accounts, 30 to 40 monks and 50 to 70 civilians killed aswell as 200 beaten. However, other sources reveal more dramatic figures. In a White House statement PresidentBush said: "Monks have been beaten and killed.... Thousands of pro-democracy protesters have been arrested". Somenews reports referred to the protests as the Saffron Revolution.[30][31]

On 7 February 2008, SPDC announced that a referendum for the Constitution would be held, and Elections by 2010.The Burmese constitutional referendum, 2008 was held on May 10 and promised a "discipline-flourishingdemocracy" for the country in the future.

Cyclone NargisOn May 3, 2008, Cyclone Nargis devastated the country when winds of up to 215 km/h (135 mph)[32] touched landin the densely populated, rice-farming delta of the Irrawaddy Division.[33] It is estimated that more than 130,000people died or went missing and damage totalled 10 billion dollars (USD); it was the worst natural disaster inBurmese history. The World Food Programme report that, "Some villages have been almost totally eradicated andvast rice-growing areas are wiped out."[34] The United Nations estimates that as many as 1 million were lefthomeless and the World Health Organization "has received reports of malaria outbreaks in the worst-affectedarea."[35] Yet in the critical days following this disaster, Burma's isolationist regime complicated recovery efforts bydelaying the entry of United Nations planes delivering medicine, food, and other supplies. The government's failureto permit entry for large-scale international relief efforts was described by the United Nations as "unprecedented."[36]

History of Burma 18

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton travels to Burmato promote democratic reforms

Notes[1][1] Cooler 2002: Chapter 1: Prehistoric and Animist Periods[2][2] Myint-U 2006: 45[3][3] Hudson 2005: 1[4][4] Moore 2007: 236[5] Hall 1960: 8–10[6][6] Htin Aung 1967: 329[7] Lieberman 2003: 90–91[8] Harvey 1925: 24–25[9][9] Htin Aung 1967: 34[10][10] Lieberman 2003: 24

[11] Fernquest 2005: 20–50[12][12] Phayre 1883: 153[13] Dai 2004: 145–189[14][14] Wyatt 2003: 125[15] Marx 1853: 201–202[16] Charney 2006: 96–107[17] Tarun Khanna, Billions entrepreneurs : How China and India Are Reshaping Their Futures and Yours, Harvard Business School Press,

2007, ISBN 978-1-4221-0383-8[18] Smith, Martin (1991). Burma — Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity. London and New Jersey: Zed Books. pp. 49, 91, 50, 53, 54, 56, 57,

58–9, 60, 61, 60, 66, 65, 68, 69, 77, 78, 64, 70, 103, 92, 120, 176, 168–9, 177, 178, 180, 186, 195–7, 193, 202, 204, 199, 200, 270, 269,275–276, 292–3, 318–320, 25, 24, 1, 4–16, 365, 375–377, 414.

[19] "The Statement on the Commemoration of Bo Aung Kyaw" (http:/ / www. burmalibrary. org/ reg. burma/ archives/ 199912/ msg00642.html). All Burma Students League. Dec 19 1999. . Retrieved 2006-10-23.

[20] "The Panglong Agreement, 1947" (http:/ / www. ibiblio. org/ obl/ docs/ panglong_agreement. htm). Online Burma/Myanmar Library. .[21] "Who Killed Aung San? — an interview with Gen. Kyaw Zaw" (http:/ / www. irrawaddy. org/ article. php?art_id=719). The Irrawaddy.

August 1997. . Retrieved 2006-10-30.[22] Boudreau, Vincent (2004) Resisting Dictatorship: Repression and Protest in Southeast Asia Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.,

pp. 37-39 (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=ZpoCNHhUe7QC& pg=PA37), ISBN 0-521-83989-0[23] "Thakin Kodaw Hmaing (1876–1964)" (http:/ / www. irrawaddymedia. com/ article. php?art_id=1836). The Irrawaddy March 1, 2000. .

Retrieved 2008-03-06.[24] Aung Zaw. "A Coup Against Than Shwe" (http:/ / www. irrawaddy. org/ opinion_story. php?art_id=14681). The Irrawaddy November 24,

2008. . Retrieved 2008-11-24.[25] "Burma Communist Party's Conspiracy to take over State Power" (http:/ / www. ibiblio. org/ obl/ docs/ BCP_Conspiracy. htm). SLORC.

August 5, 1989. .[26] "ILO seeks to charge Myanmar junta with atrocities" (http:/ / in. today. reuters. com/ news/ newsArticle. aspx?type=worldNews&

storyID=2006-11-16T163442Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-276537-1. xml& archived=False). Reuters. 2006-11-16. . Retrieved2006-11-17.

[27] ILO cracks the whip at Yangon (http:/ / www. atimes. com/ atimes/ Southeast_Asia/ GC29Ae02. html)[28] Burma leaders double fuel prices (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 2/ hi/ asia-pacific/ 6947251. stm)[29] UN envoy warns of Myanmar crisis (http:/ / english. aljazeera. net/ NR/ exeres/ 4081D23F-F1A4-46AF-BA50-D47FA2B7A4AE. htm)[30] Booth, Jenny (September 24, 2007). "Military junta threatens monks in Burma" (http:/ / www. timesonline. co. uk/ tol/ news/ world/ asia/

article2521951. ece). The Times (London). . Retrieved May 4, 2010.[31] "100,000 Protestors Flood Streets of Rangoon in "Saffron Revolution"" (http:/ / www. novinite. com/ view_news. php?id=85644). .[32] CNN. http:/ / www. cnn. com/ 2008/ WORLD/ asiapcf/ 05/ 07/ myanmar. aidcyclone/ #cnnSTCText.[33] Aid arrives in Myanmar as death toll passes 22,000, but worst-hit area still cut off - International Herald Tribune (http:/ / www. iht. com/

articles/ ap/ 2008/ 05/ 06/ asia/ AS-GEN-Myanmar-Cyclone. php)[34] The Associated Press: AP Top News at 4:25 p.m. EDT (http:/ / ap. google. com/ article/

ALeqM5g8-DEMtAE9q4i4ySQ0eV_qZefmRQD90GBUQ81)[35] The Associated Press: Official: UN plane lands in Myanmar with aid after cyclone (http:/ / ap. google. com/ article/

ALeqM5greyFH3qkj9mc9oagSoulgjN4KHgD90HICSO3)[36] "The UN resumes foreign aid flights" (http:/ / www. guardian. co. uk/ world/ 2008/ may/ 09/ cyclonenargis. burma4). The Guardian

(London). 2008-05-09. . Retrieved 2008-05-09.

History of Burma 19

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Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 0824828860, 9780824828868.• Callahan, Mary (2003). Making Enemies: War and State Building in Burma. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.• Charney, Michael W. (2009). A History of Modern Burma. Cambridge University Press.

ISBN 978-0-521-61758-1.• Charney, Michael W. (2006). Powerful Learning: Buddhist Literati and the Throne in Burma's Last Dynasty,

1752-1885. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan.•• Cooler, Richard M. (2002). "The Art and Culture of Burma". Northern Illinois University.• Dai, Yingcong (2004). "A Disguised Defeat: The Myanmar Campaign of the Qing Dynasty". Modern Asian

Studies (Cambridge University Press): 145–189.• Fernquest, Jon (Autumn 2005). "Min-gyi-nyo, the Shan Invasions of Ava (1524–27), and the Beginnings of

Expansionary Warfare in Toungoo Burma: 1486-1539". SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research, Vol. 3, No. 2.ISSN 1479-8484.

• Hall, D.G.E. (1960). Burma (3rd ed.). Hutchinson University Library. ISBN 978-1-4067-3503-1.• Harvey, G. E. (1925). History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to 10 March 1824. London: Frank Cass & Co.

Ltd.• Htin Aung, Maung (1967). A History of Burma. New York and London: Cambridge University Press.• Hudson, Bob (March 2005), "A Pyu Homeland in the Samon Valley: a new theory of the origins of Myanmar's

early urban system" (http:/ / acl. arts. usyd. edu. au/ ~hudson/ BH2005Jan. pdf), Myanmar Historical CommissionGolden Jubilee International Conference

• Kyaw Thet (1962) (in Burmese). History of Burma. Yangon: Yangon University Press.• Lieberman, Victor B. (2003). Strange Parallels: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800–1830, volume 1,

Integration on the Mainland. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-80496-7.• Mark, Karl (1853). War in Burma--The Russian Question--Curious Diplomatic Correspondence. 12 (1979 ed.).

New York: International Publishers.• Moore, Elizabeth H. (2007). Early Landscapes of Myanmar. Bangkok: River Books. ISBN 974-9863-31-3.• Myint-U, Thant (2001). The Making of Modern Burma. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-79914-7,

9780521799140.• Myint-U, Thant (2006). The River of Lost Footsteps--Histories of Burma. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

ISBN 978-0-374-16342-6, 0-374-16342-1.• Phayre, Lt. Gen. Sir Arthur P. (1883). History of Burma (1967 ed.). London: Susil Gupta.• Selth, Andrew (2012). Burma (Myanmar) Since the 1988 Uprising: A Select Bibliography. Australia: Griffith

University.• Smith, Martin John (1991). Burma: insurgency and the politics of ethnicity (Illustrated ed.). Zed Books.

ISBN 0-86232-868-3, 9780862328689.• Steinberg, David I. (2009). Burma/Myanmar: what everyone needs to know. Oxford University Press.

ISBN 0-19-539068-7, 9780195390681.• Wyatt, David K. (2003). Thailand: A Short History (2 ed.). p. 125. ISBN 978-0-300-08475-7.

History of Burma 20

External links• Factfile: Burma's history of repression (http:/ / www. timesonline. co. uk/ tol/ news/ world/ asia/ article2530607.

ece)• Biography of King Bayinnaung (r. 1551-1581) (http:/ / www. arts. chula. ac. th/ ~complit/ event/ hantawadi. htm)

U Thaw Kaung• [[University of Washington (http:/ / www. lib. washington. edu/ asp/ myanmar/ main. asp)] Library] papers by

Burmese historians Than Tun, Yi Yi, U Pe Maung Tin, Ba Shin• [[SOAS (http:/ / web. soas. ac. uk/ burma/ bulletin. htm)] Bulletin of Burma Research] articles on Burma's history• The Origins of Pagan (http:/ / acl. arts. usyd. edu. au/ ~hudson/ bobhpage. htm) Bob Hudson• The Changing Nature of Conflict Between Burma and Siam as seen from the Growth and Development of

Burmese States from the 16th to the 19th Centuries (http:/ / www. ari. nus. edu. sg/ docs/ wps/ wps06_064. pdf)Pamaree Surakiat, Asia Research Institute, Singapore, March 2006

• Online Burma/Myanmar Library (http:/ / www. burmalibrary. org/ show. php?cat=10& lo=d& sl=0) a veritablemine of information

• Burma — Yunnan — Bay of Bengal (c. 1350-1600) (http:/ / slipperybannanapeel. blogspot. com/ ) Jon Fernquest• The Royal Ark: Burma (http:/ / www. 4dw. net/ royalark/ Burma/ burma. htm) Christopher Buyers• WorldStatesmen (http:/ / www. worldstatesmen. org/ Myanmar. htm)• The Bloodstrewn Path:Burma's Early Journey to Independence (http:/ / www. bbc. co. uk/ burmese/ highlights/

story/ 2005/ 09/ 050829_vjdayspecials. shtml) BBC Burmese, September 30, 2005, Retrieved 2006-10-28• The Nu-Attlee Treaty and Let Ya-Freeman Agreement, 1947 (http:/ / www. ibiblio. org/ obl/ docs/ 1947_treaty.

htm) Online Burma/Myanmar Library• Federalism in Burma (http:/ / ibiblio. org/ obl/ show. php?cat=2015& lo=d& sl=0) Online Burma/Myanmar

Library• Burma Communist Party's Conspiracy to take over State Power and related information (http:/ / ibiblio. org/ obl/

show. php?cat=1509) Online Burma/Myanmar Library• (http:/ / www. griffith. edu. au/ __data/ assets/ pdf_file/ 0008/ 459593/ Burma-Bibliography-for-web. pdf)• Understanding Burma's SPDC Generals (http:/ / www. mizzima. com/ Solidarity/ 2006/ January/ 26-Jan-06-02.

htm) Mizzima, Retrieved 2006-10-31• Strangers in a Changed Land (http:/ / www. irrawaddy. org/ article. php?art_id=2210) Thalia Isaak, The

Irrawaddy, March–April 2001, Retrieved 2006-10-29• Behold a New Empire (http:/ / www. irrawaddy. org/ article. php?art_id=6426) Aung Zaw,The Irrawaddy,

October 2006, Retrieved 2006-10-19• Daewoo — A Serial Suitor of the Burmese Regime (http:/ / www. irrawaddy. org/ article. php?art_id=6481) Clive

Parker, The Irrawaddy, December 7, 2006, Retrieved on 2006-12-08• Heroes and Villains (http:/ / www. irrawaddymedia. com/ article. php?art_id=6883) The Irrawaddy, March 2007• Lion City Lament (http:/ / www. irrawaddy. org/ article. php?art_id=6869) Kyaw Zwa Moe, The Irrawaddy,

March 2007• Pyu Homeland in Samon Valley (http:/ / www. timemap. net/ ~hudson/ BH2005Jan. pdf) Bob Hudson 2005• The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period (http:/ / persian. packhum. org/

persian/ index. jsp?serv=pf& file=80201010& ct=0); by Sir H. M. Elliot; Edited by John Dowson; LondonTrubner Company 1867–1877. The Packard Humanities Institute (http:/ / persian. packhum. org/ persian/ index.jsp), Persian Texts in Translation.

• http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 2/ hi/ asia-pacific/ 7543347. stm Was the uprising of 1988 worth it?

Article Sources and Contributors 21

Article Sources and ContributorsHistory of Burma  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=536728024  Contributors: 172, 97198, A2Kafir, Aashaa, Academic Challenger, Adam Carr, Ahoerstemeier, Akhil Bakshi,Alakazam17, AlbertR, Altenmann, Anthonzi, Aseanfocus, Atulsnischal, Az29, BD2412, Bantman, Bayinnaung, Bazonka, Bcasterline, Bejnar, Ben Ben, Bender235, Bigbluefish, Bkell, Bkonrad,Bobak, Bobblewik, Bone1234, BonsaiViking, Brian0324, Brianski, BritishWatcher, BrownHairedGirl, C.Fred, Calaschysm, Calilasseia, Capricorn42, Cgilbert76, Charles Matthews, Chinasaur,Chipmunkdavis, Christopher Parham, Chuljin, ClaretAsh, Closedmouth, Colonies Chris, Confuzion, Cripipper, D6, DEA MAN J, DMG413, DVD R W, Dalampasigan, Daniel7785,DannyHuttonFerris, Darth Panda, Darwinek, DisillusionedBitterAndKnackered, Dittaeva, Dr. Blofeld, Dvyost, Ekyaw, Enerelt, Eominis, Everyking, EyeSerene, Fixman, Fluffernutter, FlyHigh,Fowler&fowler, GDPorHDI, Giov9, Goldom, Goodralph, Graham87, Green Giant, Gzornenplatz, H3xx, Haabet, Hadal, Hapsiainen, Hazir, Hemlock Martinis, Heron, Hintha, Historyapple,Hmains, Hu, Humboldt, Husond, Hybernator, IMSoP, Indrian, Infrogmation, Inhorw, Itai, JForget, JaGa, Jalada, JamesBWatson, Javierfv1212, Jcc1, Jiang, John of Reading, Jonel, Jonfernquest,Kaldari, Karatemyintkywe, Khazar, Kimchi.sg, Kintetsubuffalo, Kito, Koavf, Ksyrie, Kungfuadam, Kwamikagami, Kyaw, LOL, Laurence Cox, Leandrod, Ling.Nut, Maias, Marner, Marraghi,Mashford, Med, Mengkeba, MethMan47, Midway, Mitsukai, Mztourist, Nikai, Nyein8, Ocollard, Olegwiki, Opa-un, Oreoprojectr, PBS, Pavel Vozenilek, Perceval, Perspicacite, PiCo,Polocrunch, Pratyeka, R'n'B, RPIRED, Randor1980, RegentsPark, Richardtgreer, Rixon45, Rj, Rjwilmsi, Robth, Sardanaphalus, Sarsein, Savidan, Seaphoto, Sesel, Shanes, Shizhao,ShweNyarThar, SimonArlott, SimonBillenness, Skier Dude, Smalljim, Soewinhan, SqueakBox, Superm401, Tanguojeng1982, Tbhotch, The Blade of the Northern Lights, TheRanger, Thincat,Tobby72, TreasuryTag, Utergar, Uthantofburma, V2Blast, Viking880, Wagaung, Warofdreams, Wclark, WellsSouth, Wengier, Wetman, Wik, Wikiacc, Will Beback Auto, WilliamThweatt,Wllmevans, Wongsathorn, Woohookitty, Xezbeth, Yardcock, YellowMonkey, روخو, ༆, ဇာမဏီ, 193 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Pyu Realm.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Pyu_Realm.png  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: User:HybernatorFile:Pagan Empire -- 1044.PNG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Pagan_Empire_--_1044.PNG  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors:User:HybernatorFile:Pagan Empire -- Sithu II.PNG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Pagan_Empire_--_Sithu_II.PNG  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: User:HybernatorFile:Bagan, Burma.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bagan,_Burma.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0  Contributors: Corto Maltese 1999File:Map-of-southeast-asia 1400 CE.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Map-of-southeast-asia_1400_CE.png  License: Creative Commons Zero  Contributors:Javierfv1212File:Map of Taungoo Empire (1580).png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Map_of_Taungoo_Empire_(1580).png  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: User:SoewinhanFile:Restored Taungoo Dynasty.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Restored_Taungoo_Dynasty.png  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: User:SoewinhanFile:British soldiers dismantling cannons ava1885.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:British_soldiers_dismantling_cannons_ava1885.jpg  License: unknown Contributors: Hooper, Willoughby Wallace (1837-1912)File:Recorders court rangoon1868.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Recorders_court_rangoon1868.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: J. Jackson (Dunlop SmithCollection: Album of Views of India and Burma)File:Vegetable stand madraslancer mandalay1886.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Vegetable_stand_madraslancer_mandalay1886.jpg  License: unknown Contributors: Hooper, Willoughby Wallace (1837-1912)File:Rangoon river moulmein steamer1895.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Rangoon_river_moulmein_steamer1895.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Watts andSkeenFile:British soldiers patrol Burmese town Bahe.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:British_soldiers_patrol_Burmese_town_Bahe.jpg  License: Public Domain Contributors: No 9 Army Film & Photographic UnitFile:2007 Myanmar protests 7.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:2007_Myanmar_protests_7.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0  Contributors: racolesFile:Clinton and President Thein Sein.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Clinton_and_President_Thein_Sein.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Angry Lines,Hintha

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