The British Conquest of Burma: The Process of Empire

Previous articles on the British Conquest of Burma focused on the First Anglo-Burmese War (http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/1817... and the Second Anglo-Burmese War (http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/1817... At the end of these wars, the British forces had enforced physical control of large parts of the country and the Burmese military had been defeated and mostly routed. But how did the British create the mechanisms that enabled them to run the country as an imperial possession? What is the process of colonisation?

Of course, it would be simplistic to claim that there was just one model of colonisation that was followed by all states on all occasions. Instead, each case should be approached on an individual basis. However, there are some common features which recur on many occasions and these should be considered to be important.

In Burma, the British at the conclusion of the war controlled the coastal areas that came to be known as Lower Burma. Initially, this section of the country was less important the Upper Burma, which contained the capital city of Mandalay and all of the royal institutions and offices. However, this situation was soon reversed and Lower Burma took the preeminent role.

Firstly, the ports and rice surplus were seized and placed under British control. Henceforth, all economic activities would be run on the basis of maximum efficiency and all surpluses would be diverted into the British coffers. A new class of administrators would be drawn from Burmese or Indian civil servants who were educated and trained under British influence and who owed their rise and position in society to the British system which they were then supporting. An overseas police force was introduced and large capacity prisons were built both in the country and in the Andaman Islands, with additional measures of torture and corporal punishment when the prisons were full. Breaking the link between the people and the institutions of the state also required ending the influence of the Buddhist monkhood. Under the established British policy of non-intervention in religious affairs followed in multi-ethnic India, no preference was to be shown to any particular religion and hence the link between crown and Buddhism was broken.

All of the institutions that helped define people as Burmese were therefore replaced by other institutions. No longer were the products of the land grown or produced to benefit Burmese. No longer was the power of the king there to protect them and to subjugate their enemies. No longer would there be a direct link between meritorious acts committed by individual Burmese be transmitted to the king via the monks which might then be redirected via heaven to the protection of the country.

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