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BURMA
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BURMA , a See also: province of See also:British See also:India, including the former See also:kingdom of See also:independent Burma, as well as British Burma, acquired by the British See also:Indian See also:government in the two See also:wars of 1826 and 1852. It is divided into Upper and See also:Lower Burma, the former being the territory annexed on 1st See also:January 1886. The province lies to the See also:east of the See also:Bay of See also:Bengal, and covers a range of See also:country extending from the Pakchan See also:river in 90 55' See also:north See also:latitude to the Naga and Chingpaw, or Kachin hills, lying roughly between the 27th and 28th degrees of north latitude; and from the Bay of Bengal on the See also:west to the See also:Mekong river, the boundary of the dependent Shan States on the east, that is to say, roughly, between the 92nd and Tooth degrees of east See also:longitude. The extreme length from north to See also:south is almost 1200 m., and the broadest See also:part, which is in about latitude 210 north, is 575 M. from east to west. On the N. it is bounded by the dependent See also:state of See also:Manipur, by the See also:Mishmi hills, and by portions of See also:Chinese territory; on the E. by the Chinese Shan States, portions of the province of Yunnan, the See also:French province of Indo-See also:China, and the Siamese Shan, or Lao States and See also:Siam; on the S. by the Siamese See also:Malay States and the Bay of Bengal; and on the W. by the Bay of Bengal and See also:Chittagong. The See also:coast-See also:line from Taknaf, the mouth of the Naaf, in the See also:Akyab See also:district on the north, to the See also:estuary of the Pakchan at Maliwun on the south, is about 1200 M. The See also:total See also:area of the province is estimated at 238,738 sq. m., of which Burma proper occupies 168,573 sq. m., the See also:Chin hills 10,250 sq. m., and the Shan States, which comprise the whole of the eastern portion of the province, some 59,915 sq. m. Natural Divisions.—The province falls into three natural divisions: See also:Arakan with the Chin hills, the See also:Irrawaddy See also:basin, and the old province of See also:Tenasserim, together with the portion of the Shan and See also:Karen-ni states in the basin of the See also:Salween, and part of Kengtung in the western basin of the Mekong. Of these Arakan is a See also:strip of country lying on the seaward slopes of the range of hills known as the Arakan Yomas. It stretches from Cape Negrais on the south to the Naaf estuary, which divides it from the Chittagong See also:division of Eastern Bengal and See also:Assam on the north, and includes the districts of See also:Sandoway, See also:Kyaukpyu, Akyab and See also:northern Arakan, an area of some 18,540 sq. m. The northern part of this See also:tract is barren hilly country, but in the west and south are See also:rich alluvial plains containing some of the most fertile lands of the province. Northwards See also:lie the Chin and some part of the Kachin hills.To the east of the Arakan division, and separated from it by the Arakan Yomas, lies the See also:
To the east lies a tract of country which, though geographically a part of the Irrawaddy basin, is cut off from it by the Yomas, and forms a See also: separate See also:system draining into the Sittang river. The northern portion of this tract, which on the east touches the basin of the Salween river, is hilly; the See also:remainder towards the confluence of the Salween, Gyaing and Attaran rivers consists of broad fertile plains. The whole is comprised in the districts of See also:Toungoo and See also:Thaton, part of the Karen-ni hills, with the Salween hill tract and the northern parts of See also:Amherst, which See also:form the northern portion of the Tenasserim administrative division. The third natural division of Burma is the old province of Tenasserim, which, constituted in 1826 with See also:Moulmein as its See also:capital, formed the See also:nucleus from which the British supremacy throughout Burma has grown. It is a narrow strip of country lying between the Bay of Bengal and the high range of hills which form the eastern boundary of the province towards Siam. It comprises the districts of See also:Mergui and See also:Tavoy and a part of Amherst, and includes also the Mergui See also:Archipelago. The See also:surface of this part of the country is mountainous and much intersected with streams. Northward from this lies the See also:major portion of the Southern Shan States and Karen-ni and a narrowing strip along the Salween of the Northern Shan States, Mountains.—Burma proper is encircled on three sides by a See also:wall of See also:mountain ranges. The Arakan Yomas starting from Cape Negrais extend northwards more or less parallel with the coast till they join the Chin and Naga hills. They then form part of a system of ranges which See also:curve north of the sources of the Chindwin river, and with the Kumon range and the hills of the See also:jade and See also:Amber mines, make up a highland tract separated from the great Northern Shan plateau by the gorges of the Irrawaddy river. On the east the Kachin, Shan and Karen hills, extending from the valley of the Irrawaddy into China far beyond the Salween See also:gorge, form a continuous barrier and boundary, and tail off into a narrow range which forms the eastern See also:watershed of the Salween and separates Tenasserim from Siam. The highest See also:peak of the Arakan Yomas, Liklang, rises nearly ,o,000 ft. above the sea, and in the eastern Kachin hills, which run northwards from the state of Mong Mit to join the high range dividing the basins of the Irrawaddy and the Salween, are two peaks, Sabu and Worang, which rise to a height of 11,2oo ft. above the sea.The Kumon range See also: running down from the Hkamti country east of Assam to near Mogaung ends in a peak known as Shwedaunggyi, which reaches some 5750 ft. There are several peaks in the Ruby Mines district which rise beyond 7000 ft. and Loi See also:Ling in the Northern Shan States reaches 9000 ft. Compared with these ranges the Pegu Yomas assume the proportions of See also:mere hills. Popa, a detached peak in the Myingyan district, belongs to this system and rises to a height of nearly 5000 ft., but it is interesting mainly as an See also:extinct See also:volcano, a landmark and an See also:object of superstitious See also:folklore, throughout the whole of Central Burma. Mud volcanoes occur at Minbu, but they are not in any sense mountains, resembling rather the hot springs which are found in many parts of Burma. They are merely craters raised above the level of the surrounding country by the gradual See also:accretion of the soft oily mud, which over-flows at frequent intervals whenever a See also:discharge of See also:gas occurs. Spurs of the Chin hills run down the whole length of the Lower Chindwin district, almost to Sagaing, and one hill, Powindaung, is particularly noted on See also:account of its innumerable See also:cave temples, which are said to hold no fewer than 446444 images of See also:Buddha. Huge caves, of which the most noted are the See also:Farm Caves, occur in the hills near Moulmein, and they too are full of See also:relics of their See also:ancient use as temples, though now they are chiefly visited in connexion with the bats, whose See also:flight viewed from a distance, as they issue from the caves, resembles a See also:cloud of See also:smoke. Rivers.—Of the rivers of Burma the Irrawaddy is the most important. It rises possibly beyond the confines of Burma in the unexplored regions, where India, See also:Tibet and China meet, and seems to be formed by the junction of a number of considerable streams of no great length. Two rivers, the Mali and the N'See also:mai, See also:meeting about latitude 25' 45' some 150 m. north of Bhamo, contribute chiefly to its See also:volume, and during the dry weather it is navigable for steamers up to their confluence. Up to Bhamo, a distance of 900 M. from the sea, it is navigable throughout the See also:year, and its See also:chief tributary in Burma, the Chindwin, is also navigable for steamers for 300 M. from its junction with the Irrawaddy at Pakokku.The Chindwin, called in its upper reaches the Tanai, rises in the hills south-west of Thama, and flows due north till it enters the south-east corner of the Hukawng valley, where it turns north-west and continues in that direction cutting the valley into two almost equal parts until it reaches its north-west range, when it turns almost due south and takes the name of the Chindwin. It is a See also: swift clear river, fed in its upper reaches by numerous mountain streams. The Mogaung river, rising in the watershed which divides the Irrawaddy and the Chindwin drainages, flows south and south-east for 18o m. before it joins the Irrawaddy, and is navigable for steamers as far as Kamaing for about four months in the year. South of Thayetmyo, where arms of the Arakan Yomas approach the river and almost meet that See also:spur of the Pegu Yomas which formed till 1886 the northern boundary of British Burma, the valley of the Irrawaddy opens out again, and at Yegin Mingyi near Myanaung the See also:influence of the See also:tide is first See also:felt, and the delta may be said to begin. The so-called rivers of the delta, the Ngawun, Pyamalaw, Panmawaddy, Pyinzalu and Pantanaw, are simply the larger mouths of the Irrawaddy, and the whole country towards the sea is a See also:close network of creeks where there are few or no roads and boats take the See also:place of carts for every purpose. There is, however, one true river of some See also:size, the Hlaing, which rises near Prome, flows southwards and meets the Pegu river and the Pazundaung See also:creek near Rangoon, and thus forms the estuary which is known as the Rangoon river and constitutes the See also:harbour of Rangoon. East of the Rangoon river and still within the deltaic area, though cut off from the main delta by the southern end of the Pegu Yomas, lies the mouth of the Sittang. This river, rising in the Sham-Karen hills, flows first due north and then southward through the Kyaukse, Yamethin and Toungoo districts, its line being followed by the Mandalay-Rangoon railway as far south as Nyaunglebin in the Pegu district. At Toungoo it is narrow, but below Shwegyin it widens, and at Sittang it is See also:half a mile broad. It flows into the Gulf of See also:Martaban, and near its mouth its course is constantly changing owing to erosion and corresponding accretions. The second river in the province in point of size is the Salween, a huge river, believed from the volume of its waters to rise in the Tibetan mountains to the north of See also:Lhasa. It is in all See also:probability actually longer than the Irrawaddy, but it is not to be compared to that river in importance.It is, in fact, walled in on either See also: side, with See also:banks varying in British territory from 3000 to 6000 ft. high and at See also:present unnavigable owing to serious rapids in Lower Burma and at one or two places in the Shan States, but quite open to See also:traffic for considerable reaches in its See also:middle course. The Gyaing and the Attaran rivers meet the Salween at its mouth, and the three rivers form the harbour of Moulmein, the second seaport of Burma. Lakes.—The largest See also:lake in the province is Indawgyi in the Myitkyina district. It has an area of nearly 100 sq. m. and is surrounded on three sides by ranges of hills, but is open to the north where it has an outlet in the Indaw river. In the See also:highlands of the Shan hills there are the Inle lakes near Yawnghwe, and in the Katha district also there is another Indaw which covers some 6o m. Other lakes are the Paunglin lake in Minbu district, the Inma lake in Prome, the Tu and Duya in See also:Henzada, the Shahkegyi and the Inyegyi in See also:Bassein, the sacred lake at Ye in Tenasserim, and the Nagamauk, Panzemyaung and WalonbyaninArakan. The Meiktila lake covers an area of some 5 sq. m., but it is to some extent at least an artificial See also:reservoir. In the See also:heart of the delta numerous large lakes or marshes abounding in See also:fish are formed by the overflow of the Irrawaddy river during the See also:rainy See also:season, but these either assume very diminutive proportions or disappear altogether in the dry season. See also:Climate.—The climate of the delta is cooler and more temperate than in Upper Burma, and this is shown in the fairer complexion and stouter physique of the See also:people of the lower province as compared with the inhabitants of the drier and hotter upper districts as far as Bhamo, where there is a great infusion of other types of the Tibeto-Burman See also:family. North of the apex of the delta and the boundary between the deltaic and inland tracts, the rainfall gradually lessens as far as Minbu, where what was formerly called the rainless zone commences and extends as far as Katha. The rainfall in the coast districts varies from about 200 in. in the Arakan and Tenasserim divisions to an See also:average of 90 in Rangoon and the adjoining portion of the Irrawaddy delta. In the extreme north of Upper Burma the rainfall is rather less than in the country adjoining Rangoon, and in the dry zone the See also:annual average falls as See also:low as 20 and 30 in.The temperature varies almost as much as the rainfall. It is highest in the central zone, the mean of the maximum readings in such districts as Magwe, Myingyan, Kyaukse, Mandalay and Shwebo in the See also:
See also: Nest of this line the rocks are chiefly See also:Tertiary and See also:Quaternary; east of it they are mostly Palaeozoic or gneissic. In the western mountain ranges the beds are thrown into839 a See also:series of folds which form a See also:gentle curve running from south to north with its convexity facing westward. There is an axial zone of Cretaceous and Lower See also:Eocene, and this is flanked on each side by the Upper Eocene and the See also:Miocene, while the valley of the Irrawaddy is occupied chiefly by the See also:Pliocene. Along the southern part of the Arakan coast the sea spreads over the western Miocene zone. The Cretaceous beds have not yet been separated from the overlying Eocene, and the See also:identification of the system rests on the See also:discovery of a single Cenomanian ammonite. The Eocene beds are marine and contain nummulites. The Miocene beds are also marine and are characterized by an abundant molluscan See also:fauna. The Pliccene, on the other See also:hand, is of See also:freshwater origin, and contains silicified See also:wood and numerous remains of See also:Mammalia. See also:Flint chips, which appear to have been fashioned by hand, are said to have been found in the Miocene beds, but to prove the existence of See also:man at so See also:early a See also:period would require stronger See also:evidence than has yet been brought forward. The older rocks of eastern Burma are very imperfectly known. See also:Gneiss and See also:granite occur; Ordovician fossils have been found in the Upper Shan States, and Carboniferous fossils in Tenasserim and near Moulmein. Volcanic rocks are not See also:common in any part of Burma, but about 50 m. north-north-east of Yenangyaung the extinct volcano of Popa rises to a height of 3000 ft. above the surrounding Pliocene plain.Intrusions of a See also: serpentine-like See also:rock break through the Miocene strata north of Bhamo, and similar intrusions occur in the western ranges. Whether the mud " volcanoes" of the Irrawaddy valley have any connexion with volcanic activity may be doubted. The See also:petroleum of Burma occurs in the Miocene beds, one of the best-known See also:fields being that of Yenangyaung. See also:Coal is found in the Tertiary deposits in the valley of the Irrawaddy and in Tenasserim. See also:Tin is abundant in Tenasserim, and See also:lead and See also:silver have been worked extensively in the Shan States. The famous ruby mines of Upper Burma are in metamorphic rock, while the jadeite of the Bhamo neighbourhood is associated with the Tertiary intrusions of serpentine-like rock already noticed.' See also:Population.—The total population of Burma in 1901 Was 10,490,624 as against 7,722,053 in 1891; but a considerable portion of this large increase was due to the inclusion of the Shan States and the Chin hills in the See also:census area. Even in Burma proper, however, there was an increase during the See also:decade of 1,530,822, or 19.8 %. The See also:density of population per square mile is 44 as compared with 167 for the whole of India and 552 for the Bengal Delta. See also:England and See also:Wales have a population more than twelve times as dense as that of Burma, so there is still See also:room for expansion. The chief races of Burma are Burmese (6,508,682), Arakanese (405,143), Karens (717,859), See also:Shans (787,087), Chins (179,292), Kachins (64,405) and Talaings (321,898); but these totals do not include the Shan States and Chin hills, The Burmese in See also:person have the Mongoloid characteristics common to the Indo-Chinese races, the Tibetans and tribes of the Eastern See also:Himalaya. They may be generally described as of a stout, active, well-proportioned form; of a See also:
Since the See also: advent of the British See also:power, the See also:immigration of See also:Hindus with a lower See also:standard of comfort and of Chinamen with a keener business See also:instinct has threatened the economic See also:independence of the Burmese in their own country. As compared with the See also:Hindu, the Burmese See also:wear See also:silk instead of See also:cotton, and eat See also:rice instead of the cheaper grains; they are of an altogether freer and less servile, but also of a less See also:practical See also:character. The Burmese See also:women have a keener business instinct than the men, and serve in some degree to redress the See also:balance. The Burmese See also:children are adored by their parents, and are said to be the happiest and merriest children in the See also:world. See also:Language and Literature.—The Burmese are supposed by See also:modern philologists to have come, as See also:joint members of a vast Indo-Chinese immigration swarm, from western China to the See also:head waters of the Irrawaddy and then separated, some to people Tibet and Assam, the others to See also:press southwards into the See also, for geology, W. See also:Theobald, " On the Geology of Pegu," Mem. Geol. Surv. India, vol. x. pt. ii. (1874) ; F. Noetling, " The Development and Subdivision of the Tertiary System in Burma," Rec. Geol.Surv. India, vol. See also: xxviii. (1895), pp. 59-86, pl. ii.; F. Noetling, " The Occurrence of Petroleum in Burma, and its Technical Exploitation," Mem. Geol. Surv. India, vol. See also:xxvii. pt. ii. (1898). plains of Burma. The indigenous See also:tongues of Burma are divided into the following See also:groups: A. Indo-Chinese (I) Tibet-Burman (a) The Burmese See also:group.family sub-family (b) The Kachin group. (c) The Kuki-Chin group. (2) Siamese-Chinese (d) The Tai group. sub-family (e) The Karen group. (3) M6n-See also: Annam (f) The Upper Middle Me- sub-family See also:kong or Wa Palaung group. (g) The North Cambodian group. (h) The Selung language. Burmese, which was spoken by 7,006,495 people in the province in 1901, is a monosyllabic language, with, according to some authorities, three different tones; so that any given syllable may have three entirely different meanings only distinguishable by the intonation when spoken, or by accents or diacritical marks when written. There are, however, very many weighty authorities who deny the existence of tones in the language. The Burmese See also:alphabet is borrowed from the See also:Aryan See also:Sanskrit through the See also:Pali of Upper India. The language is written from See also:left to right in what appears to be an unbroken line. Thus Burma possesses two kinds of literature, Pali and Burmese.The Pali is by far the more ancient, including as it does the Buddhist scriptures that originally found their way to Burma from See also: Ceylon and southern India. The Burmese literature is fof the most part metrical, and consists of religious romances, See also:chronological histories and songs. The Maha Yazawin or " Royal See also:Chronicle," forms the great See also:historical See also:work of Burma. This is an authorized See also:history, in which everything unflattering to the Burmese monarchs was rigidly suppressed. After the Second Burmese See also:War no See also:record was ever made in the Yazawin that Pegu had been torn away from Burma by the British. The folk songs are the truest and most interesting See also:national literature. The Burmese are fond of See also:stage-plays in which great See also:licence of language is permitted, and great See also:liberty to " gag " is left to the wit or intelligence of the actors. Government.—The province as a division of the Indian See also:empire is administered by a See also:lieutenant-See also:governor, first appointed 1st May 1897, with a legislative See also:council of nine members, five of whom are officials. There are, besides, a chief secretary, See also:revenue secretary, secretary and two under-secretaries, a public See also:works See also:department secretary with two assistants. The revenue ad-ministration of the province is superintended by a See also:financial See also:commissioner, assisted by two secretaries, and a director of See also:land records and See also:agriculture, with a land records departmental See also:staff. There is a chief See also:court for the province with a chief See also:justice and three justices, established in May 1900. Other purely judicial See also:officers are the judicial commissioner for Upper Burma, and the See also:civil See also:judges of Mandalay and Moulmein.There are four commissioners of revenue and See also: circuit, and nineteen See also:deputy commissioners in Lower Burma, and four commissioners and seventeen deputy commissioners in Upper Burma. There are two superintendents of the Shan States, one for the northern and one for the southern Shan States, and an assistant See also:superintendent in the latter; a superintendent of the Arakan hill tracts and of the Chin hills, and a Chinese See also:political adviser taken from the Chinese consular service. The See also:police are under the See also:control of an inspector-general, with deputy inspector-general for civil and military police, and for See also:supply and clothing. The See also:education department is under a director of public instruction, and there are three circles—eastern, western and Upper Burma, each under an inspector of See also:schools. The Burma forests are divided into three circles each under a See also:conservator, with twenty-one deputy conservators. There are also a deputy postmaster-general, chief superintendent and four superintendents of telegraphs, a chief See also:collector of customs, three collectors and four See also:port officers, and an inspector-general of jails. At the See also:principal towns benches of honorary magistrates,exercising See also:powers of various degrees, have been constituted. There are See also:forty-one municipal towns, fourteen of which are in Upper Burma. The commissioners of division are ex officio sessions judges in their several divisions, and also have civil powers, and powers as revenue officers. They are responsible to the lieutenant-governor, each in his own division, for the working of every department of the public service, except the military department, and the branches of the See also:administration directly under the control of the supreme government. The deputy commissioners perform the functions of district magistrates, district judges, collectors and registrars, besides the See also:miscellaneous duties which fall to the principal district officer as representative of government. Subordinate to the deputy commissioners are assistant commissioners, extra-assistant commissioners and myo6ks, who are invested with various magisterial, civil and revenue powers, and hold See also:charge of the townships, as the See also:units of See also:regular civil and revenue See also:jurisdiction are called, and the sub-divisions of districts, into which most of these townships are grouped.Among the salaried staff of officials, the townships officers are the ultimate representatives of government who come into most See also: direct contact with the people. Finally, there are the See also:village headmen, assisted in Upper Burma by elders, variously designated according to old See also:custom. Similarly in the towns, there are headmen of wards and elders of blocks. In Upper Burma these headmen have always been revenue collectors. The system under which in towns headmen of wards and elders of blocks are appointed is of comparatively See also:recent origin, and is modelled on the village system. The Shan States were declared to be a part of British India by notification in 1886. The Shan States See also:Act of 1888 vests the civil, criminal and revenue administration in the chief of the The chats state, subject to the restrictions specified in the sanad states. or patent granted to him. The See also:law to be administered in each state is the customary law of the state, so far as it is in accordance with the justice, See also:equity and See also:good See also:conscience, and not opposed to the spirit of the law in the See also:rest of British India. The superintendents exercise general control over the administration of criminal justice, and have power to See also:call for cases, and to exercise wide revisionary powers. Criminal jurisdiction in cases in which either the complainant or the See also:defendant is a See also:European, or See also:American, or a government servant, or a British subject not a native of a Shan State, is withdrawn from the chiefs and vested in the superintendents and assistant superintendents. Neither the superintendents nor the assistant superintendents have power to try civil suits, whether the parties are Shans or not.In the See also: Myelat division of the southern Shan States, however, the criminal law is practically the same as the law4n force in Upper Burma, and the ngwegunhmus, or See also:petty chiefs, have been appointed magistrates of the second class. The chiefs of the Shan States are of three classes:—(f) sawbwas; (2) myosas; (3) ngwegunhmus. The last are found only in the Myelat, or border country between the southern Shan States and Burma. There are fifteen sawbwas, sixteen myosas and thirteen ngwegunhmus in the Shan States proper. Two sawbwas are under the supervision of the commissioner of the Mandalay division, and two under the commissioner of the Sagaing division. The states vary enormously in size, from the 12,000 sq. m. of the Trans-Salween State of Keng Tung, to the 3.95 sq. m. of Nam Hk6m in the Myelat. The latter contained only 41 houses with 210 inhabitants in 1897 and has since been merged in the adjoining state. There are five states, all sawbwaships, under the supervision of the superintendent of the northern Shan States, besides an indeterminate number of Wa States and communities of other races beyond the Salween river. The superintendent of the southern Shan States supervises See also:thirty-nine, of which ten are sawbwaships. The headquarters of the northern Shan States are at See also:Lashio, of the southern Shan States at Taung-gyi. The states included in eastern and western Karen-ni are not part of British India, and are not subject to any of the See also:laws in force in the Shan States, but they are under the supervision of the superintendent of the southern Shan States. The northern portion of the Karen hills is at present dealt with on the principle of political as distinguished from administrative control.The tribes are not interfered with as See also: long as they keep the See also:peace. What is specifically known as the Kachin hills, the country taken under administration in the Bhamo and Myitkyina districts, is divided into forty tracts. Beyond these tracts there are many Kachins in Katha, Mong-Mit, and the northern Shan States, but though they are often the preponderating, they are not the exclusive population. The country within the forty tracts may be considered the Kachin hills proper, and it lies between 23° 30' and 26° 30' N. See also:lat. and 96° and 98° E. long. Within this area the petty chiefs have See also:appointment orders, the people are disarmed, and the See also:rate of See also:tribute per See also:household is fixed in each See also:case. Government is regulated by the B. Malay family Kachin hills regulation. Since 1894 the country has been practically undisturbed, and large See also:numbers of Kachins are enlisted, and ready to enlist in the military police, and seem likely to form as good troops as the Gurkhas of See also:Nepal. The Chin hills were not declared an integral part of Burma until 1895, but they now form a scheduled district. The chiefs, however, are allowed to administer their own affairs, as far as may be, in accordance with their own customs, subject to the supervision of the superintendent of the Chin hills. See also:Religion.—Buddhists make up more than 88.6%; Mussulmans 3.28; spirit-worshippers 3.85; Hindus 2.76, and Christians 1.42 of the total population of the province. The large nominal See also:pro-portion of Buddhists is deceptive.The Burmese are really as de-voted to demonolatry as the hill-tribes who are labelled plain spirit-worshippers. The actual figures of the various religions, according to the census of 1901, are as follows: Buddhists . . 9,184,121 Sikhs .. 6,596 Spirit-worshippers . 399,390 See also: Jews .. 685 Hindus . . . . 285,484 See also:Parsees .. 245 Mussulmans . . . 339,446 Others .. 28 Christians .. . 147,525 The chief religious principle of the Burmese is to acquire merit for their next incarnation by good works done in this See also: life. The bestowal of See also:alms, offerings of rice to priests, the See also:founding of a monastery, erection of pagodas, with which the country is crowded, the See also:building of a See also:bridge or rest-See also:house for the convenience of travellers are all works of religious merit, prompted, not by love of one's See also:fellow-creatures, but simply and solely for one's own future See also:advantage. An See also:analysis shows that not quite two in every thousand Burmese profess See also:Christianity, and there are about the same number of I\lahommedans among them. It is admitted by the missionaries themselves that Christianity has progressed very slowly among the Burmese in comparison with the rapid progress made amongst the Karens. It is amongst the Sgaw Karens that the greatest progress in Christianity has been made, and the number of spirit-worshippers among them is very much smaller. The number of Burmese Christians is considerably increased by the inclusion among them of the See also:Christian descendants of the Portuguese settlers of Syriam deported to the old Burmese Tabayin, a village now included in the Ye-u subdivision of Shwebo. These Christians returned themselves as Burmese. The forms of Christianity which make most converts in Burma are the Baptist and See also:Roman See also:Catholic faiths. Of recent years many See also:con-versions to Christianity have been made by the American Baptist missionaries amongst the Lahu or MuhsS hill tribesmen. Education.—Compared with other Indian provinces, and even with some of the countries of See also:Europe, Burma takes a very high place in the returns of those able to both read and write. Taking the'sexes apart, though women fall far behind men in the See also:matter of education, still women are better educated in Burma than in the rest of India.The average number of each See also: sex in Burma per thousand is:—literates, male 378; See also:female, 45; illiterates, male, 622; female, 955. The number of literates per thousand in Bengal is: male, 104; female, 5. The proportion was greatly reduced in the 1901 census by the inclusion of the Shan States and the Chin hills, which mostly consist of illiterates. The fact that in Upper Burma the proportion of literates is nearly as high as, and the proportion of those under instruction even higher than, that of the corresponding classes in Lower Burma, is a clear See also:proof that in See also:primary education, at least, the See also:credit for the superiority of the Burman over the native of India is due to indigenous schools. In almost every village in the province there is a monastery, where the most regular occupation of one or more of the See also:resident pongyis, or Buddhist monks, is the instruction See also:free of charge of the children of the village. The standard of instruction, however, is very low, consisting only of See also:reading and See also:writing, though this is gradually being improved in very many monasteries. The See also:absence of all See also:prejudice in favour of the seclusion of women also is one of the main reasons why in this province the proportion who can read and write is higher than in any other part of India, See also:Cochin alone excepted. It was not till 1890 that the education department took See also:action in Upper Burma. It was then ascertained that there were 684 public schools with 14,133 pupils, and 1664 private schools with 8685 pupils. It is worthy of remark that of these schools 29 were See also:Mahommedan, and that there were 176 schools for girls in which upwards of 2000 pupils were taught. There are three circles—Eastern, Central and Upper Burma. For the See also:special supervision and encouragement of indigenous primary education in monastic and in See also:lay schools, each circle of inspection is divided into sub-circles corresponding with one or more of the civil districts, and each sub-circle is placed under a deputy-inspector or a sub-inspector of schools.There are nine See also: standards of instruction,and the classes in schools correspond with these standards. In Upper Burma all educational grants are paid from imperial funds; there is no See also:cess as in Lower Burma. Grants-in-aid are given according to results. There is only one See also:college, at Rangoon, which is affiliated to the See also:Calcutta University. There are missionary schools amongst the Chins, Kachins and Shans, and a school for the sons of Shan chiefs at Taung-gyi in the southern Shan States. A Patamabyan examination for marks in the Pali language was first instituted in 1896 and is held annually. See also:Finance.—The See also:gross revenue of Lower Burma from all sources in 1871—1872 was Rs.1,36,34,520, of which Rs.I,21,70,530 was from imperial See also:taxation, Rs.3,73,200 from provincial services, and Rs.1o,90,790 from See also:local funds. The land revenue of the province was Rs.34,45,230. In Burma the cultivators themselves continue to hold the land from government, and the extent of their holdings averages about five acres. The land tax is supplemented by a See also:poll tax on the male population from 18 to 6o years of See also:age, with the exception of immigrants during the first five years of their See also:residence, religious teachers, schoolmasters, government servants and those unable to obtain their own livelihood. In 189o–1891 the revenue of Lower Burma has risen to Rs.2,08,38,872 from imperial taxation, Rs.1,55,51,897 for provincial services, and Rs.12,14,596 from incorporated local funds. The See also:expenditure on the administration of Lower Burma in 1870–1871 was Rs.49,70,020.In 189o–1891 it was Rs.1,58,48,o41. In Upper Burma the chief source of revenue is the thathameda, a tithe or income tax which was instituted by See also:
The total revenue of Burma in the year ending See also:
Without yielding fortunes for speculatoi's, like South See also: Africa or See also:Australia, it returns a fair percentage upon genuine hard work. Coal is found in the Thayetmyo, Upper Chindwin and Shwebo districts, and in the Shan States; it also occurs in Mergui, but the deposits which have been so far discovered have been either of inferior quality or too far from their See also:market to be worked to advantage. The tin mines in Lower Burma are worked by natives, but a See also:company at one See also:time worked mines in the Maliwun township of Mergui by European methods. The chief mines and minerals are in Upper Burma. The jade mines of Upper Burma are now practically the only source of supply of that mineral, which is in great demand over all China. The mines are situated beyond Kamaing, north of Mogaung in the Myitkyina district. The miners are all Kachins, and the right to collect the jade See also:duty of 331 is farmed out by government to a lessee, who has hitherto always been a Chinaman. The amount obtained has varied considerably. In 1887–1888 the See also:rent was Rs.5o,o00. This dwindled to Rs.36,000 in 1892–1893, but the system was then adopted of letting for a See also:term of three years and a higher rent was obtained. The value varies enormously according to See also:colour, which should be a particular shade of dark See also:green. Semi-transparency, brilliancy and hardness are, however, also essentials.The old river mines produced the best quality. The See also: quarry mines on the See also:top of the hill near Tawmaw produce enormous quantities, but the quality is not so good. The most important ruby-bearing area is the Mogok See also:
The principal seats of the petroleum industry are Yenangyaung in the Magwe, and Yenangyat in the Pakokku districts. The See also:
Agriculture.—The cultivation of the land is by far the most important industry in Burma. Only 9.4% of the people were classed as See also: urban in the census of 1901, and a considerable pro-portion of this number were natives of India and not Burmese. Nearly two-thirds of the total population are directly or indirectly engaged in agriculture and kindred occupations. Throughout most of the villages in the rural tracts men, women and children all take part in the agricultural operations, although in riverine villages whole families often support themselves from the See also:sale of petty commodities and eatables. The See also:food of the people consists as a rule of boiled rice with salted fresh or dried fish, salt, sessamum-oil, chillies, onions, See also:turmeric, boiled vegetables, and occasionally See also:meat of some sort from elephant flesh down to smaller animals, fowls and almost everything except See also:snakes, by way of condiment. The See also:staple See also:crop of the province in both Upper and Lower Burma is rice. In Lower Burma it is overwhelmingly the largest crop; in Upper Burma it is grown wherever practicable. Throughout the whole of the moister parts of the province the agricultural season is the wet period of-the south-west See also:monsoon, lasting from the middle of May until See also:November. In some parts of Lower Burma and in the dry districts of Upper Burma a hot season crop is also grown with the assistance of irrigation during the See also:spring months. Oxen are used for ploughing the higher lands with See also:light See also:soil, and the heavier and stronger buffaloes for ploughing wet tracts and marshy lands. As rice has to be transplanted as well as sown and irrigated, it needs a considerable amount of labour expended on it; and the Burman has the reputation of being a somewhat indolent See also:cultivator. The Karens and Shans who See also:settle in the plains expend much more care in ploughing and weeding their crops.Other crops which are grown in the province, especially in Upper Burma, comprise See also: maize, tilseed, See also:sugar-See also:cane, cotton, See also:tobacco, See also:wheat, See also:millet, other food grains including See also:pulse, condiments and spices, See also:tea, See also:barley, See also:sago, See also:linseed and other oil-seeds, various See also:fibres, See also:indigo and other dye crops, besides orchards and See also:garden produce. At the time of the British annexation of Burma there were some old irrigation systems in the Kyaukse and Minbu districts, which had been allowed to fall into disrepair, and these have now been renewed and extended. In addition to this the Mandalay See also:Canal, 40 M. in length, with fourteen distributaries was opened in 1902; the Shwebo canal, 27 M. long, was opened in 1906, and a beginning had been made of two branches 29 and 20 M. in length, and of the Mon canal, begun in 1904, 53 M. in length. In all upwards of 300,000 acres are subject to irrigation under these schemes. On the whole the people of Burma are prosperous and contented. Taxes and land revenue are light; markets for the disposal of produce are See also:constant and prices good; while fresh land is still available in most districts. Compared with the congested districts in the other provinces of India, with the exception of Assam, the See also:lot of the Burman is decidedly enviable. Forests.—The forests of Burma are the finest in British India andone of the chief See also:assets of the wealth of the country; it is from Burma that the world draws its main supply of See also:teak for See also:shipbuilding, and indeed it was the demand for teak that largely led to the annexation of Burma. At the close of the First Burmese War in 1826 Tenasserim was annexed because it was supposed to contain large supplies of this valuable See also:timber; and it was trouble with a British forest company that directly led to the Third Burmese War of 1885. Since the introduction of iron See also:ships teak has supplanted See also:oak, because it contains an essential oil which preserves iron and See also:steel, instead of corroding them like the tannic See also:acid contained in oak. The forests of Burma, therefore, are now strictly preserved by the government, and there is a regular forest department for the conservation and cutting of timber, the planting of See also:young trees for future generations, the prevention of forest fires, and for generally supervising their treatment by the natives. In the reserves the trees of commercial value can only be cut under a licence returning a revenue to the state, while unreserved trees can be cut by the natives for See also:home See also:consumption.There are naturally very many trees in these forests besides the teak. In Lower Burma alone the enumeration of the trees made by Sulpiz See also: Kurz in his Forest See also:Flora of British Burma (1877) includes some 15oo See also:species, and the unknown species of Upper Burma and the Shan States would probably increase this total very considerably. In addition to teak, which provides the bulk of the revenue, the most valuable See also:woods are sha or See also:cutch, india See also:rubber, pyingado, or See also:ironwood for railway sleepers, and padauk. Outside these reserves enormous tracts of forest and See also:jungle still remain for clearance and cultivation, See also:reservation being mostly confined to forest land unsuitable for crops. In 1870—1871 the state reserved forests covered only 133 sq. m., in all the Rangoon division. The total receipts from the forests then amounted to Rs.7,72,400. In 1889–1890 the total area of reserved forests in Lower Burma was 5574 sq. m., and the gross revenue was Rs. 31,34,720, and the expenditure was Rs. 13,31,930. The work of the forest department did not begin in Upper Burma till 1891. At the end of 1892 the reserved forests in Upper Burma amounted to 1059 sq. m. On 30th See also:June 1896 the reserved area amounted to 5438 sq. m.At the close of 1899 the area of the reserved forests in the whole province amounted to 15,669 sq. m., and in 1903–1904 to 20,038 sq. m. with a revenue of Rs. 85,19,404 and expenditure amounting to Rs.35,00,311. In 1905–1906 there were 20,545 sq. m. of reserved forest, and it is probable that when the work of reservation is See also: complete there will be 25,000 sq. m. of preserves or 12 % of the total area. See also:Fisheries.—Fisheries and fish-curing exist both along the sea-coast of Burma and in inland tracts, and afforded employment to 126,651 persons in 1907. The chief seat of the industry is in the Thongwa and Bassein districts, where the income from the leased fisheries on individual streams sometimes amounts to between £6000 and £7000 a year. See also:Net fisheries, worked by licence-holders in the principal rivers and along the sea-See also:shore, are not nearly so profitable as the closed fisheries—called In—which are from time to time sold by See also:auction for fixed periods of years. Salted fish forms, along with boiled rice, one of the chief articles of food among the Burmese; and as the See also:price of salted fish is gradually rising along with the prosperity and purchasing power of the population, this industry is on a very See also:sound basis. There are in addition some pearling grounds in the Mergui Archipelago, which have a very recent history; they were practically unknown before 1890; in the early 'nineties they were worked by Australian adventurers, most of whom have since de-parted; and now they are leased in blocks to a See also:syndicate of China-men, who See also:
The introduction of cheap cottons and silk fabrics has dealt a See also: blow to hand-weaving, while See also:aniline dyes are See also:driving out the native See also:vegetable product; but both See also:industries still linger in the rural tracts. The best silk-weavers are to be found at Amarapura. There large numbers of people follow this occupation as their See also:sole means of livelihood, whereas silk and cotton weaving throughout the province generally is carried on by girls and women while unoccupied by other domestic duties. The Burmese are fond of See also:bright See also:colours, and See also:pink and yellow harmonize well with their dark See also:olive complexion, but even here the influence of western See also:civilization is being felt, and in the towns the tendency now is towards maroon, brown, olive and dark green for the women's skirts. The total number of persons engaged in the See also:production of textile fabrics in Burma according to the census of 1901 was 419,007. The chief dye-product of Burma is cutch, a brown dye obtained from the wood Year. Imports. Exports. Total. 1871-1872 Rs. 3,15,79,860 Rs. 3,78,02,170 Rs.6,93,82;030 1881-1882 6,38,49,840 8,05,71:410 14,44,21,250 1891-1892 10,50,06,247 12,67,21,878 23,17,28,125 1901-1902 12,78,46,636 18,74,47,200 31,52,93,836 1904-1905 17,06,20,796 23,94, 69,114 41,00,89,910 of the eight commissionerships and Lashio,the capital of the northern Shan States, have communication with each other by railway, but Taung-gyi and the southern Shan States can still only be reached by a hill-road through difficult country for See also: cart traffic, and the head-quarters of three commissionerships, Moulmein, Akyab and Minbu, have no railway communication with Rangoon. Arakan is in the worst position of all, for it is connected with Burma by neither See also:rail-way nor river, nor even by a metalled road, and the only way to reach Akyab from Rangoon is once a See also:week by sea. Law.—The British government has administered the law in Burma on principles identical with those which have been adopted elsewhere in the British dominions in India. That portion of the law which is usually described as Anglo-Indian law (see INDIAN LAW) is generally applicable to Burma, though there are certain districts inhabited by tribes in a backward state of civilization which are excepted from its operation. Acts of the British See also:parliament See also:relating to India generally would be applicable to Burma, whether passed before or after its annexation, these acts being considered applicable to all the dominions of the See also:crown in India. As regards the acts of the governor-. general in council passed for India generally—they, too, were from the first applicable to Lower Burma; and they have all been declared applicable to Upper Burma also by the Burma Laws Act of 1898. That portion of the See also:English law which has been introduced into India without legislation, and all the rules of law resting upon the authority of the courts, are made applicable to Burma by the same act. But consistently with the practice which has always prevailed in India, there is a large field of law in Burma which the British government has not attempted to disturb. It is expressly directed by the act of 1898 above referred to, that in regard to See also:succession, See also:inheritance, See also:marriage, See also:caste or any religious usage or institution, the law to be administered in Burma is (a) the Buddhist law in cases where the parties are Buddhists, (b) the Mahommedan law in cases where the parties are Mahommedans, (c) the Hindu law in cases where the parties are Hindus, except so far as the same may have been modified by the legislature. The reservation thus made in favour of the native laws is precisely analogous to the similar reservation made in India (see INDIAN LAw, where the Hindu law and the Mahommedan Law are described). The Buddhist law is contained in certain sacred books called Dhammathats. The laws themselves are derived from one of the collections which Hindus attribute to Manu, but in some respects they now widely differ from the ancient Hindu law so far as it is known to us.There is no certainty as to the date or method of their introduction. The whole of the law administered now in Burma rests ultimately upon statutory authority; and all the Indian acts relating to Burma, whether of the governor-general or the lieutenant-governor of Burma in council, will be found in the Burma See also: Code (Calcutta, See also:Internal Communications.—In 1871-1872 there were 814 m. of 1899), and in the supplements to that volume which are published road in Lower Burma, but the chief means of internal communication from time to time at Rangoon. There is no complete See also:translation was by See also:water. Steamers plied on the Irrawaddy as far as Thayetmyo. The vessels of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company now ply to Bassein of the Dhammathats, but a good many of them have been trans-and to all points on the Irrawaddy as far north as Bhamo, and in lated. An account of these See also:translations will be found in The the dry weather to Myitkyina, and also on the Chindwin as far north principles of Buddhist Law by Chan Toon (Rangoon, 1894), as Kindat, and to Homalin during the rains. The Arakan Flotilla which is the first See also:attempt to present those principles in something Company has also helped to open up the Arakan division. The length of roads has not greatly increased in Lower Burma, but there approaching to a systematic form. has been a great deal of road constuction in Upper Burma. At the History.—It is probable that Burma is the Chryse Regio of end of the year 1904-1905 there were in the whole province 7486 m. See also:Ptolemy, a name parallel in meaning to Sonaparanta, the classic of road, 1516 m. of which were metalled and 317o unmetalled, with Pali See also:title assigned to the country See also:round the capital in Burmese 2799 M. of other tracks. But the chief advance in communications documents.The royal history traces the lineage of the See also: kings to has been in railway construction. The first railway from Rangoon to Prome, 161 m., was opened in '897, and that from Rangoon to the ancient Buddhist monarchs of India. This no doubt is Toungoo, 166 m., was opened in 1884. Since the annexation of fabulous, but it is hard to say how early communication with Upper Burma this has been extended to Mandalay, and the Mu Gangetic India began. From the rrth to the 13th century the Valley railway has been constructed from Sagaing to Myitkyina, a old Burman empire was at the height of its power, and to this distance of 752 m. from Rangoon. The Mandalay-Lashio railway has been completed, and trains run from Mandalay to Lashio, a period belong the splendid remains of See also:architecture at See also:Pagan. distance of 178 m. The Sagaing-Menywa-AlSn See also:branch and the The See also:city and the See also:dynasty were destroyed by a Chinese (or rather Meiktila-Myingyan branch were opened to traffic during 1900. Mongol) invasion('284 A.D.) in the reign of Kublai See also:Khan. After In 1902 a railway from Henzada to Bassein was formed and a con- necting See also:link with the Prome line from Henzada to Letpadan was that the empire See also:fell to a low ebb, and Central Burma was often opened in 1903. Railways were also constructed from Pegu to subject to Shan dynasties. In the early part of the '6th century Martaban, 121 m. in length, and from Henzada to Kyang-in, 66 m. the Burmese princes of Toungoo, in the north-east of Pegu, in length; and construction was contemplated of a railway from began to rise to power, and established a dynasty which at one Thazi towards Taung-gyi, the headquarters of the southern Shan time held See also:possession of Pegu, See also:Ava and Arakan. They made States.The total length of lines open in 1904-1905 was 1340 m., but railway communication in Burma is still very incomplete. Five i their capital at Pegu, and to this dynasty belong the gorgeous of the'sha See also:
See also: Commerce.—The chief articles of export from Burma are rice and timber. In 1895 the quantity of rice exported in the See also:foreign and coastal See also:trade amounted to 1,419,173 tons valued at Rs.9,77,66,132, and in 1905 the figures were 2,187,764 tons, value Rs.15,67,28,288. England takes by far the greatest share of Burma's rice, though large quantities are also consumed in See also:Germany, while See also:France, See also:Italy, See also:Belgium and See also:
The Peguans or Talaings then revolted, and having taken the capital Ava, and made the king prisoner, reduced the whole country to submission. See also: Alompra, left by the conqueror in charge of the village of Mbtshobo, planned the deliverance of his country. He attacked the Peguans at first with small detachments; but when his forces increased, he suddenly advanced, and took possession of the capital in the autumn of 1753. In 1754 the Peguans sent an armament of war-boats against Ava, but they were totally defeated by Alompra; while in the districts of Prome, Donubyu, &c., the Burmans revolted, and expelled all the Pegu garrisons in their towns. In 1754 Prome was besieged by the king of Pegu, who was again defeated by Alompra, and the war was transferred from the upper provinces to the mouths of the navigable rivers, and the numerous creeks and canals which intersect the lower country. In 1755 the yuva See also:raja, the king of Pegu's See also:brother, was equally unsuccessful, after which the Peguans were driven from Bassein and the adjacent country, and were forced to withdraw to the fortress of Syriam, distant 12 M. from Rangoon. Here they enjoyed a brief repose, Alompra being called away to quell an insurrection of his own subjects, and to repel an invasion of the Siamese; but returning victorious, he laid See also:siege to the fortress of Syriam and took it by surprise. In these wars the French sided with the Peguans, the English with the Burmans. See also:Dupleix, the governor of See also:Pondicherry, had sent two ships to the aid of the former; but the See also:master of the first was decoyed up the river by Alompra, where he was massacred along with his whole See also:crew. The other escaped to Pondicherry. Alompra was now master of all the navigable rivers; and the Peguans, shut out from foreign aid, were finally subdued. In 1757 the conqueror laid siege to the city of Pegu, which capitulated, on See also:condition that their own king should govern the country, but that he should do See also:homage for his kingdom, and should also surrender his daughter to the victorious monarch.Alompra never contemplated the fulfilment of the condition; and having obtained possession of the town, abandoned it to the fury of his soldiers. In the following year the Peguans vainly endeavoured to throw off the yoke. Alompra afterwards reduced the town and district of Tavoy, and finally undertook the See also: conquest of the Siamese. His army advanced to Mergui and Tenasserim, both of which towns were taken; and he was besieging the capital of Siam when he was taken See also:ill. He immediately ordered his army to See also:retreat, in hopes of reaching his capital alive; but he expired on the way, in 1760, in the fiftieth year of his age, after he had reigned eight years. In the previous year he had massacred the English of the See also:establishment of Negrais, whom he suspected of assisting the Peguans. He was succeeded by his eldest son Noungdaugyi, whose reign was disturbed by the See also:rebellion of his brother See also:Sin-byu-shin, and after-wards by one of his See also:father's generals. He died in little more than three years, leaving one son in his See also:infancy; and on his decease the See also:throne was seized by his brother Sin-byu-shin. The new king was See also:intent, like his predecessors, on the conquest of the adjacent states, and accordingly made war in 1765 on the Manipur kingdom, and also on the Siamese, with partial success. In the following year he defeated the Siamese, and, after a long See also:blockade, obtained possession of their capital. But while the Burmans were extending their conquests in this See also:quarter, they were invaded by a Chinese army of 50,000 men from the province of Yunnan. This army was hemmed in by the skill of the Burmans; and, being reduced by the want of provisions, it was afterwards attacked and totally destroyed, with the exception of 2500 men, who were sent in fetters to work in the Burmese capital at their several trades.In the meantime the Siamese revolted, and while the Burman army was marching against them, the Peguan soldiers who had been incorporated in it See also:
It happened, accordingly, that the Burmese, carrying their arms into Assam and Manipur, penetrated to the British border near See also: Sylhet, on the north-east frontier of Bengal, beyond which were the possessions of the chiefs of See also:Cachar, under the See also:protection of the British government. The Burmese leaders, arrested in their career of conquest, were impatient to measure their strength with their new neighbours. It appears from the evidence of Europeans who resided in Ava, that they were entirely unacquainted with the discipline and resources of the Europeans. They imagined that, like other nations, they would fall before their See also:superior See also:tactics and valour; and their cupidity was inflamed by the prospect of marching to Calcutta and plundering the country. At length their chiefs ventured on the open violation of the British territories. They attacked a party of sepoys within the frontier, and seized and carried off British subjects, while at all points their troops, moving in large bodies, assumed the most menacing positions. In the south encroachments were made upon the British frontier of Chittagong. The island of Shahpura, at the mouth of the Naaf river, had been occupied by a small guard of British troops. These were attacked on the 23rd of See also:September 1823 by the Burmese, and driven from their See also:post with the loss of several lives; and to the repeated demands of the British for redress no See also:answer was returned. Other outrages ensued; and at length,-on March 5th, 1824, war was declared by the British government. The military operations, which will be found described under BURMESE WARS, ended in the treaty of Yandaboo on the 24th of See also:February 1826, which conceded the British terms and enabled their army to be withdrawn. For some years the relations of peace continued undisturbed.Probably the feeling of amity on the part of the Burmese government was not very strong; but so long as the See also:
Another Burmese war was the result, the first shot being fired in January 1852. As in the former, though success was varying, the British finally triumphed, and the chief towns in the lower part of the Burmese kingdom fell to them in succession. The city of Pegu, the capital of that portion which, after having been captured, had again passed into the hands of the enemy, was recaptured and retained, and the whole province of Pegu was, by See also: proclamation of the governor-general, See also:Lord See also:Dalhousie, declared to be annexed to the British dominions on the 2oth of December 1852. No treaty was obtained or insisted upon,—the British government being content with the tacit acquiescence of the king of Burma without such documents; but its See also:resolution was declared, that any active demonstration of hostility by him would be followed by retribution. About the same time a revolution See also:broke out which resulted in King Pagan's dethronement. His tyrannical and barbarous conduct had made him See also:obnoxious at home as well as abroad, and indeed many of his actions recall the worst passages of the history of the later Roman emperors. The Mindon prince, who had become apprehensive for his own safety, made him prisoner in February 1853, and was himself crowned king of Burma towards the end of the year. The new monarch, known as King Mind6n, showed himself sufficiently arrogant in his dealings with the European powers, but was See also:wise enough to keep free from any approach towards hostility. The loss of Pegu was long a matter of See also:bitter regret, and he absolutely refused to acknowledge it by a formal treaty. In the beginning of 1855 he sent a See also:mission of compliment to Lord Dalhousie, the governor-general; and in the summer of the same year Major (afterwards See also:Sir See also:Arthur) Phayre, de facto governor of the new province of Pegu, was appointed See also:envoy to the Burmese court. He was accompanied by Captain (afterwards Sir See also:
In that year the province of British Burma, the present Lower Burma, was formed,with Sir Arthur Phayre as chief commissioner. In 1867 a treaty was concluded at Mandalay providing for the free intercourse of trade and the establishment of regular diplomatic relations. King Mind8n died in 1878, and was succeeded by his son King Thibaw. Early in 1879 he excited much horror by executing a number of the members of the Burmese royal family, and relations became much strained. The British resident was withdrawn in See also: October 1879. The government of the country rapidly became See also:bad. Control over many of the outlying districts was lost, and the elements of disorder on the British frontier were a See also:standing menace to the peace of the country. The Burmese court, in contravention of the See also:express terms of the treaty of 1869, created monopolies to the detriment of the trade of both England and Burma; and while the Indian government was unrepresented at Mandalay, representatives of Italy and France were welcomed, and two separate embassies were sent to Europe for the purpose of contracting new and, if possible, close alliances with sundry European powers. Matters were brought to a crisis towards the close of 1885, when the Burmese government imposed a fine of £230,000 on the Bombay-Burma Trading See also:Corporation, and refused to comply with a See also:suggestion of the Indian government that the cause of complaint should be investigated by an impartial arbitrator. An See also:ultimatum was therefore despatched on the 22nd of October 1885. On the 9th of November a reply was received in Rangoon amounting to an unconditional refusal. The king on the 7th of November issued a proclamation calling upon his subjects to drive the British into the sea.On the 14th of November 1885 the British field force crossed the frontier, and advanced to Mandalay without incurring any serious resistance (see BURMESE WARS). It reached Ava on the 26th of November, and an envoy from the king signified his submission. On the 28th of November the British occupied Mandalay, and next See also:
8+6 Picturesque Burma (See also: London, 1897) ; Gen. R. See also:Macmahon, Far See also:Cathay and Farther India (London, 1892) ; Rev. F. See also:Mason, D.D., B srma (Rangoon, 186o) ; E. H. See also:Parker, Burma (Rangoon, 1892) ; Sir Arthur Phayre, History of Burma (London, 1883) ; G. C. See also:Rigby, History of the Operations in Northern Arakan and the Yawdwin Chin See also:Wills (Rangoon, 1897), Sir J. See also:George See also:Scott, Burma, As it is, As it was, and As it will be (London, 1886); Shway Yoe, The Burman, His Life and Notions (2nd ed., London, 1896); D. M. See also:Smeaton, The Karens of Burma (London, 1887) ; Sir Henry Yule, A Mission to Ava (London, 1858) ; J.Nisbet, Burma under British Rule and Before (London, 1901); V. D. Scott O'See also: Connor, The Silken East (London, 1904) ; See also:Talbot See also:Kelly, Burma (London, 1905) ; an exhaustive account of the administration is contained in Dr Alleyne See also:Ireland's The Province of Burma, See also:Report prepared on behalf of the university of See also:Chicago (See also:Boston, U.S.A., 2 vols., 1907). (J. G. Sc.) 'See also:BURMANN, PIETER (1668–1741), Dutch classical See also:scholar, known as " the See also:Elder," to distinguish him from his See also:nephew, was See also:born at See also:Utrecht. At the age of thirteen he entered the university where he studied under See also:Graevius and See also:Gronovius. He devoted himself particularly to the study of the classical See also:languages, and became unusually proficient in Latin See also:composition. As he was intended for the legal profession, he spent some years in attendance on the law classes. For about a year he studied at See also:Leiden, paying special See also:attention to See also:philosophy and See also:Greek. On his return to Utrecht he took the degree of See also:doctor of laws (March 1688), and after travelling through See also:Switzerland and part of Germany, settled down to the practice of law, without, however, abandoning his classical studies. In December 1691 he was appointed See also:receiver of the See also:tithes which were originally paid to the See also:bishop of Utrecht, and five years later was nominated to the professorship of eloquence and history.To this See also: chair was soon added that of Greek and politics. In 1714 he paid a See also:short visit to See also:Paris and ransacked the See also:libraries. In the following year he was appointed successor to the celebrated See also:Perizonius, who had held the chair of history, Greek language and eloquence at Leiden. He was subsequently appointed See also:professor of history for the See also:United Provinces and chief librarian. His numerous editorial and See also:critical works spread his fame as a scholar throughout Europe, and engaged him in many of the stormy disputes which were then so common among men of letters. Burmann was rather a compiler than a critic; his commentaries show immense learning and accuracy, but are wanting in See also:taste and See also:judgment. He died on the 31st of March 1741. Burmann edited the following classical authors:—Phaedrus (1698) ; See also:Horace (1699) ; See also:Valerius See also:Flaccus (1702) ; See also:Petronius Arbiter (1709); Velleius Paterculus (1719); See also:Quintilian (1720); See also:Justin (1722); See also:Ovid (1727); Poetae See also:Latini minores (1731); Suetonius (1736); See also:Lucan (1740). He also published an edition of See also:Buchanan's works, continued Graevius's great work, See also:Thesaurus Antiquitatum et Historiarum Italiae, and wrote a See also:treatise De Vectigalibus populi Romani (1694) and a short See also:manual of Roman antiquities, Antiquitatum Romanarum Brevis Descriptio (1711). His Sylloge a slolarum a viris illustribus scriptarum (1725) is of importance for the history of learned men. The See also:list of his works occupies five pages in See also:Saxe's Onomasticon. His poems and orations were published after his death.There is an account of his life in the See also: Gentleman's See also:Magazine for April (1742) by Dr See also:Samuel See also:
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