Sir Charles Bernard, Chief Commissioner of British Burma, enters Mandalay palace for the first time. 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment