Government. —The government of B. is a pure despotism, life and property being at the mercy of the reigning sovereign. Many instances of the cruel abuse of arbitrary power, by even recent kings, might be given. The present monarch is, however, mild, approachable, and apparently desires the welfare and happiness of his subjects. The or high court of council, is composed of the four or principal minis ters of state. The or household ministers, are likewise four in number. They receive the royal commands, and are in close attendance upon the king. The woon douk.si are a third order of ministers, and act as assistants to the woon•gyees. The decis ions of the lo•dau, when sanctioned by the king, become law. The a Burman translation of the Institutes of ,Menu, is also in force. White umbrellas and white elephants are regarded as insignia of royalty. The " lord white elephant," indeed, is looked on as an estate of the realm, a mark of universal sovereignty, and a sacred being. It has a palace, a minister, and numerous attendants.—The mdttary power of the country is not great, and of musketeers it is probable that the king could not command more than 18,000.
The eivdation of B., if not retrograde—which the ruins of Pagan would almost seem to indicate—is stationary and stereotyped, like that of China. All the wealth of the country is lavished on the sacred edifices, £10,000 sterling being sometimes expended on the gilding and beautifying of a single shrine or temple, whilst roads, bridges, and works of public utility are neglected.
The vernacular tongue of B. belongs to the monosyllabic class of languages, and is without inflection; the character is formed of circles and segments of circles. It is engraved on prepared strips of palm-leaf, and a number of these form a book. Printing is unknown, except where introduced by the missionaries. Pali is the language of the religious literature.
B. was deprived of its harbors and maritime districts, its foreign commerce has been very limited. The principal exports (from B. proper) consist of
Sesamum oil, teak-timber, petroleum, sweet-oil, tobacco, lackered boxes, gold leaf, silver, lead, copper, stick-lac, indigo, cocoa-nuts, ponies, wheat, pulse, and cotton. The imports (into the Burman empire) are ngapee (a paste of rank pickled fish, which is eaten with rice, the staple food of the Burman), paddy, rice, dried fish, salt—all these being imported by thousands of tons annually—cotton piece-goods, silk do., and wool ens: B. carries on an overland traffic with China, exporting cotton and importing silk. A commercial treaty with Britain was concluded in 1867, but has remained almost a dead letter.
The standard currency of B., called (red-leaf), is silver, but there is no coin age. This metal is used, however, of varying degrees of purity, which complicates mercantile transactions, and assayers are employed to find the value of the metal.
the early and mythical history of B., nothing need here be said. The kingdoms of Ara and Pegu long contended for mastery. The latter was in its zenith in about 1580 A.D. Passing on to 1752, it appears that the Peguans, after a period of sub jection, obtained the advantage. At this time, however, Alompra, or Aiming Pra, the most celebrated warrior-king in Burman history, rose to power, founded the present dynasty, subdued the Peguans, and incorporated their country. as well as many neigh boring states, with his own. The Burman empire attained its greatest expansion in 1822. The wars of 1822-24 and 1852, with the British, reduced B. to its present limits. The savage excesses of the king of B. led in 1879 to the withdrawal of the British ambassador and his staff. See Yule's -Varratice of the ifission in 1855; Fytelie's Burma Past and Present (1878); Winter's Six Months in B. (1858); Capt. Bower's Bhamo Expedition (1869); Vincenti's Land of the White Elephant (1874); Gordon's Burmah and its Inhabitants (1876); Anderson's Mandalay to Momien (1876); M`Mahon's The Karens and the Golden Chersovese (1876).