Book: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4

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_Geology._--Geologically, British Burma consists of two divisions, an
eastern and a western. The dividing line runs from the mouth of the Sittang
river along the railway to Mandalay, and thence continues northward, with
the same general direction but curving slightly towards the east. West of
this line the rocks are chiefly Tertiary and Quaternary; east of it they
are mostly Palaeozoic or gneissic. In the western mountain ranges the beds
are thrown into a series of folds which form a gentle curve running from
south to north with its convexity facing westward. There is an axial zone
of Cretaceous and Lower Eocene, and this is flanked on each side by the
Upper Eocene and the Miocene, while the valley of the Irrawaddy is occupied
chiefly by the Pliocene. Along the southern part of the Arakan coast the
sea spreads over the western Miocene zone. The Cretaceous beds have not yet
been separated from the overlying Eocene, and the identification of the
system rests on the discovery of a single Cenomanian ammonite. The Eocene
beds are marine and contain nummulites. The Miocene beds are also marine
and are characterized by an abundant molluscan fauna. The Pliocene, on the
other hand, is of freshwater origin, and contains silicified wood and
numerous remains of Mammalia. Flint chips, which appear to have been
fashioned by hand, are said to have been found in the Miocene beds, but to
prove the existence of man at so early a period would require stronger
evidence than has yet been brought forward.

The older rocks of eastern Burma are very imperfectly known. Gneiss and
granite occur; Ordovician fossils have been found in the Upper Shan States,
and Carboniferous fossils in Tenasserim and near Moulmein. Volcanic rocks
are not common in any part of Burma, but about 50 m. north-north-east of
Yenangyaung the extinct volcano of Popa rises to a height of 3000 ft. above
the surrounding Pliocene plain. Intrusions of a serpentine-like rock break
through the Miocene strata north of Bhamo, and similar intrusions occur in
the western ranges. Whether the mud "volcanoes" of the Irrawaddy valley
have any connexion with volcanic activity may be doubted. The petroleum of
Burma occurs in the Miocene beds, one of the best-known fields being that
of Yenangyaung. Coal is found in the Tertiary deposits in the valley of the
Irrawaddy and in Tenasserim. Tin is abundant in Tenasserim, and lead and
silver have been worked extensively in the Shan States. The famous ruby
mines of Upper Burma are in metamorphic rock, while the jadeite of the
Bhamo neighbourhood is associated with the Tertiary intrusions of
serpentine-like rock already noticed.[1]

_Population._--The total population of Burma in 1901 was 10,490,624 as
against 7,722,053 in 1891; but a considerable portion of this large
increase was due to the inclusion of the Shan States and the Chin hills in
the census area. Even in Burma proper, however, there was an increase
during the decade of 1,530,822, or 19.8%. The density of population per
square mile is 44 as compared with 167 for the whole of India and 552 for
the Bengal Delta. England and Wales have a population more than twelve
times as dense as that of Burma, so there is still room for expansion. The
chief races of Burma are Burmese (6,508,682), Arakanese (405,143), Karens
(717,859), Shans (787,087), Chins (179,292), Kachins (64,405) and Talaings
(321,898); but these totals do not include the Shan States and Chin hills.
The Burmese in person have the Mongoloid characteristics common to the
Indo-Chinese races, the Tibetans and tribes of the Eastern Himalaya. They
may be generally described as of a stout, active, well-proportioned form;
of a brown but never of an intensely dark complexion, with black, coarse,
lank and abundant hair, and a little more beard than is possessed by the
Siamese. Owing to their gay and lively disposition the Burmese have been
called "the Irish of the East," and like the Irish they are somewhat
inclined to laziness. Since the advent of the British power, the
immigration of Hindus with a lower standard of comfort and of Chinamen with
a keener business instinct has threatened the economic independence of the
Burmese in their own country. As compared with the Hindu, the Burmese wear
silk instead of cotton, and eat rice instead of the cheaper grains; they
are of an altogether freer and less servile, but also of a less practical
character. The Burmese women have a keener business instinct than the men,
and serve in some degree to redress the balance. The Burmese children are
adored by their parents, and are said to be the happiest and merriest
children in the world.

_Language and Literature._--The Burmese are supposed by modern philologists
to have come, as joint members of a vast Indo-Chinese immigration swarm,
from western China to the head waters of the Irrawaddy and then separated,
some to people Tibet and Assam, the others to press southwards into the
[v.04 p.0840] plains of Burma. The indigenous tongues of Burma are divided
into the following groups:--

A. Indo-Chinese (1) Tibet-Burman (a) The Burmese group.
family sub-family (b) The Kachin group.
(c) The Kuki-Chin group.

(2) Siamese-Chinese (d) The Tai group.
sub-family (e) The Karen group.

(3) Mon-Annam (f) The Upper Middle
sub-family Mekong or Wa Palaung
group.
(g) The North Cambodian
group.
B. Malay family (h) The Selung language.

Burmese, which was spoken by 7,006,495 people in the province in 1901, is a
monosyllabic language, with, according to some authorities, three different
tones; so that any given syllable may have three entirely different
meanings only distinguishable by the intonation when spoken, or by accents
or diacritical marks when written. There are, however, very many weighty
authorities who deny the existence of tones in the language. The Burmese
alphabet is borrowed from the Aryan Sanskrit through the Pali of Upper
India. The language is written from left to right in what appears to be an
unbroken line. Thus Burma possesses two kinds of literature, Pali and
Burmese. The Pali is by far the more ancient, including as it does the
Buddhist scriptures that originally found their way to Burma from Ceylon
and southern India. The Burmese literature is for the most part metrical,
and consists of religious romances, chronological histories and songs. The
_Maha Yazawin_ or "Royal Chronicle," forms the great historical work of
Burma. This is an authorized history, in which everything unflattering to
the Burmese monarchs was rigidly suppressed. After the Second Burmese War
no record was ever made in the _Yazawin_ that Pegu had been torn away from
Burma by the British. The folk songs are the truest and most interesting
national literature. The Burmese are fond of stage-plays in which great
licence of language is permitted, and great liberty to "gag" is left to the
wit or intelligence of the actors.

_Government._--The province as a division of the Indian empire is
administered by a lieutenant-governor, first appointed 1st May 1897, with a
legislative council of nine members, five of whom are officials. There are,
besides, a chief secretary, revenue secretary, secretary and two
under-secretaries, a public works department secretary with two assistants.
The revenue administration of the province is superintended by a financial
commissioner, assisted by two secretaries, and a director of land records
and agriculture, with a land records departmental staff. There is a chief
court for the province with a chief justice and three justices, established
in May 1900. Other purely judicial officers are the judicial commissioner
for Upper Burma, and the civil judges of Mandalay and Moulmein. There are
four commissioners of revenue and circuit, and nineteen deputy
commissioners in Lower Burma, and four commissioners and seventeen deputy
commissioners in Upper Burma. There are two superintendents of the Shan
States, one for the northern and one for the southern Shan States, and an
assistant superintendent in the latter; a superintendent of the Arakan hill
tracts and of the Chin hills, and a Chinese political adviser taken from
the Chinese consular service. The police are under the control of an
inspector-general, with deputy inspector-general for civil and military
police, and for supply and clothing. The education department is under a
director of public instruction, and there are three circles--eastern,
western and Upper Burma, each under an inspector of schools.

The Burma forests are divided into three circles each under a conservator,
with twenty-one deputy conservators. There are also a deputy
postmaster-general, chief superintendent and four superintendents of
telegraphs, a chief collector of customs, three collectors and four port
officers, and an inspector-general of jails. At the principal towns benches
of honorary magistrates, exercising powers of various degrees, have been
constituted. There are forty-one municipal towns, fourteen of which are in
Upper Burma. The commissioners of division are _ex officio_ sessions judges
in their several divisions, and also have civil powers, and powers as
revenue officers. They are responsible to the lieutenant-governor, each in
his own division, for the working of every department of the public
service, except the military department, and the branches of the
administration directly under the control of the supreme government. The
deputy commissioners perform the functions of district magistrates,
district judges, collectors and registrars, besides the miscellaneous
duties which fall to the principal district officer as representative of
government. Subordinate to the deputy commissioners are assistant
commissioners, extra-assistant commissioners and myooks, who are invested
with various magisterial, civil and revenue powers, and hold charge of the
townships, as the units of regular civil and revenue jurisdiction are
called, and the sub-divisions of districts, into which most of these
townships are grouped. Among the salaried staff of officials, the townships
officers are the ultimate representatives of government who come into most
direct contact with the people. Finally, there are the village headmen,
assisted in Upper Burma by elders, variously designated according to old
custom. Similarly in the towns, there are headmen of wards and elders of
blocks. In Upper Burma these headmen have always been revenue collectors.
The system under which in towns headmen of wards and elders of blocks are
appointed is of comparatively recent origin, and is modelled on the village
system.

The Shan States were declared to be a part of British India by notification
in 1886. The Shan States Act of 1888 vests the civil, [Sidenote: The Shan
States.] criminal and revenue administration in the chief of the state,
subject to the restrictions specified in the _sanad_ or patent granted to
him. The law to be administered in each state is the customary law of the
state, so far as it is in accordance with the justice, equity and good
conscience, and not opposed to the spirit of the law in the rest of British
India. The superintendents exercise general control over the administration
of criminal justice, and have power to call for cases, and to exercise wide
revisionary powers. Criminal jurisdiction in cases in which either the
complainant or the defendant is a European, or American, or a government
servant, or a British subject not a native of a Shan State, is withdrawn
from the chiefs and vested in the superintendents and assistant
superintendents. Neither the superintendents nor the assistant
superintendents have power to try civil suits, whether the parties are
Shans or not. In the Myelat division of the southern Shan States, however,
the criminal law is practically the same as the in force in Upper Burma,
and the ngwegunhmus, or petty chiefs, have been appointed magistrates of
the second class. The chiefs of the Shan States are of three classes:--(1)
sawbwas; (2) myosas; (3) ngwegunhmus. The last are found only in the
_Myelat_, or border country between the southern Shan States and Burma.
There are fifteen sawbwas, sixteen myosas and thirteen ngwegunhmus in the
Shan States proper. Two sawbwas are under the supervision of the
commissioner of the Mandalay division, and two under the commissioner of
the Sagaing division. The states vary enormously in size, from the 12,000
sq. m. of the Trans-Salween State of Keng Tung, to the 3.95 sq. m. of Nam
Hkom in the Myelat. The latter contained only 41 houses with 210
inhabitants in 1897 and has since been merged in the adjoining state. There
are five states, all sawbwaships, under the supervision of the
superintendent of the northern Shan States, besides an indeterminate number
of Wa States and communities of other races beyond the Salween river. The
superintendent of the southern Shan States supervises thirty-nine, of which
ten are sawbwaships. The headquarters of the northern Shan States are at
Lashio, of the southern Shan States at Taung-gyi.

The states included in eastern and western Karen-ni are not part of British
India, and are not subject to any of the laws in force in the Shan States,
but they are under the supervision of the superintendent of the southern
Shan States.

[Illustration]

The northern portion of the Karen hills is at present dealt with on the
principle of political as distinguished from administrative control. The
tribes are not interfered with as long as they keep the peace. What is
specifically known as the Kachin hills, the country taken under
administration in the Bhamo and Myitkyina districts, is divided into forty
tracts. Beyond these tracts there are many Kachins in Katha, Moeng-Mit, and
the northern Shan States, but though they are often the preponderating,
they are not the exclusive population. The country within the forty tracts
may be considered the Kachin hills proper, and it lies between 23 deg. 30' and
26 deg. 30' N. lat. and 96 deg. and 98 deg. E. long. Within this area the petty chiefs
have appointment orders, the people are disarmed, and the rate of tribute
per household is fixed in each case. Government is regulated by the [v.04
p.0841] Kachin hills regulation. Since 1894 the country has been
practically undisturbed, and large numbers of Kachins are enlisted, and
ready to enlist in the military police, and seem likely to form as good
troops as the Gurkhas of Nepal.

The Chin hills were not declared an integral part of Burma until 1895, but
they now form a scheduled district. The chiefs, however, are allowed to
administer their own affairs, as far as may be, in accordance with their
own customs, subject to the supervision of the superintendent of the Chin
hills.

_Religion._--Buddhists make up more than 88.6%; Mussulmans 3.28;
spirit-worshippers 3.85; Hindus 2.76, and Christians 1.42 of the total
population of the province. The large nominal proportion of Buddhists is
deceptive. The Burmese are really as devoted to demonolatry as the
hill-tribes who are labelled plain spirit-worshippers. The actual figures
of the various religions, according to the census of 1901, are as
follows:--

Buddhists 9,184,121
Spirit-worshippers 399,390
Hindus 285,484
Mussulmans 339,446
Christians 147,525
Sikhs 6,596
Jews 685
Parsees 245
Others 28

The chief religious principle of the Burmese is to acquire merit for their
next incarnation by good works done in this life. The bestowal of alms,
offerings of rice to priests, the founding of a monastery, erection of
pagodas, with which the country is crowded, the building of a bridge or
rest-house for the convenience of travellers are all works of religious
merit, prompted, not by love of one's fellow-creatures, but simply and
solely for one's own future advantage.

An analysis shows that not quite two in every thousand Burmese profess
Christianity, and there are about the same number of Mahommedans among
them. It is admitted by the missionaries themselves that Christianity has
progressed very slowly among the Burmese in comparison with the rapid
progress made amongst the Karens. It is amongst the Sgaw Karens that the
greatest progress in Christianity has been made, and the number of
spirit-worshippers among them is very much smaller. The number of Burmese
Christians is considerably increased by the inclusion among them of the
Christian descendants of the Portuguese settlers of Syriam deported to the
old Burmese Tabayin, a village now included in the Ye-u subdivision of
Shwebo. These Christians returned themselves as Burmese. The forms of
Christianity which make most converts in Burma are the Baptist and Roman
Catholic faiths. Of recent years many conversions to Christianity have been
made by the American Baptist missionaries amongst the Lahu or Muhsoe hill
tribesmen.

_Education._--Compared with other Indian provinces, and even with some of
the countries of Europe, Burma takes a very high place in the returns of
those able to both read and write. Taking the sexes apart, though women
fall far behind men in the matter of education, still women are better
educated in Burma than in the rest of India. The average number of each sex
in Burma per thousand is:--literates, male 378; female, 45; illiterates,
male, 622; female, 955. The number of literates per thousand in Bengal
is:--male, 104; female, 5. The proportion was greatly reduced in the 1901
census by the inclusion of the Shan States and the Chin hills, which mostly
consist of illiterates.

The fact that in Upper Burma the proportion of literates is nearly as high
as, and the proportion of those under instruction even higher than, that of
the corresponding classes in Lower Burma, is a clear proof that in primary
education, at least, the credit for the superiority of the Burman over the
native of India is due to indigenous schools. In almost every village in
the province there is a monastery, where the most regular occupation of one
or more of the resident _pongyis_, or Buddhist monks, is the instruction
free of charge of the children of the village. The standard of instruction,
however, is very low, consisting only of reading and writing, though this
is gradually being improved in very many monasteries. The absence of all
prejudice in favour of the seclusion of women also is one of the main
reasons why in this province the proportion who can read and write is
higher than in any other part of India, Cochin alone excepted. It was not
till 1890 that the education department took action in Upper Burma. It was
then ascertained that there were 684 public schools with 14,133 pupils, and
1664 private schools with 8685 pupils. It is worthy of remark that of these
schools 29 were Mahommedan, and that there were 176 schools for girls in
which upwards of 2000 pupils were taught. There are three circles--Eastern,
Central and Upper Burma. For the special supervision and encouragement of
indigenous primary education in monastic and in lay schools, each circle of
inspection is divided into sub-circles corresponding with one or more of
the civil districts, and each sub-circle is placed under a deputy-inspector
or a sub-inspector of schools. There are nine standards of instruction, and
the classes in schools correspond with these standards. In Upper Burma all
educational grants are paid from imperial funds; there is no cess as in
Lower Burma. Grants-in-aid are given according to results. There is only
one college, at Rangoon, which is affiliated to the Calcutta University.
There are missionary schools amongst the Chins, Kachins and Shans, and a
school for the sons of Shan chiefs at Taung-gyi in the southern Shan
States. A _Patamabyan_ examination for marks in the Pali language was first
instituted in 1896 and is held annually.

_Finance._--The gross revenue of Lower Burma from all sources in 1871-1872
was Rs.1,36,34,520, of which Rs.1,21,70,530 was from imperial taxation,
Rs.3,73,200 from provincial services, and Rs.10,90,790 from local funds.
The land revenue of the province was Rs.34,45,230. In Burma the cultivators
themselves continue to hold the land from government, and the extent of
their holdings averages about five acres. The land tax is supplemented by a
poll tax on the male population from 18 to 60 years of age, with the
exception of immigrants during the first five years of their residence,
religious teachers, schoolmasters, government servants and those unable to
obtain their own livelihood. In 1890-1891 the revenue of Lower Burma has
risen to Rs.2,08,38,872 from imperial taxation, Rs.1,55,51,897 for
provincial services, and Rs.12,14,596 from incorporated local funds. The
expenditure on the administration of Lower Burma in 1870-1871 was
Rs.49,70,020. In 1890-1891 it was Rs.1,58,48,041. In Upper Burma the chief
source of revenue is the _thathameda_, a tithe or income tax which was
instituted by King Mindon, and was adopted by the British very much as they
found it. For the purpose of the assessment every district and town is
classified according to its general wealth and prosperity. As a rule the
basis of calculation was 100 rupees from every ten houses, with a 10%
deduction for those exempted by custom. When the total amount payable by
the village was thus determined, the village itself settled the amount to
be paid by each individual householder. This was done by _thamadis_,
assessors, usually appointed by the villagers themselves. Other important
sources of revenue are the rents from state lands, forests, and
miscellaneous items such as fishery, revenue and irrigation taxes. In
1886-1887, the year after the annexation, the amount collected in Upper
Burma from all sources was twenty-two lakhs of rupees. In the following
year it had risen to fifty lakhs. Much of Upper Burma, however, remained
disturbed until 1890. The figures for 1890-1891, therefore, show the first
really regular collection. The amount then collected was Rs.87,47,020.

The total revenue of Burma in the year ending March 31, 1900 was
Rs.7,04,36,240 and in 1905, Rs.9,65,62,298. The total expenditure in the
same years respectively was Rs.4,30,81,000 and Rs.5,66,60,047. The
principal items of revenue in the budget are the land revenue, railways,
customs, forests and excise.

_Defence._--Burma is garrisoned by a division of the Indian army,
consisting of two brigades, under a lieutenant-general. Of the native
regiments seven battalions are Burma regiments specially raised for
permanent service in Burma by transformation from military police. These
regiments, consisting of Gurkhas, Sikhs and Pathans, are distributed
throughout the Shan States and the northern part of Burma. In addition to
these there are about 13,500 civil police and 15,000 military police. The
military police are in reality a regular military force with only two
European officers in command of each battalion; and they are recruited
entirely from among the warlike races of northern India. A small battalion
of Karens enlisted as sappers and miners proved a failure and had to be
disbanded. Experiments have also been made with the Kachin hillmen and with
the Shans; but the Burmese character is so averse to discipline and control
in petty matters that it is impossible to get really suitable men to enlist
even in the civil police. The volunteer forces consist of the Rangoon Port
Defence Volunteers, comprising artillery, naval, and engineer corps, the
Moulmein artillery, the Moulmein, Rangoon, Railway and Upper Burma rifles.

_Minerals and Mining._--In its three chief mineral products, earth-oil,
coal and gold, Burma offers a fair field for enterprise and nothing more.
Without yielding fortunes for speculators, like South Africa or Australia,
it returns a fair percentage upon genuine hard work. Coal is found in the
Thayetmyo, Upper Chindwin and Shwebo districts, and in the Shan States; it
also occurs in Mergui, but the deposits which have been so far discovered
have been either of inferior quality or too far from their market to be
worked to advantage. The tin mines in Lower Burma are worked by natives,
but a company at one time worked mines in the Maliwun township of Mergui by
European methods. The chief mines and minerals are in Upper Burma. The jade
mines of Upper Burma are now practically the only source of supply of that
mineral, which is in great demand over all China. The mines are situated
beyond Kamaing, north of Mogaung in the Myitkyina district. The miners are
all Kachins, and the right to collect the jade duty of 33-1/3 is farmed out
by government to a lessee, who has hitherto always been a Chinaman. The
amount obtained has varied considerably. In 1887-1888 the rent was
Rs.50,000. This dwindled to Rs.36,000 in 1892-1893, but the system was then
adopted of letting for a term of three years and a higher rent was
obtained. The value varies enormously according to colour, which should be
a particular shade of dark green. Semi-transparency, brilliancy and
hardness are, however, also essentials. The old river mines produced the
best quality. The quarry mines on the top of the hill near Tawmaw produce
enormous quantities, but the quality is not so good.

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