The Martyrs' Mausoleum () is a

Mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

(Burma), located near the northern gate of

Shwedagon Pagoda The Shwedagon Pagoda (, ; ), officially named ''Shwedagon Zedi Daw'' (, , ), and also known as the Great Dagon Pagoda and the Golden Pagoda, is a gilded stupa located in Yangon, Myanmar. The Shwedagon is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Myanma ...

. The mausoleum is dedicated to

Aung San Aung San (, ; 13 February 191519 July 1947), known honorifically as '' Bogyoke'' Aung San, was a Burmese politician, independence activist and revolutionary. He was instrumental in Myanmar's struggle for independence from British rule, but he w ...

and other leaders of the pre-independence interim government, all of whom were assassinated on 19 July 1947. It is customary for high-ranking government officials to visit the mausoleum on 19 July to pay respects, and 19 July was designated as

Martyrs' Day Martyrs' Day are days observed in or by some countries, including the United States, Japan, India, Brazil, Canada and Australia, to recognise martyrs such as soldiers, revolutionaries or victims of genocide. Below is a list of various Martyrs' Days ...

, a

public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, federal holiday, statutory holiday, bank holiday or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Types Civic holiday A ''civic holiday'', also k ...

Background

On 19 July 1947, at 10:37 a.m., BST, several of

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

's independence leaders were gunned down while they were holding a cabinet meeting at the

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who was the ninth winn ...

in downtown

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

. The assassinations were planned by a rival political group, and the leader and alleged mastermind of that group ''Galon''

U Saw U Saw, also known as Galon U Saw ( my-Mymr, ဦးစော or my-Mymr, ဂဠုန်ဦးစော, lit. Garuda U Saw, ; 16 March 1900 – 8 May 1948), was a leading Burmese politician who served as Prime Minister of British Burma duri ...

, together with the perpetrators, were tried and convicted by a special tribunal. The assassinated were: #

, Prime Minister # Ba Cho, Minister of Information # Mahn Ba Khaing, Minister of Industry and Labor #

Ba Win Ba Win (; ; born San Tin (; ; 10 June 1901 – 19 July 1947), best known as U Ba Win (; ), was a Burmese politician, and Minister of Trade in the Interim Government of Burma. He was the eldest brother of General Aung San, and was assassi ...

, Minister of Trade #

Thakin Mya ''Thakin'' Mya (, ; 7 October 1897 – 19 July 1947) was a Burmese lawyer and politician who served as the Minister of Home Affairs and in June 1947 transferred as Minister of Finance in Myanmar's pre-independence government.https://ro.u ...

, Minister Without Portfolio, unofficially considered as Deputy Prime Minister of Burma # Abdul Razak, Minister of Education and National Planning # Sao San Tun, Minister of Hills Regions #

Ohn Maung Ohn Maung ( ; 2 February 1913 – 19 July 1947) was a Burmese civil servant who served as the Permanent secretary of Transport in Burma's pre-independence government. He, along with seven other cabinet ministers (including Prime Ministe ...

, Secretary of State Transport # Ko Htwe, Razak's bodyguard Soon after the assassinations, Major General Sir

Hubert Rance Major-General Sir Hubert Elvin Rance, (17 July 1898 – 24 January 1974) was a British politician who was the last Governor of British Burma between 1946 and 1948, during the transition from Japanese to British colonial administration. Later h ...

, the last British

Governor of Burma The colonial governors of Burma were the colonial administrators responsible for the territory of British Burma, an area equivalent to modern-day Myanmar. As a result of the Second Anglo-Burmese War, Burma was initially set up as a province ...

, appointed

U Nu Nu (; ; 25 May 1907 – 14 February 1995), commonly known as Burmese names#Honorifics, U Nu and also by the honorific name Thakin Nu, was a prominent Burmese people, Burmese statesman and the first Prime Minister of Union of Burma. He was ...

to head an interim administration and when Burma became independent on 4 January 1948, Nu became the first

Prime Minister of Burma The prime minister of Myanmar () is the head of government of Myanmar. The post was re-established in 2021 by the State Administration Council (SAC), the country's ruling military junta, to lead its nominally-civilian provisional government. T ...

. 19 July was designated a public holiday known as Martyr's Day.

List of burials

The mausoleum contains the remains of #

# Ba Cho #

# Mahn Ba Khaing #

The body of Sao San Tun was cremated in Mongpawn, his hometown, and the ashes were interred in his hometown and the Martyrs' Mausoleum.

U Razak U Razak (Urdu: ; ; , ; also Abdul Razak; 20 January 1898 – 19 July 1947) was a Burmese politician and an educationalist. Of mixed Bamar-Indian ancestry, he was a cabinet minister in Aung San's pre-independence interim government, and w ...

and Ko Htwe were interred in a Muslim cemetery in

Tamwe Township Tamwe Township (also Tarmwe Township; , ) is located in east central Yangon, Myanmar. The township comprises 20 wards, and shares borders with Yankin Township in the north, Thingangyun Township and Mingala Taungnyunt Township in the east, Bahan ...

1983 bombing

The mausoleum was destroyed by a bomb on 9 October 1983, an

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

attempt against

Chun Doo-hwan Chun Doo-hwan (; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean politician, army general and military dictator who served as the fifth president of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. Prior to his accession to the presidency, he was the cou ...

, the fifth

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, orchestrated by

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. The blast ripped through the crowd killing 21 people and wounding 46 others. Fourteen South Korean ministers, presidential advisers, journalists, and security officials were killed; four Burmese nationals, including three journalists, were also among the dead. President Chun was saved because his car had been delayed in traffic and was only minutes from arriving at the memorial. The mausoleum was rebuilt in 1985 under the military socialist dictatorship of

Ne Win Ne Win (; ; 24 May 1911 – 5 December 2002), born Shu Maung (; ), was a Burmese army general, politician and Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974, and also President of Burma from 1962 to 1981. Ne Win was Burma's mili ...

Political significance

After the

1988 Uprising The 8888 Uprising, also known as the People Power Uprising and the 1988 Uprising, was a series of nationwide protests, marches, and riots in Burma (present-day Myanmar) that peaked in August 1988. Key events occurred on 8 August 1988 and ther ...

, the

State Peace and Development Council The State Peace and Development Council ( ; abbreviated SPDC or , ) was the official name of the Military dictatorship, military government of Burma (Myanmar) which, in 1997, succeeded the State Law and Order Restoration Council (; abbrevi ...

junta downgraded the ceremony and the mausoleum became off-limits to ordinary people. Public access to the mausoleum was restricted until 2010 because the government was afraid of the public gathering at the mausoleum. Until 2011, the most senior official to attend the ceremony was the Yangon Mayor. In 2011, the government allowed the public to pay their respects at the mausoleum on Martyrs’ Day, drawing large, emotional crowds.

References

{{Reflist Mausoleums in Myanmar Buildings and structures in Yangon Martyrs' monuments and memorials