Thibaw Min

Thibaw Min ( Burmese: သီပေါမင်း * January 1, 1859 in Mandalay, Burma; † December 19, 1916 in Ratnagiri, India) was 1878-1885, the last king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma. His rule ended with the defeat of the Burmese army against the British conquest in 1885.

Biography

Thibaw Min was the son of King Mindon Min Burmese (reigned 1853-1878 ). He attended the most part in a Buddhist monastery. His father made ​​him the Prince of Thibaw, one of the states in the north of Burma.

Thibaw Min came with the help of a powerful widow of his father to the throne and ruled the country since his coronation on 1 October 1878 until his deposition on 29 November 1885. Decisions of the King described as detached from the world were often influenced by his power-conscious woman and half-sister, Queen Supayalat (* 1859, † 1925). Upon his accession to the throne the British occupation of the lower Burma lasted for three decades, and it was no secret that Thibaw Min wanted to rid the territory of the British. The relations deteriorated when the King at the beginning of the eighties powers tried to approach the country France. 1885 eventually led to a crisis that has become a " Great shoe question " ( Great Shoe Question) known: the Palace decreed that not only Burmese subjects would take off their shoes before entering the rooms, but that will do this also expected from the Europeans. The British officials refused and were consequently banished from the capital to the north. Ultimately, issued a proclamation Thibaw min, which made all the Burmese liberation of the south of the British mandatory.

This was the welcome occasion for the British colonial administration to portray the king as a tyrant and deal breaker, and to complete the final occupation of Burma. General Prendergast received orders to the upper Burma with 11,000 men, light boats and elephants to conquer. They reached the capital with little resistance and forced the king to abdicate. He was with his wife Supayalat and some members of the royal court into exile, first to Ceylon and finally to Ratnagiri ( at Bombay ), India, sent, where he died in 1916.

The Indian author Amitav Ghosh describes in his novel The Glass Palace, the circumstances of the dismissal Thibaws and his time in exile in India.

Family

Thibaw Min had eight children, six of whom were born in Burma and two in India. His first four children died at a young age in the palace of smallpox. The oldest surviving child was Princess ( Myat Phaya ) Gyi (* 1882, † 1947), followed by their younger sister Princess ( Myat Phaya ) Lat ( * 1884, † 1956).

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