British rule in Burma

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British rule in Burma
British Burma
Province of British India and
Colony of the United Kingdom
18241942
19451948
Flag
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
Flag of Burma
Coat of arms
Coat of arms
Anthem
God Save the King (18241837; 19011942; 19451948)
God Save the Queen (18371901)
MENU000

British Burma during World War II

Dark green Japanese occupation of Burma.
Light silver Remainder of British Burma.
Light green Occupied and annexed by Thailand.
Capital Moulmein (18261852)
Rangoon (18531948)
Languages English (official)
Burmese
Religion Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam
Political structure Colony
Monarch
18621901 Victoria
19011910 Edward VII
19101936 George V
1936 Edward VIII
19361947 George VI
Governor
19231927 Sir Harcourt Butler (first)
19461948 Sir Hubert Rance (last)
Chief Commissioner
18621867 Arthur Purves Phayre (First)
18951897 Sir Frederick William Richard Fryer (last)
Legislature Legislative Council of Burma (1897-1936)
Legislature of Burma (1936-1947)
Upper house Senate
Lower house House of Representatives
Historical era Colonial era
First Anglo-Burmese War 5 March 1824
Anglo-Burmese Wars 18241826, 1852, 1885
Anti-colonial movement 19181942
Separation from British India 1937
Japanese occupation and
Thai occupation 19421945
Independence from the United Kingdom 4 January 1948
Currency Burmese rupee, Indian rupee, Pound sterling
Preceded by Succeeded by
British Raj
Konbaung Dynasty
State of Burma
State of Burma
Saharat Thai Doem
Post-independence Burma, 194862
British rule in Burma, also known as British Burma, lasted from 1824 to 1948, from
the Anglo-Burmese wars through the creation of Burma as a Province of British India
to the establishment of an independently administered colony, and finally
independence. Various portions of Burmese territories, including Arakan, Tenasserim
were annexed by the British after their victory in the First Anglo-Burmese War;
Lower Burma was annexed in 1852 after the Second Anglo-Burmese War. The annexed
territories were designated the minor province (a Chief Commissionership), British
Burma, of British India in 1862.[1]

After the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885, Upper Burma was annexed, and the
following year, the province of Burma in British India was created, becoming a
major province (a Lieutenant-Governorship) in 1897.[1] This arrangement lasted
until 1937, when Burma began to be administered separately by the Burma Office
under the Secretary of State for India and Burma. British rule was disrupted during
the Japanese occupation of much of the country during the Second World War. Burma
achieved independence from British rule on 4 January 1948.

Burma is sometimes referred to as the Scottish Colony, due to the heavy role played
by Scotsmen in colonising and running the country, one of the most notable being
Sir James Scott, and the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company.

History of Myanmar
WikiProject Burma (Myanmar) peacock.svg
Prehistory of Myanmar 11,000200 BCE
Pyu city-states 200 BCE 1050 CE
(Sri Ksetra Kingdom, Tagaung Kingdom)
Mon kingdoms 8251057
Arakanese kingdoms 7881406
Pagan Kingdom 8491297
Early Pagan Kingdom 8491044
Warring states period
Upper Burma 12971555
Myinsaing and Pinya Kingdoms 12971364
Sagaing Kingdom 13151364
Kingdom of Ava 13641555
Prome Kingdom 14821542
Hanthawaddy Kingdom 12871539, 15501552
Shan States 12151563
Kingdom of Mrauk U 14291785
Toungoo Dynasty 15101752
First Toungoo Empire 15101599
Nyaungyan Restoration 15991752
Restored Hanthawaddy 17401757
Konbaung Dynasty 17521885
British colonial period 18241948
Anglo-Burmese Wars 18241885
Nationalist movement 19001948
Japanese occupation 19421945
Modern era 1948present
Union of Burma 19481962
Socialist Republic 19621988
Union of Myanmar 19882010
Political reforms 20112012
Timeline
List of capitals
Leaders
Royal chronicles
Military history
v t e
Contents [hide]
1 Divisions of British Burma
2 Background
2.1 Burma before the British conquest
3 Arrival of the British in Burma
4 Early British rule
4.1 Administration
4.2 Colonial economy
4.3 Daily life under British rule
5 Nationalist movement
6 Burma separated from India
7 World War II
8 From the Japanese surrender to Aung San's assassination
9 See also
10 Notes
11 References
12 Further reading
13 External links
Divisions of British Burma[edit]
The province of Burma, after 1885 was administered as follows

Ministerial Burma (Burma proper)

Tenasserim Division (Toungoo, Thaton, Amherst, Salween, Tavoy, and Mergui
Districts)
Arakan Division (Akyab, Northern Arakan or Arakan Hill Tracts, Kyaukpyu and
Sandoway Districts)
Pegu Division (Rangoon City, Hanthawaddy, Pegu, Tharrawaddy and Prome Districts)
Irrawaddy Division (Bassein, Henzada, Thayetmyo, Maubin, Myaungmya and Pyapon
Districts)
Scheduled Areas (Frontier Areas)
Shan States
Chin Hills
Kachin tracts
The Frontier Areas, also known as the Excluded Areas or the Scheduled Areas,
compose the majority of states within Burma today. They were administered
separately by the British with a Burma Frontier Service, and later united with
Burma proper to form Myanmar's geographic composition today. The Frontier Areas
were inhabited by ethnic minorities such as the Chin, the Shan, the Kachin and the
Karenni.

By 1931 Burma had 8 divisions, split into a number of districts.[2]

Arakan Division (Akyab, Arakan Hill, Kyaukpyu and Sandoway Districts)

Magwe Division (Chin Hills, Magway, Minbu, Pakokku and Thayetmyo Districts)
Mandalay Division (Kyaukse, Mandalay, Meiktila and Myingyan Districts)
Tenasserim Division (Toungoo, Thaton, Amherst, Salween, Tavoy, and Mergui
Districts)
Pegu Division (Rangoon City, Hanthawaddy, Pegu, Tharrawaddy and Prome Districts)
Irrawaddy Division (Bassein, Henzada, Maubin, Myaungmya and Pyapon Districts)
Sagaing Division (Bhamo, Lower Chindwin, Upper Chindwin, Katha, Myitkyina, Sagaing
Districts, the Hukawng Valley and The Triangle Native areas)
Federated Shan States (Northern, Eastern, Central, Myelat, Karenni, Kengtung and
Yawnghwe)

Administrative map of the Burma Province, 1931

Background[edit]
British naval force entered the harbour of Rangoon in May 1824
The First Anglo-Burmese War arose from friction between Arakan in western Burma and
British-held Chittagong to the north. After Burma's defeat of the Kingdom of Arakan
in 17841785, in 1823, Burmese forces again crossed the frontier and the British
responded with a large seaborne expedition that took Rangoon without a fight in
1824. In Danuphyu, south of Ava, the Burmese general Maha Bandula was killed and
his armies routed. The 1826 Treaty of Yandabo formally ended the First Anglo-
Burmese War, the longest and the most expensive war in British India history.
Fifteen thousand European and Indian soldiers died, together with an unknown number
of Burmese army and civilian casualties.[3] The campaign cost the British five
million pounds sterling to 13 million pounds sterling (roughly 18.5 billion to 48
billion in 2006 US dollars)[4] that led to a severe economic crisis in British
India in 1833.[5]

After 25 years of peace, the British and Burmese fighting started afresh, and
lasted until the British occupied all of Lower Burma.

King Mindon tried to readjust to the thrust of imperialism. He enacted

administrative reforms and made Burma more receptive to foreign interests. But the
British effected the Third Anglo-Burmese War, which lasted less than two weeks
during November 1885.

British troops entered Mandalay on 28 November 1885 and Burma was attached to the
British Empire on 1 January 1886.

Burmese armed resistance continued sporadically for several years, and the British
commander had to coerce the High Court of Justice to continue to function. The
British decided to annexe all of Upper Burma as a colony, and to make the whole
country a province of the British India, within the Indian Empire. The new colony
of Upper Burma was attached to the Burma Province on 26 February 1886. Rangoon,
having been the ca