Britons in Myanmar

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Britons in Myanmar (historically Burma) had a significant impact due to over a century of colonialism.

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History

Colonial era

Britons had significant confidence in their ability to maintain control over and change Burma. They believed that it could be guarded best within British India while still being able to maintain its own unique potential and culture, and that the potential of the country's geography and incoming migrants promised a bright commercial future. [1] in the early 1930s, when the Saya San Rebellion took place, legal processes were kept in place to a significant extent despite the serious threat to the colonial state, emphasising the importance given to the civilising mission. [2]

As time went on, increasing amounts of nonwhite participation in local administration forced Britons to band together to a greater extent, resulting in more acceptance toward Anglo-Indians. [3] David Baillargeon has argued that British administration was also bolstered by other Western groups, as with the Burma Corporation that was founded by future American President Herbert Hoover. [4]

In 1942, many Indians and Europeans were forced to flee Burma due to the Japanese invasion. [5]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Raj</span> British colonial rule on the Indian subcontinent (1858–1947)

The British Raj was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, lasting from 1858 to 1947. It is also called Crown rule in India, or Direct rule in India. The region under British control was commonly called India in contemporaneous usage and included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom, which were collectively called British India, and areas ruled by indigenous rulers, but under British paramountcy, called the princely states. The region was sometimes called the Indian Empire, though not officially. As India, it was a founding member of the League of Nations and a founding member of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945. India was a participating state in the Summer Olympics in 1900, 1920, 1928, 1932, and 1936.

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The Manipur Kingdom also known as Meckley was an ancient kingdom at the India–Burma frontier. Historically, Manipur was an independent kingdom ruled by a Meitei dynasty. But it was also invaded and ruled over by Burmese kingdom at various point of time. It became a protectorate of the British East India Company from 1824, and a princely state of British Raj in 1891. It bordered Assam Province in the west and British Burma in the east, and in the 20th century covered an area of 22,327 square kilometres and contained 467 villages. The capital of the state was Imphal.

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References

  1. Keck, Stephen L. (2015), Keck, Stephen L. (ed.), "Dacoits and Dissent", British Burma in the New Century, 1895–1918, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 167–191, doi:10.1057/9781137364333_8, ISBN   978-1-137-36433-3 , retrieved 2024-12-26
  2. Brown, Ian (2019). "Rebels, the Death Penalty, and Legal Process in Late Colonial Burma". The Historical Journal. 62 (3): 813–832. doi:10.1017/S0018246X19000049. ISSN   0018-246X.
  3. Charlton-Stevens, Uther (2021), Andrews, Robyn; Raj, Merin Simi (eds.), "The End of Greater Anglo-India: Partitioned Anglo Identities in Burma and Pakistan", Anglo-Indian Identity: Past and Present, in India and the Diaspora, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 63–107, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-64458-1_4, ISBN   978-3-030-64458-1 , retrieved 2024-12-26
  4. Baillargeon, David (2018). "A Burmese Wonderland": British World Mining and the Making of Colonial Burma (Thesis). UC Santa Barbara.
  5. Leigh, Michael D. (2014-04-24). The Evacuation of Civilians from Burma: Analysing the 1942 Colonial Disaster. A&C Black. ISBN   978-1-4411-3247-5.