Thibaw Min

File:Thibaw Min 1885 crop.jpg and Supayalay (November 1885)]]

Prince Thibaw was born Maung Yay Set ({{langx|my|မောင်ရေစက်}}), the son of King Mindon ({{reign | 1853 | 1878}}) and one of his consorts, Laungshe Mibaya. Thibaw's mother had been banished from the palace court by Mindon and spent her final years as a {{translit | my | thilashin}}, a kind of female Burmese Buddhist renunciant. During the early years of his life, Thibaw studied Buddhist texts at a {{translit | my | kyaung}} to win his father's favor. He passed the Monastic examinations#Pathamabyan examinations religious examinations and gained respect and recognition from his father and from the chief queen. He was also educated at Aitchison College in Lahore (in present-day Pakistan).{{cite web | author =The Tribune India | title =Raja Sir Daljit Singh, unusual 'adopted' son of Shimla | website =The Tribune (India)| date =9 June 2018 | url =https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/himachaltribune/raja-sir-daljit-singh-unusual-adopted-son-of-shimla-602203 | access-date =3 October 2023}}

File:Queen Supayalat and King Thibaw.jpg on the Lion Throne (Palin) at Mandalay Palace]]

One of Mindon's chief consorts, the Queen of the Middle Palace, Hsinbyumashin, helped to broker a marriage between her eldest daughter, Supayagyi and Thibaw, who were half-siblings by blood.

File:King Thibaw's State Barge on the Mandalay Moat.jpg moat in 1885.]]

File:Thibaw Palace.jpg

In 1878, Thibaw succeeded his father in a bloody succession massacre. Hsinbyumashin, one of Mindon's queens, had grown dominant at the Mandalay court during Mindon's final days. Under the guise that Mindon wanted to bid his children (other princes and princesses) farewell, Hsinbyumashin had all royals of close age (who could potentially be heirs to the throne) mercilessly slaughtered by edict, to ensure that Thibaw and her daughter Supayagyi would assume the throne. During the royal Aggamahesi coronation, Supayalat pushed in next to her sister to be anointed queen at the same time, breaking an ancient royal custom. This resulted in two queens being anointed in parallel, a situation that had never occurred before in the history of Burma.

At the time of his accession, Lower Burma, half of the kingdom's former territory, had been under British occupation for thirty years and it was no secret that the King intended to regain this territory. Relations had soured during the early 1880s when the King was perceived as having made moves to more closely align his country with the French. Relations deteriorated further in an incident later called "The Great Shoe Question", where visiting British dignitaries refused to remove their shoes before entering the royal palace and were subsequently banished.

At the time, the kingdom's treasury reserves had diminished, forcing the government to increase taxation on the peasants. In 1878, the national lottery was also introduced on a trial basis, which became popular but soon went awry, with many families losing their livelihoods.{{cite book|last=Thant Myint-U|title=The Making of Modern Burma|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2001|pages=9780521799140}} The lottery experiment was ended in 1880.

In October to November 1878, a meeting at Mandalay Palace's North Garden significantly expanded the size of the Hluttaw or the royal cabinet from four departments to 14:

1. Agriculture
2. Public works
3. Land warfare
4. Taxation
5. Religious knowledge
6. Royal estate management
7. Sassamedha (Personal taxes)
8. Criminal justice
9. Civil justice
10. Water-borne warfare
11. Foreign affairs
12. Partnerships
13. Town and village affairs
14. Mechanised industries

During King Thibaw's reign, a new administrative unit, the district ({{lang|my|ခရိုင်}}, khayaing), based on the administrative units of British India, was created, in order to centralize administration from the court. Altogether, the kingdom was divided into 10 districts and administrated by district ministers ({{lang|my|ခရိုင်ဝန်}}), who had authority over smaller administrative units, the villages and towns. Thibaw also rolled back the conversion of local administrators from myo-thugyi ({{lang|my|မြို့သူကြီး}}) to myo-ok ({{lang|my|မြို့အုတ်}}), which had been part of administrative reforms carried out by Mindon, based on the prevailing administrative system in Lower Burma.{{cite book|title=Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States|editor=J. George Scott|publisher=Government of Burma|location=Rangoon|year=1901|volume=1}}

A proclamation issued by the court of King Thibaw in 1885 which called on his countrymen to conquer Lower Burma was used by the British as pretext that he was a tyrant who reneged on his treaties and they decided to complete the conquest they had started in 1824. The invasion force which consisted of 11,000 men, a fleet of flat-bottomed boats and elephant batteries, was led by General Harry Prendergast.

File:Saya Chone's "Abdication of King Thibaw".png

British troops quickly reached the royal capital of Mandalay with little opposition. Within twenty-four hours, the troops had marched to the Mandalay Palace to demand the unconditional surrender of Thibaw and his kingdom within twenty-four hours.{{cite book|last=Synge|first=M.B.|title=Growth of the British Empire|year=1911|chapter=Annexation of Burma|url=http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=synge&book=growth&story=burma}} At the time, the king and queen had retired to a summer house in the palace gardens.

File:Thibaw and Supayalat leave Mandalay.jpg

The following morning, King Thibaw was forced on a bullock cart, along with his family, and proceeded to a steamer on the Irrawaddy River, in the presence of a huge crowd of subjects.

File:Transfer of the Captive King Theebaw from the Steamer 'Thooreah' to the Troopship 'Clive' at Rangoon, Dec 6th, (1885).jpg

After abdicating the throne, Thibaw, his wife Supayalat and two infant daughters were coerced by British authority to move to Ratnagiri, British India, a port city off the Arabian Sea. During their first 24 years in India, Thibaw's family lived at Outram Hall, in Dharangaon, inland from Ratanagiri, but in 1906 the Government agreed to spend over 125,000 rupees (c. £9000) to construct a new official residence for them.W. S. Desai, Deposed King Thibaw (1967) p. 72 The family then moved into a grand two-story brick building, colloquially "Thibaw's Palace," built of laterite and lava rock, set in {{convert|20|acre}} of gardens.{{cite journal|last=Christian|first=John LeRoy|year=1944|title=Thebaw: Last King of Burma|journal=The Journal of Asian Studies|volume=3|issue=4|publisher=Association for Asian Studies|pages=309–312|doi=10.2307/2049030|jstor=2049030|s2cid=162578447 }}

The Government of India initially gave Thibaw an annual allowance varying between 35,000 and 42,000 rupees. This was increased in 1906 to 100,000 rupees (c. £7000).Desai, ibid. p. 62 Thibaw was reported to be reclusive and did not leave the property during his time in Ratanagiri, but he sponsored local festivals, particularly during Diwali. He died at age 57 on 15 December 1916 and was buried in a small walled plot adjacent to a Christian cemetery, along with one of his consorts, Hteiksu Phaya Galay.

File:Four Princesses of Burma.jpg, Myat Phaya Galay, Myat Phaya Gyi, Myat Phaya Lat, Myat Phaya]]

The surviving exiled royal family was relocated to Burma in 1919, after the king's death. In exile, the king's first born daughter, Myat Phaya Gyi, had had a romance with a married Indian gatekeeper, Gopal Sawant, which resulted in a daughter, Tutu. Despite the royal family's opposition, the three returned to Ratnagiri and spent the rest of their lives there. Gyi and Tutu lived in poverty and survived by making paper flowers to sell on the markets, as Sawant took all of her pension from the British government; he did however buy them a house. Tutu also lived her life in poverty and had eleven children who knew little about their royal ancestry until 21st century interest in the royal family.[https://www.hindustantimes.com/weekend/in-search-of-princess-phaya-looking-for-myanmar-s-forgotten-royals-in-ratnagiri/story-dWhy94FbPMq4sTQNaPM4RK.html "In search of princess Phaya: Looking for Myanmar’s forgotten royals in Ratnagiri"], Hindustan Times, 25 February 2017, accessed 9 August 2023

The second daughter, Myat Phaya Lat, became the pretender to the throne and married her father's private secretary, Khin Maung Lat, who was also his nephew. They did not have any children, but Lat adopted her Nepalese maidservant's son.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

The third daughter, Myat Phaya, went on to marry twice. Her first marriage was to a Burmese prince, Hteik Tin Kodawgyi, with whom she had a daughter, Phaya Rita. After a divorce, she married secondly a Burmese lawyer, Mya U. Phaya Rita married her cousin, Taw Phaya, a younger son of Myat Phaya Galay.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

The fourth daughter, Myat Phaya Galay (1887–1936), married a former Burmese monk, Ko Ko Naing, and had six children, the eldest of whom, Taw Phaya Gyi (1922–1948), became pretender to the throne. His son Soe Win is the present pretender. Another son, Taw Phaya, married his cousin, Phaya Rita, daughter of Myat Phaya.[https://www.bbc.com/burmese/in-depth-47190425 သီပေါနောက်က တော်ဘုရားများ], BBC News 10 February 2019 (in Burmese)

Both the third and fourth daughters were born in India but died in Burma and two of their children married each other, pretender to the throne Taw Phaya and princess Phaya Rita. They had seven children, thus securing the royal family line.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

King Thibaw had a secret love affair with the noblewoman Daing Khin Khin, in the absence of his queen, Supayalat, orchestrated by his close companion, Maung Maung Toke. To marry her, King Thibaw made a solemn promise to ensure her safety within the palace and grant her the royal title of the Queen of the Northern Palace. He swore that if he were to break this promise, he would forfeit his throne, potentially leading to the downfall of the dynasty. Unfortunately, the king never fulfilled his promise, and Daing Khin Khin was executed by Supayalat while she was pregnant.{{cite book |last1=reʺ.) |first1=Cimʻʹ (Paññā |title=ဒိုင်းခင်ခင်: ရတနာပုံခေတ်နန်းတွင်းလျှို့ဝှက်ဇာတ်လမ်းများ |date=1976 |publisher=Praññʻ sūʹ myakʻ mhanʻ Cā pe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rm4T0AEACAAJ&q=%E1%80%92%E1%80%AD%E1%80%AF%E1%80%84%E1%80%BA%E1%80%B8%E1%80%81%E1%80%84%E1%80%BA%E1%80%81%E1%80%84%E1%80%BA |language=my}}

In December 2012, the president of Burma Thein Sein paid homage at the tomb of the king in Ratnagiri and met the late monarch's descendants. He was the first head of Burmese government to visit the grave. He also visited the former royal palace at Ratnagiri.{{cite news |title=Thein Sein visits king's tomb |url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/327511/thein-sein-visits-kings-tomb |work=Bangkok Post |date=22 December 2012}}{{cite news |title=President Thein Sein visits tomb of Myanmar's last king |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1111657/president-thein-sein-visits-tomb-myanmars-last-king |work=South China Morning Post |date=24 December 2012 |language=en}}{{cite news |title=Burmese leader to visit Indian grave of last king |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-22/an-burma-president-to-visit-king27s-indian-grave/4441402 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=22 December 2012 |language=en-AU}}

• Parents:
• Mindon Min
• Laungshe Mibaya
• Consorts and children:

1. Supayalat
2. Myat Phaya Gyi
3. Myat Phaya Lat
4. Myat Phaya
5. Myat Phaya Galay
6. 2 sons (unnamed)
7. Supayagyi
8. Supayalay (junior queen)

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=synge&book=growth&story=burma The Baldwin Project: Growth of the British Empire by M. B. Synge] at www.mainlesson.com
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929140954/http://www.bearpit.net/lofiversion/index.php/t223.html Political Topics And Discussion > Who Really Killed General Aung San?] at www.bearpit.net

{{Contains special characters|Burmese}}

• Candier, Aurore (December 2011). "[https://muse.jhu.edu/article/456778/summary Conjuncture and Reform in the Late Konbaung Period]". Journal of Burma Studies 15 (2).
• {{cite book | last=Charney | first=Michael W. | title=Powerful Learning: Buddhist Literati and the Throne in Burma's Last Dynasty, 1752–1885 |year=2006 |publisher=University of Michigan| location=Ann Arbor}}
• Desai, W. S. Deposed King Thibaw of Burma in India 1885-1916 (1967
• {{cite book | last=Hall | first=D.G.E. |title=Burma |edition=3rd |year=1960 |publisher=Hutchinson University Library| isbn=978-1406735031}}
• {{cite book | last=Htin Aung | author-link=Htin Aung | first=Maung | title=A History of Burma | publisher=Cambridge University Press | location=New York and London | year=1967 }}
• {{cite book | last=Maung Maung Tin | first=U | title=Konbaung Set Yazawin | volume=1–3 | year=1905 | edition=2004 | publisher=Department of Universities History Research, University of Yangon | location=Yangon | language=Burmese}}
• {{cite book | last=Myint-U | first=Thant | title=The River of Lost Footsteps—Histories of Burma | year=2006 | publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux | isbn=978-0-374-16342-6}}
• Myint-U, Thant (2001). The Making of Modern Burma. Cambridge University Press. pp. 9780521799140.
• Scott, J. George, ed. (1901). Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States. 1. Rangoon: Government of Burma.
• Shah, Sudha. The King in Exile: The Fall of the Royal Family of Burma (2012)
• {{cite book | last=Phayre | first=Lt. Gen. Sir Arthur P. | title=History of Burma | year=1883 | edition=1967 | publisher=Susil Gupta | location=London}}

{{Commons category|Thibaw Min}}

{{s-start}}

{{s-hou|Konbaung dynasty|1 January|1859|19 December|1916}}

{{s-reg}}

{{s-bef

| before = Mindon

}}

{{s-ttl

| title = King of Burma

| years = 1 October 1878 – 29 November 1885

}}

{{s-aft

| after = Burmese monarchy abolished

}}

{{s-roy}}

{{s-bef

| before = Kanaung

}}

{{s-ttl

| title = Heir to the Burmese Throne'
as Prince of Thibaw''

| years = '''19 September 1878 – 1 October 1878

}}

{{s-aft

| after = Myat Phaya (Presumed)

}}

{{s-end}}

{{Burmese monarchs}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1859 births

Category:1916 deaths

Category:Aitchison College alumni

Category:Konbaung dynasty

Category:Monarchs who abdicated

Category:People of the Third Anglo-Burmese War

Category:People from Mandalay

Category:Burmese Buddhist monarchs

Category:19th-century Burmese monarchs