Political Situations under King Mindon 1853 - 1878

This paper is an attempt to reveal the political situation of Myanmar during the reign of King Mindon. He ascended the throne only after the kingdom faced with two aggressive wars launched by the British imperialists. Because of those wars, the kingdom suffered deteriorations in terms of political, economic and social aspects. As a result of those wars, some parts of Myanmar territory also fell in the hands of the British imperialists. In this context, King Mindon had to endeavour to achieve the political stability and economic development in his kingdom. At first, he conducted administrative reforms with the aim of restoring internal stability and followed flexible policies in external relations with the aim of avoiding conflicts with the British in the future as well. He sent envoys to foreign countries with the aim of widening the horizons of his court officials. He also sent Myanmar youths to foreign countries to study modern sciences and technologies in order to establish factories which were installed with modern machines. Thus he tried to transform his kingdom into an industrialized nation. While standing side by side the British occupied Lower Myanmar, he did not fail to utilize the diplomatic means in dealing with other countries in order to gain international recognition to his kingdom as a sovereign nation. Because of his far sighted outlooks and wisdom, King Mindon could transform his kingdom into a semi modernized nation to some extent. Though he could not endeavour to regain the already lost territories, King Mindon was able to maintain the sovereignty of the rest part of the kingdom steadfastly. This paper tries to expose the political situations of Late Konbaung period during the reign of King Mindon. Dr. War War Tun "Political Situations under King Mindon (1853 - 1878)" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-3 | Issue-6 , October 2019, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd28061.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/engineering/computer-engineering/28061/political-situations-under-king-mindon-1853---1878/dr-war-war-tun