HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Saya San also spelled Hsaya (original name Yar Kyaw, my, ဆရာစံ, ; 24 October 1876 – 28 November 1931) was a physician, former
monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
and the leader of the Saya San Rebellion of 1930-1932 in
British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
. The series of uprisings that have been called the Saya San Rebellion has been regarded as one of Southeast Asia's quintessential anti-colonial movements. Because of its national and historical nature, discussions about Saya San and the rebellion associated with him has persisted to this day, particularly within academic spheres.


Saya San’s life

Saya San was a native of
Shwebo Shwebo ( my, ရွှေဘိုမြို့ ) is a city in Sagaing Region, Burma, 110 km north-west of Mandalay between the Irrawaddy and the Mu rivers. The city was the origin of the Konbaung Dynasty, established by King Alaungpaya ...
, a centre of nationalist-monarchist sentiment in north-central
Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
that was the birthplace of the
Konbaung The Konbaung dynasty ( my, ကုန်းဘောင်ခေတ်, ), also known as Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်) and formerly known as the Alompra dynasty (အလောင်းဘ ...
(or Alaungpaya) dynasty, which controlled Myanmar from 1752 until the end of the
Third Anglo-Burmese War The Third Anglo-Burmese War ( my, တတိယ အင်္ဂလိပ် – မြန်မာစစ်, Tatiya Anggalip–Mran cac), also known as the Third Burma War, took place during 7–29 November 1885, with sporadic resistance conti ...
in 1886. He was born on 24 October 1876. His original name was Yar Kyaw. His parents were U Kyaye and Daw Hpet, who lived with their five children in the rural agricultural village of Thayetkan. Yar Kyaw was exposed to
Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
tenets at an early age by studying at the local village monastery. Then he continued his studies at the nearby Hpo Hmu monastery until he was nearly twenty years old. Yar Kyaw left for the village of Nga Kaung Inn soon after with a hope that he could make a better living selling mats and baskets as an alternative to working in the agricultural sector. Eventually, he met and married Ma Kay, and had two children, Ko Po Thin and Ma Sein. As economic condition failed to improve, Yar Kyaw left for Moulmein in
Lower Burma Lower Myanmar ( my, အောက်မြန်မာပြည်, also called Lower Burma) is a geographic region of Myanmar and includes the low-lying Irrawaddy Delta (Ayeyarwady Region, Ayeyarwady, Bago Region, Bago and Yangon Regions), as we ...
, where employment opportunities were better because of the expansion of the rice frontier. Earning his living as a carpenter for some time and then more successfully as a fortuneteller and traditional healer, he wrote two treatises on traditional healing practices that questioned the authority and efficacy of Western medical treatment. The transition Saya San made from a medical man to a political activist is not very clear. People tend to believe that he joined the General Council of Burmese Associations (GCBA) led by U Soe Thein in 1920s. He began his political career as a representative of his village and soon progressed to lead his township and district branch of
Moulmein Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; th, เมาะลำเลิง ; mnw, မတ်မလီု, ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' south east of Yangon and south of Thaton, at th ...
. In 1924, at the annual congress of the GCBA, 45-year-old Saya San was elected to chair a commission to survey the living conditions of the Burmese peasantry. In late December 1930, Saya San organized a peasant revolt and proclaimed himself a pretender to the throne who, like Alaungpaya, would unite the people and expel the British authorities. He organized his followers into the “Galon Army” and he was proclaimed “king” at Insein, near
Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
(
Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
). Quickly, the rebellion drew colonial authority's attention and was suppressed by colonial government. As the revolt collapsed, Saya San fled to the Shan Plateau in the east. By August 1931, however, he was captured at Hokho and brought back to Tharrawaddy. He was tried and sentenced by a Special Rebellion Tribunal. Despite the efforts of his lawyer,
Ba Maw Ba Maw ( my, ဘမော်, ; 8 February 1893 – 29 May 1977) was a Burmese lawyer and political leader, active during the interwar and World War II periods. Dr. Ba Maw is a descendant of the Mon Dynasty. He was the first Burma Premier ...
, he was executed on November 28, 1931.


Saya San Rebellion

''Also known as the'' Galon Rebellion ''and'' Galon Peasant Rebellion.


Anglo-Burmese conflicts

Briefly, the imperial history of Burma had sustained almost eight centuries. In the 9th century the
Tibeto-Burman The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non- Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people spea ...
speaking Burmese, began migrating to the Irrawaddy valley from present-day Yunnan's Nanzhao kingdom and then established the
Pagan Kingdom The Kingdom of Pagan ( my, ပုဂံခေတ်, , ; also known as the Pagan Dynasty and the Pagan Empire; also the Bagan Dynasty or Bagan Empire) was the first Burmese kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-da ...
in 1057. Pagan's power slowly waned in the 13th century.
Kublai Khan Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of th ...
's Mongol forces invaded northern Burma and sacked Pagan city itself, the kingdom fall in 1287. In the second half of the 16th century, the
Taungoo Dynasty , conventional_long_name = Toungoo dynasty , common_name = Taungoo dynasty , era = , status = Empire , event_start = Independence from Ava , year_start ...
reunified the country, and founded the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia for a brief period. In the 18th century, the
Konbaung Dynasty The Konbaung dynasty ( my, ကုန်းဘောင်ခေတ်, ), also known as Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်) and formerly known as the Alompra dynasty (အလောင်းဘ ...
restored the kingdom, and went to war with all its neighbors. The kingdom fought three wars with the British. In 1885, the kingdom was defeated in the Third Anglo-Burmese War, and the King
Thebaw Thibaw Min, also Thebaw or Theebaw ( my, သီပေါ‌မင်း, ; 1 January 1859 – 19 December 1916) was the last king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) and also the last Burmese monarch in the country's history. His re ...
, was deported to India. Eventually, Burma was fully annexed into the
British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
in 1886, but the more difficult task of maintaining stability remained, as the colonial government authorities immediately faced a number of uprisings that erupted throughout the formal Burmese Kingdom. By the 1890s, colonial officials had determined that the main pacification campaigns were successful, and they could concentrate on the business of building a social-economic infrastructure that could support their interest in the vast teak, mineral, and agricultural resources that their new colony provided. Attached as a province of
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, British Burma would be subject to administrative policies established in
New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
as well as the vast array of procedural structures that characterized the Indian Civil Service. The new territories were divided into districts and assigned a commissioner with a small support staff. Through the prism and experience of British India, Burmese people, cultures, languages and histories were constructed by imperial surveys that now sought to map the new territories. Indigenous healing practices, rituals, folktales, notions of authority and village life would be organized and categorized according to how well the district officer understood what he was observing. Moreover, when the British government annexed the Kingdom of Burma in 1885-1886, they transferred the Burmese royal throne to a museum in
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
. Meanwhile, the Palace of Mandalay was converted into a gentlemen's club, which was seen as offensive by the Burmese. In other words, the establishment colonial rule had changed the social landscape of ancient Burma in a manner that caused much resentment.


Resistance movements before Saya San

The colonial government had faced numerous outbreaks of
resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...
s throughout 1886-1890. These opposition movements became more intensive and extensive. Some of these rebellions were led by former members of the court, like the Myinzaing Prince, who continued to wield considerable influence over troops and villagers in provincial centers that had once been in alliance with the throne. Other pockets of resistance were led by local headmen and monks but were limited by size and scope. These were often short-lived either due to lack of support or the overwhelming technical advantage of the colonial government. In the late 1890s, a small group of
Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
associations with contemporary forms of organization and structure were founded by lay members in an effort to preserve the religion and its place in society. In 1906, political organizations such as the
Young Men's Buddhist Association The YMBA, or Young Men's Buddhist Association, was created in Sri Lanka in 1898. The main founder was C. S. DissanayakeHuman Rights Watch (2009)''The Resistance of the Monks: Buddhism and Activism in Burma'' p. 12. as part of a bid to provide Budd ...
(YMBA) came into prominence within
Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
, drawing young clerks and educated elites into working for changes in colonial society through accepted and approved channels. The YMBA focused on improving social conditions and concentrating on educational government on issue of cultural identity. This would pave the way for formation of the
General Council of Burmese Associations The General Council of Burmese Associations (GCBA), also known as the Great Burma Organisation ( my, မြန်မာအသင်းချုပ်ကြီး; ''Myanma Ahthinchokgyi''), was a political party in Burma. History The GCBA was for ...
(GCBA) which planned to participate more directly in political protest and demonstrations. In order to engage rural communities, members of GCBA would travel into the countryside conducting interviews, collecting data, and filling reports to establish lines of communication with emerging village activists. Saya San joined the GCBA and worked in the countryside for more than two years, so he was familiar with rural places and had direct connections with peasants.


Rebellion

In October 1930, there had been earthquakes at
Pegu Bago (formerly spelt Pegu; , ), formerly known as Hanthawaddy, is a city and the capital of the Bago Region in Myanmar. It is located north-east of Yangon. Etymology The Burmese name Bago (ပဲခူး) is likely derived from the Mon lang ...
and
Pyu Pyu, also spelled Phyu or Phyuu, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. is a town in Taungoo District, Bago Region in Myanmar. It is the administrative seat of Phyu Township Pyu Township is a township in Taungoo District in the ...
. These were heralded as portents, recalling prophesies that the throne of the King of Burma would not remain unoccupied. At the auspicious moment, the coronation of Saya San proceeded in the traditional manner, at a pagoda near
Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
. Saya San was proclaimed the Thupannaka Galon
Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...
, and donned the royal raiments prescribed by ancient usage. On 21 December 1930, the Galon Raja moved to his palace on Alaungtang Hill in Tharrawaddy, where a royal city, known as Buddharaja Myo, or “Buddhist King’s Town”, was ceremonially plotted out. The new king disposed of the proper retinue of five queens, four ministers, and four regiments. Saya San promised supporters that he would restore the authority of the Burmese monarchy, revitalize the Buddhist religion and expel the British authorities. Also, he assured his oath-bound followers that they would be protected by his magical charms and tattoos. On the night of 22 December the first outbreak occurred in the Tharrawaddy district. Tharrawaddy, like most of
Lower Burma Lower Myanmar ( my, အောက်မြန်မာပြည်, also called Lower Burma) is a geographic region of Myanmar and includes the low-lying Irrawaddy Delta (Ayeyarwady Region, Ayeyarwady, Bago Region, Bago and Yangon Regions), as we ...
, suffered severe economic dislocation during the ‘Hoover Slump’. The
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
of 1930 had a devastating impact on rice prices. Rice was Burma's most important export commodity and its fortunes on commercial markets affected much of the rural population. The high population density in central Burma and the concentration of land ownership in fewer hands created a large number of disaffected landless laborers increasingly aggrieved with colonial government, whom they blamed for both their inability to work the land independently and for decline of their real incomes as rice worker. Thus, rural cultivators, already frustrated by the drop of the price of rice were quick to respond to Saya San's appeals involving a mixture of anti-tax rhetoric, Buddhist prophecies and guarantees of invulnerability. In a few weeks it became clear that the violence that began in Tharrawaddy had escalated. The colonial government officials in
New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
were soon asked by their
Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
counterparts to dispatch armed forces to quell the rebellion. However, the military support did not produce immediate results. The outbreaks continued to spread in neighboring districts. The rebellion spread to the districts of
Pyapon Pyapon ( my, ဖျာပုံမြို့; Mon: , ) is a town and seat of Pyapon District in the Ayeyarwady Division of Myanmar, along the Pyapon River, a tributary of the Ayeyarwady River. It is located about inland from the Andaman Sea ...
,
Henzada Hinthada ( my, ဟင်္သာတမြို့; formerly Henzada) is a city located on the Irrawaddy River in Ayeyarwady Region, Burma (Myanmar). In the 1983 census the city itself had a population of 82,005. By 2010 it had grown to 170,312. ...
, Insein,
Pegu Bago (formerly spelt Pegu; , ), formerly known as Hanthawaddy, is a city and the capital of the Bago Region in Myanmar. It is located north-east of Yangon. Etymology The Burmese name Bago (ပဲခူး) is likely derived from the Mon lang ...
,
Toungoo Taungoo (, ''Tauñngu myoú''; ; also spelled Toungoo) is a district-level city in the Bago Region of Myanmar, 220 km from Yangon, towards the north-eastern end of the division, with mountain ranges to the east and west. The main industr ...
,
Prome Pyay (, ; mnw, ပြန် , ; also known as Prome and Pyè) is principal town of Pyay Township in the Bago Region in Myanmar. Pyay is located on the bank of the Irrawaddy River, north-west of Yangon. It is an important trade center for the Ayey ...
,
Thayetmyo Thayet (; pronounced ) is a capital city in Thayet District of Magway Region in central Myanmar. It is a port on the right (western) bank of the Irrawaddy River, across and just south of Allanmyo, between Pyay (Prome) and Magway. Thayet is the ...
, Naungcho Township, and the Northern
Shan States The Shan States (1885–1948) were a collection of minor Shan kingdoms called ''muang'' whose rulers bore the title ''saopha'' in British Burma. They were analogous to the princely states of British India. The term "Shan States" was firs ...
. Other rebellion leaders such as U Aung Hla, Bo Aung Shwe, and Bo Aung Pe led uprisings in neighboring districts to secure weapons, raid police stations, and attack government representatives. Within weeks of the first outbreak, Rangoon authorities responded by seeking special emergency power from India. By June 1931, a Special Rebellion Commissioner, Mr. Booth Gravely, was appointed to manage affairs in Burma. In July 1931, the authorities considered the situation so serious that they (unsuccessfully) asked permission from the government of India to introduce martial law. By August 1931, Saya San was captured. By then, the rebellion had gone on for nearly two years. The revolt was defeated, and the casualties were not much certain. By the end of 1932, more than 1,000 rebels were killed and a further 9,000 rebels were surrendered or captured. Saya San and 125 other rebels were hanged and almost 1,400 were sentenced to terms of imprisonment or
penal transportation Penal transportation or transportation was the relocation of convicted criminals, or other persons regarded as undesirable, to a distant place, often a colony, for a specified term; later, specifically established penal colonies became their ...
.


Galon Raja

Saya San took the name of the Thupannaka Galon
Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...
(King). This name could be understood in three dimensions within the Burmese context. The galon is a well-recognized figure in the literature of Hindu-Buddhist Southeast Asia. Galon was a fabulous bird of
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
mythology. It is often depicted in combat with the
Nāga The Nagas (IAST: ''nāga''; Devanāgarī: नाग) are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...
. This cosmic battle between ''galon'' and ''nāga'' would come to represent ideas about the power of nature, the dualities of the world, and the challenges of the human conditions. First, after the establishment of British rule, the Nāga was generally recognized as the symbol for the British, while the Galon stood for Burma. Thus in one sense, the Galon acted as an unofficial symbol for anti-British sentiments in Bumra, as the Galon was the vanquisher of the Nāga. Secondly, The Galon-Nāga symbolism also had other meanings. In Eastern mythology, the Galon represents the sun-force or solar energy, in natural opposition to the liquid quality of earthly waters. The Nāga is an earth symbol that, in its embodiment in serpentine form, partakes of the magical symbolic properties of liquids. The liquid of the serpent is especially fascinating because it is a poison. The Galon is the killer of serpents, and thus the possessor of supernatural power against all forms of lethal poison. Therefore, it is not surprising that most Burmans regarded certain tattoos as effective protection against snakebite. Perhaps at some time in history the tattoo dyes or needles had some genuine medicinal property. On this count we can only speculate, but, in any case, it was a well-entrenched article of Burmese belief. Thus the Galon itself was a symbol or effecter of invulnerability. The Galon has a third vital symbolic role: in most depictions, the Galon is a vehicle for
Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...
, one of three great deities of the Brahmanic universe. Therefore, the Galon is also regarded a super-potent, triple-threat protector.


Different interpretations

Discussions about the Saya San Rebellion often revolve around its causes and characters. Scholars have studied on it and produced several interpretations in order to locate Saya San's position in Burmese history and examine the rebellion from different aspects. On the eve of the rebellion, the leading Burmese newspaper, Thu-ri-ya (The Sun) had published an article “A Warning to the British Government” which spoke of Burma as a “keg of dynamite” which could explode at any time. The colonial government had recorded the event into a report titled ''The Origin and Causes of the Burma Rebellion (1930-1932)'', which was published by 1934. It became the fundamental resource for over eighty years. According to the report: ''As regards the causes it is well known: (1) that the Burman is by nature restless and excitable; (2) that in spite of a high standard of literacy the Burman peasantry are incredibly ignorant and superstitious…'' Thus, to the authorities, the rebellion could be explained with the framework of superstition. In addition, it rejected any political causes for the rebellion.
D.G.E. Hall Daniel George Edward Hall (1891–1979) was a British historian, author, and academic. He wrote extensively on the history of Burma. His most notable work is ''A History of Southeast Asia'', said to "...remain the most important single history o ...
, one of the pioneers of writing history on Southeast Asia, who is also a famous historian on Burmese history, disagrees with the reports’ finding. In terms of the cause of the rebellion, he posited political factors rather than economic ones. However, he also recognized the economic discontent present in Burma. While some scholars have suggested that economic hardship was at the heart of the revolts, others have suggested that initiating a new golden age of Buddhism was an important reason. After the independence of Burma, historians tend to analyze the rebellion in more diverse perspectives. For those Burmese historians, Saya San was portrayed as an early nationalist hero. These interpretations stressed on economic factors, which was the cause of popular dissatisfaction. Differing from the established discourse, the economic grievances could form the base of the movement. The movement was not aimless, instead, it was rational and justifiable. John Cady is the first Western historian to term the rebellion the “Saya San rebellion”. He used a vast amount of British documents, including parliamentary papers and police reports, to create a narrative by recognizing the localized form of political expression. In his book ''A history of modern Burma'', Cady wrote that "it was a deliberately planned affair based on traditional Burmese political and religious patterns". There are also researches that focus on the economic perspective. Written a generation later and no doubt infused with the intellectual currents that informed both peasant studies and Southeast Asian studies,
Michael Adas Michael Adas (born 4 February 1943 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American historian and currently the Abraham E. Voorhees Professor of History at Rutgers University. He specializes in the history of technology, the history of anticolonialism and ...
' The Burma delta (197
amazon
and
James C. Scott James C. Scott (born December 2, 1936) is an American political scientist and anthropologist specializing in comparative politics. He is a comparative scholar of agrarian society, agrarian and non-state societies, Subaltern (postcolonialism), ...
's The moral economy of the peasant: Rebellion and subsistence in Southeast Asia (197
amazon
and Ian Brown's A colonial economy in crisis: Burma's rice cultivators and the world depression of the 1930s (200
amazon
provided in-depth analyses into the economic conditions underlying the uprisings in the 1930s. For these scholars (like their earlier Burmese colleagues), the traditional vocabulary of the rebellion was less a factor in the cause of the insurgency than the unforgiving demands of the rational state's economy. One can also consider E. Manuel Sarkisyanz’s Buddhist Background of the Burmese Revolution employed the idea of Buddhist
millenarian Millenarianism or millenarism (from Latin , "containing a thousand") is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which "all things will be changed". Millenariani ...
to examine the Saya San rebellion. It represented a transition from those earlier studies which trapped in a context of colonialism or nationalism to those discourses which paid attention to the cultural ideas within a more indigenous context. From 1970s onwards, the “autonomous history” seems to become the tendency of historiography, which reconstructed those historical figures and events by analyzing indigenous culture from the local people's point of view. Another important book regarding Saya San is
Michael Adas Michael Adas (born 4 February 1943 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American historian and currently the Abraham E. Voorhees Professor of History at Rutgers University. He specializes in the history of technology, the history of anticolonialism and ...
’s Prophet of Rebellio
Prophets of Rebellion: Millenarian Protest Movements Against the European Colonial Order
On the one hand, Adas emphasized that a ‘Prophetic leader’ has ability to start up a
millenarian Millenarianism or millenarism (from Latin , "containing a thousand") is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which "all things will be changed". Millenariani ...
movement. He also provides four other examples to justify his theory in bigger colonial situations. Maitrii Aung-Thwin's book, “The Return of the Galon King: history, law, and rebellion in colonial Burma.” offers a critical assessment of the history and impact of the narrative of the Saya San revolt, an event taken as formative for Burmese history and studies of peasant rebellion worldwide. This work shows that despite all efforts to write social science objectively, ideology still rules. While those interpretations have emerged, scholarship has raised many questions about Saya San's role in the revolt. For example, if the colonial government falsified and overstated Saya San's role in the revolt so as to make his execution seem more meaningful than it actually was. Several details of the trial, including a diary produced by the police which outlines Saya San's plan, are not considered to be trustworthy.


Timeline of the Saya San Rebellion

This is a timeline of the rebellion as outlined by historian Parimal Ghosh. 1930 *22 December: Rebels strike in the villages around Pashwegyaw. At least two killed. *23 December: Authorities call up 100 military police from Rangoon. Rebels descended on Inywa, killing three. *24 December: Rebels raided Weywa, killing two. They also attack a 50-strong military post of military police in Yedaik. *30 December: Rebels attempt to dynamite the railway bridge north of Inywa. *31 December: 500 rebels challenged military police and get fired upon. Deaths ensue. 1931 *4 January: Rising spreads into Yamethin district. *7 January: A better-organized revolt took place in Dedaye township. *April: Dacoit gangs attack village headmen and other village officers. *May: Government beefs up forces in Tharrawaddy and Insein with additional strength of 728 civil police. *June: 500 rebels attack the Wettigan police station. *July: The government published an amnesty offer in Henzada, Prome, Thayetmyo, Insein and Tharrawaddy to allow ‘misguided villagers’ to ‘return to respectability and freedom by surrendering’. This offer was not open to those who had participated in a dacoity, or murder of officials or villagers. *1 July: Rebels open fire on a police party from Taungbyauk. *2 July: 150 rebels lost 40 men trying to check government troops crossing the Nulu river. *12 July: Decisive showdown near Sinsakan when a party of 80 rebels attacked government troops under Captain Dart. *End July: Three of his followers are arrested, and Saya San retreats to Shan territory. *August: News emerges about two rebel armies called the ‘Tiger’ and the ‘Lion’ in the Paungde sub-division. Government accounts described them as just two dacoit gangs. At this time there is also news of ‘widespread disloyalty’ in the villages. *1 August: The Emergency Powers Ordinance 1931 was promulgated, and effectively muzzled the press. The government version of the rebellion was given full exposure, and leaflets, posters and handbills were broadcast. *2 August: Saya San is arrested by Hsipaw State officials in Hsumhsai with five others. Saya San's movement is on the decline, and government pressure increases almost everywhere. *10 September to 13 October: Two columns were set up in the Minhla township of Thayetmyo. These columns were composed of detachments from the 14th Field Company and troops of mounted military police. This force was armed rifles, machine guns, and grenades. They visited almost every village in the township. At this time, the government also began to put relatives and sympathisers of the rebels into concentration camps. *23 September: A ‘cult of the sun and the moon’ led by two leaders Saya Chit and Yin Gyi Aung attacked Tazaung village, killing one person. Headmen of the neighbouring Shweindon village arrived to fight, shooting seven rebels and catching twenty others. *October: Several important leaders of the ‘Lions’ were killed, some were arrested, and some surrendered. This put the group under pressure. The ‘Tigers’ also struggled. *24 October: The ‘Tiger's camp was surrounded by the military. They fought, leaving fifteen of their people dead, including a number of their leaders. *28 November: Saya San is executed


Significance of the Saya San Rebellion

The Saya San rebellion was one of the greatest anti-colonial movements in Southeast Asia in the 20th century, leaving thousands of people dead by the time it had concluded. However, the legacy left behind is that he is still regarded as a national hero to this day, a figure for national unity, and he has even been immortalized in the Burmese banknote. The Saya San rebellion is useful because it can help us to understand other revolts and revolutions throughout Southeast Asia especially during the colonial period. The Saya San rebellion case-study demonstrates how contesting historiographies do have an effect on the production of history. Because the colonial narrative formed the dominant discourse of the period, that discourse was able to control the narratives based on the archival data, despite them being biased and framed from only the colonial perspective. In other words, the so-called official archives about the Saya San rebellion did not tell us much about the rebellion, except for the administrative context that combined mostly only disciplines of ethnology, law and geography to reconstruct the narrative. Consider the Thai Nguyen rebellion or the Tinh Soviet movement that were also happening around the same time as the Saya San rebellion. There were also other sources that could allow us to acquire different perspectives. David Marr writing on Vietnam posits a 'Resistance model' or schema. According to him, there is traditional resistance, typically led by scholar elites. Following this there is a transitional resistance, led by scholar elites trying to be progressive. Finally there is the modern resistance, led by Western-educated leaders. When we overlay the Saya San narrative over David Marr's model of resistance, we can see that the Saya San movement contains elements of both traditional and modernity encapsulated within its nature. James Scott, in writing about revolts in Vietnam and Burma during the early 1900s, comments that these movements are not so much about objective economic conditions, but rather subjective economic conditions. He points to an idealized moral economy that existed before the Western colonial rule, where wealth was re-distributed, with reciprocal rights and obligations that linked village elites with the village people. With the arrival of colonial rule, the people that were able to survive from the distributive networks are thus unable to carry on their livelihoods like before. Other than framing the rebellion in terms of tradition or modernity, another way of looking at the rebellion is from the perspectives of violence, ideology, and utopia. For example, we can focus on how violence determined the contours of the movement, and also how ideological amalgamated with visions of utopia in the leaders moulded the eventual outcome of the movement. But can we consider the rebellion to be successful? Does the death of Saya San necessarily mean it was unsuccessful? At that point, to the colonial administrators, it does seem to have been an unsuccessful rebellion. However, the future repercussions were strong. In fact, two years after his capture, the movement still continued. At the same time, Saya San today still evokes sentiments of nationalism, if not patriotism. Also, despite him existing in the modern period, post-colonial narratives still continue to focus on the superstitious aspects such as the tattoos and amulets that he and his people used. Perhaps what future generations can learn about from the Saya San rebellion is to never assume the complete legitimacy of a source simply because it is the dominant discourse. It could have political repercussions, but it is still useful to always re-examine sources, perspectives, narratives, and historiographies to tease out certain insinuations or biases. Once a re-reading is done, more comprehensive viewpoints whether retrospective or not, could literally change the future. As George Orwell puts it, "He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past."


Footnotes


External links


Famous People, Saya SanSaya San


Bibliography

*
Maurice Collis Maurice Stewart Collis (10 January 1889 – 12 January 1973) was an administrator in Burma (Myanmar) when it was part of the British Empire, and afterwards a writer on Southeast Asia, China and other historical subjects. Life He was born in Du ...
, ''
Trials in Burma {{Unreferenced, date=March 2009 ''Trials in Burma'' is a memoir by Maurice Collis, an English author of Irish origin who served in Burma in the Indian Civil Service under the British Empire written in 1937 describing events in 1929-30. After posti ...
'' (London, 1934). {{DEFAULTSORT:San, Saya Nationalist movements of Myanmar Burmese Buddhist monks People from Sagaing Region Executed Burmese people 20th-century executions by the United Kingdom People executed by British Burma by hanging 1931 deaths 1876 births