The Pacification of Burma

by C. H. T. Crosthwaite

The office of Sawbwa was, as has been said, hereditary in theory, and it does not seem that the Burmese Government diverted the succession from mere caprice or favouritism. Some pains were taken to secure the loyalty of the chiefs. The King not seldom invited the sons of Sawbwas to the Court of Ava at an early age, for the twofold purpose of rearing them under Court influence, and of keeping them as hostages for their fathers' good conduct. Notwithstanding this marked subordination to the King of Burma, each chief assumed the same insignia and marks of royalty as his Suzerain, and in his own view, and to his subjects, probably, was a great and independent monarch.

It has been said that the influence of the Burmese Government was seldom in the interests of good administration. On the contrary, it was frequently used to stir up strife between the Sawbwas, in order to prevent them from combining against the King. Not unnaturally, therefore, he was not always regarded with feelings of loyalty or affection. Rebellions against his government were frequent, but owing to the want of cohesion amongst the Shans, and the absence of a leader of capacity to unite them and to organize resistance, even the loose-jointed Mandalay administration was able to put down revolt without difficulty. It was done with ruthless severity. There was little inclination on the part of the Sawbwas, in spite of this oppression, to seek aid or protection from the Siamese, whose rule would not have been a change for the better. The Möngnai Sawbwa and others, after failing in a rebellion against Burma, sought refuge in Kengtung, the largest and most powerful of the Trans-Salween States, which had some traditional connection with China, and owing to its distance from Burma, and the rugged nature of the intervening country, enjoyed more than a shadow of independence. Nor did those States which lie on the Mekong and formerly owned or claimed to own territory on the east bank, invite Chinese protection. Their feelings towards China were friendly enough. But their position on the very extremity of that Empire, where there was little life in the administration, rendered it unsafe to lean on help from that quarter.

A letter written to the Chief Commissioner by the Sawbwa of Hsipaw (Northern Shan States) in 1886 shows the attitude of the Shan Chiefs towards Burma and China.

"During the last war between the English and the Burmese," he writes, "the Chinese Emperor placed 300,000 men at Maingmawgyi to guard the Chinese frontier. The Chinese officials wrote to the Sawbwas inviting them to a conference at Maingmawgyi to draw up a friendly treaty, as the Burmese King had been taken away by the English.

"But I am under great obligations to the Queen-Empress, so I made answer thus: 'From time immemorial we Shans have not sought protection either from China or Burma; of late, however, the Burmans, regardless of law and justice, have exacted our submission to them by force of arms.

"'Since the conquest of Burma by the British and the removal of the Burmese King, the Sawbwas and Myozas have been trying their best to restore peace and order. And now we are asked to come to Maingmawgyi and draw up a treaty of friendship. We cannot respond to the invitation as yet. We, chiefs of the Shan country, must first of all consider which side could confer on us peace and happiness, and then enter into friendly relations with the Government of such side.'"

The problem before the Administration of Burma in 1886 was, to use the political slang of to-day, "The peaceful penetration" of the Shan country. The mantle of the Burmese monarch had fallen on the shoulders of the British Government. The Shan chiefs and their people had to be persuaded to make submission to the Queen-Empress and to accept her as their overlord. This persuasion had to be effected if possible without the use of force. A show of force, however, was necessary. During 1886 the despatch of an expedition to the Shan States was impossible. The work on hand in Upper Burma was more than enough. Thus it happened that until 1887 the only attempt to make British influence felt in the Shan States was the deputation of an officer with a small force to Hsumhsai, a small State lying between Mandalay and Hsipaw.

To make the measures taken to solve this problem intelligible, a brief account must be given of events in the Shan country immediately preceding and following the deposition of the King of Burma. The grouping of the States for administrative purposes into North and South, which was not inherited from the Burman Government and was not founded on any distinction recognized by the Shans, had its origin in these events. The States, the history of which is of most importance in this connection, are Hsenwi and Hsipaw, to the north of Mandalay; Yawnghwè and Möngnai farther south; and, on the east of the Salween, the large State of Kengtung.

Hsipaw lies in the hills on the Mandalay-Lashio road, about one hundred and thirty miles from the capital of Upper Burma. The Sawbwa, by name Hkun Saing, was the first of the Shan chiefs who came in contact with the British Government and the first to submit himself to the suzerainty of the Queen-Empress after the annexation. The circumstances which led to his contact with the British are these. In 1882 Hkun Saing incurred the displeasure of King Thebaw and fled to escape his vengeance. After some wanderings, which extended, it is said, into Siam, he came to Rangoon, and with a wife and servants settled in the Kemmendine suburb. He lived, he said, in fear of assassination by agents of the King, and doubted the fidelity of some of his followers. In 1883 his fears, apparently, overcame him, and he shot down two of his men whom he accused, I believe not without reason, of plotting against his life. He was arrested, tried for murder before the Recorder of Rangoon, and condemned to death.