EVENT_NOTE HISTORY TIMELINE
October 1855
The U Bein bridge October 1855.
The photograph was taken by Linnaeus Tripe during the mission of Sir Arthur
Phayre to King Mindon's court at Amarapura.
EVENT_NOTE HISTORY TIMELINE
1836 - 1849
Rangoon under King Tharawaddy
Rangoon under King Tharawaddy 1836-49 The Sule Pagoda is in the lower right
corner. The Roman Catholic church is where the old HSBC building is now (the
corner of Barr Street and Merchant Street). The Customs House and Armenian
church are where the Customs House is now on Strand Road. The "New Town" is
approximately the Cantonment area (now in Ahlone).
November 1855
Amarapura 1855.
One of the first photographs ever taken in Myanmar - by the English photographer
Linnaeus Tripe in November 1855. King Mindon moved the capital from
Amarapura to the new city of Mandalay in 1857. Elsewhere in the world around
the same time - the Taiping Rebellion in China was in full swing, Nepal invaded
Tibet, Ottawa and Dallas were incorporated as cities, Bessemer patented his steel-
making process, Charles Dicken's published "Hard Times", and the Russians were
defeated in the Crimea.
August 1866
The assassination of the Prince of Kanaung
In August 1866 the course of Burmese history changed forever with the
assassination of the Prince of Kanaung (in the photograph).The Kanaung Prince
was the younger brother and partner in government of King Mindon. He was also
the Crown Prince. Together they set out to transform government, modernise the
country, and defend its independence. Under the Kanaung Prince's direction,
dozens of students were sent to Europe, including for military training the army
was overhauled, modern factories, including for arms and ammunition were built, a
telegraph line established, and ten steamships imported from England. More
importantly, the entire fiscal and administration basis of government was reviewed
and fundamental reforms begun, on issues from agricultural taxation to
bureaucratic organisation. It was a modernization programme equivalent to what
was then being tried elsewhere, in Egypt, Japan, and Siam. At around noon on 2
August 1866 the Prince of Kanaung, together with ministers and secretaries, were
killed by men loyal to his nephew (the Prince of Myingun). Civil war then broke
out between loyalist forces under the king and rival princely factions. After weeks
of savage fighting up and down the Irrawaddy King Mindon was eventually able to
overcome his opponents, but his reform programme had been critically weakened.
The king himself was never the same and he never again appointed a new crown
prince. The princes responsible for the rebellion were motivated by anger (from
past slights), a desire for power, and a feeling they could do better. No one was
actually against the reforms. But this intra-elite factionalism doomed Burma's
attempted modernization, leading directly to the crisis of 1878 and the eventual
British takeover in 1885.
1875
Mandalay during the reign of King Mindon (c. 1875)
EVENT_NOTE HISTORY TIMELINE
1882 - 1945
Mandalay c. 1882.
The only photograph I know of the city of Mandalay in the days of King Thibaw. It
was taken by the German explorer Emil Riebeck. Notice the many buildings inside
the city walls. In addition to the main palace and government buildings, the city
included the homes of the royal family, nobility and court officials. All these
homes were razed by the British in the late 1880s; it was Lord Curzon, visiting in
1901 as Viceroy, who stopped any further destruction and saved the palace
complex (which then burned down in 1945).
1885
Mandalay palace in 1885
President U Thein Sein was the first Myanmar head of state to visit King Thibaw's
former residence in Ratnagiri, India, where the final Konbaung monarch spent his
long years in exile, from 1885 to his death in 1916, aged 57. This is a photograph
of the Hampshire Regiment attending a service on Christmas Day, 1885 at the
Mandalay palace, less than four weeks after the end of the Third Anglo-Burmese
War and the ouster of Thibaw.
December 1885
The end of independence in 1885
Sir Charles Bernard, Chief Commissioner of British Burma, enters Mandalay
palace for the first time this week in 1885. In two weeks Burma would be
proclaimed a province of India. There was still then the idea of placing another
Burman prince on the Konbaung throne under a British protectorate, like
Hyderabad or Manipur. When this was found 'impractical' (in part because the
preferred candidate the Nyaunggyan Prince had just died in Calcutta), Sir Charles
considered a form of indirect rule through the Hluttaw (as a Council of Ministers
headed by the Kinwun Mingyi). In February 1886, however the British opted to
abolish the Hluttaw, together with other royal institutions, much to the dismay of
the Burmese aristocracy. Over the next year the even more fateful decision was
made to rule all of ""Burma proper"" directly but the hill areas (the Shan states,
Chin and Kachin Hills which not part of the old kingdom) ""indirectly"" through
their own hereditary chiefs. The two areas (now the 'Regions' and 'States') would
have very different colonial experiences leading to very different local perspectives
and big problems by the time independence was regained in 1948.
While historical records say 50 industries were set up during the reign of King
Mindon, few are well known today except to historians. Visitors to the Mandalay
Palace can see the remains of the mint near the tomb of King Mindon. What is
today a beer factory on the northern side of the palace was formerly a munitions
factory. More factories were in Na Be Kyu quarter, on the western side of the
capital, while others were to the east of the palace. Others were further afield; the
iron works, which has been replaced by a lighter factory, was at ShweTaung Oo
Maw quarter in Sagaing on the other bank of the river.
Unsurprisingly given its large weaving industry, the indigo factory was based at
Amarapura. The Yadanarpon newspaper office and printing press was on the
southern side of Shwe Kyee Myint pagoda, in Anaukpyin Pyay-gyi KyatThayay
quarter. The cotton factory was near Gaw Won gate on the western side of palace,
while the sugar and sawmills were at Pipe Kyune.
Most of the factories have disappeared, however, while others have changed to
produce new items. In contrast, the Yadanarpon Dockyard remains at its original
site, 150 years after it was founded. Despite changing hands several times, it
retains pride of place at the centre of Myanmar’s shipbuilding industry.
