The country inhabited by the Burmans, properly so called, may be described roughly as the valleys of the Irrawaddy and Chindwin Rivers, south of 23 N. Latitude. The hills which bound the Irrawaddy Valley on the east, close in the great river in its northern reaches, and as far south as Mandalay. Below that point the river turns westward and leaves a widening plain between its left bank, and the spurs of the Eastern Range, which rise abruptly from the low ground. The passes through this range lead to a hilly plateau, the altitude of which is from two to four thousand feet above sea-level rising occasionally to five and six thousand feet. This plateau is intersected from north to south by the Salween River, which, rising somewhere in the mountains to the north-west of Yunnan, enters the sea at Moulmein. The channel of the Salween is in most places deep. To the east the high land continues, but is rougher and more mountainous, and rises until the watershed between the Salween and the Mekong is crossed. The descent to the Mekong is then made through difficult and rugged country much cut up by watercourses. The Shan States, which were at the time of the annexation tributary to the Burman monarch, are situated, with some insignificant exceptions, on this plateau.
The Shans are a distinct race from the Burmans. The existing Burmese people may be traced, it is said, to tribes dwelling in the Eastern Himalaya and the adjoining region of Thibet. The Tai or Siamese branch of the Indo-Chinese people, called Shan by the Burmese, are supposed to have migrated from their original seat in Central Asia towards the south, and to have settled along the rivers Mekong, Menam,[134] Irrawaddy, and Brahmaputra. They are found as a distinct race from the borders of Manipur to the heart of Yunnan, and from the Valley of Assam to Bangkok and Cambodia. Major H. R. Davies found them occupying most of the low-lying valleys in Southern Yunnan, and on the Tongking border, and in small communities even in Northern Yunnan and on the Upper Yangtze. Although so widely spread, in some cases even scattered, and, except in Siam, subjected to alien races, they have preserved to a great extent a common language and national character.[34] In religion they are Buddhist of the Burmese type, but less strict in the observance of religious duties and ceremonies and less regardful of animal life. They are in many ways a civilized people, unwarlike, and given to agriculture and commerce. They are not unfriendly to foreigners. "I must have travelled," writes Major Davies, "some fifteen hundred miles through Shan countries, and I never remember any difference of opinion, or unpleasantness of any kind."[35]
"It may be accepted as historical," says Phayre, "that the Tai race became supreme in the country of the Upper Irrawaddy early in the Christian Era and continued to be so under a consolidated monarchy for several centuries. About the ninth century A.D. it began to break up into separate States which eventually were conquered by the Burmans."[36] In the Irrawaddy Valley the Shans lost their autonomy, and were amalgamated with the Burman population; but those on the high plateau to the east continued to be governed by their own chiefs, according to their own customs, subject to the suzerainty of Burma. Some small States west of the Irrawaddy, survived the dissolution of the Shan kingdom, and they also enjoyed a similar but less marked independence.
[135]
Up to the time of the annexation at the end of 1885, the King of Burma had exercised a real, although spasmodic and irregular control over the Shan chiefs. In theory the office of chief, or Sawbwa, was hereditary in the family. The Sawbwa was supreme in his own territory. He had the power of life and death, and so far as his subjects were concerned, wielded absolute authority unfettered by any rule stronger than custom. The character of the Government varied in consequence with the personal character of the chief. The main check on oppression was the facility with which the people could emigrate into some neighbouring State. In practice, however, the Burma Government did not scruple to interfere with the Sawbwa; and this interference was the chief cause of the strife and contention which divided and ruined the country. A Burmese Bo-hmumintha, or Resident, to use the Indian term, had his seat of administration at M?ngnai, and was supported by a force of brigands rather than soldiers. He was assisted by political agents subordinate to him residing in some of the more important States.
The interference thus exercised was seldom if ever in the interests of good administration. As a rule it was confined to efforts to raise a revenue. Tolls and exactions at various points on the trade routes were numerous and oppressive; enough at times to obstruct commerce, and even to close a trade route altogether for a season. The ease, however, with which another road could be found, and the duty evaded, was some check, and the Shans, who are industrious cultivators and born traders, contrived to remain fairly prosperous and not much below their Burman neighbours in wealth and comfort. As in Burma, while there were some rich men, there was no real poverty. No one but the idle and vicious needed to be in want.
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[136] 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 M?ngnai 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.
[137]
"\'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 M?ngnai 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[138] 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.
The sentence was commuted by the Chief Commissioner to transportation, and he was confined in the jail at Rangoon. The Chief Commissioner visited Hkun Saing a few days after the beginning of his imprisonment, and found him taking his punishment like a man, uttering no complaints and working with a will at the task[37] imposed on him. The jail authorities were then instructed to treat him as a political prisoner. After a sufficient time had elapsed to make it plain to independent chiefs that if they sought refuge in British territory they must submit themselves to British law, he was released on condition that he left our jurisdiction. He retired to Eastern Karenni, and lived under the protection of Sawlapaw, the chief of that country. On the removal of the King of Burma, he obtained some assistance in men and money from Sawlapaw, and made his way to his own territory.
Meanwhile much had been happening there and in the neighbouring States during his absence.
To the east and north-east of Hsipaw is the State of Hsenwi, which is one of the largest divisions of the Shan country. The tract known by this name contains nearly twelve thousand square miles. On the north and north-east it is bordered by Chinese Shan States. The population of the State is said to number about one hundred and fifty thousand and is of mixed races, the pure Shans being outnumbered by Kachins, Palaungs, and Chinese. For many years Hsenwi had been torn by dissension. Frequent struggles between rival claimants to the chiefship, as frequent appeals to Burma by the party who for the time was worsted, had distracted and ruined the country. At the time of the annexation of Upper Burma Naw Hpa was the titular Sawbwa, one of whose daughters had been espoused by King Mindon. He was the representative of the ancient ruling family of Hsenwi and had been expelled by a usurper named Sang Hai. The story is worth telling as an illustration of Burmese ways.
[139]
About the middle of last century the Siamese made an attack on the Trans-Salween State of Kengtung. The Cis-Salween States were called upon for contingents to form a force to repel the invasion, and Sang Hai, who was previously unknown, led the Hsenwi men to victory and won much renown. On his return, finding himself at the head of victorious troops, he rebelled against his lawful ruler Naw Hpa, and turned him out.
Naw Hpa was summoned to Mandalay, and condemned to imprisonment for having failed to maintain his authority, while a cadet of the Hsenwi house was appointed in his stead. This cadet, U Po by name, was driven away ignominiously by Sang Hai, and was recalled to Mandalay and sent to join Naw Hpa in jail. Numerous Burmese officials of high rank with imposing titles were sent up one after another, and one after another was expelled by Sang Hai, and they came back, in the order of their going, to join the company of failures in Mandalay prison.
At last, about 1877, all the Sawbwas from Yawnghwè to M?ng L?ng were ordered to make a combined attack on Sang Hai. This was too much for the usurper. He went east of the Salween, and Naw Hpa was sent back to rule a ruined and distracted country. But Sang Hai before he retired had thrown his mantle over the shoulders of his son-in-law, San Ton Hon, who was for a Shan a good fighting-man. The unlucky Naw Hpa was driven out once more, and again ordered to Mandalay to explain his failure to hold his own. He knew by experience what this meant, and deputed his son, who was known as the Naw M?ng, to represent him at Court, or rather in prison, while he himself took refuge with the Kachins.
[140]
When Thebaw succeeded his father Mindon, he imprisoned his stepmother, the Hsenwi Queen, Naw Hpa\'s daughter, and killed her son. And as Naw Hpa himself was a refugee and Naw M?ng was in jail San Ton Hon was left free to establish himself in Hsenwi, or rather in the Northern and Eastern Divisions of the State. The Southern, known as the Taunglet, had already broken away and separated into four petty chiefships. The middle portion, called the Alelet, was governed in a fashion by Sang Aw, commonly know as the Pa-?k-Chok, who had his headquarters at M?ngyai. A Burmese official with a small force had been left at Lashio, but unable to support himself against San Ton Hon he withdrew as soon as he heard of the fall of the Monarchy.
On the British occupation of Mandalay the son of Naw Hpa, Naw M?ng, who had been imprisoned by Thebaw, was set free. He made his way into Hsenwi, collected followers, and seized the capital, which had been evacuated by the Burmans. He was quickly expelled, however, by San Ton Hon. Meanwhile his father, Naw Hpa, with a following of Kachins, came upon the scene, and another element of strife appeared in the Myinzaing Prince, who had been imprisoned by the King and along with other political prisoners was released on the occupation of Mandalay. He made his way to the Shan hills and endeavoured to collect followers and oppose the British. His cause appears to have been taken up by Naw Hpa and Naw M?ng, in the hope of strengthening their own party. A confederacy was formed to raise the standard of the Myinzaing Prince. The plan of campaign was to seize possession of this part of the Shan country. Hsipaw was to be assigned to Naw M?ng, while Hsenwi was to be restored to Naw Hpa. The town of Hsipaw was attacked and completely wrecked, and a movement was directed against San Ton Hon.
Such was the condition of affairs when Hkun Saing made his way back from the Karenni country. After some opposition he made himself master of Hsipaw, to find the place in ruins, the only house standing being his own haw, or palace, which had been spared in fear, it was said, of the Spirit of the Palace. Under these circumstances it was natural that Hkun Saing, the lawful Sawbwa of Hsipaw[141] and San Ton Hon, the de facto chief of Northern Hsenwi, should make common cause against the confederacy headed by Naw Hpa and his son. This was in July, 1886.
Between the Hsipaw State and Mandalay on the western border of the Shan plateau lies the small State of Hsumhsai, known to the Burmans as Thonze. It was formerly ruled by its own chief, and had been a very prosperous little district. Its position within easy reach of Mandalay exposed it to the constant and mischievous interference of the Burman Government. For forty years before the annexation it had been administered by Burmese officials, but with some regard to Shan customs and sentiment. In 1886, after the British occupation of Mandalay, it became a bone of contention between Kun Meik, acting for his brother the Sawbwa of Hsipaw, and the Myinzaing Prince, who had occupied this part of the plateau. There were two men of influence in Thonze, Maung Sa and Maung Se. Maung Sa attached himself to Kun Meik, and Maung Se to the Myinzaing Prince. They fought with varying fortune for some time. Eventually Kun Meik was forced back to Hsipaw. The Myinzaing party remained masters of Hsumhsai for some months, pillaging and destroying everything. The trade route was entirely closed throughout the year 1886, and traffic between Mandalay and the Shan States either ceased or followed a very circuitous route.
The Chief Commissioner and the military commanders had so much on their hands in 1886 that the question of the Shan country was of necessity postponed. In November, however, it was found imperative to give attention to affairs in Hsumhsai. A column under Colonel E. Stedman,[38] with Mr. H. Thirkell White[39] as civil officer, was sent to reopen the road and restore order. Mr. White recorded that at the time of his arrival (18th of November, 1886) "The country was to a great extent deserted, villages had been abandoned, and many of the inhabitants had fled to the neighbouring States of M?nglon, Hsipaw, and Lawksawk, but chiefly to M?nglon. Much of the land had been left uncultivated; the road was neglected and overgrown with long grass. These evidences of disorder we saw as we passed through Hsumhsai, and I learned from the people that the state of the rest of the country was the same as that of the part which we saw." It may be noted here that when Hkun Saing, the Sawbwa of Hsipaw, came to Mandalay in 1887 to meet Sir Charles Bernard, he laid claim to three small States—Hsumhsai, M?nglon, and M?ntung—as formerly belonging to him. Inasmuch as Hkun Saing was the first Shan chief to acknowledge the supremacy of the British Government, there was a desire to make much of him and to meet his wishes. These three States were made over to him without going into the merits of the case. At the time the intricacies of Shan politics were little understood. The people of M?nglon especially were averse to being subjected to the Sawbwa, who failed to govern justly or efficiently, and the settlement of this part of the country became very difficult. The ultimate result in consolidating the States under one chief has, I believe, been good.
[142]
Another State of which it is useful to give some special account is Yawnghwè, called by the Burmese Nyaungywe. Yawnghwè is in the Central, or Myélat, Division of the Shan States, and is easily accessible from the plains. It is remarkable for its physical formation. A broad valley running from the north to the south forms the western half of the State, and the centre of this valley is the Inle Lake, a large expanse of water covering an area of seventy square miles (Upper Burma Gazetteer). The eastern side of the State is hilly, and some of the ranges rise to six thousand feet and more. Yawnghwè, it is said, in former days ruled the country from the Hsipaw border on the north to Karenni on the south. It was undoubtedly the most prominent State in the Myélat.
At the time of the occupation of Mandalay by the British, Saw M?ng was Sawbwa. He had gone down to Mandalay in 1885 to see King Thebaw. It is said that he brought back with him to Yawnghwè the Legya Queen, one of King Mindon\'s wives, and her son, whose standard he set up, calling on all the chiefs to aid him to fight the British and retake Mandalay. A combination of small States was formed against him, and he was wounded in both legs and obliged to retire. Being thus incapacitated, he sent for his half-brother, Saw ?n, and handed the conduct of affairs to him while he went to Mandalay to recover from his hurt. Saw ?n defeated the hostile party, and having established his authority, took possession of the State and told Saw M?ng he need not return. Meanwhile the Limbin confederacy had been formed, and Saw ?n was called upon to join it. He refused, and shrewdly proclaimed himself an adherent of the British Government and appealed to the Chief Commissioner for aid.
Saw Maung, Sawbwa of Yawnghwè, and his Consort.
[143]
In order to explain the appearance of the Limbin confederacy, we must now go eastward of the Salween to the State of Kengtung. This chieftainship is one of the largest of the States, and comprises about twelve thousand square miles. It lies between the Salween and the Mekong, touching both rivers. Owing to its distance from Mandalay and the very rugged and mountainous nature of the country between the two rivers, Kengtung of late years had been left to itself by the Burman Government. Soon after Thebaw\'s accession to the Kingdom of Ava, many of the Shan States revolted against him, and Kengtung took a conspicuous part in the rebellion. The Sawbwa seized the Burmese Resident and his escort and put them to death. He attacked the adjacent and smaller State of Kengcheng and turned out the chief, installing in his room a man of his own. It so happened that the Chinese had occasion about this time to strengthen their forces in Southern Yunnan, probably as a precaution against French aggression. Hearing of the action taken by Kengtung against Kengcheng, a large part of which lay east of the Mekong, the Chinese general sent a force to Kengtung. It was agreed to submit the dispute between the claimants to the Sawbwaship of Kengcheng to the Chinese commander. He installed one of the claimants, and provided against a revival of the quarrel by decapitating the other. After these events the authority of the Burman Government ceased to exist in Kengtung.
In 1882 the Sawbwa of M?ngnai and the chiefs of several neighbouring States revolted against Thebaw and found a safe refuge in Kengtung. M?ngnai is one of the most important of the States. It contains nearly three thousand square miles. The River Salween is the boundary on[144] the east, and divides it from Kengtung. It has been already mentioned that a Burman Bo-hmu, or Resident, with an armed force, was stationed in M?ngnai, which derived dignity from being the centre of Burmese power in the Shan States, and suffered proportionately. The exactions of the King\'s Government at last became intolerable. The Sawbwa, Kun Kyi, was summoned, with other defaulters, to Mandalay, and imprisoned there until the sums demanded were paid.
About 1882 Kun Kyi was again summoned to appear. He preferred to revolt. While the Burmese subordinate official (the Resident had just died) was preparing to seize him, he raised his people, led them against the King\'s garrison, and destroyed it. On the news reaching Mandalay, a large force was dispatched to avenge this outrage, and the Sawbwa, with several other chiefs in like straits, took refuge in Kengtung. One, Twet Nga Lu, with the assistance of the Burmese officials, took possession of M?ngnai.
Twet Nga Lu was an unfrocked monk, a native of Kengtawng, a sub-State of M?ngnai, who signalized his return to a worldly life by making himself unpleasant to his neighbours. He had made an attack on M?ngnai, but was driven off. A younger brother of the M?ngnai Sawbwa had married a lady named Nang U, by whom he had a son. Whether this nobleman died, or was dismissed by Nang U, is uncertain. However that may be, she espoused Twet Nga Lu, and thereupon her minor son was appointed by the King to be magistrate of Kengtawng with the unfrocked monk as guardian. This arrangement had taken place before the retirement of the Sawbwa, Kun Kyi, to Kengtung, and was very distasteful to him.
It came about thus, that the Sawbwa of M?ngnai, the premier chief in the Shan country with Lawksawk and several others, all suffering from the King\'s tyranny, found themselves in Kengtung.
Naturally they took counsel together regarding the measures to be adopted for recovering their territories, and protecting the Shans generally against the oppressive rule of Burma. It was resolved to form a confederacy under one leader. Their decision and the reasons for it are stated in a letter addressed by them to Hkun Saing, the Sawbwa of[145] Hsipaw, on the 26th of March, 1886. Referring to a communication which they had received from Hkun Saing, in which he advised that "it would be beneficial to the Shans to have their country welded into a congeries of independent States like Germany," they state their own views in the form of resolutions, declaring that there is no hope of establishing peace or putting an end to the endless strife between the States, unless they are united under one suzerain. They consider that the interests of their religion and of the country generally demand the selection of a supreme ruler, who will combine the Sawbwas and enable them to withstand any attempt to injure them or their religion.
Acting on these principles they decided in 1885, before the British Government had moved against King Thebaw, to invite the Limbin Prince, one of the Royal Family who was living in British Burma as a refugee on a small pension allotted to him by the British Government, to come up to Kengtung and to accept the position of Suzerain of the Shan States, with the object of "wresting the crown from King Thebaw." The Prince accepted the call, and arrived at Kengtung on December 10, 1885. On his arrival, forces were raised from Kengtung and the other confederating States, and advance parties were sent forward under the command of the Sawbwas of M?ngnawng, M?ngnai, and Lawksawk.
The States joining in this enterprise under the nominal leadership of the Limbin Prince—a poor creature quite unable to lead any one—became known as the Limbin Confederacy. A counter league was formed by all those interested in keeping the exiled Sawbwas out of their territories and maintaining the existing state of things. On the other hand, the Sawbwas of M?ngpawn and several other influential Sawbwas espoused the cause of the Confederacy. Twet Nga Lu was the leading spirit of the counter league, and he directed its forces against the States which were allied to M?ngnai. He was met and defeated by M?ngpawn, and early in the year 1886 Kun Kyi, the Sawbwa of M?ngnai, and his companions in exile had expelled the usurpers and recovered their territories. The Confederacy then set themselves to induce or compel other States to join[146] them and to acknowledge the suzerainty of the Limbin Prince. Saw ?n, the de facto ruler of Yawnghwè, rejected their invitation. The Confederacy determined to move from M?ngnai against him, as it was important to force Yawnghwè, the State adjoining M?ngnai on the west, and the most powerful in the Central, or Myélat, Division, to give its adherence to the Prince.
The foregoing outline will perhaps suffice to make the situation at and immediately following the annexation intelligible.
The danger-poin............