In the years following the Second Burmese War, British colonial authorities occupied approximately half of the Kingdom of Burma, as far east as the Irrawadi Valley, effectively controlling the entire Kingdom’s access to the sea, and thus its ability to engage freely in international trade. Yet the British neither formally annexed nor declared free the remaining portion of the Burmese kingdom. Min-don, the newly crowned king of what remained of Burma, walked a fine line with his uninvited and powerful foreign ‘guests’, attempting to balance cordiality toward the intruders with at least the appearance of independent authority over the remaining, unoccupied, part of the kingdom. An uneasy balance between co-operation and antagonism thus characterized the attitudes of both the Burmese and British authorities toward one another, a balance that became increasingly strained following the bitter experiences of the British in India in 1857, and Calcutta’s new determination that British Burma, at least, should be fully assimilated into their system.
The Kinwun Min-gyi was a voice of moderation in the clamour of opinion in the Burmese court as to how to deal with the British usurpers, convinced as he was of the need to cooperate with and even to emulate the West in order to strengthen the Burmese chances of eventually winning back their territory and freedom. Thus the first Burmese diplomatic mission to London in 1872, led by the Kinwun Min-gyi, worked zealously both to convey Burma’s culture and underlying civility to the world, and to further the understanding of the West in the minds of the Burmese. Despite strong opposition from the rulers of British India in Calcutta, who saw the mission as an attempt by the Burmese Court to establish direct communication with London, and thus to bypass their authority, the mission succeeded in both objectives.
Accomplished statesman, scholar and gentleman, the Kinwun Min-gyi was well suited to lead this first Burmese mission to the heart of the British Empire. His daily record of the momentous journey and of the reactions of the Envoys to their first observations of Western cities, technology and mores, made available again after many years’ obscurity in a new translation, remains a fascinating and enlightening document for all with interest in this turbulent period of Burmese history.