06-205 (01) Front.qxd 7/13/06 7:38 AM Page vi 06-205 (01) Front.qxd 7/13/06 7:38 AM Page i Historical Dictionaries of Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East Edited by Jon Woronoff Asia 1. Vietnam, by William J. Duiker. 1989. Out of print. See No. 27. 2. Bangladesh, 2nd ed., by Craig Baxter and Syedur Rahman. 1996. Out of print. See No. 48. 3. Pakistan, by Shahid Javed Burki. 1991. Out of print. See No. 33. 4. Jordan, by Peter Gubser. 1991. 5. Afghanistan, by Ludwig W. Adamec. 1991. Out of print. See No. 47. 6. Laos, by Martin Stuart-Fox and Mary Kooyman. 1992. Out of print. See No. 35. 7. Singapore, by K. Mulliner and Lian The-Mulliner. 1991. 8. Israel, by Bernard Reich. 1992. 9. Indonesia, by Robert Cribb. 1992. Out of print. See No. 51. 10. Hong Kong and Macau, by Elfed Vaughan Roberts, Sum Ngai Ling, and Peter Bradshaw. 1992. 11. Korea, by Andrew C. Nahm. 1993. Out of print. See No. 52. 12. Taiwan, by John F. Copper. 1993. Out of print. See No. 34. 13. Malaysia, by Amarjit Kaur. 1993. Out of print. See No. 36. 14. Saudi Arabia, by J. E. Peterson. 1993. Out of print. See No. 45. 15. Myanmar, by Jan Becka. 1995. Out of print. See No. 59. 16. Iran, by John H. Lorentz. 1995. 17. Yemen, by Robert D. Burrowes. 1995. 18. Thailand, by May Kyi Win and Harold Smith. 1995. Out of print. See No. 55. 19. Mongolia, by Alan J. K. Sanders. 1996. Out of print. See No. 42. 20. India, by Surjit Mansingh. 1996. Out of print. See No. 58. 21. Gulf Arab States, by Malcolm C. Peck. 1996. 22. Syria, by David Commins. 1996. Out of print. See No. 50. 23. Palestine, by Nafez Y. Nazzal and Laila A. Nazzal. 1997. 24. Philippines, by Artemio R. Guillermo and May Kyi Win. 1997. Out of print. See No. 54. Oceania 1. Australia, by James C. Docherty. 1992. Out of print. See No. 32. 2. Polynesia, by Robert D. Craig. 1993. Out of print. See No. 39. 3. Guam and Micronesia, by William Wuerch and Dirk Ballendorf. 1994. 4. Papua New Guinea, by Ann Turner. 1994. Out of print. See No. 37. 5. New Zealand, by Keith Jackson and Alan McRobie. 1996. Out of print. See No. 56. New Combined Series 25. Brunei Darussalam, by D. S. Ranjit Singh and Jatswan S. Sidhu. 1997. 26. Sri Lanka, by S. W. R. de A. Samarasinghe and Vidyamali Samarasinghe. 1998. 06-205 (01) Front.qxd 7/13/06 7:38 AM Page ii 27. Vietnam, 2nd ed., by William J. Duiker. 1998. Out of print. See No. 57. 28. People’s Republic of China: 1949–1997, by Lawrence R. Sullivan, with the assistance of Nancy Hearst. 1998. 29. Afghanistan, 2nd ed., by Ludwig W. Adamec. 1997. Out of print. See No. 47. 30. Lebanon, by As’ad AbuKhalil. 1998. 31. Azerbaijan, by Tadeusz Swietochowski and Brian C. Collins. 1999. 32. Australia, 2nd ed., by James C. Docherty. 1999. 33. Pakistan, 2nd ed., by Shahid Javed Burki. 1999. 34. Taiwan (Republic of China), 2nd ed., by John F. Copper. 2000. 35. Laos, 2nd ed., by Martin Stuart-Fox. 2001. 36. Malaysia, 2nd ed., by Amarjit Kaur. 2001. 37. Papua New Guinea, 2nd ed., by Ann Turner. 2001. 38. Tajikistan, by Kamoludin Abdullaev and Shahram Akbarzedeh. 2002. 39. Polynesia, 2nd ed., by Robert D. Craig. 2002. 40. North Korea, by Ilpyong J. Kim. 2003. 41. Armenia, by Rouben Paul Adalian. 2002. 42. Mongolia, 2nd ed., by Alan J. K. Sanders. 2003. 43. Cambodia, by Justin Corfield and Laura Summers. 2003. 44. Iraq, by Edmund A. Ghareeb with the assistance of Beth K. Dougherty. 2004. 45. Saudi Arabia, 2nd ed., by J. E. Peterson. 2003. 46. Nepal, by Nanda R. Shrestha and Keshav Bhattarai. 2003. 47. Afghanistan, 3rd ed., by Ludwig W. Adamec. 2003. 48. Bangladesh, 3rd ed., by Craig Baxter and Syedur Rahman. 2003. 49. Kyrgyzstan, by Rafis Abazov. 2004. 50. Syria, 2nd ed., by David Commins. 2004. 51. Indonesia, 2nd ed., by Robert Cribb and Audrey Kahin. 2004. 52. Republic of Korea, 2nd ed., by Andrew C. Nahm and James E. Hoare. 2004. 53. Turkmenistan, by Rafis Abazov. 2005. 54. Philippines, 2nd ed., by Artemio Guillermo. 2005. 55. Thailand, 2nd ed., by Harold E. Smith, Gayla S. Nieminen, and May Kyi Win. 2005. 56. New Zealand, 2nd ed., by Keith Jackson and Alan McRobie. 2005. 57. Vietnam, 3rd ed., by Bruce Lockhart and William J. Duiker, 2006. 58. India, 2nd ed., by Surjit Mansingh, 2006. 59. Burma (Myanmar), by Donald M. Seekins, 2006. 06-205 (01) Front.qxd 7/13/06 7:38 AM Page iii Historical Dictionary of Burma (Myanmar) Donald M. Seekins Historical Dictionaries of Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East, No. 59 The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, Maryland • Toronto • Oxford 2006 06-205 (01) Front.qxd 7/13/06 7:38 AM Page iv SCARECROW PRESS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.scarecrowpress.com PO Box 317 Oxford OX2 9RU, UK Copyright © 2006 by Donald M. Seekins All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Seekins, Donald M. Historical dictionary of Burma (Myanmar) / Donald M. Seekins. p. cm.—(Historical dictionaries of Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East ; no. 59) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-5476-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8108-5476-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Burma–History–Dictionaries. I. Title. II. Series: Historical dictionaries of Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East ; 59. DS528.34.S44 2006 959.1003–dc22 2006001432 ϱ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America. 06-205 (01) Front.qxd 7/13/06 7:38 AM Page v Contents Editor’s Foreword Jon Woronoff vii Acknowledgments ix Reader’s Notes xi Old and New Place Names xv List of Abbreviations and Acronyms xvii Maps xx Chronology xxiii Introduction 1 THE DICTIONARY 49 Bibliography 487 About the Author 531 v 06-205 (01) Front.qxd 7/13/06 7:38 AM Page vi 06-205 (01) Front.qxd 7/13/06 7:38 AM Page vii Editor’s Foreword When Burma first became independent, there were valid reasons to ex- pect it to be a relative success in the region. It was well endowed with natural resources, reasonably compact, and had some talented leaders with broad public support. Yet while its neighbors are presently known for political progress and occasionally economic “miracles,” Burma has slipped back and become a rare laggard and even sometimes a pariah. Politically, it is run by one of the world’s few remaining military regimes, which stubbornly rejects any democratization that could un- dermine its control. Economically, the situation has continued to worsen, for the bulk of the population at least, while any wealth is mo- nopolized by a small elite, and the greatest source of riches is drugs. This can hardly be compensated for by superficial reforms or name changes—from Burma to Myanmar—or promises of better times to come. Nor can it be justified by the past, although it is somewhat easier to understand today against the background of yesterday, a long history marked by many problems that are yet to be resolved. Although it is simple enough to say in an offhanded way what has gone wrong, it is not that easy to explain it more cogently. That re- quires countless details, without which it is difficult to make sense of the situation. It is because of the details that this Historical Dictionary of Burma (Myanmar) must be welcomed. It provides an exceptional overview of the country, both today and yesterday, and also perhaps clues about tomorrow. The dictionary section has hundreds of entries on notable leaders throughout history, the more significant events that shaped that history, and the groups and institutions that currently pre- vail. Other entries look into the economy, society, culture, and religion as well as its many different ethnic groups. This admittedly complex situation is summed up in the introduction and also traced over the centuries in the chronology. The bibliography points to other sources vii 06-205 (01) Front.qxd 7/13/06 7:38 AM Page viii viii • EDITOR’S FOREWORD of information (although not as many as one would hope for), making this volume particularly useful. This completely new edition was written by Donald M. Seekins. Dr. Seekins, who is currently a professor of political science at the College of International Studies of Meio University, has spent much of his ca- reer in Asia, especially Japan and parts of Southeast Asia. He has vis- ited Burma frequently and has specialized in the country’s political his- tory. Over the years he has written many papers and articles on various aspects of the country, as well as a book on the most important feature, namely the military regime, the aptly titled The Disorder in Order: The Army-State in Burma since 1962. Despite his concentration on the cur- rent and recent past, it is obvious from this historical dictionary that Dr.