Anglo-Burmese people
The Anglo-Burmese people, also known as the Anglo-Burmans, are a community of Eurasians of Burmese and European descent; they emerged as a distinct community through mixed relationships between the British and other Europeans and Burmese people from 1826 until 1948 when Myanmar gained its independence from the British Empire. Those who could not adjust to the new way of life after independence and the ushering in of military dictatorship are dispersed throughout the world. How many stayed in Myanmar is not accurately known.
The term "Anglo-Burmese" is also used to refer to Eurasians of European and other Burmese ethnic minority groups descent. It also, after 1937, included Anglo-Indian residents in Myanmar. Collectively, in the Burmese language, Eurasians are specifically known as bo kabya; the term kabya refers to persons of mixed ancestry or dual ethnicity.
History
Earliest settlement
The first "Euro-Burmese" community emerged in the early 17th century as the Portuguese and Bamar intermarried. This multicultural community was collectively known as the Ba-yin-gyi. The community was established near Syriam on the outskirts of modern-day Yangon. The settlement was founded by Filipe de Brito e Nicote. De Brito is said to have gone mad, having declared himself king of Lower Burma and captured Natshinnaung in an attack on Syriam, causing his outpost to be destroyed and himself executed by the Burmese king Anaukpetlun in 1613. Most of his small community of European settlers and their families were banished inland to Shwebo, then known as Moksobo; they were employed as gunners by the king and their descendants settled along the Mu River. When the British Burma Army was established in 1937, it was the Anglo-Burmans who comprised the only anti-aircraft battery.Additionally, a band of French soldiers in the late 18th century by Alaungpaya, founder of the Konbaung Dynasty, was provided with Bamar wives and established a new Eurasian community French-Burmese. They were employed as elite gunners under Pierre de Milard. During the Mon-Bamar conflict in the 18th century, Sieur de Bruno was acting as a military advisor to the Mons and French warships participated in fighting against the Burmese in Syriam and Dagon.
From his two ships, Alaugpaya managed to put his hands on 35 24-pounder long guns, five field guns, 1300 muskets and a large quantity of ammunition. The French troops with their guns and muskets were incorporated in the Konbaung army as gunners and played a key role in the later battles between the Burmese and the Mons. They were treated well and received Burmese wives. They became an elite corps, which was to play an important role in the Burmese battles against Thailand and Qing China. One of them, Pierre de Milard, was ultimately nominated Captain of the Guard and Master of the Ordnance for the Konbaung Dynasty. When they reached old age, these French soldiers were able to retire to Shwebo villages with the spiritual support of a priest of the Catholic Church. To this day, some Catholic villages are still extant in the area where an awareness of some European ancestry remains.
British administration
The First Anglo-Burmese War formally ended in 1826 with the Treaty of Yandabo, which resulted in the coastal provinces of Arakan and Tenasserim being annexed by the British rule with Moulmein being established as the capital of the new colony. In 1852, the Second Anglo-Burmese War concluded with the annexation of the Bago Region to what became known as Lower or "British" Burma.The Third Anglo-Burmese War began in 1886 after a number of social and legal issues combined with the revelation of a commercial trade agreement King Thibaw Min had made with the French.
Some European men took Burmese women as "temporary" wives, often abandoning them and their offspring after their tours of duty ended in Burma, not dissimilar to the Spanish and French practice of plaçage, but legal marriages did take place. Frequently, when a "temporary" relationship ended, the European father left behind a sum of money for the upkeep of their children. Sometimes the children were removed from their mothers and placed into convent schools run by Europeans, where their Burmese heritage was often undermined. The issue of mixed marriages, particularly between Bamar women and British males, was to become a major issue in the independence movement as it further developed.
Anglo-Burmans represent a very diverse heritage, their Asian heritage primarily Bamar, but also Karen, Shan and Mon as well as other smaller Burmese ethnic groups like the Kuki, Jingpo and Rakhine.
The European element included, aside from the English, other European influence, chiefly Greeks, the Dutch, Scandinavians, Irish, Germans, Austrians, the French, the Portuguese, Italians and other non-European Russians. Armenians, Syrian, Egyptians and the Anglo-Indian were also represented among Anglo-Burmans.
One unusual addition to the mix was Baghdadi Jews. By the 1920s, the Anglo-Burman community was a distinct ethnic group in Burma.
In 1935, colonial Burma was plagued with riots due to the country having been absorbed into the Indian Empire. In response, in 1937, as Burma separated officially from the Raj and formed a separate crown colony, Anglo-Burmans were officially recognised as an ethnic group under the Government of Burma Act. Having European blood, Anglo-Burmans were a privileged class and became one of the dominant ethnic groups in Burmese life. They began assimilating to European customs with vigour. Most Anglo-Burman Burgher people in Sri Lanka) were able to trace at least a grandparent, if not a parent, originating from outside of Burma's borders. As such, the connection with the West was strong, and many Anglo-Burmans did not settle down as a truly Burmese ethnic group. Of course, some Anglo-Burmans did, and most of the community felt Burma was their own country, with no wish to "repatriate" back to their European homeland. In fact, after Independence, the Anglo-Burman Union carried out research among the community to gauge the feeling of its people with regard to nationality. It was discovered that around 60% intended to remain in Burma and take Burmese citizenship with the remaining 40% split between staying in Burma or leaving for Australia or the UK.
Along with the British immigrants to Burma, Anglo-Indians came into Burma during the colonial era to work on the railways and customs departments; intermarriage between the groups was frequent, especially in Yangon as both communities were innately drawn to one another. Community clubs were a mainstay of life during British rule, with most attending what was commonly called the "Anglo-Indian/Domiciled European Club".
Between 1935 and 1948, Burma quickly became the jewel of the East, with a flourishing economy based on agricultural produce. At this time, Rangoon was said to be the most cosmopolitan city east of the Suez Canal; the city and its environs were estimated to hold at least 50% of the Anglo-Burmese community. During British rule, Yangon and Maymyo became principal population centres for the Anglo-Burmese, although substantial communities existed in the Irrawaddy River delta towns as well as in Mandalay, Mawlamyine, Amherst, Taunggyi, Kalaw, Taungoo, Pyinmana, Meiktila, Yenangyaung and the mining towns of the Shan States.
Japanese occupation and Allied liberation
In 1942, the Japanese invaded East and Southeast Asia, including Burma, in hopes of creating an Empire for itself throughout Asia. Because of their European connections and appearance and fearful of Japanese rule, most Anglo-Burmans began making frantic preparations to leave the country for safety in India alongside the retreating British forces. A vast majority of Anglo-Burmans made their way out of Burma by their own means, some by sea and others by air. Many were employed by government departments or were married to government employees and were able to flee on official evacuation convoys. Others stayed at their posts and ran the telegraphs and phone operations, railways and other infrastructure systems until it was too late to escape. Sadly, of those who were left behind, many opted to walk through the jungles to safety in India. This exodus has become historically known as "The Trek", and many Anglo-Burmans alongside Europeans, Indians and Chinese died en route. Those who remained behind suffered horrendously.Many Anglo-Burmese during colonial times were concentrated in and around the town of Maymyo. As the Japanese took control of the country, they found many there and simply incarcerated them in concentration camps for fear of their loyalty to the British. However, Anglo-Burmese who resembled Bamar were incognito and managed to pass, acting like the Burmans. Indeed, many Bamar sheltered their Eurasian friends and relatives from the Japanese and after the war, many Anglo-Burmans were not to forget this, refusing to take back their European names and dress, appreciative of the security and protection offered to them, and disgraced with the manner in which the British handled the evacuation of the country and the abandonment of the community. Others less fortunate during the war were interned in prison camps whilst others, particularly the Anglo-Burman women, were taken as servants and mistresses by the Japanese army, most often unwillingly. In 1944, Burma's colonial government met in exile at Simla, India. Among those who attended were the governor of Burma, Sir Reginald Dorman Smith, along with Anglo-Burman leaders, to discuss the future of Burma after the war and the status of the Anglo-Burmese community. After Japan was defeated, most Anglo-Burmans who had fled to India returned to Burma.
Simla Conference 1944
Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, governor of Burma in exile, met Anglo-Burmese leaders in Simla in 1944, where the government of Burma in exile was stationed during the war, to discuss the future of the Anglo-Burmese community after the war.The Anglo-Burmese delegates were:
- Mr G. Kirkham
- Mr H.J. Mitchell BFrS
- Mr J. Barrington ICS
- Mr K.W. Foster BCS
- Mr E.A. Franklin ICS
- Mr. W.A. Gibson
- Mrs K. Russell
- Mr. H. Elliott
- Mr C.H. Campagnac
- Mr J.A. Wiseham
- Mr J. F. Blake.