A VISIT TO THE SHAN STATES
The Shan States occupy the whole of the eastern side of Upper Burma,
and border on French Indo-China, China, and Siam. It is sometimes
erroneously supposed that they are independent or semi-independent
States, on the same footing as native States in India. From Theinni
in the north to Mobye in the south, from the Myelat in the west to
Kyaingtôn in the far east, these States were an integral part of the
Burmese kingdom, over which the Burmese assertion of sovereignty
was never abandoned or successfully resisted. Burmese Residents and
garrisons were maintained. Though there were rebellions, revolts,
and massacres, though in King Thebaw’s time the bonds of authority
were loosened, independence was never established. Each State was
administered by its own chief, Sawbwa, Myosa, or Ngwekunhmu, appointed
or recognized by the Burmese Government, and very practically subject
to the King and his Council. Consequently, when we succeeded to the
sovereignty of Burma, the Shan States became as much an integral
part of British India as any district of Upper Burma. To speak of
the annexation of a Shan State is incorrect. Those States, such as
Wuntho and Kale, which have ceased to be governed by their own chiefs,
have been, not annexed, but taken under direct administration. The
distinction between the Shan States and the rest of Burma is one not
of political status, but of administrative method. The Legislative
Councils of India and Burma make laws for the Shan States as for other
parts of the Province. This power was exercised as long ago as 1886
in the first Statute relating to Upper Burma. The principle has been
consistently maintained. The States which are really semi-independent,
subject to suzerainty, are those of Karenni. The historical explanation
is that before we took Upper Burma we strenuously maintained that
Karenni was not part of the King’s dominions. When we succeeded to the
King’s rights, we could not decently assert the contrary. But though
there is a theoretical distinction, in practice Karenni is as much
under control as the Shan States.
[Illustration: PAGODA AT MONÈ.]
In less than a year from the proclamation which incorporated Upper
Burma in the Empire, surely as speedily as could be expected, an
expedition was despatched to assert our authority in the Shan country.
Colonel Stedman[219] was in command, with Mr. A. H. Hildebrand[220]
and Mr. J. G. Scott[221] as civil officers. A full account of
the operations of the expedition has been given by Sir Charles
Crosthwaite.[222] I need not attempt to tell again the tale of
Mr. Hildebrand’s conspicuous success: how he traversed the States,
receiving the submission of the Chiefs and confirming them in their
offices; how by tact and firmness, almost without striking a blow, he
imposed peace on this distracted country; how he became the friend and
monitor, as well as the strict supervisor, of every Chief. Nor must I
yield to the temptation to recount once more the story of Mr. Scott’s
gallant feat of arms in the capture of Twet Nga Lu, or of his later
even more splendid display of the courage which dares the impossible
when, with a handful of Gurkhas, he brought to his knees in his own
capital the chief of Kyaingtôn, the largest and most secluded of the
States. Are not these things written in the book so often quoted
in these pages? It is a far cry to the Shan country and across the
Salween, or these tales would be as familiar to Britons as any tale of
chivalry.
Mr. Hildebrand became the first Superintendent of the Shan States. A
little later they were divided into two groups, Northern and Southern,
under two mutually independent Superintendents working in direct
communication with Government. The Shan States extend over an area
estimated at about 60,000 square miles. Here, as elsewhere in Burma,
our aim has been to administer as far as possible in accordance with
pre-existing custom. Each State is ruled by its own Chief, who has
the power of life and death, appoints his own officials, and manages
his own finances and domestic affairs. The Chiefs administer their
own customary law, subject to the provisions of a very simple code,
probably the shortest since the Decalogue, which lays down a few
general principles and prohibitions. Issued in 1890, it still remains
unaltered. The Chief is appointed by Government, and receives a sanad,
or order of appointment, defining his functions and limitations. He is
under the control of the Superintendent, and, to a less degree, of the
Assistant Superintendents in charge of subdivisions, into which the
States are distributed. These officers have by law extensive powers of
intervention and revision, but as far as possible they abstain from
active interference in the economy of the State. So, too, Government
ordinarily avoids exertion of direct authority, but, if occasion
requires, does not hesitate to deprive a chief of part of his powers,
to change the order of succession, to amalgamate adjacent territories,
to alter boundaries, even, as an extreme measure, to take a State
under direct administration. All receipts from forests and minerals
belong to the general revenues of the Province, rights over forests
and mines being reserved by Government. Subject to this reservation,
Government levies no taxes on the people. Each State pays a fixed sum
annually as tribute, the assessment being revised every ten years. The
demand is moderate, and at the decennial revision pleas for reduction
are indulgently considered. It need hardly be said that the chiefs
are required to keep the peace among themselves. They are responsible
for the good order of their territories, and maintain their own local
police in picturesque uniforms. There is also a small body of regular
police under the civil officers. The garrison consisted at first of
troops, then of military police, then partly of troops and military
police, now again of military police alone. Each group, the Southern
and the Northern, has its own battalion. Such, briefly and in outline,
is the way in which the Shan States were governed five-and-twenty
years ago; such is the way in which they are governed now. Probably
no dependency of so great an extent is administered so inexpensively
or with so little display of force. As a study in administration the
experiment is full of interest, and has been remarkably successful.
In five-and-twenty years there have naturally been changes and
improvements. At first the Chiefs lived for themselves, caring only
for their own ease and comfort, while, as was graphically said, “the
bloodsuckers around them were making hay.” Now they are becoming more
enlightened, and beginning to realize their responsibilities. They are
learned in the mysteries of budgets and taxation rolls. Some take a
zealous interest in road-making, in digging canals, in promoting the
growth of new staples, in sanitation and medical relief. Many of the
Chiefs are courteous and intelligent gentlemen, who live on terms of
easy friendship with British officers. Several have visited India,
more are familiar with Rangoon and Mandalay. One Chief, formerly
very shy and reserved, now gallops on our polo-grounds. His ambition
was to visit Rangoon periodically for the purpose of gazing on the
ball-room at Government House, which reminded him of Heaven. When all
is said, it must be remembered that the chiefs are merely officers of
Government of no very high position, like other officers, holding their
appointments during good behaviour.
The Shans,[223] remnants of the race which once dominated a vast empire
in Eastern Asia, including the whole of Northern Burma to the confines
of Tibet, are now somewhat backward in civilization. A clannish folk,
with the cohesion lacking among Burmans. If you get hold of the chief
you secure his people also. This no doubt facilitated the task of
settlement. Of fierce appearance, to us they seem unwarlike. Once at
least a conflict was stopped by a British officer adopting the simple
expedient of pitching his camp midway between two hostile armies. But
before our coming internecine feuds raged savage and devastating. Like
medieval barons, Chief warred against Chief, laying waste the country.
Populous cities reduced to ruinous heaps gave place to miserable
hamlets. Wide stretches of fertile land, thrown out of cultivation,
became deserts of jungle and tall grass where the tiger made his lair
and the elephant ranged at will. Under the firm and just rule which we
have substituted for the intermittent ferocity of Burmese dominion, the
Shan plateau is reviving, and once more promises to be an orchard and a
harvest-field. Scantiness of population and distance from markets alone
retard the cultivation of wheat, vegetables, and fruit. Now a railway
to the Southern States is being made. If it is not stopped in mid-air,
and if no parsimonious schemes hinder through communication, an era of
prosperity for the Shan country is at hand.
Early in 1890, I accompanied Sir Charles Crosthwaite on the first visit
paid by a Chief Commissioner to the Southern Shan States. We rode from
the railway at Meiktila road (Thazi), past Hlaingdet, up and along the
customary mule-track to Kalaw, on the border of the Myelat[224] plain.
The cart-road was yet unmade. There was not a cart of any kind in the
Shan country. Kalaw lies in the midst of pine-forests, a perfectly
lovely spot, believed by many to be the future hill-capital of Burma.
It will be an important station on the new railway. Personally, I doubt
whether it will displace Maymy̆o, though it may well be to Maymy̆o
what Mussoorie is to Simla. From Kalaw we rode through the Myelat,
fine open country, but intersected by many ravines, to Nyaungywe, on
the edge of the Inle Lake. The chiefs of the Myelat States flocked
to meet the head of the Province, and with bands of wild retainers,
with much clashing of cymbals and beating of gongs, escorted him on
his march. Crossing the lake we came to Fort Stedman, then the civil
and military headquarters. Here the Chief Commissioner halted for
some days, interviewing local officers and many Shan notables, and
holding a Durbar, at which he addressed the assembled Chiefs. These
State visits to Fort Stedman and Taung-gyi, which afterwards became
the Superintendent’s headquarters, were full of interest, certainly
to the visitors, probably also to the local inhabitants. I have
assisted at three such visits. From distant hills, from far across the
Salween, come multitudes of strange people eager to do honour to the
representative of their Sovereign. Weird dances by outlandish folk,
grotesque caperings some, others slow melancholy measures, expressed
the popular rejoicing. The lake was alive with boats competing in
exciting races. Men and women took part in these contests. Here you
might see the Sawbwa distribute prizes to victors and vanquished, these
races being of the nature of a caucus-race, and smearing with lime the
foreheads of the losers. You shall also see the lake-dwellers standing
and rowing with legs instead of arms, a difficult and, as one may
think, somewhat useless feat. Many young and ambitious officers have
sought to accomplish it, but in vain. The lake-men row in this way with
perfect ease and skill, but not, I think, faster than a boat paddled in
the ordinary style.
[Illustration: THE PAUNGDAW--U FESTIVAL.]
Fort Stedman is well situated in the State of Nyaungywe, one of the
largest and most prosperous of the Southern States. At the time of the
annexation, the Sawbwa was Saw Maung, a man of culture and education,
trained at the Court of Mandalay in all the learning of the Burmans.
Soon after, his cousin Chit Su rebelled against him. In the first fight
Saw Maung was severely wounded, being shot through both thighs. Very
confidingly, he placed his troops and arms at the disposal of his
brother, Saw Ôn, who offered to suppress the revolt. Having done this
effectually, occupied the capital, and tasted the sweets of power,
Saw Ôn declined to make way for the rightful Chief. Forced to retire,
Saw Maung with a small following established himself on the borders
of the Myelat. Thence, anxious to prevent more fighting, Government
summoned him to Mandalay and directed him to stay there in receipt
of an allowance. In the Shan States, as elsewhere, our policy was to
accept existing facts. If the Chief in actual possession was willing
to submit, he was confirmed in his office. When Mr. Hildebrand came
to Nyaungywe, he was warmly welcomed by Saw Ôn, whom he rescued from
a position of much peril. Saw Ôn, therefore, was recognized as Sawbwa
and held charge till his death some years later. He was the chief whom
Sir Charles Crosthwaite found in Nyaungywe, a boisterous uncivilized
person, with some sense of humour, whose loud laugh concealed a mind by
no means vacant of ability and cunning. At his death, Saw Maung[225]
was restored to his State. He proved an excellent ruler, probably the
most enlightened and progressive of the Shan chiefs, full of projects
for the good of his people, and exceedingly popular with all classes.
Though in the early days after his return the lake-men were ready to
rebel against him, not many years later, when Their Royal Highnesses
the Prince and Princess of Wales visited Mandalay, Saw Maung sat in
the boat of the leg-paddlers competing in a race on the moat.
From Fort Stedman we returned by the way we came, the Chief Commissioner
for my sake considerately riding the last three marches in one day.
According to the original programme, if we had missed the train I
should have missed also the steamer which was to take me home on my
first leave. I caught the steamer and enjoyed the leave, which lasted
a few days over three months. I cannot say that I enjoyed the return
journey from Calcutta in the middle of the monsoon, seeing no sun nor
star, in a boat on which cockroaches of gigantic stature vied with
myriads of red ants in making life hideous.
I remained in Rangoon as Chief Secretary till the end of the year, when
the Secretariat was reorganized and strengthened. Mr. Symes came back
as Chief Secretary. I was appointed to be a Divisional Commissioner,
but was seconded for duty as a Secretary till I went on furlough early
in 1891. Mr. Mackenzie[226] became Chief Commissioner, Sir Charles
Crosthwaite going to Council. The work of pacification and organization
was completed. Conscious of a great trust worthily discharged, the most
eminent of Burma’s rulers moved on to fresh fields of action, less
thrilling but not less honourable.