A Rebellion in Burma
| Published date | 01 July 1930 |
| Author | W. H. A. Webster |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3000300311 |
| Date | 01 July 1930 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
ARebellion in
Burma
By W. H. A. WEBSTER, C.LE.
Formerly Commissioner of Police, Rangoon
SINCE the annexation of Upper Burma in 1885 the
administration has had to face, from time to time, risings
against British rule. Most of them have been pretty feeble
affairs and easily crushed, and the one I am going to relate
proved, in this respect, no exception.
To
anyone
conversant with Burmese history and the
character of the people it will be readily understood why such
uprisings occasionally occur.
The
Burman is full of racial
pride and is personally vain and credulous. There has never
been a princely or ruling caste in the
country;
indeed there
was very little difference socially between the king and the
peasant, and the historical tales of ancient
days-part
truth,
part
fable-in
which every Burman is steeped by reason of the
fact that they form the basis of the countless
pwes,
or dramatic
performances, of which he is inordinately fond and which are
acted in almost every village at times of pagoda festivals, teach
him that the humble villager of to-day may be the successful
usurper of the throne to-morrow and the founder of a new
dynasty.
The
Buddhist religion, too, or at least that form of it
which is commonly accepted by the mass of the people, teaches
the doctrine of reincarnation. Finally, in the year
1910
of
which I write, memories of the days of King Theebaw were
comparatively fresh in men's
minds;
and the absence of good
roads and other means of quick communication permitted
rumours to get a long start and a serious situation to develop
before the powers that be became aware of what was happening.
One evening towards the close of the year
1909
in the
little village of Pegu in the Sagaing District of Upper Burma a
young man named Maung Than, accompanied by a friend, went
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