The Pacification of Burma

by C. H. T. Crosthwaite

On the 7th of February the force reached Bawyethat Pagoda, about half-way between Yawnghwè and Kugyo. Here it was met by the Sawbwa Saw Ôn, who came with the full glory of Shan pomp to welcome the British representative. It was found that a body of men from Lawksawk had occupied Kugyo, which is in Yawnghwè territory. Mr. Hildebrand wished to send a letter to the commander to persuade him to retire his men, but no one could be found willing to carry it, for fear of the wild Kachins and Panthays said to be amongst his followers. There was nothing for it, therefore, but to attack Kugyo, which was taken on the 9th of February, without loss on our side. On the 10th the column made a formal entry into Yawnghwè and was received with much state by the Sawbwa. It had been intended to fix the headquarters of the British Administration a little way off, but the country was found to be low-lying and unhealthy. A site was chosen on the slope which leads up from the great lake of Yawnghwè to the Hsahtung range. A fort was built, and named after Colonel Stedman, the officer commanding the force. Here the headquarters of the Superintendent of the Southern Shan States were established.

The arrival of the expedition at Yawnghwè was followed by an immediate change in the attitude of the neighbouring chiefs. By the middle of February Yawnghwè had been relieved and the bands attacking him dispersed. The whole of the Myélat had submitted, most of the chiefs appearing in person. To the south, Möngpai and others of importance had accepted the British suzerainty, some by letter and some in person. To the north, Lawksawk and Möngping held aloof, but it was hoped to induce them to come in. Laikha, Möngkung, and Kehsi Mansam had declared themselves on the British side. Letters were despatched to Möngnai and all the adjacent States, urging them to accept the supremacy of the British and to cease fighting amongst themselves. Letters were also sent to the chiefs of Karenni, offering friendship and suggesting a meeting.

After the dispersal of the bands at Kugyo, the Limbin Confederacy had withdrawn their troops and the Confederate chiefs had retired to their own territories. The Limbin had betaken himself to a place near Hopong. Nevertheless there was no sign of the Eastern States giving in and dissolving the Confederacy. Letters were again written to them. A special letter was addressed to the Limbin, promising him his liberty if he surrendered, with a sufficient pension and a house at Moulmein or Rangoon.

While the results of these overtures were being awaited, it became urgent to attend to the quarrel between Möngpai, the most southerly of the Shan States, and Pobye, the chief of Western Karenni, which adjoins Möngpai on the south. A perennial feud existed between them, and at this time had broken out with fresh energy. Both the combatants had written to Mr. Hildebrand praying him to send a British officer with a force to put a stop to the strife which was ruining the country. In answer to this appeal Mr. Scott, with a hundred Gurkhas under command of Captain Pulley, was sent southward to Payagon, where the Burmese garrison used to be stationed, and near which the Möngpai Sawbwa had now made his residence. They made the journey of seventy miles by boat down the Nam Pilu River through a fertile and irrigated country, which had evidently suffered much from both the contending factions.

The Sawbwa received Mr. Scott with hospitality and welcomed the settlement of the Shan States under the British Crown. He said he had prayed for this and urged it on his compatriots for thirty years. "Now that the British have come," he exclaimed, "there will be peace." He asked for a British garrison at Payagon, as a protection against the Karennis, who raided the Shan country for slaves. The Shans were quite unable to withstand them, and men and women were carried off into hopeless slavery (vide Chapter XVII.).

It had been intended that the force under Colonel Stedman should return to Burma by the southern passes to Toungoo, and that Mr. Scott with the troops accompanying him should remain at or about Möngpai until the main body joined him. Owing to some military exigencies this plan was changed, and the expedition was ordered to return by the route by which it came. Captain Pulley with Mr. Scott's escort was recalled at once to Fort Stedman. Mr. Scott had to withdraw, leaving unsettled many matters, more especially the quarrel between Möngpai and the Karenni chief Pobye, and without waiting for several headmen of neighbouring districts who were on their way to meet him. This was unfortunate.

After the return of Mr. Scott and his escort to Fort Stedman on the 7th of March, 1887, a long halt followed, during which voluminous correspondence was carried on with the various chiefs who held aloof and with the Limbin Prince, who it was hoped might be induced to surrender and thus dissolve the Confederacy. The Prince was reported to be at Hopong. Letters were sent to him and to Möngnai, and to Möngpawn, inviting them to meet Mr. Hildebrand at Hopong on the 17th of March, and preparations were made for the march. The difficulties of transport had been overcome, the pack-bullock baskets loaded up; the coolies collected, and everything ready for a start, when letters were received from Möngpawn saying that he could not meet the Superintendent. Möngnai was at Gantarawadi, the capital of Eastern Karenni, witnessing the marriage of his nephew to a daughter of Sawlapaw, the Karenni chief. Möngnai's sister-in-law had died. She could not be buried until Möngnai returned. Until the funeral was over Möngnai could not attend to business, and without him the others could do nothing. Royalties are governed by conventions.

It was obvious that Möngpawn's object was to gain time. To countermand the march, now that all preparations had been made and the forward movement widely made known was open to many objections. The Yawnghwè Sawbwa argued strongly against a change of plans, which he said would certainly be misinterpreted. Mr. Hildebrand, however, decided to countermand the march. He wished to give the Confederacy full time to consider the alternatives before them. He held that a voluntary acknowledgment of British supremacy made from a conviction that it was the best course for their own interests would be more valuable even if it were delayed than an immediate submission enforced by arms.

This waiting policy was not free from some disadvantages. The delay in taking action was sure to be attributed to weakness. The time was used by Sawlapawgyi, who was hostile to the British, to urge the other Karenni chiefs and those Shan Sawbwas with whom he could communicate to hold aloof. In the neighbourhood of Yawnghwè and in the Myélat States generally signs of unrest and trouble were manifest. For the first time since the occupation of Fort Stedman mail-runners were stopped and robbed. The Sawbwa of Lawksawk, who remained openly and uncompromisingly hostile, was thought to have instigated these outrages. It was resolved to strike the first blow at him. He was warned by letter that the Superintendent was coming to Lawksawk and ordered to remain at his capital to meet him.

The difficulty of collecting transport had to be overcome again. The Yawnghwè Sawbwa for some cause was not zealous in assisting the expedition. For one reason he desired to make the most money he could out of the opportunity, and made a very persistent effort to extort exorbitant rates for the carriage furnished.