Zaw Win - A great life and a glorious death

Look at the next flag.

Ma Thein, Inkyin, Tun Tezar

My dear daughters and sons, I have written to you because I have something to tell you. Don't think, "Hey, I'm going to give you some advice." As you know, I am a person who likes the principle of "Live and let live" (do as you like, and let him do as he likes), so I have never told you what to do or what not to do.

I am writing this letter to you about Ma Thein. Ma Thein is currently taking a course from U Win Naing, one of Ba Ba Zaw's booksellers. Your teacher is often seen in the circle where Ba Ba Zaw and I sit as "Maung Shin Saw", so whenever we meet, Ba Ba Zaw always asks him to take care of Ma Thein. He also often informs Ba Ba Zaw about Ma Thein and things he needs to know about her.

One day, he told me about the incident of the thief. As a joke. He asked his students about two or three important events in Burmese history. No one knew. He thought that Ma Thein would know about them. If he answered correctly, “I think I know because I am the same age as Saya Zaw, and look at how she answers,” he replied to Ma Thein’s excuse. “The teacher also said that the things that Saya Zaw said are not even married. How would you know?” Ko Shin Saw replied with a laugh. Ba Ba Zaw said, “I laughed, daughter.

Ko Shin Saw got a poem called “Pyramid” from that incident. Baba Zaw also got this letter. To build a bridge between the discontinuous era for our daughters and sons.

Daughters, sons...

"You must have heard the saying, 'Look ahead, look back,' my daughters and sons. There are many people who can help you look forward. Let me fill you in on the other side of the story, Baba Zaw.

I think I will write to you often from now on. As I said before, it is not a teaching, but a collection of stories. Ancient legends, the unique past events of our country and the world, interesting things from everything I have read and written, and through those readings, my imagination has changed a thousand times.

There is one thing, what Ba Ba Zaw wrote will only be what Ba Ba Zaw remembered from everything he read. Ba Ba Zaw did not have the habit of taking notes and reading, and even if he did note everything he read, it would often be lost or erased, so it would not be easy to cite it accurately. Therefore, it will only be what I remembered from everything I read. If you are interested, I will introduce it so that you can continue to study it extensively.

In this article, I would like to introduce you to the "Prince of Kanaung".

The Prince of Kanaung was the younger brother of King Mindon, the second-last king of the Konbaung period. It can be said that he was the one who installed King Mindon on the throne. The two brothers were the sons of Thayarwaddy. It is not wrong that their brother was a brother who tried his best to keep the Burmese dynasty alive by any means possible.

As you may know, the British invaded Burma three times and conquered it, one part at a time. The first Anglo-Burmese war began in 1824 during the reign of King Bagyidaw of the Konbaung Dynasty, and the Burmese surrendered with the Treaty of Yandapo signed on February 24, 1826. The British were given a war indemnity of one hundred million kyats, as well as the Rakhine coastal region including Rakhine, Rambree, Manaung, and Thandwe, and the Tanintharyi coastal region including Ye, Myeik, Dawei, and Tanintharyi. The defeated king, Bagyidaw, was the brother of King Kanaung.

After the defeat, Bagyidaw fell and Kanaung's father, Thayarawaddy, ascended the throne. Thayarawaddy was a powerful king. During Bagyidaw's reign, he tried to deal with the British harshly, ignoring the defeat. However, he was unable to regain the lost territories.

After the death of King Thayarawaddy, his son (half-brother of Mindon and Kanaw) by his queen, ascended the throne of Bagan. At that time, Prince Mindon and Prince Kanaw were both adults. Prince Mindon had been a high-ranking prince since the reign of his father, King Thayarawaddy.

During the reign of King Bagan, the situation in the country became worse and worse. King Bagan was not a very capable king. The king himself spent his time fighting chickens and birds every day, leaving the administration of the country to his trusted vassals, believing only one side's words, and finally the king's vassals and the princes of Mindon and Kanaung came face to face.

At that time, the British were also waging various wars. Finally, in 1852 AD (1213 Burmese calendar), the Second Anglo-Burmese War broke out. The war lasted for about a year and ultimately ended in defeat for the Burmese side.

While the war was going on with the English, the Bagan prince's servants and nobles started a fire in the palace. Prince Mindon was calm, but Prince Kanaung was more aggressive. He had already collected a large number of weapons. So, I wonder if he thought that while facing the front, he would have to suppress the rear. The Bagan prince's confidants started to find problems for Prince Kanaung and Prince Mindon's brother. It was said that the house of an old lady, the guardian of the Bagan prince, was robbed. They accused the two princes of both Prince Mindon and Prince Kanaung of being involved in the robbery and started to arrest, torture, and question them.

Prince Mindon thought of settling the matter peacefully, saying, “The law is protected by the gods.” However, in addition to the instigation of Prince Kanaung, Princess Sakya Devi, the sister of the King of Bagan (who later became the Queen Mother of Mindon), urged him to go to Shwe Bo with his two brothers and two sisters and rebel against the army. The army of the King of Bagan was defeated every time it met with the armies of the two brothers Mindon and Kanaung. In addition, they were still fighting with the British, so they could not resist the troops from the north (from Shwe Bo) well, and in the month of Ta Paung of that year, the King of Bagan abdicated. King Mindon ascended the throne and gave his brother Kanaung the throne. The Queen Mother was the “Hlaing Tsek Khaung Tin” that his daughters and sons already knew.

Daughters, sons...

When King Mindon ascended the throne, the Anglo-Burmese war was not yet officially over. The British had already announced their occupation of Bago in Lower Burma in the month of Pyatho, 1214 (20 December 1852 AD). Arthur Fera, the Governor of Rakhine, had also been appointed as the Governor-General of Bago. The Viceroy of India, Lord Dalhousie, had left Fera to negotiate a peace with the Burmese king. At this time, King Mindon ascended the throne at Amarapura, and Fera was able to negotiate a peace with King Mindon.

King Mindon did not recognize the war between his predecessor, the King of Bagan, and the British, and did not sign the peace treaty, and he ordered them not to attack the British, so the war ended automatically. What is remarkable is that the Second Anglo-Burmese War did not end with a formal treaty until the Third Anglo-Burmese War, when all of Burma came under British rule.

King Mindon knew that it would be pointless to immediately engage in war with the British. So he presented himself as a peaceful king. (This was also in keeping with his character) He presented himself as a calm king so that the British had no reason to wage war. King Mindon waged a diplomatic war.

The King of Kanaung took on the responsibility of strengthening the country that had lost the war because it was weak, and of trying to catch up with the times. In order to establish a modern country, it was the plan of the King of Kanaung to send more than 90 scholars to study the modern sciences that were developing in European countries, with sufficient salaries and expenses. Among these scholars were the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Finance, U Mya, and his brother, U Phae, the Minister of Finance, U Phan, the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, U Shwe Oh, and the Minister of Finance, U Aung.

Because he believed that the country would be strong only if it had modern weapons, the Prince of Kanaung built a large weapons factory in Sagaing. He also built a factory near Shwe Ta Chaung, northwest of Shwe City. He also made many military improvements in defense. Previously, the Burmese king did not have a permanent army. When the battle was about to begin, he had to recruit good fighters and fight. It was a situation where he had to find a partner and fight. From this situation, the Prince of Kanaung improved the situation to a permanent army. He also worked hard on military training with the help of foreigners, French and Italians. In order to improve communication within the country, he planted telegraph poles, taught telegraph skills, and developed the Burmese alphabet and telegraph method together with Secretary Yaw.

In order to produce industrial consumer goods, he purchased and established a coin factory, weaving machines, carpet machines, rice mills, sawmills, dishwashing machines, sugar mills, indigo mills, etc. from abroad. There were more than 50 factories. He personally managed the Minister of Works, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Works, and the Secretary to supervise and administer these factories. The money spent on these educational expenses and the establishment of new factories was also spent on the money he received from the villages and towns he received as the Crown Prince of Kanaung.

King Mindon had many wives, so he had many children. Among them were many adult sons. King Mindon entrusted these eldest sons to the Prince of Kanaung to be trained. Why are the princes so proud because they are his sons? So it is natural that there will be conflicts between the eldest sons of King Mindon and his uncle, King Kanaung. In addition, since King Kanaung was given the throne, their rights to inherit the throne were limited, so the sons

Many of the nobles were dissatisfied. Among them, Myungkun and the Myinkontai Princes were the most severe.

Thus, on the 7th day of the second full moon of Waso in the year 1218, August 2, 1866, while Prince Mindon and Prince Kanaung were temporarily staying in a temporary tent outside the palace with their ministers, Prince Kanaung was killed when Myin Khun and Myin Khon Tai clashed.

Sons and daughters...

Whenever I think about the Kanaung princes, who were cut short by the ego and pride of some people while doing their best for the country, I often wonder, “If the great Kanaung princes had lived longer, could the fate of our country Myanmar have changed?”

It is true that it is quite late. The fact that the entire country of Lower Burma has been lost and the sea outlet is blocked is a huge problem. But in any case, in time