battles-burma royalty

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Battles-Burma ROYALTY

KINGS, ROYALTY & LEADERS OFMYANMAR (Burma) (1044- 1900)

King Anawrahta :

King Anawrahta, also spelled ANIRUDDHA (fl. 11th century AD), the first king

of all of Myanmar, (reigned 1044-77), who introduced his people toTheravada Buddhism. His capital at Pagan on the Irrawaddy River became a

prominent city of pagodas and temples.

During his reign Anawrahta united the northern homeland of the Myanmar

people with the Mon kingdoms of the south. He extended his dominion as far

north as the kingdom of Nanchao, west to Arakan, south to the Gulf of

Martaban (near what is now Yangôn [Rangoon]), and as far east as what is

now northern Thailand.

In 1057 Anawrahta captured the Mon city of Thaton, a centre of Indian

civilization. Its fall led the other Mon rulers to submit to Anawrahta; for the

first time, a Myanmar ruler dominated the Irrawaddy River delta. Contact with

the Mons enriched Myanmar civilization. The Mons gave the Myanmar an

artistic and literary tradition and a system of writing. The earliest extant

Myanmar inscription, written in Mon characters, appeared in 1058.

Anawrahta was converted to Theravada Buddhism by a Mon monk, Shin

Arahan. As king, Anawrahta strove to convert his people from the influence of the Ari, a Mahayana Tantric Buddhist sect that was at that time predominant

in central Myanmar. Primarily through his efforts, Theravada Buddhism

became the dominant religion of Myanmar and the inspiration for its culture

and civilization. He maintained diplomatic relations with King Vijayabahu of

Ceylon, who in 1071 requested the assistance of Myanmar monks to help

revive the Buddhist faith. The Ceylonese king sent Anawrahta a replica of the

Buddha's tooth relic, which was placed in the Shwezigon pagoda at Pagan.

King Wareru :

also called MOGADO, or CHAO FA RUA (fl. 1300), famous king of

Hanthawaddy (Hansavadi, or Pegu), who ruled (1287-96) over the Mon

people of Lower Myanmar.

Wareru was a Tai adventurer of humble origins who had married a daughter

of King Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothai and had established himself as

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overlord of Martaban on the Salween River in 1281. Since the reign of King

Anawrahta of Pagan (1044-77), the Mon had been under Myanmar rule; but

after the Mongols sacked Pagan in 1287, Wareru and his ally, Tarabya, a

Mon prince of Pegu, drove the Myanmar out of the Irrawaddy Delta and

reestablished the independence of the Mon. Subsequently, Wareru killed

Tarabya and made himself the sole ruler of the Mon, with his capital at

Martaban. Although he was nominally a vassal of Ramkhamhaeng, he

conducted independent diplomatic relations with the emperor Kublai Khan inChina. A legendary achievement of his reign was the compilation of the

Dharma-shastra, or Dhammathat, the earliest surviving law code of

Myanmar. Wareru was murdered by his grandsons.

King Narameikhla :

also called MENG SOAMWUN (fl. early 15th century), founder and first king

(reigned 1404-34) of the Mrohaung dynasty in Arakan, the maritime country

lying to the west of Lower Myanmar on the Bay of Bengal, which had beensettled by the Myanmar in the 10th century.

When Arakan became the scene of a struggle between rival centres of power

in the 15th century, Narameikhla, the son of King Rajathu (reigned 1397-

1401), was forced in the first year of his reign to flee to Bengal, where he

became a vassal to King Ahmad Shah of Gaur. With the aid of Ahmad Shah's

successor, he regained control of Arakan in 1430. In 1433 he built at

Mrohaung a new capital, which remained the capital of Arakan until the 18th

century. As a nominal vassal of the Muslim kings of Gaur, Narameikhlaemployed Muslim titles in his coins and inscriptions, though he and his

subjects were Buddhists. He was succeeded by his son, Ali Khan (reigned

1434-59), who had adopted a Muslim name.

King Tabinshwehti :

(b. 1512, Toungoo, Myanmar [Myanmar]--d. 1550, Pegu), king who unified

Myanmar (reigned 1531-50). He was the second monarch of the Toungoo

dynasty, which his father, Minkyinyo, had founded in 1486.

In 1535 Tabinshwehti began a military campaign against the kingdom of

Pegu in southern Myanmar, capturing the city of Bassein in the Irrawaddy

delta. Four years later Pegu fell, and Takayutpi, the Pegu king, fled to Prome

(northwest of the present Yangon [Rangoon]). Employing Portuguese

soldiers of fortune, Tabinshwehti captured the towns of Martaban and

Moulmein in 1541, and in the following year he took Prome. With most of the





southern princes his vassals, he dominated southern Myanmar as far south

as Tavoy on the border of Siam (Thailand).

Although Tabinshwehti's campaigns in southern Myanmar were extremely

savage, he adopted many Mon customs, incorporated Mon soldiers into his

army, and made the ancient city of Pegu his capital in 1546. The king

planned to use Myanmar as a base from which to invade Siam. His first

campaign outside of Myanmar, however, was in Arakan, the kingdom to thewest of the Irrawaddy delta, where he attempted to place a subservient local

prince on the throne; his siege of the capital at Mrohaung was suspended

after the Siamese attacked Tavoy, forcing him to return home. In 1548 he

besieged Ayutthaya, the Siamese capital, but was forced to make an

ignominious retreat to Myanmar.

Suffering defeat in two campaigns, Tabinshwehti gave himself up to drink,

leaving to his brother-in-law, Bayinnaung, the task of suppressing a southern

revolt. In 1550 Tabinshwehti was assassinated by a rival prince, whoproclaimed himself king at Pegu. Bayinnaung crushed the revolt and carried

on his brother-in-law's work of unifying Myanmar.

King Bayinnaung :

also called BRAGINOCO or Barinnaung (fl. late 16th century), king of the

Toungoo dynasty (reigned 1551-81) in Myanmar (Myanmar). He unified his

country and conquered the Shan States and Siam (now Thailand), making

Myanmar the most powerful kingdom in mainland Southeast Asia.

In 1550 a revolt broke out among the Mons of southern Myanmar, and

Bayinnaung's brother-in-law, Tabinshwehti, was assassinated at Pegu in

1551 by a Mon prince. Bayinnaung marched to Toungoo, eliminated a

pretender to the throne, and proclaimed himself king; then he marched south,

captured the city of Pegu, and executed the rebel leader, Smim Htaw. The

other Mon rulers then surrendered, and the revolt was at an end. Bayinnaung

made Pegu his capital, as Tabinshwehti had.

In 1554 Bayinnaung set out against Shan chiefs, who occupied the ancient

Myanmar capital of Ava. He captured it the following year. The Shans were

placed under Myanmar suzerainty, and Bayinnaung was consequently in a

position to attack his most powerful enemy, Siam.

In 1563 Bayinnaung took as a pretext for war the refusal of the Siamese to

acknowledge his suzerainty. The following year he captured the Siamese





capital of Ayutthaya and brought the Siamese royal family to Myanmar as

hostages. In 1568, when a revolt flared up, Bayinnaung again invaded Siam.

Because the Siamese put up fierce resistance, Ayutthaya was not captured

until August 1569. The Myanmar king installed a new vassal on the throne

and deported thousands of Siamese into Myanmar as slaves. The Myanmar

dominated Siam for more than 15 years; they were expelled by a liberation

movement led by a Siamese prince, Naresuan (reigned 1590-1605).

Bayinnaung was a patron of Buddhism; he built pagodas, gave generous

donations to monasteries, and maintained extensive diplomatic relations with

the Buddhist kingdom of Ceylon. When Pegu was burned in a Mon revolt in

1564, he rebuilt it on an even grander scale, making one of the richest cities

in Southeast Asia.

King Nanda, :

also spelled NANDABAYIN (fl. late 16th century), king of the Toungoodynasty of Myanmar whose reign (1581-99) ended with the dismemberment

of the empire established by his father, Bayinnaung.

Upon coming to the throne, Nanda Bayin was faced with a rebellion of his

uncle, the viceroy of Ava, whom he defeated three years later. In December

1584 Nanda Bayin marched into Siam, which had been a vassal of his father,

to subjugate the Siamese patriot Naresuan. For the next three years he sent

several armies into the Chao Phraya river valley, but Naresuan defeated all

of them. The Siamese then went on the offensive, taking Tavoy andTenasserim in 1593. Nanda Bayin's troubles were compounded when

another group of his father's subject peoples in southern Myanmar revolted

and invited the Siamese to occupy Martaban and Moulmein on the Salween

River. In 1595 Nanda Bayin was obliged to retreat to Pegu and defend the

city from a Siamese attack.

In 1599 Nanda Bayin's brothers, the viceroys of Toungoo, Prome, and Ava,

revolted and, after inviting the king of Arakan to join in the fray, besieged

Pegu, took Nanda Bayin prisoner, and dismembered the last remnants of Bayinnaung's empire. Nanda Bayin's reign had been a series of

catastrophes, but this was due less to a lack of energy and initiative on his

part than to the overreaching ambition of his father, who had built an empire

too large to govern.

King Binnya Dala:





(d. 1774), last king (reigned 1747-57) of Pegu in southern Myanmar

(Myanmar), whose independence from the northern Myanmarns was revived

briefly between 1740 and 1757.

In 1747 Binnya Dala succeeded Smim Htaw Buddhaketi, who had seven

years earlier been set up as king of the Mon in the new capital of Pegu after

their successful revolt against the Myanmarns. Binnya Dala, who was his

predecessor's chief minister and a more capable military leader, madenumerous raids into northern Myanmar, penetrating beyond Ava, the capital.

In 1751 he raised a large army for the conquest of northern Myanmar,

capturing Ava in April 1752. Two years later he executed the last king of the

Toungoo dynasty, which had been founded in 1486.

Binnya Dala was eventually deposed by Alaungpaya, the founder of the

Myanmarn Alaungpaya dynasty, who captured Pegu in 1757. He was kept

captive and was executed by Alaungpaya's son, Hsinbyushin, in 1774.

King Alaungpaya :

Alaungpaya (Myanmar: "The Victorious"), also spelled ALAUNG PHRA,

ALOMPRA, or AUNGZEYA (b. 1714, Moksobomyo [Shwebo], Myanmar--d.

April 13, 1760, Kin-ywa, Martaban province, Myanmar), king (1752-60) who

unified Myanmar (Myanmar) and founded the Alaungpaya, or Konbaung,

dynasty, which held power until the British annexed Upper (northern)

Myanmar on Jan. 1, 1886. He also conquered the independent Mon kingdom

of Pegu (in the Irrawaddy River delta).

Of humble origins, Alaungpaya was a village headman from the small town of

Moksobomyo (present-day Shwebo), north of Ava, the Myanmar capital,

when in April 1752 Binnya Dala, the Mon king of Pegu, captured Ava and put

an end to Myanmar's ruling Toungoo dynasty. Refusing to become his

vassal, Alaungpaya organized a resistance movement. Claiming descent

from a 15th-century Myanmar king, he established a new Myanmar capital at

Moksobomyo. In 1753 he recaptured Ava and went on the offensive in

southern Myanmar. In 1755, at the end of a lightning campaign into the Moncountry, he founded a new port, to be called Yangôn (Rangoon), at the site of

the Mon fishing village of Dagon. In 1757 he captured the city of Pegu, and

took Binnya Dala prisoner. Alaungpaya established effective control over the

whole area previously under the rule of the Toungoo dynasty.

Because the French had allied themselves with the Mon, Alaungpaya was

eager to gain British support. In 1757 he concluded a treaty with the British





East India Company, granting it generous trade concessions. But the

company, at war with the French in India, was unwilling to involve itself on a

second front in Myanmar. In October 1759 the king's troops massacred

British merchants at Negrais who were suspected of aiding a local revolt.

After that action, relations between Britain and Myanmar were suspended.

Alaungpaya's last campaign was an invasion of Siam (Thailand). He led an

army through the town of Tavoy southward to Tenasserim and thennorthward to Ayutthaya (Ayuthia), the Siamese capital, which he surrounded

in April 1760. During the siege he was wounded, and he died while his army

was in retreat to Myanmar.

King Hsinbyushin:

(d. 1776, Ava, Myanmar), third king (1763-76) of the Alaungpaya, or

Konbaung, dynasty in Myanmar (Myanmar). He pursued a policy of

expansion at the expense of practically all his neighbours.

Hsinbyushin's most important single project was the subjugation of Siam

(now Thailand). In 1764 he campaigned eastward, taking Chiang Mai

(Chiengmai) and Vientiane before invading the Chao Phraya River valley.

When the Siamese capital of Ayutthaya fell in April 1767, he deported

thousands of prisoners to Myanmar. According to the Siamese chronicles,

"the King of Hanthawaddy [Bayinnaung] waged war like a monarch, but the

King of Ava [Hsinbyushin] like a robber." Myanmar control of Siam, however,

was very brief; the Siamese general Taksin soon expelled Hsinbyushin'sarmies. Not content with conquering Siam, Hsinbyushin invaded the Hindu

kingdom of Manipur (in present-day Manipur state, India) three times for

slaves and plunder. When the king claimed suzerainty over the country in the

third invasion, he could then threaten British India.

The greatest threat to Hsinbyushin's power came from China. Myanmar

aggressiveness in the Shan states, Laos, and Chiang Mai (then the capital of

the kingdom of Lan Na) led the emperor of China to launch four expeditions

against Myanmar in 1765-69, all of which were defeated by Hsinbyushin. In1769 a treaty was signed that provided for trade and diplomatic missions

between the two countries.

In 1773 a revolt broke out in southern Myanmar, which Hsinbyushin

suppressed. On his death three years later, he was succeeded by his son,

Singu Min.





border with British India thus extended from Arakan on the Bay of Bengal

northward to the foot of the Himalayan Mountains. The British, angered over

Myanmar border raids in pursuit of rebel forces, launched a war on March 5,

1824.

Bagyidaw's armies were driven out of Assam, Arakan, and Manipur. British

forces occupied southern Myanmar and advanced toward the capital,

Amarapura (near present-day Mandalay). On Feb. 24, 1826, Bagyidaw'sgovernment signed the Treaty of Yandabo ; its terms included cession of

Tenasserim and Arakan to the British, payment of an indemnity equivalent to

Pound 1,000,000 (10,000,000 Kyat silver coins), and renunciation of all

Myanmar claims in Assam and Manipur, which became British protectorates.

During the remaining years of his reign, Bagyidaw attempted to mitigate the

harsh terms of the treaty. In 1826 the king negotiated a commercial treaty

with the British envoy, John Crawfurd, but refused to establish formal

diplomatic relations unless he could deal on an equal basis with the Britishsovereign, rather than through the East India Company at Calcutta. Bagyidaw

failed to persuade the British to give Tenasserim back to Myanmar, but a

deputation that he sent to Calcutta in 1830 successfully reasserted the

Myanmar claim to the Kale-Kabaw Valley, which had been occupied by the

Manipuris. After 1831 Bagyidaw became increasingly susceptible to attacks

of mental instability, and in 1837 he was succeeded by his brother, Prince

Tharrawaddy Min.

General Maha Bandoola:

General Maha Bandoola, also spelled MAHABANDULA (b. 1780?--d. April 1,

1825, Danubyu, Myanmar [Myanmar]), Myanmar general who fought against

the British in the First Anglo-Myanmar War (1824-26).

In 1819 Maha Bandula served in the Myanmar army occupying Manipur, and

two years later he commanded a second Myanmar force in the conquest of

Assam. King Bagyidaw subsequently appointed him governor of Assam and

minister at the court of Ava. In January 1824, because of increased tensionsalong the Bengal-Arakan border, he was sent with 6,000 troops to Arakan.

When the British declared war in March, he immediately invaded Bengal,

occupying Ratnapallang and defeating a British force at Ramu. His objective

was to seize Chittagong and Dacca in a lightning thrust and, with the aid of a

second Myanmar army marching from Assam, to expel the British from

Bengal. His plan was frustrated, however, when the British landed a force at

Yangon (Rangoon) in May. The opening of a second front obliged him to call





off the campaign and make a difficult retreat over the Arakan Yoma to Ava.

After raising a large army in northern Myanmar, Maha Bandula marched to

Danubyu, on the Irrawaddy River, where he established his headquarters in

October 1824. In December he attempted, unsuccessfully, to encircle the

British, who were entrenched in the neighbourhood of Yangon. When his

headquarters fell to the British, he retreated to prepare for the defense of

Danubyu.

In March 1825 the British attacked Danubyu, which Bandula defended

courageously. After he was killed in battle, resistance collapsed, Danubyu

fell, and the British advanced to Prome, signaling defeat for the Myanmar.

King Tharrawaddy :

(d. October 1846), eighth king (reigned 1837-46) of the Alaungpaya, or

Konbaung, dynasty of Myanmar (Myanmar), who repudiated the Treaty of

Yandabo and nearly brought about a war with the British.

Tharrawaddy in 1837 deposed his brother Bagyidaw (reigned 1819-37), who

had been obliged to sign the humiliating treaty that ceded the provinces of

Arakan and Tenasserim to the British. Upon his accession, Tharrawaddy

declared the treaty invalid and refused to negotiate with representatives of

the government of India, demanding the right to deal directly with the British

monarch. The British resident at Amarapura, the Myanmar capital, was

forced to leave in June 1837, and Tharrawaddy refused to deal with his

successor in 1838 because he too was merely a representative of the Indian

governor-general. In 1840 the British suspended the residency, and

diplomatic relations between Myanmar and the British remained broken for

more than a decade.

Tharrawaddy nearly brought Myanmar to renewed war when, in 1841, he

went to Yangôn (Rangoon) on a pilgrimage to the Shwe Dagon pagoda,

bringing with him a large military escort. The British interpreted this as a

warlike act and refrained from starting hostilities only because of their

entanglements in Afghanistan. After 1841 Tharrawaddy became increasingly

subject to fits of mental instability; he was dethroned and, on his death,

succeeded by his son Pagan (reigned 1846-53).

King Mindon:

(b. 1814, Amarapura, Myanmar [Myanmar]--d. Oct. 1, 1878, Mandalay), king





of Myanmar from 1853 to 1878. His reign was notable both for its reforms

and as a period of cultural flowering in the period before the imposition of

complete colonial rule.

Mindon was a brother of Pagan (reigned 1846-53), who had ruled during the

Second Anglo-Myanmar War in 1852. As soon as he became king, Mindon

sued for peace and began negotiations with the British on the status of Pegu

(in southern Myanmar), which the British had occupied during the war.Frustrated in his attempts to persuade them to return Pegu, the king was

obliged to accept a much-reduced dominion, cut off from the sea and

deprived of some of the richest teak forests and rice-growing regions. To

avoid further trouble, he signed a commercial treaty in 1867 that gave the

British generous economic concessions in the unoccupied parts of Myanmar.

In 1872 he sent his chief minister, the Kinwun Mingyi U Gaung, on a

diplomatic mission to London, Paris, and Rome to secure international

recognition of Myanmar's status as an independent country and to appeal for

restoration of its lost territory.

Mindon's reign is sometimes considered to have been a golden age of

Myanmar culture and religious life. In 1857 he built a new capital, Mandalay,

with palaces and monasteries that are masterpieces of traditional Myanmar

architecture. The king also sought to make Mandalay a centre of Buddhist

learning, convening the Fifth Buddhist Council there in 1871 in an effort to

revise and purify the Pali scriptures.

Despite conservative opposition, Mindon promoted numerous reforms. Themost important were the thathameda, the assessed land tax, and fixed

salaries for government officials. He standardized the country's weights and

measures, built roads and a telegraph system, and was the first Myanmar

king to issue coinage. Mindon's reign compares favourably with that of

Mongkut of Siam (Thailand), even though Siam enjoyed the privileged

position of a buffer state between British and French possessions, while the

continued existence of an independent Myanmar kingdom was a hindrance to

British interests. Mindon was succeeded by his son, Thibaw (reigned 1878-

85), who was to be the last king of Myanmar.

King Thibaw, :

also spelled THEEBAW (b. 1858, Mandalay, Myanmar--d. Dec. 19, 1916,

Ratnagiri Fort, India), last king of Myanmar, whose short reign (1878-85)

ended with the occupation of Upper Myanmar by the British. Thibaw was a

younger son of King Mindon (reigned 1853-78) and studied (1875-77) in a





Buddhist monastery. As king he was strongly influenced by his wife,

Supayalat, and her mother, and his accession to the throne was

accompanied by much violence and civil strife.

In an attempt to enlist the aid of the French against the British, who had

annexed Lower Myanmar during his father's reign, Thibaw's government sent

a mission to Paris in 1883. Two years later a commercial treaty was

concluded, and a French representative arrived in Mandalay. Rumourscirculated that Thibaw's government had granted the French economic

concessions in exchange for a political alliance, and British officials in

Rangoon, Calcutta, and London began demanding immediate annexation of

Upper Myanmar.

An occasion for intervention was furnished by the case of the British-owned

Bombay-Myanmarh Trading Corporation, which extracted teak from the

Ningyan forest in Upper Myanmar. When Thibaw charged it with cheating the

government, demanding a fine of Pound Sterling 100,000, the Indian viceroy,Lord Dufferin, sent an ultimatum to Mandalay in October 1885 demanding a

reconsideration of the case. Thibaw ignored the ultimatum, and on Nov. 14,

1885, the British invaded Upper Myanmar, capturing Mandalay two weeks

later. Thibaw was deposed and Upper Myanmar incorporated into the

province of British Myanmar. Thibaw was exiled to India, where he remained

until his death.

Sayar San:

Saya also spelled HSAYA, original name YA GYAW (b. Oct. 24, 1876, East

Thayet-kan, Shwebo district, Myanmar [Myanmar]--d. Nov. 16, 1931,

Tharrawaddy), leader of the anti-British rebellion of 1930-32 in Myanmar

(Myanmar).

Saya San was a native of Shwebo, a centre of nationalist-monarchist

sentiment in north-central Myanmar that was the birthplace of the Konbaung

(or Alaungpaya) dynasty, which controlled Myanmar from 1752 until the

British annexation in 1886. He was a Buddhist monk, physician, andastrologer in Siam (Thailand) and Myanmar before the rebellion. Saya San

joined the extreme nationalist faction of the General Council of Burmese

Associations led by U Soe Thein. Saya San organized peasant discontent

and proclaimed himself a pretender to the throne who, like Alaungpaya,

would unite the people and expel the British invader. He organized his

followers into the "Galon Army" (Galon, or Garuda, is a fabulous bird of Hindu

mythology), and he was proclaimed "king" at Insein, near Rangoon (Yangon),





on Oct. 28, 1930.

On the night of December 22/23 the first outbreak occurred in the

Tharrawaddy district; the revolt soon spread to other Irrawaddy delta districts.

The Galon army rebels, like the Boxers of China, carried charms and tattoos

to make themselves invulnerable to British bullets. Armed only with swords

and spears, Saya San's rebels were no match for British troops with machine

guns.

As the revolt collapsed, Saya San fled to the Shan Plateau in the east. On

Aug. 2, 1931, however, he was captured at Hokho and brought back to

Tharrawaddy to be tried by a special tribunal. Despite the efforts of his

lawyer, Ba Maw, he was sentenced to death in March 1931 and was hanged

at Tharrawaddy jail. The revolt was crushed, but more than 10,000 peasants

were killed in the process.

Although Saya San's revolt was basically political (it was the last genuineattempt to restore the Burmese monarchy) and possessed strong religious

characteristics, its causes were basically economic. The peasants of

southern Myanmar had been dispossessed by Indian moneylenders, were

burdened with heavy taxes, and were left penniless when the price of rice

dropped in an economic depression. Widespread support for Saya San

betrayed the precarious and unpopular position of British rule in Myanmar.

General Aung San :

Aung San (b. 13 Feb 1915, Natmauk, Myanmar [now Myanmar]--d. July 19,

1947, Rangoon [now Yangôn]), Myanmar nationalist leader and assassinated

hero who was instrumental in securing Myanmar's independence from Great

Britain. Before World War II Aung San was actively anti-British; he then allied

with the Japanese during World War II, but switched to the Allies before

leading the Myanmar drive for autonomy.

Born of a family distinguished in the resistance movement after the British

annexation of 1886, Aung San became secretary of the students' union at

Rangoon University and, with U Nu, led the students' strike there in February

1936. After Myanmar's separation from India in 1937 and his graduation in

1938, he worked for the nationalist Dobama Asi-ayone ("We-Burmans

Association"), becoming its secretary-general in 1939.

While seeking foreign support for Myanmar's independence in 1940, Aung

San was contacted in China by the Japanese. They then assisted him in





raising a Myanmar military force to aid them in their 1942 invasion of

Myanmar. Known as the "Myanmar Independence Army," it grew with the

advance of the Japanese and tended to take over the local administration of

occupied areas. Serving as minister of defense in Ba Maw's puppet

government (1943-45), Aung San became skeptical of Japanese promises of

Myanmar independence, even if an unlikely Japanese victory were to occur,

and was displeased with their treatment of Myanmar forces. Thus, in March

1945, Major General Aung San switched his Myanmar National Army to the Allied cause.

After the Japanese surrender in August 1945, the British sought to

incorporate his forces into the regular army, but he held key members back,

forming the People's Volunteer Organization. This was ostensibly a veterans'

association interested in social service, but it was in fact a private political

army designed to take the place of his Myanmar National Army and to be

used as a major weapon in the struggle for independence.

Having helped form the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL), an

underground movement of nationalists, in 1944, Aung San used that united

front to become deputy chairman of Myanmar's Executive Council in late

1946. In effect he was prime minister but remained subject to the British

governor's veto. After conferring with the British prime minister Clement

Attlee in London, he announced an agreement (Jan. 27, 1947) that provided

for Myanmar's independence within one year. In the election for a

constitutional assembly in April 1947, his AFPFL won 196 of 202 seats.

Though communists had denounced him as a "tool of British imperialism," hesupported a resolution for Myanmar independence outside the British

Commonwealth.

On July 19, the prime minister and six colleagues, including his brother, were

assassinated in the council chamber in Rangoon while the executive council

was in session. His political rival, U Saw, interned in Uganda during the war,

was later executed for his part in the killings.

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