Saya-san uprising
The Saya San uprising from 1930 to 1932 was a peasant uprising in southern Burma , which at that time was still an integral part of British India . It is named after its leader.
history
The Buddhist monk and alchemist Saya San (1876-1931), who was also a politician and belonged to the radical faction of the General Council of Burmese Associations des U Soe Thein , agitated against colonial rule. Saya San had been commissioned by U Soe Thein to investigate the problems of the village population in the Tharrawaddy district . From 1928 he organized resistance of the villagers to taxes of the colonial administration, which eventually led to the uprising.
The aim of the rebellion was to restore the traditional "old order". However, their real causes were economic. The global economic crisis led to a sharp decline in travel revenues, which endangered the livelihoods of smallholders.
The uprising broke out on December 22, 1930 in the southern Tanintharyi district . Saya San was crowned "King of Burma" and took the title Thupannaka Galon Raja . His troops, around 1500 strong, called themselves the Galon Army . Their armament was essentially limited to cutting and stabbing weapons. Amulets and tattoos should protect against the British bullets.
The rebels destroyed everything that seemed to them representative of foreign rule, such as railroad and telegraph lines. Government representatives such as village chiefs, forest officials and the mostly Indian moneylenders ( chettiars ) were attacked and often murdered.
The colonial power initially mobilized one Indian and two British and two Burmese battalions , which were reinforced by other units from India to 11,000 men by June 1931. The Buddhist monk Aletawya Sayadaw brought an offer of peace that included an amnesty.
Saya San escaped to the Shan States , where he was captured in August 1931. His closest confidante, Bo Myat Aung , was arrested in November. The leaders were tried in special courts. Then the rebellion collapsed. There were a total of 78 executions, including the Saya Sans on November 28, 1931. Over two hundred other insurgents were deported to penal colonies, a total of 9,000 imprisoned.
Remarks
- ↑ The name prefix Saya means "teacher".
literature
- Jan Becka: Historical Dictionary of Myanmar. Metuchen 1995, ISBN 0-8108-2840-5 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Angelene Naw: Aung San and the Struggle for Burmese Independence . Chiang 2001, ISBN 974-7551-54-3 , p. 17 f.
- ↑ Clodfelter (2008), p. 376
- ↑ different: 128 - Michael Clodfelter: Warfare and Armed Conflicts ... 3rd edition. Jefferson NC 2008, p. 376.