Konbaung dynasty
Konbaung Empire | ||
---|---|---|
1752–1885 | ||
Anthem: စံရာတောင်ကျွန်းလုံးသူ့ (The Whole Southern Island Belongs To Him) (c. 1805-1885)[6] | ||
Capital | ||
Common languages | Burmese | |
Religion | Theravada Buddhism | |
Demonym(s) | Burmese | |
Government | Absolute monarchy | |
Monarch | ||
• 1752–1760 | Alaungpaya (first) | |
• 1763–1776 | Hsinbyushin | |
• 1782–1819 | Bodawpaya | |
• 1853–1878 | Mindon Min | |
• 1878–1885 | Thibaw (last) | |
Legislature | Burmese–Siamese Wars | 1759–1812, 1849–1855 |
1765–1769 | ||
• Conquest of Arakan | 1785 | |
1824–1826, 1852, 1885 | ||
• End of dynasty | 29 November 1885 | |
Currency | kyat (from 1852) | |
Today part of |
History of Myanmar |
---|
|
|
|
|
Myanmar portal |
The Konbaung dynasty (Burmese: ကုန်းဘောင်မင်းဆက်), also known as the Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်),[7] was the last dynasty that ruled Burma/Myanmar from 1752 to 1885. It created the second-largest empire in Burmese history[8] and continued the administrative reforms begun by the Toungoo dynasty, laying the foundations of the modern state of Burma. The reforms, however, proved insufficient to stem the advance of the British, who defeated the Burmese in all three Anglo-Burmese Wars over a six-decade span (1824–1885) and ended the millennium-old Burmese monarchy in 1885. Pretenders to the dynasty claim descent from Myat Phaya Lat, one of Thibaw's daughters.[9]
An expansionist dynasty, the Konbaung kings waged campaigns against
Throughout the Konbaung dynasty, the capital was relocated several times for religious, political, and strategic reasons.
History
Establishment
The dynasty was founded by a village chief, who later became known as
Alaungpaya's second son, Hsinbyushin, came to the throne after a short reign by his elder brother, Naungdawgyi (1760–1763). He continued his father's expansionist policy and finally took Ayutthaya in 1767, after seven years of fighting.
Relations with Siam
In 1760, Burma began a series of wars with
but after decades of war, the two countries exchanged Tenasserim (to Burma) and Lan Na (to Siam).Relations with China
In the defence of its realm, the dynasty fought four wars successfully against the Qing dynasty of China which saw the threat of the expansion of Burmese power in the East. In 1770, despite his victory over the Chinese armies, King Hsinbyushin sued for peace with China and concluded a treaty to maintain bilateral trade with the Middle Kingdom which was very important for the dynasty at that time. The Qing dynasty then opened up its markets and restored trading with Burma in 1788 after reconciliation. Thenceforth peaceful and friendly relations prevailed between China and Burma for a long time.
Relations with Vietnam
In 1823, Burmese emissaries led by George Gibson, who was the son of an English mercenary, arrived in the Vietnamese city of
Western expansion, First and Second Anglo-Burmese Wars
Faced with a powerful China and a resurgent Siam in the east, the Konbaung dynasty had ambitions to expand the Konbaung Empire westwards.
Europeans began to set up trading posts in the
The British defeated the Burmese in the
In 1837, King
His son Pagan, who became king in 1846, executed thousands – some sources say as many as 6,000 – of his wealthier and more influential subjects on trumped-up charges.[17] During his reign, relations with the British became increasingly strained. In 1852, the Second Anglo-Burmese War broke out. Pagan was succeeded by his younger brother, the progressive Mindon.
Reforms
Realising the need to modernise, the Konbaung rulers tried to enact various reforms with limited success. King
Konbaung kings extended administrative reforms begun in the Restored Toungoo dynasty period (1599–1752), and achieved unprecedented levels of internal control and external expansion. They tightened control in the lowlands and reduced the hereditary privileges of
Mindon also tried to reduce the tax burden by lowering the heavy
Mindon attempted to bring Burma into greater contact with the outside world, and hosted the Fifth Great Buddhist Synod in 1872 at Mandalay, gaining the respect of the British and the admiration of his own people.
Mindon avoided annexation in 1875 by ceding the Karenni States.
Nonetheless, the extent and pace of reforms were uneven and ultimately proved insufficient to stem the advance of British colonialism.[19]
Third Anglo-Burmese War and dethronement of the monarchy
He died before he could name a successor, and Thibaw, a lesser prince, was manoeuvred onto the throne by Hsinbyumashin, one of Mindon's queens, together with her daughter, Supayalat. (Rudyard Kipling mentions her as Thibaw's queen, and borrows her name, in his poem "Mandalay") The new King Thibaw proceeded, under Supayalat's direction, to massacre all likely contenders to the throne. This massacre was conducted by the queen.[citation needed]
The dynasty came to an end in 1885 with the forced abdication and exile of the king and the royal family to India. The British, alarmed by the consolidation of French Indochina, annexed the remainder of the country in the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885. The annexation was announced in the British parliament as a New Year gift to Queen Victoria on 1 January 1886.
Although the dynasty had conquered vast tracts of territory, its direct power was limited to its capital and the fertile plains of the Irrawaddy river valley. The Konbaung rulers enacted harsh levies and had a difficult time fighting internal rebellions. At various times, the Shan states paid tribute to the Konbaung dynasty, but unlike the Mon lands, were never directly controlled by the Burmese.
Government
The Konbaung dynasty was an
Administrative divisions
The kingdom was divided into provinces called myo (မြို့).[21][22] These provinces were administered by Myosa (မြို့စား), who were members of the royal family or the highest-ranking officials of the Hluttaw.[23] They collected revenue for the royal government, payable to the Shwedaik (Royal Treasury) in fixed instalments and retained whatever was left over.[23] Each myo was subdivided into districts called taik (တိုက်), which contained collections of villages called ywa (ရွာ).[21]
The kingdom's peripheral coastal provinces (
The outlying tributary
Royal agencies
The government was centrally administered by several advisory royal agencies, following a pattern established during the
The
- Head of the Council – the king, his heir apparent, or a high-ranking prince who presided over the Hluttaw as its nominal head.[32]
- Wunshindaw (ဝန်ရှင်တော်, Prime Minister) – served as the Chief Minister of the Hluttaw, an office established during the reign of Mindon Min and most notably served by the Kinwun Mingyi U Kaung[32][33][34]
- Four Wungyi (ဝန်ကြီး, Minister) – jointly administered the Hluttaw's administrative portfolio and shared joint responsibility for the kingdom's administration.[30][35]
- Four Wundauk (ဝန်ထောက်, Deputy Minister) – served as deputies to the Wungyi
- Myinzugyi Wun (မြင်းဇူးကြီးဝန်, lit. "Minister of the Cavalry Regiments") – as the highest regular army position, oversaw the Tatmadaw.[36]
- Athi Wun (အသည်ဝန်, lit. "Minister of the Athi") – responsible for allocating corvée labour resources and mobilisation of taxpaying commoners, called athi, during wartime[30][36]
The
- Eight Atwinwun (အတွင်းဝန်, c.f. 'Ministers of the Interior')- communicated business affairs of the Hluttaw to the king, administered internal transactions of general affairs relating to the royal court.[37]
- Thandawzin (သံတော်ဆင့်, "Heralds") – performed secretarial duties and attended king's audiences to note king's orders and forward them to Hluttaw for inscription.[38]
- Simihtunhmu (ဆီမီးထွန်းမှူး, lit. "Lamp Lighters") – kept a list of all persons sleeping in the palace[39]
- Hteindeinyanhmu (ထိန်းသိမ်းရေးမှူး, "caretakers of royal appointments") – performed menial tasks such as maintaining the palace furniture, draperies and other appointments[40]
The Shwedaik (ရွှေတိုက်) was the Royal Treasury, and as such, served as the repository of the state's precious metals and treasures.[41] Moreover, the Shwedaik retained the state's archives and maintained various records, including detailed genealogies of hereditary officials and census reports.[41][40] The Shwedaik was composed of:
- Shwedaik Wun (ရွှေတိုက်ဝန်) – Chancellor of the Exchequer[40]
- Shwedaik Saw (ရွှေတိုက်စော) – Governor of the Treasury[40]
- Shwedaik Kyat (ရွှေတိုက်ကြပ်) – Superintendent[40]
- Shwedaik Saye (ရွှေတိုက်စာရေး) – Clerk of the Treasury[40]
- Shwedaik Thawkaing (ရွှေတိုက်သော့ကိုင်) – Keeper of the Treasury Key[40]
Royal service
Each royal agency included a large retinue of middle and low level officials responsible for day-to-day affairs. These included the:
- Nakhandaw (နားခံတော်) – charged with conveying communications to and from the King and Hluttaw.[42] Also served as intermediary between royal agencies and between king and ministers.[41] Collected, sorted, interpreted reports, read proclamations at official gatherings, transmitted orders to provincial councils.[41]
- Sayedawgyi (စာရေးတော်ကြီး; great chief clerks) – performed executive level work and preliminary investigations for trials[42]
- Saye (စာရေး; clerks)
- Ameindawgyi (အမိန့်တော်ကြီး; writers of great orders) – prepared and issued royal orders after necessary preliminary steps had been taken.[42]
- Athonsaye (အသုံးစာရေး; clerks of works) – oversaw construction and repairs of all public buildings[42]
- Ahmadawye (အမှတ်တော်ကြီး; recorders of orders) – drafted orders and letters to be issued by Hluttaw[42]
- Awayyauk (အဝေးရောက်; distant arrivals) – received and read letters coming from distance before submission to ministers[42]
- Thandawgan (သံတော်ခံ) – ceremonial officers who received letters on behalf of the king[43]
and 3 classes of ceremonial officers:
- Letsaungsaye (clerks of presents) – read lists of offerings made to the King at royal functions[43]
- Yonzaw (master of ceremonies) – arranged royal functions and audiences of the King[43]
- Thissadawge (recorders of great oaths) – administered oaths of fealty to those entering the royal service[43]
Royal court
Konbaung society was centred on the king, who took many wives and fathered numerous children, creating a huge extended royal family which formed the power base of the dynasty and competed over influence at the royal court. It also posed problems of succession at the same time often resulting in royal massacres.
The Lawka Byuha Kyan (လောကဗျူဟာကျမ်း), also known as the Inyon Sadan (အင်းယုံစာတန်း), is the earliest extant work on Burmese court protocols and customs.[44] The work was written by the Inyon Wungyi Thiri Uzana, also known as the Inyon Ywaza, during the reign of Alaungpaya, the founder of the Konbaung dynasty.[45]
Royal court life in the Konbaung dynasty consisted of both codified rituals and ceremonies and those that were innovated with the progression of the dynasty. Many ceremonies were composed of Hindu ideas localised and adapted to existing traditions, both Burmese and Buddhist in origin. These rituals were also used to legitimise the rule of Burmese kings, as the Konbaung monarchs claimed descent from
Brahmins, generally known as ponna (ပုဏ္ဏား) in Burmese, served as specialists for ritual ceremonies, astrology, and devotional rites to Hindu deities at the Konbaung court.
Military
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2013) |
Royal rituals
Lavish affairs were also organised around the life ceremonies of royal family members.
Specific buildings in the royal palace served as the venue for various life ceremonies. For instance, the Great Audience Hall was where young princes underwent the
Consecration ceremonies (abhiseka)
The most significant court functions of a king's reign were the
There were 14 types of abhiseka ceremonies in total:[54]
- Rājabhiseka (ရာဇဘိသိက်) – coronation of the king
- Muddhabhiseka (မုဒ္ဓဘိသိက်) – formal vow by the king to work for the propagation of the
- Uparājabhiseka (ဥပရာဇဘိသေက) – installation of crown prince[57]
- Mahesībhiseka (မဟေသီဘိသေက) – coronation of chief queen[57]
- Maṅgalabhiseka (မင်္ဂလာဘိသေက) – held to celebrate the possession of white elephants[57]
- Siriyabhiseka (သီရိယဘိသေက) – held to renew the king's glory, held on occasion[57]
- Āyudighabhiseka (အာယုဒီဃဘိသေက) – held to gain longevity, held on occasion[57]
- Jayabhiseka (ဇေယျာဘိသေက) – held to ensure victory and success in war[57]
- Mahābhiseka (မဟာဘိသေက) – held to increase economic prosperity, held seven years after accession[57]
- Sakalabhiseka (သကလာဘိသေက) – held to ensure peace in the kingdom[57]
- Vijayabhiseka (ဝိဇယဘိသေက) – held to conquer enemies[54]
- Mandabhiseka (Manda beittheit) – held to marry the candidate to a queen of royal lineage.[58]
- Singabhiseka (Thenga beittheit) – held to recommit a king to abide by the laws, whereupon full powers for the government and administration of the country are conferred[58]
Coronation
Rajabhiseka (ရာဇဘိသိက်) – the Coronation of the king, which was presided over by Brahmins, was the most important ritual of the royal court.[57][59] The ceremony was typically held in the Burmese month of Kason, but did not necessarily occur during the beginning of a reign.[59][57] The Sasanalinkaya states that Bodawpaya, like his father, was crowned only after establishing control over the kingdom's administration and purifying the religious institutions.[59] The most important features of this ritual were: the fetching of the anointing water; the ceremonial bath; the anointment; and the king's oath.[60]
Elaborate preparations were made precisely for this ceremony. Three ceremonial pavilions (Sihasana or Lion Throne; Gajasana or Elephant Throne; and the Marasana or Peacock Throne) were constructed in a specifically designated plot of land (called the "peacock garden") for this occasion.[61] Offerings were also made to deities and Buddhist parittas were chanted.[57] Specially designated individuals, usually the daughters of dignitaries including merchants and Brahmins, were tasked with procuring anointing water midstream from a river.[62] The water was placed in the respective pavilions.[63]
At an auspicious moment, the king was dressed in the costume of a Brahma and the queen in that of a queen from devaloka.[64] The couple was escorted to the pavilions in procession, accompanied by a white horse or a white elephant.[65][64] The king first bathed his body in the Morasana pavilion, then his head in the Gajasana pavilion.[66] He then entered the Sihasana pavilion to assume his seat at the coronation throne, crafted to resemble a blooming lotus flower, made of figwood and applied gold leaf.[66] Brahmins handed him the five articles of coronation regalia (မင်းမြောက်တန်ဆာ, Min Myauk Taza):
- White umbrella (ထီးဖြူ, hti byu)[67]
- Crown, in the form of a crested headdress (မကိုဋ်, magaik)[67]
- Sceptre (သန်လျက်, thanlyet)[67]
- Sandals (ခြေနင်း, che nin)[67]
- Fly-whisk, made of yak tail (သားမြီးယပ်, thamyi yat)[67]
At his throne, eight princesses anointed the king by pouring specially procured water atop his head, each using a conch bedazzled with gems white solemnly adjuring him in formulae to rule justly.
As part of the coronation, prisoners were released.[68] The king and his pageant returned to the Palace, and the ceremonial pavilions were dismantled and cast into the river.[69] Seven days after the ceremony, the king and members of the royal family made an inaugural procession, circling the city moat on a gilt state barge, amid festive music and spectators.[58]
Installation of the Crown Prince
Uparājabhiseka (ဥပရာဇဘိသေက) – the Installation of the Uparaja (Crown Prince), in Burmese Einshe Min (အိမ်ရှေ့မင်း), was one of the most important rituals in the king's reign. The Installation Ceremony took place in the Byedaik (Privy Council).[70] The Crown Prince was invested, received appenages and insignias, and was bestowed a multitude of gifts.[71] The king also formally appointed a retinue of household staff to oversee the Prince's public and private affairs.[72] Afterward, the Crown Prince was paraded to his new Palace, commiserate with his new rank.[73] Preparations for a royal wedding with a princess, specially groomed to become the new king's consort, then commenced.[73]
Feeding of the first betel
Kun U Khun Mingala (ကွမ်းဦးခွံ့မင်္ဂလာ) – the Feeding of the First Betel ceremony was held about 75 days after the birth of a prince or princess to bolster the newborn child's health, prosperity and beauty.
Naming ceremony
Royal Ploughing Ceremony
Lehtun Mingala (လယ်ထွန်မင်္ဂလာ)
The ceremony was held at the beginning of June, at the break of the southwest monsoon.[84] For the ceremony, the king, clad in state robes (a paso with the peacock emblem (daungyut)), a long silk surcoat or tunic encrusted with jewels, a spire-like crown (tharaphu), and 24 strings of the salwe across his chest, and a gold plate or frontlet over his forehead) and his audience made a procession to the leya (royal fields).[85] At the ledawgyi, a specially designated plot of land, milk-white oxen were attached to royal ploughs covered with gold leaf, stood ready for ploughing by ministers, princes and the kings.[86] The oxen were decorated with gold and crimson bands, reins bedecked with rubies and diamonds, and heavy gold tassels hung from the gilded horns.[86] The king initiated the ploughing, and shared this duty among himself, ministers and the princes.[87] After the ceremonial ploughing of the ledawgyi was complete, festivities sprung up throughout the royal capital.[87]
Head-washing ceremony
At
Obeisance ceremony
The Obeisance ceremony was a grand ceremony held at the Great Audience Hall thrice a year where tributary princes and courtiers laid tribute, paid homage to their benefactor, the Konbaung king, and swore their allegiance to the monarchy.[47] The ceremony was held 3 times a year:
- Hnit Thit Gadaw (နှစ်သစ်ကန်တော့)[90] – Beginning of the Burmese New Year (April)[55]
- Wa-win Gadaw (ဝါဝင်ကန်တော့)[90] – Beginning of the Buddhist Lent (June or July) – required the attendance of princes, ministers and city officials[55]
- Wa-gyut Gadaw (ဝါကျွတ်ကန်တော့)[90] – End of the Buddhist Lent (October) – required the attendance of provincial governors and tributary princes (sawbwa)[55]
During this ceremony, the king was seated at the Lion Throne, along with the chief queen, to his right.[55] The Crown Prince was seated immediately before the throne in a cradle-like seat, followed by princes of the blood (min nyi min tha).[55] Constituting the audience were courtiers and dignitaries from vassal states, who were seated according to rank, known in Burmese as Neya Nga Thwe (နေရာငါးသွယ်):[55]
- Taw Neya (တော်နေရာ);[91]
- Du Neya (ဒူးနေရာ);[91]
- Sani (စနည်း);[91]
- Atwin Bawaw (အတွင်းဘဝေါ);[91]
- Apyin Bawaw (အပြင်ဘဝေါ)[91]
There, the audience paid obeisance to the monarch and renewed their allegiance to the monarch.[55] Women, barring the chief queen, were not permitted to be seen during these ceremonies.[55] Lesser queens, ministers' wives and other officials were seated in a room behind the throne: the queens were seated in the centre within the railing surrounding the flight of steps, while the wives of ministers and others sat in the space without.[55]
Ancestor worship
Throughout the Konbaung dynasty, the royal family performed
Funerals
When a king died, his royal white umbrella was broken and the great drum and gong at the palace's bell tower (at the eastern gate of the palace), was struck.[67] It was custom for members of the royal family, including the king, to be cremated: their ashes were put into a velvet bag and thrown into the river.[94] King Mindon Min was the first to break tradition; his remains were not cremated, but instead were buried intact, according to his wishes, at the place where his tomb now stands.[94] Before his burial, the King Mindon's body was laid in state before his throne at the Hmannandawgyi (Palace of Mirrors).[56][55]
Foundation sacrifice
The Foundation Sacrifice was a Burmese practice whereby human victims known as
The Konbaung monarchs followed ancient precedents and traditions to found the new royal city. Brahmins were tasked with planning these sacrificial ceremonies and determining the auspicious day according to astrological calculations and the signs of individuals best suited for sacrifice.[96] Usually, victims were selected from a spectrum of social classes, or unfortuitiously apprehended against will during the day of the sacrifice.[96] Women in the latter stages of pregnancy were preferred, as the sacrifice would yield two guardian spirits instead of one.[96]
Such sacrifices took place at the foundation of Wunbe In Palace in
Devotional rituals
Brahmins at the Konbaung court regularly performed a variety of grand devotional rituals to indigenous spirits (nat) and Hindu deities.[53] The following were the most important devotional cults:
- Ganesha (Maha Peinne in Burmese) – During the Burmese month of Nadaw (November to December), a festival for Ganesha, the god of prudence and good policy, was held. Grain first reaped from the royal fields was sent to the Mahamuni Buddha Temple as an offering to Ganesha, in three huge containers in the shape of a buffalo, bullock and prawn, in which paddy, millet, and bulrush millet were respectively placed.[98] Ganesha, mounted on a peacock, was placed on a ceremonial procession and was then brought before the king, who after paying homage, scattered pieces of silver and clothes among the poor.[98][99] Ganesha occupied a prominent place in royal ceremonies, especially as he was considered a guardian deity of the elephants.[100] Offerings to Ganesha, made in the Burmese month of Tazaungmon were established during Bodawpaya's reign.[101]
- Phaya Ko Zu (ဘုရားကိုးဆူ, lit. "Nine Deities") – This was a devotional rite performed by Khettara Brahmins. The deities referenced were either Buddhist: Buddha and the 8
- Benares.[103][104] This procession was held in the Burmese month of Tabaung.[101] Skanda was closely linked with a deity called Citrabali-mara (Cittarapali-mar[a]), both of whom were connected to rituals mentioned in Rajamattan, a standard reference for ceremonies at the royal court compiled during Bodawphaya's reign.[101]
- Hindu deities: Candi (Canni),
- Other spirits (nat): Planets, Sky, Sun, Moon, Hon (the fire spirit)[101][105]
Society and culture
Social classes
During the Konbaung dynasty, Burmese society was highly stratified. Loosely modelled on the four Hindu varnas, Konbaung society was divided into four general social classes (အမျိုးလေးပါး) by descent:[91]
- Rulers (မင်းမျိုး) or Khattiya (ခတ္တိယ)[106]
- Ritualists (ပုဏ္ဏားမျိုး) or Brahmana (ဗြာဟ္မဏ)[106]
- Merchants (သူဌေးမျိုး) or Vessa (ဝေဿ)[106]
- Commoners (ဆင်းရဲသားမျိုး) or Tudda (သုဒ္ဒ)[106]
Society also distinguished between the free and slaves (ကျွန်မျိုး), who were indebted persons or
), but could belong to one of the four classes. There was also distinction between taxpayers and non-taxpayers. Tax-paying commoners were called athi (အသည်), whereas non-taxpaying individuals, usually affiliated to the royal court or under government service, were called ahmuhtan (အမှုထမ်း).Outside of hereditary positions, there were two primary paths to influence: joining the military (မင်းမှုထမ်း) and joining the
Sumptuary laws
Sumptuary laws called yazagaing dictated life and consumption for Burmese subjects in the Konbaung kingdom, everything from the style of one's house to clothing suitable to one's social standing from regulations concerning funerary ceremonies and the coffin to be used to usage of various speech forms based on rank and social status.[107][108][109] In particular, sumptuary laws in the royal capital were exceedingly strict and the most elaborate in character.[110]
For instance, sumptuary laws forbade ordinary Burmese subjects to build houses of stone or brick and dictated the number of tiers on the ornamental spired roof (called pyatthat) allowed above one's residence— the royal palace's Great Audience Hall and the 4 main gates of the royal capital, as well as monasteries, were allowed 9 tiers while those of the most powerful tributary princes (sawbwa) were permitted 7, at most.[111][112]
Sumptuary laws ordained 5 types of funerals and rites accorded to each: the king, royal family members, holders of ministerial offices, merchants and those who possessed titles, and peasants (who received no rites at death).[113]
Sumptuary regulations regarding dress and ornamentation were carefully observed. Designs with the
Demography
Throughout the Konbaung dynasty, cultural integration continued. For the first time in history, the
Captives from various military campaigns in their hundreds and thousands were brought back to the kingdom and resettled as hereditary servants to royalty and nobility or dedicated to
A small community of foreign scholars, missionaries and merchants also lived in Konbaung society. Besides
Among the most visible non-
- Manipur – acquired with the conquest of Manipur; perhaps from Bengal, since Manipur was Hinduised by Bengali Brahmins in the 1700s[123]
- Arakan – acquired with the conquest of Arakan in 1785 by King Bodawpaya's son, Thado Minsaw[123]
- Sri Ksetra or 14th century Sagaing[123]
- Benares – Indian Brahmins from Benares who arrived in upper Burma between the late 1700s to early 1800s.[124]
Literature and arts
The evolution and growth of
The Siamese captives carried off from Ayutthaya as part of the
During the Konbaung period, the techniques of
In the earlier part of the dynasty between 1789 and 1853, the Amarapura style of Buddha image statuary art developed. Artisans used a unique style using wood gild with gold leaf and red lacquer. The rounder faced image of the Buddha from this period may have been influenced by the capture of the Mahamuni Image from Arakan.[130] After Mindon Min moved the capital to Mandalay, a new Mandalay style of Buddha images developed, depicting a new curly-haired Buddha image and using alabaster and bronze as materials. This later style would be retained through the British colonial period.[131]
Architecture
Burmese dynasties had a long history of building regularly planned cities along the Irawaddy valley between the 14th to 19th century. Town planning in pre-modern Burma reached its climax during the Konbaung period with cities such as Mandalay. Alaungpaya directed many town planning initiatives. He built many small fortified towns with major defences. One of these, Rangoon, was founded in 1755 as a fortress and sea harbor. The city had an irregular plan with stockades made of teak logs on a ground rampart. Rangoon had six city gates with each gate flanked by massive brick towers with typical merlons with cross-shaped embrasures. The stupa of Shwedagon, Sule and Botataung were located outside the city walls. The city had main roads paved with bricks and drains along the sides.[132]
This period also saw a proliferation of stupas and temples with developments in stucco techniques. Wooden monasteries of this period intricately decorated with wood carvings of the
Religion
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (October 2013) |
Monastic and lay elites around the Konbaung kings, particularly from Bodawpaya's reign, launched a major reformation of Burmese intellectual life and monastic organisation and practice known as the Sudhamma Reformation. It led to, amongst other things, Burma's first proper state histories.[133]
Rulers
No | Formal title
in Pali |
Title used by chronicles | Lineage | Reign | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Title | Literal meaning | |||||
1 | Sīri Pavara Vijaya Nanda Jatha Mahādhammarāja | Alaungpaya | Future Buddha-King | village chief | 1752–1760 | Founder of the dynasty and the Third Burmese Empire, invaded Ayutthaya. |
2 | Siripavaradhammarāja | Naungdawgyi | Royal Elder Brother | son | 1760–1763 | Invaded Ayutthaya with his father. |
3 | Sirisūriyadhamma Mahadhammarāja Rājadhipati | Hsinbyushin | Lord of the White Elephant | brother | 1763–1776 | Invaded and sacked Ayutthaya, invaded Chiang Mai and Laos, invaded Manipur, successfully repulsed four Chinese invasions. |
4 | Mahādhammarājadhirāja | Singu Min | Singu King | son | 1776–1781 | |
5 | - | Phaungkaza Maung Maung | Lord of Phaungka Younger Brother | cousin (son of Naungdawgyi) | 1782 | The shortest reign in Konbaung history of just over one week. |
6 | Siripavaratilokapaṇdita Mahādhammarājadhirāja | Bodawpaya | Royal Lord Grandfather | uncle (son of Alaungpaya) | 1782–1819 | Invaded and annexed Arakan, invaded Rattanakosin (Bangkok). |
7 | Siri Tribhavanaditya Pavarapaṇdita Mahādhammarajadhirāja | Bagyidaw | Royal Elder Uncle | grandson | 1819–1837 | Invaded Ayutthaya with his grandfather, invaded Assam and Manipur, defeated in the First Anglo-Burmese War. |
8 | Siri Pavarāditya Lokadhipati Vijaya Mahādhammarājadhirāja | Tharrawaddy Min | Tharrawaddy King | brother | 1837–1846 | Fought in the First Anglo-Burmese War as Prince of Tharrawaddy. |
9 | Siri Sudhamma Tilokapavara Mahādhammarājadhirāja | Pagan Min | Pagan King | son | 1846–1853 | Overthrown by Mindon after his defeat in the Second Anglo-Burmese War. |
10 | Siri Pavaravijaya Nantayasapaṇḍita Tribhavanāditya Mahādhammarājadhirāja | Mindon Min | Mindon King | half-brother | 1853–1878 | Sued for peace with the British; had a very narrow escape in a palace rebellion by two of his sons but his brother Crown Prince Ka Naung was killed.
|
11 | Siripavara Vijayānanta Yasatiloka Dhipati Paṇḍita Mahādhammarājadhirāja | Thibaw Min | Thibaw King | son | 1878–1885 | The last king of Burma, forced to abdicate and exiled to India after his defeat in the Third Anglo-Burmese War. |
Note: Naungdawgyi was the eldest brother of Hsinbyushin and Bodawpaya who was the grandfather of Bagyidaw who was Mindon's elder uncle. They were known by these names to posterity, although the formal titles at their coronation by custom ran to some length in Pali; Mintayagyi paya (Lord Great King) was the equivalent of Your/His Majesty whereas Hpondawgyi paya (Lord Great Glory) would be used by the royal family.
Family tree
1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alaungpaya (1752–1760) | Yun San | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3 | 6 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Me Hla | Hsinbyushin (1763–1776) | Bodawpaya (1782–1819) | Naungdawgyi (1760–1763) | Shin Hpo U | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Singu Min (1776–1781) | Thado Minsaw | Phaungka (1782) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
7 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bagyidaw (1819–1837) | Tharrawaddy (1837–1846) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pagan[N 1] (1846–1853) | Mindon[N 2] (1853–1878) | Laungshe Mibaya | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thibaw (1878–1885) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pretenders
After the abolition of the monarchy, the title of Royal Householder of the Konbaung dynasty nominally passed to Myat Phaya Lat, Thibaw's second daughter, as the King's eldest daughter renounced her royal titles to be with an Indian commoner.[9]
Thibaw's third daughter
After the death of Myat Phaya Lat, her grandson-in-law Taw Phaya became the nominal Royal Householder. Taw Phaya was the son of Myat Phaya Galay, the brother of Taw Phaya Gyi and the husband of Myat Phaya Lat's granddaughter Hteik Su Gyi Phaya.[135] Upon Taw Phaya's death in 2019, it is unclear who serves as the Royal Householder. Soe Win, the eldest son of Taw Phaya Gyi is assumed to be the Royal Householder as there is little public information about Taw Phaya's children.[136]
See also
- History of Burma
Citations
- ^ တက္ကသိုလ်စိန်တင် (June 2005). သီပေါဘုရင်နှင့် စုဖုရားလတ် [King Thibaw and Supayalat]. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
- ^ Mister Maung Hmaing (1914). ဒေါင်းဋီကာ [Peacock Details]. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
- ^ ဝရဇိန် (ဆရာစံမြေ) (September 2011). မြန်မာ့သမိုင်းဝင်အလံများနှင့် မြန်မာခေါင်းဆောင်မျာ [Myanmar's Historical Flags And Myanmar Leaders]. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
- ^ Page 6 Archived 21 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine, Part 2, Treatise about State Seals and State Flags Used Through Successive Periods In Myanmar.
Presenter = Yi Yi Nyunt, Director, Nationalities Youth Resources Development Degree College Sagaing, Department of Education and Practising, Ministry of Border Affairs, Republic of the Union of Myanmar, 5 February 2014 - ^ ဗန်းမော်တင်အောင် [in Burmese]. မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်သမိုင်း [Myanmar State History]. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
- ^ "စံရာတောင်ကျွန်းမှသည် မြူမှောင်ဝေကင်းသို့". Archived from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
- from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
- ISBN 9781229124791.
- ^ a b "The "Second Princess", daughter of King Thibaw". Lost Foot Steps (in Burmese). Thant Myint-U. Archived from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ^ Phayre 1883, p. 153.
- ^ Lieberman 2003, p. 184–187.
- ^ Dai 2004, p. 145–189.
- ^ Wyatt 2003, p. 125.
- ^ Lost Footsteps. "Diplomatic relations between Burma and Vietnam". Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
- ^ Charney, Michael W. (2000). "Chinese Business in Penang and Tenasserim (Burma) in the 1820s: A Glimpse from a Vietnamese Travelogue" (PDF). Journal of the South Seas Society. 55: 48–60. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
- ^ Myint-U 2006, p. 109.
- ^ Sanderson Beck. "Burma, Malaya and Siam 1800–1950". Archived from the original on 4 March 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2007.
- ^ Lieberman 1996, p. 184-187.
- ^ Myint-U 2001.
- ^ Surakiat 2006, p. 8, 11, 25.
- ^ a b Bird 1897, p. 104.
- ^ Seekins 2006, p. 51.
- ^ a b c Nisbet 1901, p. 153.
- ^ a b Nisbet 1901, p. 154.
- ^ Nisbet 1901, p. 154-155.
- ^ a b c Myint-U 2001, p. 77.
- ^ Philips 1951, p. 117, 121.
- ^ Scott 1882, p. 102.
- ^ Seekins 2006, p. 50.
- ^ a b c d Nisbet 1901, p. 152.
- ^ Taw 1913, p. 47.
- ^ a b Nisbet 1901, p. 156.
- ^ Myint-U 2001, p. 157-158.
- ^ Myint-U 2001, p. 133.
- ^ Myint-U 2001, p. 65.
- ^ a b c Myint-U 2001, p. 66.
- ^ Nisbet 1901, p. 159.
- ^ Nisbet 1901, p. 160.
- ^ Nisbet 1901, p. 160-161.
- ^ a b c d e f g Nisbet 1901, p. 161.
- ^ a b c d Myint-U 2001, p. 67.
- ^ a b c d e f Nisbet 1901, p. 157.
- ^ a b c d Nisbet 1901, p. 158.
- ^ Working People's Daily 1988.
- ^ Myint-U 2001, p. 70.
- ^ The Glass Palace Chronicle of the Kings of Burma (PDF). Translated by Pe Maung Tin; Luce, G . H . London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press. 1923. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 January 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ a b c d Nisbet 1901, p. 205.
- ^ Leider 2005, p. 160-161.
- ^ Leider 2005, p. 159.
- ^ a b Leider 2005, p. 168.
- ^ a b Leider 2005, p. 169.
- ^ Leider 2005, p. 177.
- ^ a b c d Myint-U 2001, p. 57.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Leider 2005, p. 175.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l DAS 1963, p. 27.
- ^ a b c DAS 1963, p. 29.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Yi 1982, p. 136.
- ^ a b c Scott 1882, p. 450.
- ^ a b c Leider 2005, p. 174.
- ^ Yi 1982, p. 147.
- ^ Yi 1982, p. 137.
- ^ Yi 1982, p. 137-138.
- ^ Yi 1982, p. 138.
- ^ a b Yi 1982, p. 139.
- ^ a b c d e Harvey 1925, p. 325.
- ^ a b c Yi 1982, p. 140.
- ^ a b c d e f Nisbet 1901, p. 204.
- ^ a b Yi 1982, p. 141.
- ^ Yi 1982, p. 142.
- ^ Yi 1982, p. 129.
- ^ Yi 1982, p. 129-135.
- ^ Yi 1982, p. 131-135.
- ^ a b Yi 1982, p. 135.
- ^ a b Yi 1982, p. 105.
- ^ a b c Yi 1982, p. 106.
- ^ a b Yi 1982, p. 108.
- ^ a b c Yi 1982, p. 107.
- ^ a b Yi 1982, p. 109.
- ^ Yi 1982, p. 106-7.
- ^ a b c d e Yi 1982, p. 110.
- ^ Also known as Mingala Ledaw (လယ်တော်မင်္ဂလာ) or Ledwin Mingala.
- ^ Scott 1882, p. 257.
- ^ Scott 1882, p. 257-258.
- ^ Scott 1882, p. 258.
- ^ Scott 1882, p. 259.
- ^ a b Scott 1882, p. 260.
- ^ a b Scott 1882, p. 261.
- ^ Nisbet 1901, p. 206.
- ^ Yi 1982, p. 124.
- ^ a b c Scott 1900, p. 94.
- ^ a b c d e f MLC 1993.
- ^ a b DAS 1963, p. 28.
- ^ a b c d Harvey 1925, p. 327-328.
- ^ a b DAS 1963, p. 23.
- ^ a b Harvey 1925, p. 321.
- ^ a b c d e f g h DAS 1963, p. 19.
- ^ Scott 1882, p. 482.
- ^ a b DAS 1963, p. 34.
- ^ Scott 1900, p. 103.
- ^ Leider 2005, p. 171.
- ^ a b c d Leider 2005, p. 173.
- ^ Leider 2005, p. 170-171.
- ^ a b Leider 2005, p. 172.
- ^ Said Brahmin had the following issue: by the Govinda-maharajinda-aggamahadhammarajaguru.
- ^ Leider 2005, p. 170.
- ^ a b c d Myint-U 2001, p. 31.
- ^ a b c d Scott 1882, p. 411.
- ^ Scott 1882, p. 406-407.
- ^ Andrus 1947, p. x.
- ^ Scott 1882, p. 406.
- ^ Nisbet 1901, p. 15.
- ^ Cocks 1919, p. 161.
- ^ Scott 1882, p. 411-412.
- ^ Scott 1882, p. 409.
- ^ Scott 1882, p. 409-10.
- ^ a b Symes 1800.
- ^ a b Findlay & O'Rourke 2007, p. 277.
- ^ Myint-U 2006, p. 126.
- ^ Yegar 1972, p. 10.
- ^ MHRJ 2007, p. 57.
- ^ Fleischmann 1981, p. 49.
- ^ Peletz 2007, p. 73.
- ^ a b c Leider 2005, p. 178.
- ^ Leider 2005, p. 182.
- ^ Lieberman 2003, p. 202–206.
- ^ Brandon, p. 27
- ^ Phayre 1883.
- ^ a b Cooler, Richard. "The Post Pagan Period – 14th To 20th Centuries Part 3". Northern Illinois University.
- ^ Raghavan, V. (1979). "Preservation of Palm Leaf and Parabaik Manuscripts and Plan for Compilation of a Union Catalogue of Manuscripts" (PDF). UNESCO.
- ^ "Amarapura period: 1789 – 1853". Original Buddhas.
- ^ "Mandalay period: 1853 – 1948". Original Buddhas.
- from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
- ^ Charney 2006: 96–107
- ^ "In memory of Taw Paya Galay, a prince of a man". The Myanmar Times. 30 July 2012. Archived from the original on 1 January 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ^ Jim Pollard (10 February 2018). "The right to remember Myanmar's last king". Asia Times. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ^ Zuzakar Kalaung (2 November 2017). "We Were Kings: Burma's lost royal family". The Myanmar Times. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
Notes
- ^ The seal titled as "Seal of the State of Myanmar" stamped on the royal orders issued by King Thibaw
- ^ A swallowtail with white field charged with a peacock biting a flower branch on a red disk in the centre of the field
References
- "Burma Press Summary". Working People's Daily. 3 March 1988. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
- Andrus, James Russell (1947). Burmese Economic Life. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804703154.
- Bird, George W. (1897). Wanderings in Burma. F.J. Bright & Sons.
- Charney, Michael W. (2006). Powerful Learning: Buddhist Literati and the Throne in Burma's Last Dynasty, 1752–1885. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan.
- Cocks, Samuel William (1919). A Short History of Burma. Macmillan and Company, limited.
- The Mandalay Palace (PDF). Rangoon: Directorate of Archaeological Survey. 1963. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 January 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
- Dai, Yingcong (2004). "A Disguised Defeat: The Myanmar Campaign of the Qing Dynasty". Modern Asian Studies. 38. Cambridge University Press: 145–189. S2CID 145784397.
- Findlay, Ronald; O'Rourke, Kevin H. (2007). Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691118543.
- Fleischmann, Klaus (1981). Arakan, Konfliktregion zwischen Birma und Bangladesh: Vorgeschichte und Folgen des Flüchtlingsstroms von 1978 (in German). Vol. 121. Institut für Asienkunde Hamburg: Mitteilungen des Instituts für Asienkunde. ISBN 9783921469804.
- 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.
- Koenig, William J. (1990). "The Burmese Polity, 1752–1819: Politics, Administration, and Social Organization in the early Kon-baung Period". Michigan Papers on South and Southeast Asia (34). 1990.
- Leider, Jacques P. (2009). King Alaungmintaya's Golden Letter to King George II (7 May 1756) (PDF). Hannover: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Bibliothek. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
- Leider, Jacques P. (2005). "Specialists for Ritual, Magic and Devotion: The Court Brahmins of the Konbaung Kings" (PDF). The Journal of Burma Studies. 10: 159–180. S2CID 162305789. Archived from the original(PDF) on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
- Lieberman, Victor B. (1996). "Political Consolidation in Burma Under the Early Konbaung Dynasty, 1752-c. 1820". Journal of Asian History. 30 (2): 152–168. JSTOR 41931038.
- 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.
- Letwe Nawrahta and Twinthin Taikwun (1770). Hla Thamein (ed.). Alaungpaya Ayedawbon (in Burmese) (1961 ed.). Ministry of Culture, Union of Burma.
- Maung Maung Tin, U (1905). Konbaung Hset Maha Yazawin (ကုန်းဘောင်ဆက်မဟာရဇဝင်) (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3 (2004 ed.). Yangon: Department of Universities History Research, University of Yangon.
- "SEAlang Library Burmese Lexicography". Myanmar–English Dictionary. Myanmar Language Commission. 1993. ISBN 1-881265-47-1.
- Myint-U, Thant (2001). The Making of Modern Burma. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521799140.
- Myint-U, Thant (2006). The River of Lost Footsteps—Histories of Burma. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-16342-6.
- Nisbet, John (1901). Burma Under British Rule—and Before. Vol. 1. Archbald Constable & Company.
- Peletz, Michael G. (2007). Gender Pluralism: Southeast Asia Since Early Modern Times. Routledge. ISBN 9780203880043.
- Phayre, Arthur P. (1883). History of Burma (1967 ed.). London: Susil Gupta.
- Pollak, Oliver B. (1976). "Dynasticism and Revolt: Crisis of Kingship in Burma, 1837–1851". Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. 7 (2): 187–196. S2CID 154331466.
- Surakiat, Pamaree (March 2006). 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 (PDF). Asia Research Institute. pp. 8, 11, 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 July 2015.
- Philips, Cyril Henry (1951). Handbook of Oriental History. Vol. 6. University of London School of Oriental and African Studies. pp. 117, 121. ISBN 9780901050168.
- Scott, James George (1882). The Burman, His Life and Notions. London: Macmillan.
- Scott, J. George (1900). Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan states (PDF). Vol. 2. Superintendent, Government Printing. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
- Taw, Sein Ko (1913). Burmese Sketches. British Burma Press.
- Seekins, Donald M. (2006). Historical Dictionary of Burma (Myanmar). Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810864863.
- Symes, Michael (1800). An Account of an Embassy to the Kingdom of Ava, sent by the Governor-General of India, in the year 1795 (PDF). London: SOAS Spring 2006. Archived(PDF) from the original on 21 November 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
- Wyatt, David K. (2003). History of Thailand (2 ed.). Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-08475-7.
- "Myanmar historical research journal". Myanmar Historical Research Journal (in Burmese) (19). တက္ကသိုလ်များသမိုင်းသုတေသနဌာန. 2007.
- Yegar, Moshe (1972). The Muslims of Burma. Otto Harrassowitz. ISBN 9783447013574.
- Yi, Yi (1982). "Life at the Burmese Court under the Konbaung Kings" (PDF). Silver Jubilee Publication (ငွေရတုသဘင် အထိမ်းအမှတ် စာစောင်). Rangoon: Historical Research Department: 100–147. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
External links
- Forty Years in Burma John Ebenezer Marks, London: Hutchinson & Co., 1917
- The Last Queen of Burma Kenneth Champeon, The Irrawaddy, July 2003
- Before and after the wheel: Pre-colonial and colonial states and transportation in mainland Southeast Asia and West Africa Michael Charney, HumaNetten 37 2016.
- Ayutthaya and the End of History:Thai Views of Burma Revisted Min Zin, The Irrawaddy, August 2000
- A rare meeting with the last of Burma's royals The Daily Telegraph, 26 February 2008
- Myanmar's last royal laments a crumbling nation Reuters, 10 March 2008