Page 369 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

History CONTEXTS 367
A very one-sided war ensued, with overwhelmingly superior British forces
encountering only modest Burmese resistance. Mottama, Yangon and Pathein were all
seized within less than a fortnight in April, with Bago following in June and Pyay in
October. The British issued a “Proclamation of Annexation” stating that it was taking
possession of Bago and the lower half of the country up to Pyay. Konbaung
humiliation was complete.
King Mindon
The Second Anglo-Burmese War had at least one positive side effect for the Konbaung
dynasty. Following the conclusion of hostilities, King Pagan Min was dethroned in
favour of his half brother Mindon (ruled 1853–78). The most progressive of all
Konbaung rulers, Mindon saw the urgent need to modernize what was left of his
country, sending envoys to Europe and the US to learn about technological
developments while enacting numerous reforms at home aimed at reducing corruption
and modernizing the national army. He also founded a new royal capital at Mandalay
in 1857, introduced Myanmar’s first machine-made currency and encouraged trade
with Britain by acquiring steamers after the opening of the Suez Canal.
The Third Anglo-Burmese War
Mindon died in 1878 and was succeeded by his son, Thibaw (ruled 1878–85). The
British soon became concerned at Thibaw’s attempts to ally himself with the French,
while relations were further strained following the so-called “Great Shoe Question”,
when British officials who refused to remove their shoes before entering the royal palace
were banished from Mandalay.
The tipping point arrived in 1885, when a dispute over logging rights was used as
an excuse by the British to insist on further concessions from King Thibaw –
demanding not only that they to all intents be given a free commercial hand
throughout Myanmar, but also that Britain take control of all Burmese foreign policy
decisions, effectively surrendering national sovereignty and making Burma a British
colony. Faced with an impossible situation, King Thibaw granted all British demands
bar the surrender of sovereignty.
Thibaw’s many concessions notwithstanding, the British parliament decided that
the moment for the annexation of the last remaining piece of independent Myanmar
had finally arrived. The resultant Third Anglo-Burmese War was even shorter and
more one-sided than the second. British troops advanced on Mandalay virtually
unopposed, seized the palace and despatched Thibaw into exile in India (just as the
last Mughal emperor of India had been sent by the British into exile in the opposite
direction; see p.72).

Colonial Burma
Now in complete and undisputed control of the country, the British set about
remodelling their new possession in their own image, with Burma (as it was now
known) being administered – rather insultingly – as a province of British India.
Rangoon (as Yangon, already the principal city of British southern Burma, had become
known) became the new national capital, developing into one of the British Empire’s

1760 1766 1783
Death of Alaungpaya during Siege and sack of Ayutthaya by King Bodawpaya establishes
the siege of Ayutthaya Konbaung armies under King a new Konbaung capital at
Hsinbyushin Amarapura

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